Under
Milosevic, a program of harassment of ethnic Albanians was begun in 1990.
Most Albanian doctors and health workers were dismissed from hospitals. Six
thousand teachers were fired in 1990 and the rest dismissed when they refused
to comply with a new Serbian curriculum, which largely eliminated the teaching
of Albanian literature and history. Arbitrary arrests and police violence
became routine, including arrests for insulting the "patriotic feelings" of
Serbian citizens.
These repressive policies stimulated the growth of the Kosovo Liberation Army,
which in turn brought more aggression from the Serb army. NATO gave Milosevic
many ultimatums to stop the ethnic cleansing of Albanians. These he systematically
ignored.
Within hours of the start of NATO bombing, Milosevic’s forces inside Kosovo
began a campaign of murder, looting and intimidation to drive Kosovo’s
Albanian population out of the territory. Random shootings and artillery bombardments
emptied village after village, and refugees fled either into the surrounding
mountains or bordering countries.
The KFOR forces
On our way to Gjakova we passed heavily fortified military KFOR camps — a
number of them containing U.S. forces. As our car struggled over the broken roads,
we kept passing or being passed by U.N. vans and U.S. humvees, the vehicles that
replaced jeeps. Superficially, at least, Kosovo seems to be under total military
control. U.S. commanders in Kosovo are assessing whether more troops will be
needed to prevent an outbreak of a large-scale conflict. Small-scale attacks
happen regularly. Recently in Prague, U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright
said, "After all that has happened, we do not expect the rival communities
in Kosovo to immediately join hands and start singing folk songs."
The Italian army was in charge of security in Gjakova, the city where our workshop
was held. The Italians had tanks placed in front of Serb churches and other property
to protect them from Albanians. They were alert and seemed to expect more outbreaks
of violence.
At a break in our program, I went downtown to get some pictures of the Italian
troops.
As I raised my camera, several soldiers pushed me against the wall and took it.
One disappeared into the building while another stood guard over me.
An English-speaking officer arrived and questioned me as to who I was, what I
was doing here, etc. He said he would call the international police, who would
further question me. As he rang the police, it occurred to me to give him the
copy of the program we were running. He discussed this with the police and they
evidently told him I was not a major hazard, so he returned my camera and sent
me on my way.
The war and Gjakova
Our host, Agron Zaimi, is a neuropsychiatrist who had been the CEO at the local
hospital until removed by the Serbs. He believes much of the weight of the war
fell on Gjakova because the population was 97 percent Albanian and the Kosovo
Liberation Army was strong here. The Serbs destroyed much of the city, including
several historic mosques. On one of my morning walks, I got lost, because rubble
gives you few clues as to where you are.
When the Serbs were in control of the town, they arrested, and in some cases
killed, local men. Fifteen hundred men from the city remain missing. Kosovo spokespersons
believe that different Serbian groups probably hold 500 of them and that the
other 1,000 are dead. The exact number is not known because the Serbs will not
release names. Many families don’t know if their relatives are dead or
being held. Irregular Serb forces are rumored to demand $10,000 a man to return
men to their families.
