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Voice of America, 99-01-16Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>CONTENTS
[01] KOSOVO/MASSACRE (L-ONLY) BY PHILIP SMUCKER (RACAK, KOSOVO)DATE=1/16/99TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-244271 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: DOZENS OF SLAUGHTERED ETHNIC ALBANIAN CIVILIANS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE VILLAGE OF RACAK IN CENTRAL KOSOVO. AT LEAST 24 MEN WERE FOUND TO HAVE BEEN EXECUTED AT CLOSE RANGE AFTER SERBIAN SECURITY FORCES ATTACKED THE TOWN ON FRIDAY. PHILIP SMUCKER WAS IN THE VILLAGE OF AS LOCAL ETHNIC ALBANIANS VILLAGERS STOOD IN SHOCK NEAR THE BODIES OF THEIR MENFOLK. TEXT: MOST OF THE BODIES WERE STREWN IN A DITCH AT THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AT THE EDGE OF TOWN. MEN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 20 TO 65 WERE SHOT IN THE HEAD OR THE NECK. RELATIVES FROM THE VILLAGE OF RACAK WHO CAME TO THEIR KIN BROKE DOWN IN TEARS. THE VILLAGERS SAID THAT SERBIAN SECURITY FORCES HAD ATTACKED EARLY FRIDAY MORNING WITH TANKS AND ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPONS. THE PEOPLE HAD GATHERED IN GROUPS PREPARING TO FLEE OVER THE HILLS TO SAFETY. BUT WHEN THEY TRIED, THEIR ESCAPE ROUTE WAS CLOSED BY SERBIAN HEAVY FIRE. FROM THE EVIDENCE OF CIVILIAN CORPSES STREWN ACROSS THE VILLAGE, OVER MORE THAN A DOZEN PERSONS WERE KILLED BY THE SHELLING. VILLAGERS SAID THEY THEN HUDDLED BEHIND BUSHES AND ALONG HILLSIDES AS SERBIAN POLICE, MANY OF THEM MASKED, ENTERED RACAK AND WENT HOUSE-TO-HOUSE GATHERING MEN AND LEAVING THE WOMEN LOCKED IN CELLARS. THE WITNESSES SAY THEY HEARD THE SOUNDS OF BEATINGS AND SCREAMS COMING FROM THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE. LATER IN THE DAY AT LEAST 24 MEN WERE TAKEN TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE WHERE THEY WERE SYSTEMATICALLY EXECUTED. SATURDAY, VILLAGERS REMAINED CRINGING IN FEAR IN THE MOUNTAINS, SOME OF THEM RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES TO DISCOVER DEAD RELATIVES. ETHNIC ALBANIAN DOCTOR, VEZIR BAJRAMI, SAID HE HAD TREATED 20 INJURED CIVILIANS IN THE SURROUNDING HILLS. LIGHTLY ARMED MEMBERS OF THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN KOSOVO LIBERATION
ARMY WHO RETURNED TO RACAK ON SATURDAY SAID THAT THE SERBIAN
ATTACK HAD COME AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE. MANY OF THEM SAID THEY
HAD BEEN SLEEPING WHEN THE ATTACK BEGAN, BUT DOZENS LATER ESCAPED
AFTER REALIZING THEY WERE OUTGUNNED AND OUTMANNED. (SIGNED)
[02] KOSOVO/MASSACRE (S/L) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (PRISTINA, KOSOVO)DATE=1/16/99TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-244274 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: THE HEAD OF THE KOSOVO VERIFICATION MISSION, WILLIAM WALKER, BLAMES THE SERB SECURITY FORCES FOR THE MASSACRE OF SOME 45 ETHNIC ALBANIAN VILLAGERS -- MOST OF THEM ELDERLY MEN -- AND DEMANDS THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT LAURIE KASSMAN IN PRISTINA REPORTS THAT THE HEAD OF THE VERIFIERS WANTS THE CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE TO INVESTIGATE WHAT HE CALLS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, TEXT: MR. WALKER IS CALLING ON THE YUGOSLAV AUTHORITIES TO FIND THOSE WHO CARRIED OUT THE MASSACRE AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE IMMEDIATELY. /// WALKER ACT ///ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A LAWYER, FROM WHAT I PERSONALLY SAW, I DO NOT HESITATE TO DESCRIBE THE EVENT AS A MASSACRE, OBVIOUSLY A CRIME VERY MUCH AGAINST HUMANITY. NOR DO I HESITATE TO ACCUSE THE GOVERNMENT SECURITY FORCES OF RESPONSIBILITY. /// END ACT ///MR WALKER SAYS THE VILLAGERS, MOSTLY ELDERLY MEN, WERE SHOT IN THE HEAD AT CLOSE RANGE. HE HAS CALLED THE CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE TO COME TO RACAK VILLAGE TO INVESTIGATE THE CRIME. THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT HAS REFUSED THEM VISAS IN THE PAST, BUT MR WALKER SAYS THEY WILL COME -- WITH OR WITHOUT VISAS -- TO CARRY OUT THEIR MISSION. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO TRAVEL TO KOSOVO AS EARLY AS SUNDAY. // OPT THE REST FOR LONG CR ///THE HEAD OF THE VERIFIERS CALLS THE MASSACRE A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS AND A VIOLATION OF THE OCTOBER AGREEMENT UNDER WHICH THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT AGREED TO HALT MILITARY ACTION IN KOSOVO AND NEGOTIATE A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE KOSOVO CRISIS. HE (WALKER) HAS DEMANDED THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAND OVER THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO ORDERED AND CARRIED OUT THE EXECUTION OF THE VILLAGERS SO THEY CAN BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. MR. WALKER SHOWED HIS FRUSTRATION AND ANGER WHEN HE TOLD REPORTERS HE HAD HOPED FOR A CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AFTER THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN REBELS RELEASED EIGHT SERB SOLDIERS LAST WEEK. IS THIS, HE ASKED, THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE? MR. WALKER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE MASSACRE AND INCREASED CLASHES BETWEEN SERB FORCES AND THE REBELS HAS, IN HIS WORDS, CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF THE VERIFICATION MISSION. BUT HE SAYS IT WON'T END IT. /// WALKER ACT TWO ///I THINK IT DEMONSTRATES THE NEED FOR US TO BE HERE. THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED MAYBE NOT OUTSIDE, AWAY FROM THE EYES OF THE WORLD. BUT I THINK THAT THE FACT THAT WE WERE HERE ADDS CONSIDERABLY TO WHAT THE WORLD KNOWS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT SMALL VILLAGE. I THINK IT DEMONSTRATE THE NEED FOR US TO BE HERE AND DO MORE OF THIS. /// END ACT ///MR. WALKER SAYS HE TALKED WITH YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND IS WAITING FOR THEIR RESPONSE. HE ALSO TALKED WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY. HE SAYS THEY ARE ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED, BUT HE HAS URGED RESTRAINT TO TRY TO PREVENT RETALIATION AND MORE BLOODSHED. THE MASSACRE OF THE RACAK VILLAGERS IS THE MOST SERIOUS THREAT TO
THE FRAGILE CEASEFIRE IMPLEMENTED IN OCTOBER. (SIGNED)
[03] Q &A W/PHILIP SMUCKER BY DAVE WEBER / LONDON (RACAK, KOSOVO)DATE=1/16/99TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42382 CONTENT= VOICED AT: ACCORDING TO VILLAGERS, THEY [SERBS] SURROUNDED THE VILLAGE ON
THREE-SIDES WITH HEAVY ARMOR. THEY MOVED DOWN INTO THE VILLAGE
AND THEY WENT INTO HOMES, ONE-BY-ONE, TAKING THE MEN OUT, LEAVING
THE WOMEN GATHERED IN CELLARS. THEY TOOK THE MEN UP THE HILL AT
THE END OF THE DAY AND THEY SHOT THEM IN THE HEAD. THE EVIDENCE
IS APPALLING.
WEBER: WERE THERE ANY WITNESS WHO SURVIVED THAT ATTACK. WHO COULD
DESCRIBE IT TO YOU?
SMUCKER: THERE WERE WITNESSES WHO WERE IN THE HILLS WATCHING
EVERYTHING. AND PEOPLE WERE HIDING BETWEEN HAY STACKS, PEOPLE UP
IN THE MOUNTAINS BEHIND THE TREES. THE K-L-A RETREATED, DID NOT
STAND ITS FIGHT, APPARENTLY. PEOPLE SAID THEY SAW THE DIVISION OF
(I.E. THE DIVIDING UP) MEN AND WOMEN. NOT SO MANY PEOPLE SAW THE
EXECUTION POINT-BLANK OF THESE MEN GETTING SHOT IN THE HEAD. ON
THE OTHER HAND, THEY KNEW WHEN THEY WERE SEPARATED AND THEY WERE
TAKEN UP THE HILL AND THE FIRING APPARENTLY CAME JUST AS THE SUN
WAS SETTING LAST NIGHT.
WEBER: AND (WHEN) THE SERB SOLDIERS LEFT THE VILLAGE, DID THEY
TAKE ANY PRISONERS WITH THEM?
SMUCKER: THAT IS NOT CLEAR YET. WE DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
MISSING FROM THE VILLAGE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE
THESE BODIES. THEY HAD BEEN LEFT THERE IN A RAVINE WITH BULLET
HOLES IN THE HEAD. AND THE SERBS HAVE RETREATED, THE SERBS ARE NO
WHERE TO BE SEEN AT THE MOMENT. THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE (O-S-C-E) HAS VERIFIERS ON THE GROUND
VERIFYING WHAT HAS HAPPENED. THEY ARE THERE, THEY'RE OBSERVING.
THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT EXACTLY HOW THIS MASSACRE TOOK PLACE.
[04] Q & A (UPDATE) W/ PHILIP SMUCKER BY DAVID WEBER / LONDON (RACAK, KOSOVO)DATE=1/16/99TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42383 CONTENT= VOICED AT: IT IS STRATEGICALLY (A) VERY IMPORTANT VILLAGE BECAUSE IT SITS
RIGHT ABOVE A MAIN HIGHWAY. THERE HAD BEEN A POLICEMAN KILLED AND
THE SERBS SAID THEY HAD GONE ON A SEARCH OPERATION IN THE VILLAGE
OF RACAK. NOW THIS SEARCH OPERATION EITHER WENT EXTREMELY WRONG,
OR IT WAS SIMPLY RETRIBUTION FOR THE KILLING OF ONE POLICEMAN.
BUT ONE WONDERED HOW THE KILLING OF 38 CIVILIANS COULD BE
RETRIBUTION FOR THE KILLING OF A POLICE MAN BY THE KOSOVO
LIBERATION ARMY? THE KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY WAS STILL SLEEPING
AND WHEN THE FIGHTING STARTED, MOST OF THEM SIMPLY RAN AWAY.
Q: I UNDERSTAND THAT THE VILLAGE HAD COME UNDER SOME SHELLING
BEFORE THIS MASSACRE TOOK PLACE.
A: THE VILLAGE WAS SURROUNDED BY HEAVY ARTILLERY IN THE MORNING
SIX OR SEVEN A-M. THEY OPENED UP TWO OR THREE HOURS. IT WAS A
CLASSIC SURROUND -- PUT THE VILLAGE UNDER SIEGE OPERATION AND
THEN GO IN WITH THE INFANTRY ON FOOT. THEY WENT IN AND THEY WENT
HOUSE-TO-HOUSE. THEY TOOK THE MEN, DIVIDED THEM FROM THE WOMEN.
WOMEN WERE LEFT HUDDLING, CRINGING IN CELLARS. AND THE MEN WERE
TAKEN UP A HILL AND THEY WERE SHOT IN THE HEAD OR THE NECK.
Q: PHILIP, HAVE THE O-S-C-E OBSERVES REACHED THE SCENE?
A: YES. WILLIAM WALKER, WHO IS THE HEAD OF THE O-S-C-E MISSION --
THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO THE O-S-C-E HERE IN KOSOVO, HE HAS
BEEN TO THE SCENE. HE'S CALLED IT APPALLING AND SHOCKING AND HE
SAID THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A FULL INVESTIGATION. ALTHOUGH HE
IS (NOT IN A) POSITION TO STOP THIS KIND OF THING BECAUSE THE
MISSION HERE IS UNARMED. AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS FOLLOWING IN
THE WAKE OF A MASSACRE AND THE MOST THAT THEY COULD PROBABLY DO
IS TO CONDEMN IT.
Q: WHAT FOLLOWS NOW, IS THERE (TO BE) SOME SORT OF FORENSIC
EXAMINATION?
A: HE (AMBASSADOR WALKER) SAID THEY WANTED TO GET FORENSIC
EXPERTS IN HERE. THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM IN THE PAST. THE SERBS
HAVE BEEN ALLOWING (PEOPLE IN) ONLY ON A BASIS THAT THEY WOULD
PREFER THE TIME AND THE DAY (TO VISIT). THEY'VE OFTEN SENT THEM
TO -- WHAT THEY WOULD CALL MASSACRES OF SERBS--- WHICH ARE NOT
AND HAVE NEVER BEEN ON THE SCALE OF THESE MASSACRES OF THE
ALBANIANS HERE IN KOSOVO.
Q: THIS QUALIFIES AS PROBABLY THE WORST SINGLE INCIDENT IN
KOSOVO. DO IT NOT?
A: YES. WE SAW AN INCIDENT, VERY SIMILAR TO THIS, THAT WAS ABOUT
A THIRD OF THE SIZE LAST FEBRUARY IN A VILLAGE CALLED LIKOSHANE,
WHERE THE MEN AND THE WOMEN WERE SEPARATED. THE MEN WERE KILLED
ON A WOOD PILE. BUT THEIR BODIES DID NOT COME BACK FOR THREE DAYS
FROM THE MORGUE. THEN, WE FOUND BULLET HOLES IN THEIR HEADS. THAT
SEEMED TO BE KIND OF THE SAME HANDY-WORK.
THIS TIME, THEY'VE LEFT THE BODIES FOR THE WORLD TO SEE AND ONE
WONDERS IF THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO SLAP THE O-S-C-E IN THE FACE
AND SAY TO THE WORLD THAT WE CAN RUN KOSOVO ANY WAY WE WANT TO
RUN IT. AND WE WILL IGNORE ANY CONDEMNATION.
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