| Save the Families of Orahovac! Interview with 3 heroines and a call
to action [ http://www.globalresistance.com urges readers to distribute this as widely as possible with all text including this note.] "Vast numbers of people all over the world have protested the bombing of Yugoslavia. But now, after the cessation of bombing, we in Yugoslavia have entered the worst hell. Serbs, Roma, Jews and others are driven out of Kosovo; some disappear; some are murdered and their murders attributed to forces beyond NATO's control. Some, like the Serbs and Roma of Orahovac, are imprisoned in a new Warsaw Ghetto." (Statement 10-23-99 by Cedomir Prlincevic, President, Jewish Community of Pristina, driven from Kosovo by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and NATO) "The whole scene was one of horror, the children crying, us women trying to convince KFOR [i.e., NATO officers]. The Dutch Commander shouted: 'ENOUGH! Just those who came should go back on the truck and the children must go back where they came.' So there was more crying and the women were crying and shouting, and he screamed: 'ENOUGH!' So we left, but the children were forced to return to Orahovac." (Natasha, interviewed below.) Below are condensed excerpts from interviews with three members of the Women's Humanitarian Committee on Orahovac. The full text will posted shortly. The women have been fighting for four months to free friends and relatives from a nightmare beyond summary description: you must read the interviews to grasp the horror of what NATO (KFOR) has done. On Oct. 23, I recounted these interviews to a large antiwar gathering in Amsterdam. People were horrified at the role of Dutch KFOR. On the 28th Nico Varkevisser of Global Reflexion, Mr. Prelincevic, the Jewish leader/refugee from Pristina and I addressed party representatives from the Military Committee of the Dutch Parliament. Some were moved; one (the Christian Democrat) simply did not want to hear about Orahovac. The Dutch government is only starting to realize: Orahovac is their nightmare as well; this scandal challenges their very legitimacy. The Orahovac Women urge all decent people to join them in the new International Humanitarian Committee on Orahovac. As the Women suggest, the International Committee calls on you to: 1) Protest to the Dutch government. (Email and fax addresses at the end) 2) Join and help the International Humantiarian Committee. Email SaveFamilies@aol.com or write Orahovac Committee c/o Global Reflexion, PO Box 59262, 1040 KG, Amsterdam, Holland Please read these interviews. See what NATO is doing IN OUR NAME. Interviewer: Jared Israel. Translator: Peter Makara. Included are excerpts from "To Kosovo and Back" by Zoran, a Serbian diplomatic aide who toured Kosovo a month ago. His complete report can be read at http://globalresistance.com/articles/zoran/&back.htm INTERVIEW #1 - NATASHA The first woman we interviewed was Natasha, age 27. An Orahovac native, she studied in Belgrade until December, 1998, then returned home. In August, 1999, she escaped from Orahovac. Natasha says 3000 Serbs remain in the town. When the Yugoslav Army retreated in June and KFOR (NATO) occupation troops arrived: WHY MOST SERBS STAYED IN ORAHOVAC
KFOR ARRIVES BRINGING KLA & TERROR "As we were leaving we saw, already, Serbian houses being burned. KFOR did nothing. We complained; they said they didn’t have enough people. Soon reinforcements arrived but the situation stayed the same for a month. Over a hundred houses were burned. And they robbed whatever they could. A few "Gypsy" (Roma) houses were burned too. Twenty-five people who stayed in the mixed section were kidnapped, plus their houses were burned too. "Slowly we realized the extent of the mistake we’d made in not leaving. Every day KFOR offered new excuses for not protecting us. They said: 'We can’t put guards in front of every house. We can’t give every Serb an armed guard.' "The KFOR checkpoint is close to the ghetto. KFOR guards the entrance and exit to the Serbian area. Plus there are barricades, which the Albanians put up. First you hit KFOR and second you hit the Albanian barricades. KFOR supplied tents for the Albanians who are sitting on those barricades. And they ran electric wiring into those tents to provide current." [In his article in emperors-clothes, Zoran reports "Albanian roadblocks outside Orahovac are former German/Dutch fortified checkpoints. I can not imagine that Albanians could have taken control of those without [KFOR's] tacit approval – or instigation. The organizing committee at the roadblocks is armed. Heavier weapons are kept in hundreds of tents erected around the barricades – supposedly for women and children. Muscular men in sport suits patrolling the site carry small firearms under their jackets."] CONDITIONS IN THE GHETTO "There is no phone service to Belgrade. The only food is from humanitarian sources. One "Gypsy" tried to ship food from the Albanian to the Serbian section; some extreme Albanian group told him, "No food for the Serbs!" Near the beginning we would send some Albanian kid to buy stuff for us. But the kid would be beaten up and they would tell him 'Don't do that again!' "The ghetto is 500 square yards. Water is erratic: once in three days for two or three hours. "During the first days there were lots of reporters. Later there were fewer; I spoke to a Reuters' journalist twice. The second time he said the first interview had been all censored and crossed out." [Zoran reports: "In the first days after KFOR's arrival, 5 Orahovac Serbs were killed and 10 abducted under the watchful eyes of German troops. Serbs aren't even allowed to go to the market or grocery store 50 meters away. The considerable Gypsy population, together with the Serbs, suffers equally."]
[Zoran reports: "In Orahovac itself the former police station has been turned into a KLA HQ. The local KLA commander, the man who runs this town, is a mass murderer named Ismet Hara, responsible for last year’s abductions and brutal killings of over 60 Serbian civilians from Orahovac (the bodies of most are still missing), some of whom – it is reasonably believed – he personally executed. "Serbs say they recognize many local Albanians in the ranks of the German KFOR. Probably KLA members recruited in Albania…KFOR denies this…I’ve personally seen KLA Commanders with their escort – all [illegally] armed – entering KFOR bases with KFOR ID cards and never a delay."] DE-FANGING THE VICTIM [Zoran reports: "Early in the KFOR/KLA occupation, Dutch/German Baklava Units gave local Serbs 24 hours to hand in all their weapons. (note that the KLA has been given 3 months and still counting….) The naïve Serbs complied. A few weeks later, the Dutch/German troops entered the Serbian quarter in broad daylight, fired some warning shots over the heads of Serbs who were gathered near a church and dragged people from their houses. Serbian witness say they grabbed people by the hair and pulled them out while kicking them… "The Dutch/German troops arrested the Serbian Mayor and two other Serbs, accusing them of ‘war crimes’. There is no credible evidence to support these charges, though the Albanian side has spread rumors that documents discovered in a cellar of one house implicated the Mayor."] "Nine people were seized altogether. The second group of six was just ordinary people. They had been working with the International Red Cross which wants to evacuate old and sick people. The six were told they could leave. Then KFOR arrested them at the checkpoint." [Zoran reports: "From reliable international sources I learned the arrests are an attempt to turn these people into "important witnesses" in a made-up war crimes case against Serbs, not because of real evidence. "Here’s the strategy: first they isolate the Serbs, then they wear them out, then they kick them out – after extracting the people Albanians accuse of being ‘war criminals’. To this end, they come up with all kinds of justifications for keeping the last remaining Serb civilians in this monstrous new ghetto."] REVEALING INCIDENTS "In another case a common Dutch soldier saw an Albanian coming from a burning house. The Dutch soldier wanted to shoot at the arsonist but his officer stopped him, and they quarreled. We didn’t see that soldier later either. Their practice in general was that they would change the people who patrol the Serbian area with the intention obviously that these people not get friendly with the Serbs. ROUTINE BRUTALITY [Editor’s note: Natasha then recounts how when KFOR finally came and brought this woman and her baby back to Orahovac, her relative complained to a Dutch commanding officer. The officer replied: 'She's alive isn’t she? Why complain?"] NATASHA RETURNS IN A CONVOY TO ORAHOVAC [Editor’s note: In August, Natasha fled from Orahovac to Belgrade. There she and other women with relatives in Orahovac pressed the Yugoslav government to intervene. The government negotiated with KFOR for two convoys of women to go to Orahovac with KFOR escort. Natasha was on the second trip. After a brief visit, the woman met at the Serbian Orthodox Church so KFOR could take them back to the checkpoint.] "Back at the checkpoint, they divided us women from the children. They made a list of the people who came in with the convoy, and they said those people could leave but the children had to go back [to Orahovac]." HELL "The trick was that the KFOR would bring us back only to our bus and from there on it would be completely unsafe. "The whole scene was one of horror, the children crying, us women trying to convince KFOR. The Dutch commander shouted: 'ENOUGH! Just those who came should go back on the truck and the children must go back where they came.' So there was more crying and the women were crying and shouting, and he screamed: 'ENOUGH!' The children were forced to go back." INTERVIEW # 2 – Miriana Miriana, whom we interviewed second, said the women went next to Pristina, capital of Kosovo. Six women met with Mr. Ivancev[sp?], an assistant to UN Kosovo Chief Bernard Kouchner.
[Natasha reports that a Yugoslav representative in Pristina, Mr. Tomovich, negotiated with KFOR for an armed escort as well as the presence of a doctor and medical supplies on the trip.] CONDITIONS IN PRISTINA "Right across from the Center were food stores. But we couldn't cross the street and buy because we were Serbs. So we gave the soldiers money to go buy stuff for us. Our translators or these soldiers would cross the street and buy apples or something." KFOR CHANGES ITS MIND "We saw that something had failed. So we said to a British Captain, he was in uniform" 'Give us an escort; let’s go now.' "So that guy, whom we would be able to recognize now among a million NATO troops, went to KFOR headquarters. And he came back and asked, 'Could you perhaps go to Orahovac tomorrow but without an escort and without a translator; and if you agree, you must respect whatever orders the German command there in Orahovac gives you." It would be just us without an escort. Just the women without even the doctor. We were to come at 8 AM and strictly obey the German command. "So we said even that way we would go but we wanted a written document where the conditions would be spelled out. This British officer said: no written document. We insisted. He said no. "Another night was coming. When it was obvious that these negotiations would fail, we said, 'All right, give us an escort so we can go back to the rest of Serbia.' Immediately he said OK; in 45 minutes we would get an escort. 'You see we had insisted a document exist so that in case we disappeared there would at least be a record. The bus we were using was from Serbia, with large Cyrillic letters. So it really sounded like that, that we would disappear. They could spin the story this way: they had tried to arrange a trip that was guarded but the women insisted on going on their own against KFOR’s wishes and then this terribly regrettable thing happened. Due to the Albanians’ desire for revenge against the Serbian oppressors, etc., etc. It was so transparent that even a little child could see through it. We had hoped that on this trip we would find some good people among the occupation forces, that there could be some good people but we saw that there are none." INTERVIEW #3: SIMCA Simca lived in Belgrade for many years but has maintained close ties with family and friends in Orahovac, calling and visiting frequently. [Simca was one of two women who went on the first trip back to Orahovac.] "I was afraid I would not be able to see my relatives at all. I started to cry and I begged one of the soldiers: "Please. Please." And he just waved his hand as if too say, "Go back to the group, go back to the others." "Suddenly I saw this man nearby, a civilian; he was my Serbian neighbor and I was surprised. His face is maybe similar to an Albanian. I said, 'How come you can roam around?' 'And he said, 'Oh, they’re confused; they think I’m an Albanian.' So he was free and I said, 'Look, please don’t tell my mother I’m here. My mother has a heart problem. I didn’t want my neighbor to tell her that I’m there and then if I’m not able to see them she might get sick.' "When Albanians go through this checkpoint they’re not even stopped. They just wave and KFOR waves back; it’s just us that are stopped. Albanians clap their hands and shout 'NA –TO, NA – TO!' And the Dutch people are very friendly towards the Albanians. "This neighbor of mine did not listen to my advice. He went and told my family. And suddenly I saw my brother and sister walking towards me. The Dutch soldiers immediately formed themselves into a row and put up a barbed wire barricade. So it was I, then these soldiers, then this barbed wire, and then my brother and sister on the other side. I was crying on one side of the barricade and my brother and sister were crying on the other side." [Simca was weeping as she spoke.] The use here of the word "Nein" here confused the interviewer and there followed this exchange between him, the translator and Simca: Simca: "I thought if I addressed him in English he would answer in English but no, he said, ‘Nein Nein'. " Jared: "But that’s a German word." Simca: "I understand the difference." Jared: "But he was Dutch." Translator: "She knows that. That’s her point." [Simca continued with her report:]
KFOR METHODS OF SEARCHING "First they look at the car, they look under the seats of the car, they look around and inside. They photograph the documents. Then they do this search with their hands around your body and then they do that to the next person and they tell you to stay aside while they do that to the next person. I had taken cookies and chocolate for my sister’s children and they crushed it up and turned it over and inside out. Simca was only allowed two and a half hours visiting in Orahovac.
* * * [In a later interview (October 31), Simca recounted another conversation with Mr. Ivancev, the Russian assistant to UN Kosovo Chief Kouchner, which took place October 29. Ivancev told her they were holding the Serbs hostage in Orahovac because the Albanians had given KFOR a list of 200 war criminals.]
WE SAY: SAVE THE FAMILES! This situation cries out for IMMEDIATE action. The lives of an entire community are at stake. They have been sentenced; they are granted NO RIGHT OF APPEAL. The Orahovac women have asked us to act NOW before more people are killed! An International Humanitarian Committee on Orahovac has been formed. It includes the Orahovac women in Serbia, people in Holland and the US. Please join with us and help spread the message. If you would like to help with this effort in any way please contact: SaveFamilies@aol.com IMMEDIATE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
FAX #'S AND EMAIL OF DUTCH LEADERS EMAIL ADDRESSES Government: Mr. J.J. van Aartsen, Minister of Foreign Affairs – Mr. F.H.G. de Grave, Minister of Defense – http://www.mindef.nl/english/form.htm Parliament: Mrs. J. van Nieuwenhoven, President of the Second Chambre of the parliament - Nieuwenhoven@tk.parlement.nl Mrs. Margreeth de Boer, President of the parliamentary commission on Foreign Affairs - M.deBoer@tk.parlement.nl Mr. Gerrit Valk, President of the parliamentary commission on Defense - Valk@tk.parlement.nl Government parties: Mr. A.P.W. Melkert, President of the Labor Party – Mr. H.F. Dijkstal, President of the Liberal Party – Mr. Th.C. de Graaf , President of the Democratic Party – Opposition parties: Mr. J.G. de Hoop Scheffer, President of the Christen-Democratic Party deHoopScheffer@tk.parlement.nl Mr. P. Rosenmoller, President of the Green Left Party – Mr. J.G.C.A. Marijnissen, President of the Socialist Party – Mr. B.J. van der Vlies, President of the Protestant Reformed Party - B.J.vanderVlies@tk.parlement.nl Mr. L. van Dijke, President of the Reformatoric Party – Fax numbers: Mr. W. Kok, Prime Minister: ++ 31 70 356 4683 Mr. J.J. van Aartsen, Minister of Foreign Affairs: ++ 31 70 348 5098 Mr. F.H.G. de Grave, Minister of Defense: ++ 31 70 318 7888 Mrs. J. van Nieuwenhoven, Pres. Second Chambre of the parliament: ++ 31 70 365 4122 Government parties: The Labour Party: ++ 31 70 318 2797 The Liberal Party: ++ 31 70 318 2924 Democratic Party: ++ 31 70 318 3625 Opposition parties: The Christen-Democratic Party: ++ 31 70 318 2602 The Green Left Party: ++ 31 70 318 2685 The Socialist Party: ++ 31 70 318 3803 The Protestant Reformed Party: ++ 31 70 318 2847 The Reformatoric Party: ++ 31 70 318 2933 The Protestant Reformed Union: ++ 31 70 318 2665 If you are reading this on a site other than emperors-clothes and want to see other articles, please click here or go to http://www.globalresistance.com |