KK-Fourm,
og en fra dagens Observer,
http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/Print/0,3858,3973075,00.html
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Revealed: UN-backed unit's reign of terror
Kosovo 'disaster response service' stands accused of murder and torture
John Sweeney and Jens Holsoe
Sunday March 12, 2000
The Observer
Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made
against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United
Nations report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of
'criminal activities _ killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing,
abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and
hate-speech'.
The 5,000-strong corps, funded by UN members including Britain, has a £30
million aid budget for Kosovo. It was set up to provide 'disaster response
services'; instead, says the UN, it has been murdering and torturing people.
The UN's own damning verdict on its newly created civil defence force is
fresh evidence of the failure of Special Representative Bernard Kouchner to
establish the rule of law in Kosovo. Many of the corps's recruits came
straight from the Kosovo Liberation Army, set up to meet the violence of
Slobodan Milosevic's police with violence.
Nato's intervention last June saw the departure of armed Serbs from Kosovo,
but violence and gangsterism by Albanian extremists has not stopped. The
report's grim message is that the UN is paying the salaries of many of the
gangsters.
The report covers the period from 21 January, when the corps formally came
into being. Under the heading 'killings', the UN says: 'Dragash: two
members of the KPC and three others were arrested by UN police in
connection with the killing of an ethnic Gorani (11 February).'
There are three charges of ill-treatment and torture: in Pec, a man was
beaten senseless in the KPC's headquarters, suffering head injuries and
severe bruising from a rifle butt. The victim had been attacked in a
newspaper article, written by a former fighter in the KLA. In Prizren, a
man from the Torbesh minority - a group of Muslim Turks suspected by the
Albanians of collaborating with the Serbs - was kidnapped and beaten up by
a KPC member and three other men.
Also in Prizren, the KPC stands accused of using torture to obtain
confessions. After two men arrested on suspicion of stealing cars were
handed over to UN police, they 'complained they had been severely
ill-treated. Subsequent medical examinations corroborated the victims'
allegations'. Troops from K-For, the multi-national force, suspended the
two alleged torturers from the KPC on 4 February.
The KPC is not a police force, and yet one of the grave concerns raised by
the UN report, drawn up by Kouchner's own office, is that mem bers of the
KPC are behaving as if they were above the law. The report lists complaints
from UN police working for its mission in Kosovo, Unmik.
The KPC has been running protection rackets across Kosovo - in Pristina,
Suva Reka, Dragash, Istok and Prizren - demanding 'contributions' from
shopkeepers, businessmen and contractors. In Suva Reka, KPC members are
alleged to have forced petrol stations to accept coupons rather than money
for fuel.
In Vucitrn, the KPC reportedly demanded protection money from members of an
ethnic minority, the Ashkali, originally from India. One family member had
previously been kidnapped and the family had been bombed.
The KPC has a nice line in death threats, says the UN. Two members
threatened to kill K-For interpreters after being arrested by Nato troops
in Kosovo. Following the arrests, 20 KPC men mobbed the police station and
demanded their release. They were freed the next day.
The KPC may be running prostitution rackets, says the UN. A report was
received on 14 February that a high-ranking KPC officer may be supervising
a forced prostitution racket running out of the Drenica Bar, close to the
Srbica KPC training camp.
The KPC is led by General Agim Ceku, who comes in for fierce criticism from
the report. His earlier pledges not to tolerate any criminal behaviour by
KPC members and to expel anyone who violates the law are mocked by the
report, and Ceku, who was formerly a senior commander in the KLA, comes in
for personal criticism.
Under the heading 'Activities against minorities, including hate speech',
Ceku is criticised for being present at a walk-out staged by Albanian
members of the KPC when a speech was translated into Serbo-Croat - the
language of the Muslim Slav minority suspected by the Albanians of
collaboration with the Serbs.
The report comments: 'It was the clear opinion of those present that this
was a premeditated action. The speeches of General Ceku and that of the
regional KPC commander were not those agreed upon in advance. The men spoke
of the war and loyalty to the "country" - 10 February.' Such a speech would
contradict the policy of the UN, the general's paymaster.
© Copyright Guardian Media Group plc. 2000
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Knut Rognes
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