Koha Digest # 138

Front Page: WITH TORTURE TO TRUTH

Date: 26 February 1997

EDITORIAL

THE CITIZENS OF TERRA NULLIUS

by VETON SURROI

The stretch is several kilometers long, it is dusty and yellow, it is deserted and as if it were a
kind of a canyon that allows you to look only towards the sky. It divides Syria and Lebanon,
as a bordering area and the only association it brings to my mind is that this is the first time I
heard the term "terra nullius", meaning land that doesn't belong to any of these two countries.
Almost the same is the impression one gets when crossing the borders at the airports, i.e., that
thin line of land that divides the international transit area from the passport control section.
Moreover, this emotional restricted feeling will be more valid as you come in from the free
international section into the control section of the so called FRY.

I know that this was the feeling a passenger from Germany had, a man from Podujevë
arrested by the Serbian authorities of the Belgrade airport after he was expelled from the
North because of his "ungrounded request for asylum". Walking the hundred of steps from
the airplane to the airport building probably terrified him, in expectation of the reaction of the
authorities. Some hundreds of steps that allow one to see the difference between the situation
protected by a state and the absolute state of fragility and the lack of legal roof over the head.

The person working in the organization symbolized by the roof made up of the protecting
hands over the figure of a human, UNHCR, explained to me during this week, that his
organization was very much interested in the fate of the repatriated Albanian refugees from
the West. In the further explanations, it came out that this organization, nevertheless, could
express its interest only by reading Albanian newspapers and the communiques of the
CDHRF. Technically, it came out that official Bonn does not inform UNHCR that a refugee
is being repatriated, so UNHCR doesn't know that the refugee is coming back home. And,
also technically, even if it knew, it couldn't get into the international zone of the airport to
verify who is coming in and who not, because it doesn't have the mandate for this.

Thus, Albanian refugees returning from Germany remained between two zones: that of the
interest of Germany to repatriate all Kosovar refugees as soon as possible (but those who
have a verified reason to stay) and the interest of the Serbian authorities to make the life
impossible to these returnees as much as to their other compatriots that haven't left the
country yet.

The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton
Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha
soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the
name of Koha Ditorë. W ith the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on
http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.
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The coming days, those of the applications of the German-Serb agreement on the repatriation
of the Albanian asylum-seekers, could register the silent and terrifying transfer of the citizens
of a roofless house, having the chance to look only towards the sky. Of people that realize
that terra nullius is the best protection.

KOSOVA

"TRUTH" OVER TORTURE

by BAJRAM KELMENDI / Prishtinë

After being interrogated by the Investigating Judge, i.e. after

the beginning of the penal procedure, the accused are constantly
taken out from the building of the District Prison in Prishtinë
and are continuously interrogated by the state security organs.
Interrogations take place during daytime and nighttime, with the
use of physical torture, even with the application of electric
shocks, as is the case with the accused Alban Neziri. The traces
of violence are so intensive that I have been forced to suggest
to take my defendant to medical check up at the Institute for
Judicial Medicine in Prishtinë, to ascertain the lesions and give
him medical assistance, but so far, nothing has been done in this
respect. Thus, the accused Alban Neziri, after being interrogated
by the Investigating Judge, was taken to the premises of the
State Security where he was tortured while interrogated on
February 7,10, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18. His interrogation on 10
February started at 7 pm and ended at 4 am the next day.

This kind of interrogation is done according to the written

consent of the Investigating Judge, in which there are no time
limits neither determined premises where the accused would be
interrogated in the absence of the Investigating Judge. This
consent is allegedly grounded on Art. 151:5 of the Law on
Criminal Procedure (the so called collection of information from
people that are in custody), however, this is not the case. This
is not the case in which the authorities are trying to gather
more information on the other crimes allegedly committed by the
other accused, along with the other crimes he/she is tried for,
or is accomplice of, or of crimes committed by others, as this
article states. The accused are interrogated by the organs of
state security related to the crimes they are accused of
committing and for which they have been already interrogated by
the Investigating Judge. On the other hand, the collection of the
information by persons who are arrested according to the court's
verdict, should be done in the time that the judge sets and under
his/her supervision. In the concrete case, not only has the judge
failed to set the time in which the state security organs will
collect the data from the accused, but she failed to supervise

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any of the interrogations in which very serious physical torture
is applied against the accused.

The Investigating Judge of this case has also failed to undertake

any step to take the accused to the Institute of Judicial
Medicine to ascertain the lesions they have suffered during
interrogations at the state security. The defending attorneys
have presented a series of written requests for the medical
check-ups, but the judge has ignored them. Thus, proving that
torture was applied in this part of the process is made
impossible.

The defending attorneys, during the conversations with their

defendants in prison, are completely denied any communication in
regard to their defense, i.e. the crime they are charged with as
well as regarding the actions of the internal affairs organs.
Many times have the conversations between the attorneys and the
defendants been interrupted, each time these topics were
mentioned.

The interrogation of the accused by the Investigating Judge is

done in an organized way and it is well planned. It mainly occurs
after working hours, in the afternoon and the evening, even on
Sundays when the court is closed so the accused can't even engage
an attorney that would be present during the initial
interrogation by the Investigating Judge.

One of the drastic examples is the case of Alban Neziri who was
interrogated by the Judge on 2 February 1997 (Sunday) in the
afternoon, without the presence of his defending attorneys,
although he had two of them: one hired by his family, the second
one that he chose as he was interrogated by the Judge. However,
none of the attorneys was informed of the interrogation, so none
of them came.

When the accused are interrogated by the Investigating Judge, the

building of the court is full of policemen, whose presence is
also obvious outside the building. Moreover, armed policemen are
present in the office of the Investigating Judge, although the
presence of the prison guards would be enough in these cases.
This creates a special psychosis which together with the
atmosphere of fear and insecurity by all means influences the
accused, making them "admit" all they are "guilty of", of course,
without the presence of their attorneys.

The accused and their attorneys are not delivered the decisions
on the investigations even 16 days after they are interrogated
by the Investigating Judge. Thus, Alban Neziri and several others
who were initially interrogated on 2 February, were delivered the
decisions on 19 February, despite the urgent requests of the

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attorneys - for, legally, they can appeal against this decision.
The defending attorneys are denied the access to all legal
documentation concerning the case, although there is no official
decision made on it. None of the attorneys were allowed to see
the files, but one piece of minutes that was related to the
statement of a client defended by a incompetent attorney. None
of the minutes holding the statements made by the accused on the
charges imputed to them have been shown to the attorneys, which
is in collision with Art. 73:1 of the LCP.

Since 20 February 1997, the attorneys are denied to see their

clients when they wish, but they would have to do it when allowed
by the Investigating Judge. Thus, in a note posted on the
bulletin board of the District Court, it says that all those who
are in Lipjan prison can be visited by their attorneys twice a
week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While the ones arrested in
Prishtinë prison will be visited by their attorneys three times
a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and only after they get the
permission of the Judge. All of this contrary to Art. 74:1,2 the
LCP, because the attorney has the right to contact his client
that has already been interrogated and this right can't be
restricted.

The accused are usually held in detention for longer than 72

hours, the maximum allowed by the law. This is contrary to Art.
196:3,5,6.

During the whole time, the accused have been subjected to

inhumane tortures aiming at getting a desired statement, and this
is done after the interrogation for the accused by the
Investigating Judge, after the beginning of the Criminal
Procedure.

With these illegal actions against the accused in this criminal

case, the professional defense is practically suspended; the use
of physical torture is legalized which means that all provisions
of the Law on Criminal Procedure that guarantee the right to
procedural defense are also suspended.

KOSOVA

THE CONSTITUTION "CAN'T" ELECT RUGOVA OR DEMAÇI

by BATON HAXHIU / Prishtinë

In Kosova one can adopt law, decisions, amendments, respect them

or violate them and have no liability at all. This is the reason
why it is so hard to get a statement from any of the jurists or

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experts on constitutional law in Kosova regarding the problem of
the mandate of the MPs, the Government, the President proper, the
May elections, etc. These problems remain actual, because the
mandate of the MPs was never verified. Therefore, Kosova
experiences the violation of legality and constitutionality. And
all of this should have been matter of discussion of the
Constitutional Court of Kosova. But, since this court was never
constituted, neither does it exist, the president can adopt as
many decrees as he wishes, without having to report to anyone
about anything. Naturally, the decisions of the president have
juridical ground, claims the LDK. As justification for the
existence of the Parliament is the functioning of the
parliamentarian commissions. The fact that 13 parliamentarian
commissions have been established, according to the Regulations
of the parliament, proves once again that these are juridical
decisions remain outside any professional and constitutional
criterions. Such an adoption of decisions has no logic, for the
staff of this party adopts the Regulations of the Parliament
without first verifying the mandate of the MPs nor constituting
the parliament.

Finally, the request of PPK's MPs to first constitute the

parliament and then proclaim the next elections seems completely
natural.

However, there is another problem that makes up the foundations

of the juridical and constitutional crisis in Kosova. Reading the
Kaçanik Constitution, on page three you will find the "The
Declaration of Independence of the Kosova Assembly" adopted on
2 July 1990, and which was published in the Official Gazette of
Kosova the next day. This is fine. The biggest paradox in the
Constitution of the Republic of Kosova is the fact that the
Constitution in grounded on this declaration, however, the
Constitution was never published in the Official Gazette, and
naturally, whoever is acquainted with the juridical procedures,
could dispute its validity. It is strange how none of the experts
have thought of this detail that would automatically make all
acts fully valid. The problem of the Constitution is centered on
its controversies: there is a discrepancy of Art.2 of the
Constitutional Amendments and its contents. And, if everything
were undisputable with the Constitution, there are quite some
reserves in the application of the electoral law.

Article 8 of the Electoral Law states: "The presidential and

parliamentarian elections are proclaimed by the Speaker of the
parliament based on separate decisions, every four years." We
still don't know who our Speaker is. If the Constitution and the
Electoral Law are carefully read, it comes out that the
Parliament of Kosova can't be constituted any longer. The
Electoral Law also states that its functioning can be possible

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only in normal circumstances and never in a state of emergency.
Article 68 of the Constitution states: "If there is a state of
emergency, the Speaker of the parliament determines: the time and
place of the convention of the parliament; decides on how the MPs
will be called to the meeting and informs the president of the
Republic and of the Government that there are no conditions to
convene the Parliament". All of this would have been done only
if some juridical and constitutional parameters would have been
respected. There is no doubt that this would be ignored if some
of the political circles in the LDK and Rugova proper wouldn't
have declared that their activities have full constitutional
grounds. There is no doubt that if there is an initiative for the
Constitution of the Parliament, a new law should be elaborated
and a new Constitution adopted.

There is no juridical chance to convene the Parliament and call

for new elections based on this electoral law and Constitution,
for there has been a clear violation of the constitutionality and
legality in Kosova - the societal system doesn't function at all.
The situation in Kosova is clear as it is however, it is not the
state of emergency, because it has never been proclaimed. The
functioning of the parliamentarian grounds, without convening the
Parliament is a serious breach of the constitution. Even the
proclamation of the elections is a serious breach of the
Constitution, if the system doesn't function. Regarding this
problem, Bajram Pollozhani, juridical expert, has dilemmas in
regard to the application of the electoral law and the
Constitution in the actual circumstances. He says: "As a jurist,
I don't like to analyze the Constitution of Kaçanik in segments
regarding determined issues. As it is known, this Constitution
has great political and juridical importance, as well as its
amendments. The actual constitution must be amended, not because
of the moment, but also because of juridical reasons. This is
necessary because of the elections, the constitution of the
parliament, the continuation of the mandate and also some other
issues. What has not been done previously is imposed actually as
character of "juridical valves" with a provisional character but
no time limitations. If all of these are taken into account, then
I insist that the constitutional changes are inevitable. As
regards the political and juridical opportunity, this is a matter
of the responsibility of the Albanian political subject in
accordance with the possibilities of the realization of the
program tasks".

One thing is very clear: this Constitution "can't" elect Rugova

nor Demaçi and even less the MPs.

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ALBANIA

THE SECOND ALBANIAN PYRAMID

by YLBER HYSA / Tirana

20 february 1997, six years after the same date in which Enver
Hoxha's statue was brought down, consequently came the end of
communism in the country of the eagles, qualified as one of the
most brutal. Tirana, the place where the statue used to be is
occupied by many small shops... ad hoc business has the advantage
over urbanisation...

The Albanian post-communist transition is again reduced to this

date and is again linked to this square. Two totally different
meetings will take place on this date. One, organized by the DP,
which considers the gathering something more than just symbolism,
and the one organized by the Forum for Democracy, a bloc of
political forces of the widest spectre. The Forum's gathering has
a clear message, says one of the leaders of the opposition,
Paskal Milo - to show that in the anniversary of the fall of a
dictatorship, the latter will not be allowed to be replaced by
another! This meeting comes after a series of bans and as such
will serve as an exhaustion valve for the citizens of Tirana who
tried to demonstrate in the square between the seat of the
Socialists and the National Bank, full of policemen and large
police forces. In fact, what has not happened in Tirana and has
already occurred in Vlorë, Lushnjë and Fier is explained also by
the fact that the capital is the seat of the giant called VEFA,
which employs 12 thousand people, that has still not gone
bankrupt. The evaluation is that if this enterprise collapses,
the whole, anyways shaken, Albanian economy will also collapse
completely. This is why the pay-back of sums up to 5 thousand
dollars has started. The "Vefa 5000" operation seems to have
started with the direct intervention of the state, which by
choosing between two options - intervention of the state, or the
firms declare themselves bankrupt - they have chose to try and
disintegrate the pyramidal mammoth piece by piece. The evaluation
is also that the amounts that have been deposited are not big,
however there are just too many people that have deposited money
in these schemes and are a social unrest potential.

Trying to calm down the dissatisfied that can't be controlled any

longer, following the unsuccessful visits of the deputy-premier
that has had a bad experience with the people in the field -
Berisha himself appeared in some towns in the South, trying to
calm down the people promising them that everything can be sorted
out even beyond expectations. "We are all to blame for the pawn-
brokers. We will publish the names of officials that have
deposited money in these enterprises", he declared in Elbasan.

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The quiet and controlled tone of Berisha comes in the worst time
possible, with the increasing requests for the discharge of Meksi
and his cabinet. These requests can culminate following the
ultimatum of the students in Vlorë who have threatened to start
a hunger-strike. Calls for resignation are coming in times when
the opposition is united in the "Forum for Democracy" and is
proposing the creation of a technical government composed of
experts from all political parties. On the other hand, Deputy-
premier Shehu, who is chief of the Democrats at the same time,
has invited the Socialist party to sit and talk about the crisis.

The Socialists have asked for the fulfilment of some pre-

conditions as are the free gathering and peaceful demonstrating,
freeing the opposition leaders from prison, and that the
invitation is also extended to the other members of the Forum....
The "Forum for Democracy" on the other hand, has invited the
ruling party to participate in their round table, while Shehu's
refusal stated that he doesn't participate in such meetings
organized by "associations". The deputy-premier claims that the
"Forum" itself is a pyramidal organization, and it forecasts its
soon disintegration.

However, the new political bloc of the Albanian opposition has

continued its political activity in the sense of further
political unity of forces of opposite political orientations,
trying to impose an air of national reconciliation, making a
public call to King Lekë Zogu, Abaz Ermenji or Rexhep Qosja in
order to overcome the situation. In fact, the more often calls
for dialogue and participation in round tables, but at the same
time the fact that the invitations from the other side are
rejected, is becoming a characteristic of the newest political
attitude in the Albanian scene.

The hasty timing, that resembles a quick chess game, is reflected

in nervousness on both sides and implies the reason why the
Albanian premier is not resigning, who is actually supposed to
be the "scapegoat", as a moral satisfaction for the loss that has
happened. Facing this situation, Berisha seems to have decided
to play a deep pressing, making as many manoeuvres as possible
and using Meksi as a buffer between the dissatisfied citizens and
himself.

Sources within the DP, Meksi's immediate resignation would open

many dilemmas inside the DP proper, which in a latent way seems
the layers being formed inside. One of them could be Meksi's
lobby. Berisha doesn't need his party disintegrate now, for he
expect to be reelected from the parliament in which the Democrats
have the absolute majority. On the other hand, the withdrawal of
the premier implies the withdrawal of the government and the
parliament itself, which could cause the government crisis and

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thus accelerate the elections. The opposition, on the other hand,
considers that the pyramidal crisis was a direct result of the
26 May elections...

Thus, it is expected that Berisha will play a careful game till

the end of March and then after his election, as some sources
from the government say, to start an offensive first cleaning up
its own rows.

Another thing that is linked to this is the fact that with the
interventions in the pyramidal schemes that were full of abuse
and "filthy money", as the Albanians say. The Government could
have intervened and control them for its own interests, as it has
happened in the case of last year's elections, they say. The
control over the pyramidal enterprises has frozen not only the
money but also the files that can easily clarify who has worked
and in what way, including people from the government, as the
President proper has said recently. These documents could be good
grounds for blackmailing, however, the biggest problem still
remains the money. Rumors are that around 2 billions of dollars
have been circulating in this "business" and that so far only 300
million have been "frozen". But, no one seems to know what is the
amount. The Forum states that this is the reason why they have
not offered their program for overcoming the situation, for they
claim that they don't know what is all of this about!

Sources from the government state that the freezing of these

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amounts of money, Berisha has even managed to establish a budget
for two years after his election. Rumors are that this is mafia
money that has been laundered. Reportedly, Italian and Greek
mafia as well as foreign diplomats in Tirana, members of the
ruling party but also members of the opposition have invested
money in these schemes.

The money of the mob and other money of suspicious origin, if

caught when frozen, have no way to give back. If this is so, then
there is no doubt that Berisha has declared a war against the
mafia, or maybe the opposite has happened.. In fact, everything
has happened in a very interesting moment, when Berisha is about
to be reelected.

And, in this complicated situation, the most important will be

the posture of the international community. Even Albright stated
in public that there is a need to unify American and European
posture regarding Albania. This is interpreted in Tirana in
different ways, depending on what side one belongs to. the
opposition states that this is more pressure on Berisha, whereas
the ruling party states that this is a sign of support to
Berisha. It is even stated that the suggestion to end with the
pyramidal schemes has come directly from the World Bank and the
IMF.

But, these speculations can't be confirmed. What remains is the

difficult period of social, economic, political and moral crisis
that has captivated Albania. The people don't care about high
politics, they want their money. It seems that Albania has gone
back to where it was six years ago, at least in one aspect - to
the "neutral" gear position from where it has chosen the gear to
run its engine with. Can Albania be strong enough to choose the
gear without having to go to "reverse"...

MACEDONIA

"UMRITE SIPTARI"

by SELADIN XHEZAIRI / Shkup

A foreign diplomat in the capital of Macedonia, representing a

very authoritative state, had expressed his surprise with the
first protests of Macedonian students against the right granted
to 230 Albanian students of the Faculty of Pedagogy to be
educated in their mother tongue, admitted to be surprised with
the flow of events: in a small village in Strugë, inhabited only
by Macedonians, during a traditional carnival the participants
burned an Albanian flag!

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I don't know what the feeling of the foreign diplomat are this
week when the streets of Shkup are flooded with young Macedonians
followed by many adults. Their slogans are so terrible, that
terrible that even the employees of MTV found themselves in a
crossroad last week. Sources from the inside the statal media
claim that the staff had selected strictly a several minutes long
sequence of the events, that was offered to European networks.
The demonstrators (the child is a reflection of the family, isn't
it so?), using the decorations and itinerary of the Serbian
opposition, do nothing else but throw up a lot of poison: they
oppose the university studies in Albanian (opposing the UT, of
course) and they accuse the Macedonian officials that "they sold
Macedonia to the Siptars for a chocolate". They consider that the
best solution is if instead of having a temple of knowledge for
Albanians, they are built a crematorium. One week ago, an image
seen in front of a building in construction in the center of
Shkup was terrifying: the demonstrators, after throwing eggs and
rocks against the government, the Ministry of Education and the
cabinet of President Gligorov, maybe thinking that only Albanians
can be carpetnters, they started yelling "Umrite Siptari"
(Siptars, die!). Only after they were responded with frenetic
applause from the works, they started yelling "Macedonia,
Macedonia". An Albanian that was working on the side-walk beside
the Parliament building, barely escaped the worst.

And the majority of the Macedonian inhabitants of Shkup (there

are some exclusions, as is the case of Radio Shkup in Macedonian,
that has evaluated the demonstrations as fascistoid), take the
last events as something normal, for the majority of the Albanian
demands for equality, the equal use of their language, for
superior education have been evaluated by the state leadership
as illegal and against the constitution.

This is why they should be understood when they claim that thus
they "defend the constitution", in what sense they have the
backing of the opposition, whose leader Ljupco Georgijevski,
supported them fully because he believes that the street
democracy can give positive results. The Macedonian government
(without the Albanian element) is acting as an observer for the
time being, because it is convinced that the votes in the
following elections will not be collected easily.

On the other hand, it seems that Albanians in Tetovë are getting

together again: finally PPD and PPDSH seem to have gotten over
their direct confrontations and agreed upon one single candidate
for prefect of Tetovë.

At the same time, the Rector of the UT, Dr. Fadil Sulejmani
noisily announced that there will be no place for politics in
this institution. The Albanian "reconciliation" was only hastened

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by the "peaceful" protests of the Macedonians in Shkup. It is not
hard to foresee what will happen tomorrow.

MACEDONIA

BACK TO THE START?

by KIM MEHMETI / Shkup

The most exposed Albanian political party (not only because of

its participation in the Government), PPD, is facing today the
dilemmas that have been burdening all Albanian political parties
since long ago: what the is the best possible way to achieve the
collective ambitions of the ones that they represent. These
dilemmas have been stressed now more than in the first days of
the coalition, for they "hold" the burden of the mistakes
committed so far. From this distance in time, it is not hard to
enumerate all PPD's mistakes along the way, in regard to its
participation in government - starting from a lack of a clear
agreement with the partner on how to split "the political profit"
and coming to the phase in which the SDLM converted PPD's
participation in Government into its achievement and merit! In
other words, consider it as "a humane gesture" towards Albanians
and not as something that is indispensable for a Government that
wishes good to its people.

All of it could be considered a mistake if the time factor is

ignored: if it is forgotten that PPD started participating in the
Government in times when it was the only relevant Albanian party
and when much courage and restraint was needed. And, in a
political ambient when there was not much talk about democracy
but rather only talk on how to escape the inter-ethnic conflict.
PPD was not wrong to become part of the Government, but it was
wrong in not evading the optimal moment for the disintegration
of the coalition. It is doing wrong today, because the "nectar
of power" made it forget the truth that after each day in power,
people ask for concrete results; results that would be
proportional to the time spent in government. It is hard to
establish the time when PPD surpassed the invisible political
line when the radical change should have been made and not come
to where it is now; at the lowest level than ever and facing the
dilemma on how to revitalize the party.

From the moment when Gligorov started claiming "Albanian

nationalist circles" stand behind the University of Tetovë and
up to the times when the "Frckovist" politics bravely started
proclaiming that Albanians "can't have more nor less rights than
those determined by international standards" - PPD should have

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realized that it was headed towards the role of the used
Albanian.

The ones that want to comfort themselves even in times when it

is clear that they are drowning deeply, can't see that this party
shouldn't be having second thoughts on whether it should continue
in the coalition or not, but rather to try and find ways to save
itself. Especially knowing that the parliamentarian elections are
not far and also knowing that there is big chance for anticipated
elections.

Today's PPD has two absolute goods and one evil which
marginalizes the good sides. The first good is the political
leader that is very careful and the second it has created a core
of cadres that have very good political experience, as no other
Albanians have. The only evil is stimulated by the two good
elements: the need, so expressed in politics, to take hastened
decisions and the creation of a "narcissist political elite" that
wishes to convert the party into private property in order to
strengthen the circles of the "political mafia".

In the last meeting of the Central Presidency of the Party

celebrated last week in Tetovë, it was decided that the
withdrawal from the Government will be done "once the deadline
set to the partner for its statement on the official use of
Albanian and the superior education also in Albanian expires".
Therefore, apart from the false dilemma - in or outside the
Government, PPD added the "time-out" element to it: the
government got a couple of weeks to clarify things!?

The leader of the SDLM and premier of the state gave a clear
answer to this decision: if you withdraw from the Government,
tomorrow we will proclaim the anticipated elections, which is in
free interpretation would sound: you know your present rating and
don't make much noise for we've got you in our hands!

Where does this conviction come, that the Albanian party and
ministers will not be able to achieve their threat and leave the
coalition? It would be very bad if the PPD leadership has not yet
discovered the possible reasons for this conviction of the
leading nomenclature. First of all, this conviction is grounded
on the belief that the West will do its utmost to keep the
coalition running, as well as the belief that Sali Berisha,
unable to save his own government needs no more problems on his
back. This conviction is also supported by the realization of the
"project" that Albanian should have two equally weak parties and
that are so deeply and crazily confronted, as is the case of PPD
and PPDSH. Or said in other words, so Albanians don't have a
party in which they will legitimize their political culture as
well as the threat to become a manipulated instrument of the

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"political mafia".

Meanwhile the Albanian political campus functions as it has so

far, the statal Macedonian nomenclature is getting ever more
convinced that the Albanian ministers are very hard to remove
from the cabinets and even more harder to convince them to let
go the chairs on their own. This conviction is strengthened even
more with the statements of PPD members that have lately been
source of information of the Macedonian press, that aimed only
at the relativization of the withdrawal from the Government.
Something that doesn't show the real dimension of the withdrawal
from the institutional system, but rather presents it as a
"normal" trade between political parties for the participation
or not in the government. All of this threw on the surface
something that can be easily noticed in the background, that this
party lives thanks to the undisputable authority of its chairman,
Aliti, and therefore his eventual resignation could mean its full
marginalization. If something of the kind happens, then your
author has the courage of announcing the creation of a new party
seated in Shkup, whose members will be the "activists" who have
no place to put their beepers and cellular phones!
Inside or outside the government?

This is a false dilemma for the PPD. It's matter of concern

should be how to stabilize itself. How to put order among those
that think that the party is a beeper which converts their
personal wishes into reality. Or among those who live based on
the most rentable principle right now - "I am the people"!
On the other hand, PPDSH could consider this to be a favorable
situation, but only if it forgets that it actually is only PPD's
clone. Only if offenses are forgotten. It is said that the
infection of one place with political amorality can be actually
determined by the number of offenses expressed to the rival. If
this is the case, then the PPDSH should seek for a medicine for
intensive therapy. Same as the Macedonian government, under whose
windows the demonstrators ask the ban of Albanian and the
building of crematoriums for Albanians. Do the "constituents"
ever think that the "oasis of peace" full of demonstrations, is
happening something terrible when compared to the situation in
the Balkans: the political poison has been thrown among those who
should bear the project called multi-ethnic Macedonia. And
someone should incite the Macedonian students to demonstrate in
front of the Government, but ask from it to invest some money in
the elaboration of an explanatory dictionary of the Macedonian
language in order to replace the actual one that explains
everything in the Serbian language...!

REPORTAGE

- 14 -
IN HAS

by DUKAGJIN GORANI

The small curve to the left, several kilometers away from Prizren
on road to Gjakovë will take you to Has, southwest Kosova, in the
birth place of the traditional Albanian bakers, of their women
that wear the traditional hat, the inevitable detail of the
national outfit - the Has "wrappers". But, also to the bordering
territory with Albania, severely affected by poverty and since
more than half a year affected also by a serious existential
problem: the outbreak of poliomyelitis, the incurable children's
disease.

The follow-up on the epidemics as well as the wish to make a

reportage from the part of Has that belongs to Prizren, was the
reason why last Tuesday, we took that same left turn, headed by
the UNICEF team from Prishtinë. Together with Flaka Surroi,
UNICEF's officer in Prishtinë and Dr. Luljeta Gashi from the
Institute of Public Health - Prishtinë, for whom this trip was
the continuation of last year's campaign to prevent the disease,
evidence the affected Kosovar children and enable their
rehabilitation - we visited Gjonaj, Krajkë, Lukinaj, Romajë...
the villages belonging to Has, in which at least nine children
will grow up, will grow old and maybe will even die without ever
having walked.

Gjonaj. Less than 30 kilometers away from Prizren, three-years-

old kids play besides the spring that splits the village, the
joint sewage of the side-by-side sticking houses; cows come back
from pasture, using the shortcut - go through the middle of the
cemetery, eating a bouquet or two; the hundred years old houses
destroyed by time remain deserted, replaced by the new ones; on
the half constructed roofs of which stand strongly posted the
satellite antennas that resist the wuthering winds. Without
major changes, the old and new ones have the same owners, in the
same place and often sharing the same walls. Nor do the family
names change much: Çoçaj, Hoxhaj or Totaj. But, each family name
has several tens of houses each. Dr. Luljeta says that the old
houses and the new ones do not differ much in another aspect too:
none of them is connected to the sewage. Regardless of how big
it is or how much it has cost, none of them have paid much
attention to necessary ventilation, septic pit or minimal running
water. The village of a region that is poor in water supply, uses
two or three common wells that are always in contact, below or
above, with the sewage of the village.

"The situation", say the Hoxhaj men, as they offer us cigarettes

in the big ODA (traditional guest room in rural Kosova) full of
politicized calendars, national motives and tapestry in the form

- 15 -
of the Albanian flag. The difficult economic and political
situation has brought them here. The big social poverty and
political repression has caused the polio infection to one-year-
old Egzona, who will probably never walk. Maybe.

Nothing better do we hear at the Totaj's, while we are escorted

into the complex of old houses with sincere hospitality. Nine-
months-old Elmedina is another one of the victims of the polio
epidemics. Chances are that she will not walk ever, but there is
maybe a chance for the partial rehabilitation of her legs, which
will be provided by UNICEF, that has assured resources for this
purpose, says Flaka. The rehabilitation will probably last long,
and we will need more funds, she adds.

The people in Has are known for their traditional hospitality.

Maybe they feel this deeply as a necessity of life, as they are
used to working for decades as workers in bakeries throughout the
former Yugoslavia. The registration plates of their cars prove
of their display into Vojvodina, Serbia and Montenegro. It is
hard to find the men at home. They are season's workers, and they
come back to the village two or three times a year to bring in
money and see the families.

On our way to Krajkë we pass by the health station of the

village, a quite destroyed prefabricated building of the
"investing '70s". The local doctor that came out from the smoky
doctor's room, and who wouldn't take the cigarette from his lips,
proved to be a dedicated escort trying to explain the tragedies
of the village.

We reach Krajkë. For the ones unused to pass through our

villages, it is hard to see when one ends and the other one
starts. There is no difference in the density of the houses, the
poverty, the hospitality, reasons and justifications...

It was hard to believe that the small brick room, which actually
resembled a cottage, was the house of Haxhi Likaj's family, a
former physical worker, unemployed since ten years ago - chances
are also addicted to alcohol- and father of eight. The whole
house is a single room, with the uncovered floor, surrounded by
walls, blackened from the smoke that was coming out from the
stove on coal and wood, and which wouldn't come out from the roof
covered by plastic lining and carton. Eight-months-old Besmir,
is the youngest child of the Likajs. While Dr. Luljeta explains
to the family what the consequences of polio are, the threat of
infections due to lack of hygiene and the way the polio virus
spreads, the mother holds Besmir so the doctor can check up on
his hanging and flaccid feet. Besmir is one of the most serious
cases. Fighting for his health is actually a struggle to keep him
alive. Mr. and Mrs. Likaj nod with understanding to the insisting

- 16 -
instructions of the UNICEF team. Besmir must urgently go to the
Igalo rehabilitation center, in Montenegro. OK. The quicker the
better. OK. The mother must accompany him. Ask you husband...
Drita, 19-years-old, the oldest one among them. She seems to
understand everything, meanwhile she appreciates the pleading
instructions of the team as a special honor and proof of her
maturity. OK.

And Besmir? What expects him? Dr. Luljeta's face tells me

everything.

The barking of three angry dogs stops us in front of the house

of Sulë Përvizaj, the unemployed father of eleven, whose wife had
taken their youngest child, 18-months-old Arlind to the Prizren
hospital. Besides the flu he got, little Arlind was also infected
by the polio virus during the epidemics. He is paralyzed. Sulë,
former season's baker, is very much concerned about his son's
health. He carefully listens to Luljeta's and Flaka's advise, and
says that their son had regularly taken all "shots" he should
have, but in vane. The flu has hit him hard. He seems to take his
son's paralysis as an inevitable thing of the life - as God
given, one could say. God gives the soul, God takes it... Maybe.
What about the legs?

The polio virus, in its wild version, says the team, could have
been "transported" in from Albania, that experienced a serious
epidemics last year. The supposition is that the vaccines used
in Albania and which were imported from "brotherly" China in the
sixties had been kept in improper temperature while transported
by ships from the far east. Thus, regular vaccination in Albania
has practically had no effect. Maybe true, maybe not; but it
sounds very possible.

Romajë. The center of the village is wide, as if it were a real

square. The main street covered with rocks is again cut by the
sewage canal of the village. The narrow bridge connects the
square of the village with the biggest building, that of the
elementary school. Tuesday's twilight faces us with the curiosity
of over 300 kids that just came our from their parallel school
that has no heating, no water, no care.

With no laziness do Alban, Jehona, Merita, Gëzim..., take the

best poses ever for the collective photograph, to symbolize the
future of Romajë of Has. Overwhelmed with the given chance, it
seems that right now they don't care for the poverty, the parked
police car, the filthy spring...

Lukinaj. Seven-months-old Venera spends the first days of her

semi-paralyzed life in her home. UNICEF's engagement on her
partial rehabilitation echoes in the sitting room of the Letajs,

- 17 -
as something absolutely incomprehensible. We are offered coffee
by Venera's grandmother. Departing from Prishtinë, we were
advised not to take anything along the region that had been
affected by the epidemics. The fear is present, and her eyes
notice our full lack of sincerity as we tell her: "No, thanks.
We just had one...". What would you have told her?

On our way towards Rogova, a big village with high quality soil,
the most developed village in the area and the "borderline"
between the Prizren and the Gjakovë Has, I can't get the names
of the children out of my mind. I think of the sound of their
names, Arlind, Besmir, Egzona, Venera... The day when they were
named will remain the most beautiful day in their life. Their
beautiful names will reveal the open-eyed dreams of their parents
about the tomorrow that should not resemble yesterday.
But which does. Their names and fate prove that much more
dedication is needed to enliven the happy future. On our way to
Prishtinë, I thought in silence that police repression is a big
reason for the people's poverty, but it is hard to believe that
even if the police repression is immediately lifted, the polluted
springs will be closed immediately; that all the ruined roofs
will be fixed; that there will be water or a water supply system;
that there will be enough clothing and decent living space for
all those happy children of the Has. The new houses and the old
situation, nevertheless prove only the repetition of something
that I fear is a big part of a mentality, almost used to coexist
with epidemics and big tragedies.

- 18 -