October 17, 2000
October 17, 2000
Contact HRF Communications
(212) 845 5245 media@humanrightsfirst.org
October 17,
2000
Human Rights First URGES PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA TO ADDRESS FATE OF
KOSOVAR ALBANIAN PRISONERS DETAINED IN SERBIA
The
Delay of Dr. Brovina’s New Trial Demonstrates Urgency of the Matter
New York, October
17, 2000 – Human Rights First responded today to news that
the Serbian district court of Nis recently postponed the new trial of human
rights activist Dr. Flora Brovina until November 16th.
Dr. Brovina, a pediatrician and poet, is one of several thousand Kosovar
Albanians arrested on charges of terrorism during the NATO air campaign and
then transferred to Serb jails after the bombing ceased in June 1999.
The court’s delay means that Dr. Brovina, whose health has suffered,
continues to remain in jail despite serious questions as to the basis for her
detention.
“The excitement
over democratic change in Yugoslavia should not obscure the plight of these
men and women ― wrongly imprisoned, abused in detention, and now subject
to trials that fail the most basic tests of fairness,” stated Robert O. Varenik,
Director of Protection at Human Rights First.
A new Advocates’ Guide: Rights
Violations in the Criminal Prosecution of Kosovar Albanians in Serbia, released
today in Serbo-Croatian by Human Rights First, details allegations that the
prosecutions are rife with violations of the prisoners’ rights.
The Advocates’ Guide will be used by lawyers in Serbia who take up the
defense of Kosovar Albanians by offering legal analysis of international law
to support national legal claims. The
Belgrade based Humanitarian Law Center will distribute the Advocates’ Guide to local defense lawyers working on these cases.
Six hundred and seventy Kosovar Albanians have
already been convicted and the majority are imprisoned for crimes ranging from
hostile activity against the state to terrorism. Nearly 200 more still await trial or the appeal of their convictions.
Fourteen, including two minors, remain jailed without formal charges.
Noting President Kostunica’s pledge in his first week of office to “take
politics out of the courtroom,” Human Rights First calls upon President Kostunica
to ensure speedy and independent review of these cases, and prompt release of
prisoners wrongly tried and convicted. “This is one of the first steps President Kostunica can take
to regain public confidence in his promise to re-establish the rule of law,”
explained Mr. Varenik.
After Dr. Brovina was convicted in December 1999 on charges of terrorism, her
case drew international attention because of obvious irregularities and the
widespread impression that the government intended to silence one of Kosovo’s
best-known advocates. Independent
observers at her criminal trial reported that the prosecution lacked reliable
evidence to support the charges, and relied instead on a confession coerced
after more than 200 hours of interrogation.
In June, Human Rights First joined seven other human rights groups,
including PEN and Physicians for Human Rights, to urge that the charges against
Dr. Brovina be dropped.