Open letter to Mr Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on Kosovo

GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR

(Greek National Committee of the International Helsinki Federation)

& MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE

(Greek Affiliate of Minority Rights Group International)

P.O. Box 51393, GR-14510 Kifisia, Greece; tel. 30-1-620.01.20; fax: 30-1-807.57.67;

e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr      http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

12/2/1998

 

TOPIC: Open letter to Mr Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on Kosovo

 

We distribute the latest release of four Helsinki organizations

 

OPEN LETTER

 

Bronislav Geremek

OSCE Chairman-in-Office

Polish Foreign Ministry

 

12 February 1998

 

Dear Mr. Geremek,

 

Many in our organization have greeted your term as Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE with hope and expectation, based on our respect for your wisdom and integrity.

 

We are writing to convey our serious concerns about the politically very dangerous situation in Kosovo.

 

The long lasting status quo of peaceful and civil resistance of Albanians in Kosovo has ended. The situation seems to be sliding out of control and heading toward large-scale violence between Albanians and Serb police units. Every day, there are reports of more violent assaults and increased repression over Albanians in the form of Serbian reprisal expeditions. In addition, there are also increasing numbers of armed assaults against Serbian police and other repression-related targets, assumed to be carried out by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Having recently visited regions reportedly under the control of Albanian armed resistance movements, the IHF believes the policy of passive resistance will come to an end if Serbian repression and reprisal campaigns do not stop and if the fundamental rights and dignity of the Albanians in Kosovo are not restored.

 

No political solution in Kosovo can be reached without an international mediation for negotiation between Serbs and Albanians and strong outside pressure and assistance. Such an international mediation should take the form of a Dayton-like international conference on Kosovo.

 

To call for "dialogue" is not enough. Dialogue cannot take place between two manifestly unequal parties, in a situation in which one party is violently and systematically oppressing the other.

 

Suggestions about various partitioning scenarios of Kosovo, which would likely lead to ethnic cleansing and further large scale suffering for Albanians, seem to have become acceptable solutions from official Serb viewpoint. The initiatives of the OSCE, the UN, the Council of Europe, the Contact Group, and individual states (Germany, France, US) have an acute and strong need for much more clarity and coordination. As during the Bosnian war, conflicting interests prevent Europe, Russia and the US from making a decisive and timely contribution to the resolution of the conflict. The main beneficiaries seem to be President Milosevic and Serbian nationalists.

 

Strong and concerted pressure must be brought to bear on President Milosevic to agree to a process of international mediation aimed at ending Serbian oppression in Kosovo and at negotiating a just and stable future political status for Kosovo.  This is why the IHF is calling for a "Dayton-like" conference. A political solution requires a strong, internationally legitimate framework, negotiated on the basis of international standards.

 

In fact, under the Dayton process itself, Kosovo ought to be the subject of a Peace Implementation Council ministerial meeting.

 

The OSCE, as an inclusive security-framework, ought to be the context in which a plan for action is developed and given moral priority.  The OSCE also provides a platform from which to mobilize political energy. We would respectfully suggest that you, as Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, publicly and forcefully insist on a new initiative to end what is arguably the worst human rights situation in the entire region, which threatens to degenerate into large-scale violence.

 

Of course, we pledge our cooperation should there be any way in which our organizations might be of assistance.

 

Sonja Biserko Chair, Serbian Helsinki Committee

 

Gazmend Pula Chair, Kosova Helsinki Committee

 

Slobodan Franovic Chair, Montenegrin Helsinki Committee

 

Aaron Rhodes Executive Director, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights