Syndicate: Macedonia briefing 10 may 01

[Chris Byrne <chris@cryptic.demon.co.uk>]

>From ebalkan@soros.org.mk
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 13:49:04 +0200


"EURO-BALKAN" INSTITUTE ON MACEDONIAN
    CRISIS

    10-05-2001

    CONTENTS:

    - Daily briefing from Macedonian press about
    Macedonian crisis

    - Daily briefing from international press about
    Macedonian crisis

    SUPPLEMENT 1: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH LETTER TO
    MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BORIS TRAJKOVSKI

    SUPPLEMENT 2: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH LETTER TO NLA
    POLITICAL SPOKESMAN ALI AHMETI


    a) DAILY BRIEFING FROM MACEDONIAN PRESS ABOUT
    MACEDONIAN CRISIS


    THE FIGHTING WITH THE TERRORISTS IN THE KUMANOVO
    REGION IS SETTLING

    The Macedonian security forces yesterday in
    several rounds only answered with artillery fire
    to the armed provocations of the terrorist
    groups in the village Slupchane. In Vaksince,
    where the most intense fighting went on the day
    before yesterday, the situation yesterday was
    calm. The local inhabitants don=92t answer to the
    ultimatums set by the Macedonian Army and police
    to leave their homes. The terrorists haven=92t yet
    released the soldier of the Macedonian Army and
    the two captured civilians. =93The Albanian media
    announced information that the Macedonian
    security forces act against the civilians and
    that the Macedonian side had great losses. I
    claim that the security forces do not attack
    civilian targets, nor do we have losses=94, stated
    the spokesman of the Defense Ministry, Gjorgji
    Trendafilov. (=93DNEVNIK=94)


    THE MACEDONIAN ARMY HELPED TWO JURNALISTS ESCAPE
    SLUPCHANE

    Yesterday, around 9:00, an armored vehicle of
    the TV Network BBC with the reporter Nicholas
    Wood and a cameraman, was struck with a shell in
    the neighborhood of the village Slupchane, there
    were no casualties in this event. According to
    the spokesman of the Macedonian Army
    Headquarters, colonel Blagoja Markovski, for an
    unknown reason, the two BBC journalists with
    their translator, a Macedonian Albanian, were in
    the vicinity of a terrorist machine-gun nest,
    when action by the Macedonian Army Units was
    conducted. The Defense Ministry spokesman,
    Gjorji Trendafilov, refused to comment on how
    the team succeeded to enter the village. The
    international Red Cross yesterday didn=92t attempt
    to enter the village Slupchane to pull the
    members of the British network team out from the
    village, so they remained in Opae. That is when
    the Macedonian security forces conducted an
    action to pull them out of there. Both
    journalists were taken away from the village and
    transferred to Kumanovo for an informative
    questioning, after that they were free to go.
    The translator expressed a desire to stay in the
    village. Yesterday at 6:30 from the village
    Slupchane, help from the Internal Affairs
    Ministry and the Macedonian Army was asked by an
    American journalist team, there is some
    information that this is a team of the
    =93Washington Post=94. They asked the police to pull
    them out from the village where at that moment
    there were provocations from the terrorists and
    artillery fire by the security forces. Yesterday
    two Turkish nationals were pulled out from the
    village Lipkovo. (=93DNEVNIK=94)


    MERCENARIES-MUJAHEDINS ARE POSITIONED IN VITINA

    Paramilitary units of the mercenaries-
    mujahedins, mainly from the former Second
    Sandzak Brigade from the Bosnian war, are headed
    towards Macedonia, claim unofficial police
    sources, based on information from the Security
    and Counterintelligence Administration in the
    Internal Affairs Ministry. The same sources for
    the newspaper =93Utrinski Vesnik=94 say that these
    paramilitary units have already arrived and are
    located in the training camps in the border
    region at Vitina on the Yugoslav-Macedonian
    border with Kosovo. According to
    counterintelligence information, they are to
    enter our northern border in several groups. The
    mercenaries on their way robbed houses and
    properties of former state companies. The
    =93connection=94 between the mujahedins and the
    local population, according to police sources,
    allegedly, is the 60 year-old Muslim priest from
    the village Slupchane, with excellent knowledge
    of Arabian.  The representative -turned soldier
    of the NLA, Hisni Shaciri, is also in the
    village Slupchane, in a house in the north part
    of the village. This house, as well as the NLA
    headquarters was one of the first targets of the
    helicopter attacks of the Macedonian security
    forces. (=93UTRINSKI VESNIK=94)


    K-FOR POSITIONED NEW FORCES TOWARDS MACEDONIA

    K-for positioned a significant military presence
    on the Macedonian-Yugoslav border with Kosovo,
    in order to secure the border as well as
    possible and are convinced that the last
    undertakings have great effect ,it is said in
    today=92s announcement by the K-for. In the
    announcement it is said that the K-for in the
    past several weeks have responded accordingly to
    the concern of the Macedonian Government and
    conducted intense and successful military
    actions along the border. On the information
    that was spread in the Macedonian media that
    armed troops are freely crossing the Macedonian-
    Yugoslav border with Kosovo, K-for reacted to
    all the requests from the Macedonian Defense
    Ministry for these groups to be met and made
    additional effort to secure the border. (=93NOVA
    MAKEDONIJA=94)


    THE NEW GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR ONE
    MORE WEEK

    The creation of a grand government coalition,
    yesterday discussed the fulfillment of the
    conditions of the PDP (Party for Democratic
    Prosperity) for ceasefire and changes to the
    Macedonian Constitution, as well as the share of
    ministerial resources and leadership and
    managerial positions in the lower structures of
    the state government. Because of this the
    forming of the new government will most probably
    have to wait until next week. The PDP didn=92t
    hold the announced meeting of the party
    leadership on which a definitive standing on the
    entering in the new government coalition was to
    be brought. It is hard to predict when this
    meeting will be held. As we are informed, the
    reason for this situation is the standpoint of
    this party that they still haven=92t received the
    requested guarantees from the future coalition
    partners. =93First of all, we don=92t have a solid
    guarantee by the SDSM (Social Democratic Union
    of Macedonia), that they will agree to the
    change of the Constitution. On the other hand,
    we were assured by the international
    representatives that we will be submitted a
    draft version of the changes in the Macedonian
    Constitution that is supposed to represent a
    compromise for the overcoming of the current
    crisis=94, say our sources in the PDP. SDSM=92s
    spokesman, Vlado Buchkovski, denies that on the
    last meeting with the EU representative, Javier
    Solana, he, Mr. Solana, pressured them to agree
    to the changes of the constitutional
    regulations. In the SDSM, they are at the
    opinion that the PDP has problems with the DPA
    because of their request to get as well the
    Ministry of Economy aside from the resource of
    justice, which will most probably not be given
    up by Arben Xhaferi=92s party. (=93DNEVNIK=94)



    b) DAILY BRIEFING FROM INTERNATIONAL PRESS ABOUT
    MACEDONIAN CRISIS


    </color>NEW SKOPJE COALITION CALMS NERVES

    Multi-ethnic coalition government has taken over
    Macedonia in a desperate effort to avert all-out
    war. But the rumble of distant artillery as
    Macedonian troops battle with Albanian
    guerrillas in the north threatens to fracture
    the coalition before it even starts work.

    The new government was put together painfully
    after strenuous prodding from George Robertson,
    the NATO secretary-general, and Javier Solana,
    the European Union's high representative. It was
    Robertson who warned, "Macedonia is on the edge
    of an abyss". One coalition element, the Party
    for Democratic Prosperity, PDP, signed up on
    Tuesday but less than a day later threatened to
    walk out unless the army called a cease-fire
    within three days. The PDP is an opposition
    group representing the country's Albanian
    minority. The birth of the new government was
    difficult. Negotiations lasted several weeks and
    came to a crisis when Prime Minister Ljubco
    Georgievski announced he was seriously thinking
    of introducing a state of war to deal with the
    Albanian guerrilla group, the National
    Liberation Army, NLA, which has been attacking
    Macedonian forces along the northern border. The
    new national unity government includes the VMRO-
    DPMNE party of Prime Minister Georgievski along
    with the DPA and LP (Liberal Party), which were
    all in the former government. They are joined by
    the two main opposition groups, the Macedonian
    SDSM (Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia)
    and the PDP. The SDSM will probably share its
    functions with two smaller opposition groups,
    the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) and VMRO-
    VMRO. According to the agreement, opposition
    groups will get the ministries of defense,
    foreign affairs, health-care and ecology as well
    as a deputy prime minister post. VMRO-DPMNE will
    head the ministries of interior, finance,
    culture, education and agriculture. It is
    possible that VMRO-DPMNE will give the education
    ministry to the newly formed New Democracy
    Party. DPA has been promised the ministries of
    labor and social policy, economy and local self-
    government as well as one deputy prime minister
    position. The PDP will have the ministry of
    justice and one minister without portfolio post.
    Georgievski remains government head. (IWPR) A
    government spokesman, Antonio Milosovski, said
    the main ruling and opposition parties,
    representing majority Slavs and minority
    Albanians, had agreed on a coalition government
    which will include 96 of the country's 120 MPs.
    In return, the opposition parties were promised
    an early election next January. (The Guardian)


    ARMY POUNDING PRODUCES FIRST CRACKS IN
    MACEDONIAN UNITY COALITION

    The Macedonian army intensified its artillery
    shelling of northern villages held by ethnic
    Albanian rebels Wednesday, threatening to blow
    apart the fragile multi-ethnic coalition
    government less than a day after it was created.
    As army guns poured heavy fire on villages
    snatched last week by the self-proclaimed NLA
    (NLA), the Party for Democratic Prosperity said
    it might quit the government if no ceasefire
    were announced in three days. The PDP had
    demanded a unilateral army ceasefire as the
    price for its cooperation, but signed up Tuesday
    to the new broad coalition despite an
    intensification of bombardments later in the
    day. "Our attitude is negative for the time
    being since one of our preconditions for
    participation was that the bombardment ends in
    the Kumanovo region," said PDP Secretary General
    Muhamed Halili. "In three days things should
    become clear and we will take a decision,
    negative or positive, on our participation in a
    broad coalition," said Halili. He said the
    government had promised a "short ceasefire"
    Tuesday, when the coalition was announced, which
    had "not been respected." (AFP) Asked what PDP's
    stand is for the representing of the NLA in this
    government, PDP's spokesman Zahir Bekteshi said
    that PPD is principally for a political solution
    of the crises, but they also see the possibility
    of all factors joining together preventing the
    slipping into an abyss. "There us still time for
    the created wounds to not deepen, giving
    dialogue a chance. PDP cannot blindly enter the
    government while Albanian civilians and their
    homes continue to be shelled in Macedonia,"
    Bekteshi told KosovaLive Wednesday. According to
    Bekteshi, the main Albanian party of the
    opposition in Macedonia demands from future
    government partners and the international factor
    to guarantee the Albanians an end to the war and
    the altering of the Constitution before forming
    a joint government. "We demand a guarantee from
    those who give the orders, because it is
    important to know how we see the new government.
    The generator of the crises is a political
    system in Macedonia that does not correspond
    with the ethnic reality." (KosovaLive) "We are
    waiting today for a confirmation of our demands
    which have to be guaranteed by international
    institutions and Macedonian authorities. A
    decision will be taken tomorrow," said Aziz
    Pollozhani, vice-president of the Party of
    Democratic Prosperity (PDP). (Los Angeles Times)
    An artillery and mortar bombardment boomed
    across pastures towards hills where the rebels
    from the NLA are positioned, despite reports
    that a ceasefire deal between the government and
    the main Albanian opposition PDP was close.
    Stevo Pendarovski, spokesman for Macedonia's
    Interior Ministry said: "Formally speaking, a
    ceasefire has not been announced." Under the
    ceasefire deal apparently under discussion, the
    army would stop shelling rebel positions in the
    northeast and give the NLA fighters 72 hours to
    withdraw from the villages they occupied last
    week. Security forces would then move in.
    (Independent)


    CIVILIANS STAY PUT AS SHELLS RAIN DOWN
    <color><param>0100,0100,0100</p=
    aram>

    </color>The radio broadcast appeals in Macedonian and
    Albanian for civilians in the northeastern
    Kumanovo area, where the latest fighting is
    concentrated, to leave urgently, either toward
    neighboring Kosovo or deeper inside Macedonia.
    The deadline was 10 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT). The
    appeal, broadcast every 30 minutes, also urged
    the guerrillas to surrender and let civilians
    go. Government broadcasts urge civilians to
    leave, either to Kumanovo or across into United
    Nations-administered Kosovo, a Yugoslav province
    with an overwhelmingly Albanian population. Some
    7,600 ethnic Albanians fled to Kosovo in the
    past week, said Amanda Williamson of the UNHCR
    refugee agency. "We are extremely concerned that
    people are staying in the villages ... We've
    never had such a situation," she said. Young men
    leaving for Kosovo said they were singled out
    and roughly interrogated by police over
    suspected "terrorist" links.
    (L<color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>os Ange=
    les Times)
    The government and International Red Cross have
    offered safe passage out, yet the women and
    children don't leave. Theirs is a collective act
    of defiance, determination or terror that has
    enormously frustrated the Macedonian government
    and astounded the few foreign aid workers who
    have visited this town since the army began an
    offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels in this
    region last week. More than 1,000 civilians
    remain in this town and surrounding ones for
    reasons that are not clear. According to the
    Macedonian government, guerrillas who control
    their towns have ordered them to stay put. But
    some may remain out of resolve to press for the
    Albanians' political goals, including better
    jobs, more political power and more schooling in
    their own language. For whatever reason, they
    are functioning as human shields in a combat
    zone. Their continued presence means the army
    cannot pursue the all-out war and ground assault
    it says is necessary to defeat the rebels and
    stamp out a new full-scale ethnic conflict in
    the Balkans. In brief interviews in the basement
    here, several women voiced support for the
    rebellion. But with armed fighters standing over
    them, it was not possible to know if they
    genuinely felt that way. (The Washington Post)
    </color>Another 2,000 terrified Albanian civilians,
    mainly women and children, fled into Kosovo
    yesterday after 4,000 arrived on Monday. Many
    trudged along narrow dirt roads through mountain
    passes, carrying suitcases hastily stuffed with
    clothes and family mementos.
    (Guardian)<color><param>0100,0100,0100</para=
    m> </color>"The
    government has to face reality," said a rebel
    leader, Commander Sokoli.
    <color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>"It has to f=
    ace us."
    Sokoli said the civilians were "a burden to us
    as well. We have asked them to leave. But they
    are resolved to stay here". (</color>Cape Times)
    Thousands of frightened villagers have been
    streaming from Vaksince and other villages north
    of the capital, Skopje, into neighboring Kosovo.
    Many said they left behind homes that were
    leveled in the army offensive. =93People are in a
    very difficult situation =97 they=92re dangerously
    exposed to ongoing hostilities,=94 Amanda
    Williamson, spokeswoman for the International
    Committee of the Red Cross, said Wednesday. She
    said the fighting was hampering efforts to
    deliver food and other aid to the refugees.
    (MSNBC)<color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>


    HALICI: THE REVELS UNAFFECTED, THE VILLAGES
    RUINED

    The government claims its offensive has pushed
    most of the rebels into NATO-occupied Kosovo and
    other parts of Serbia. But a drive along hilly
    roads showed rebels in control of a long swath
    of Macedonian territory northwest of the city of
    Kumanovo, encompassing a string of Albanian-
    majority villages 20 miles long. They include
    Otla, Lipkovo, Lojane, Orizare, Vaksince and
    Slupcane. The army knows this, and these
    villages -- with a combined population of 26,000
    before the insurrection -- have been its
    principal artillery targets. A seventh village,
    Matejce, this afternoon had rebels at one edge
    and Macedonian troops -- plus an armored
    personnel carrier equipped with a cannon -- at
    the other. The rebels raced two cars and a truck
    filled with food partway through the village
    today before the vehicles were shot up and
    abandoned. Husamedin Halici, the ethnic Albanian
    mayor of Lipkovo, said in an interview in
    Kumanovo that he has not visited the town for
    two days. But he said that so far, "I have no
    information that the [rebels] were affected by
    the offensive, only that the villages were
    ruined." (The Washington Post)</color>


    BRITAIN URGES ESTABLISHMENT OF MACEDONIA
    COALITION

    Britain said on Thursday it was gravely
    concerned by delays in establishing a broad
    coalition government in Macedonia where the army
    is fighting ethnic Albanian guerrillas. =93Every
    passing day increases the risk of deepening
    divisions between Macedonia's different ethnic
    communities,=94 a Foreign Office spokesman said.
    Britain, which has played a leading role in
    peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans, urged the
    PDP to accept an invitation to join the
    coalition government. =93A combined effort by all
    the democratic forces in Macedonia is necessary
    to demonstrate the complete repudiation of the
    terrorist acts of the rebels,=94 the spokesman
    said. =93Democratic dialogue provides the only
    means of finding long-term solutions which will
    be acceptable to all the people of Macedonia.=94
    (Reuters)


    <color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER
    TO VISIT MACE=
    DONIA,
    KOSOVO<bold> 
    </bold>Turkey's Foreign Minister will visit Macedonia
    and neighboring Kosovo amid spiraling violence
    between ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian
    forces, diplomats said on Wednesday. NATO-member
    Turkey, which has a small stretch of territory
    in the Balkans, takes a close strategic interest
    in the region, with which it has historic and
    ethnic ties. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem is to
    travel to Kosovo on Thursday for meetings with
    ethnic Turkish and Albanian leaders. The ethnic
    Albanian province is legally part of Serb-
    dominated Yugoslavia but has been under de facto
    international rule since June 1999. Cem is also
    to visit Skopje for meetings with Macedonian
    President Boris Trajkovski and Prime Minister
    Ljubco Georgievski, officials said. Trajkovski
    was scheduled to visit Ankara this week to meet
    President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister
    Bulent Ecevit, but called off the trip to remain
    in Skopje amid efforts to form a national unity
    government. (Reuters)


    c) SUPPLEMENT 1: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH LETTER TO
    MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BORIS TRAJKOVSKI

    
    May 4,2001 
    President Boris Trajkovski 
    11 Oktomvri b.b. 
    1000, Skopje 
    Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
    
    Your Excellency, 
    Human Rights Watch is a privately funded
    international non-governmental 
    organization dedicated to documenting human
    rights abuses throughout the world. In the past
    ten years, we have committed substantial time
    and effort to investigating violations of human
    rights and humanitarian law in the former
    Yugoslavia. We have documented violations of
    international humanitarian law by all sides of
    the armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo,
    and the NATO war with the Federal Republic of
    Yugoslavia. Reports of the renewed conflict in
    the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
    between security forces and armed groups of
    ethnic Albanians raise concerns relating to
    adherence to international humanitarian law. As
    in all other conflicts on the territory of the
    former Yugoslavia, our principal concern is that
    all parties involved respect civilian immunity
    and ensure the protection of civilians. 
    Human Rights Watch wants to express its concern
    that Macedonian authorities take all measures to
    ensure that security forces comply with basic
    principles of international humanitarian law
    applicable to situations of internal armed
    conflict, and enshrined in Common Article 3 of
    the Geneva Conventions. This provision protects
    those who do not take an active part in
    hostilities from the most serious violations,
    including acts of murder, torture and cruel
    treatment, the taking of hostages, outrages upon
    personal dignity, and the passing of sentences
    and the carrying out of executions without
    previous judgement pronounced by a regularly
    constituted court. This concern is strengthened
    by our findings following the March 2001 actions
    by the security forces against armed ethnic
    Albanian groups in the western part of the
    country. Available evidence suggests that
    government 
    forces were responsible for the deliberate
    killing of 16-year-old Omer 
    Shabani on April 3 in the village of Selce. We
    also received reports that families of ethnic
    Albanians arrested on suspicion of membership in
    the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA)
    were unable to obtain any information on the
    whereabouts of their relatives. Finally, our 
    documentation suggests that government forces
    were responsible for the 
    wanton destruction and looting of villages
    perceived as being pro-NLA, 
    including the villages of Selce, Gjermo, Gajre,
    Drenovec, and Kolte. We 
    urge you to make these incidents the subject of
    prompt, thorough, and 
    transparent investigations. With regard to the
    renewed fighting, Macedonian authorities should
    also prohibit all attacks against civilians,
    attacks and reprisals against civilian objects,
    as well as threats of violence the primary
    purpose of which is to spread terror among the
    civilian population. We call on the government
    of the FYR Macedonia to take all available
    measures to prevent the displacement of
    civilians. We also call on the authorities to
    ensure that the civilian population of the
    affected areas enjoys maximum protection against
    the dangers of harm resulting from the military
    operations. The most fundamental principle of
    the laws of war requires that combatants be
    distinguished from noncombatants, and that
    military objectives be distinguished from
    protected property or protected places. Parties
    to a conflict must direct their operations only
    against military
    objectives (including combatants). 
    In this respect we wish to remind Macedonian
    authorities that the 
    provisions of Protocol I additional to the
    Geneva Conventions that prohibit indiscriminate
    warfare are considered to be norms of customary 
    international law. These provisions are binding
    on all parties to a 
    conflict, regardless of whether it is an
    international or internal armed conflict.
    Indiscriminate attacks are "those which are not
    directed against a military objective," "those
    which employ a method or means of combat which
    cannot be directed at a specific military
    objective," or "those which employ a method or
    means of combat the effects of which cannot be
    limited as required by the Protocol," "and
    consequently, in each such case, are of a nature
    to strike military objectives and civilians or
    civilian objects without distinction." 
    We also note that the jurisdiction of the
    International Criminal Tribunal for the former
    Yugoslavia (ICTY) applies to serious violations
    of international humanitarian law committed
    after 1991 in the territory of the former
    Yugoslavia, including FYR Macedonia. Human
    Rights Watch acknowledges the obligation of the
    armed Albanian groups to uphold the same
    standards of international humanitarian law and
    urges their adherence to these norms. A letter
    expressing Human Rights Watch's concerns to this
    effect is being sent to the NLA. 
    We hope, Mr. President, that you will give
    serious thought to the points addressed in this
    letter and, guided by consideration for human
    life and well-being, do everything in your power
    to ensure respect for Macedonia's obligations
    under international law. 
    Respectfully, 
    Holly Cartner 
    Executive Director 
    Europe and Central Asia Division 
    cc: Mrs. Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor, ICTY


    d) SUPPLEMENT 2: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH LETTER TO
    NLA POLITICAL SPOKESMAN ALI AHMETI

    
    May 4, 2001 
    Mr. Ali Ahmeti 
    Political Spokesman for the National Liberation
    Army (NLA) 
    
    Dear Mr. Ahmeti, 
    Human Rights Watch is a privately funded
    international non-governmental 
    organization dedicated to documenting human
    rights abuses throughout the world. In the past
    ten years, we have committed substantial time
    and effort to investigating violations of human
    rights and humanitarian law in the former
    Yugoslavia. We have documented violations of
    international humanitarian law by all sides of
    the armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo,
    and the NATO war with the Federal Republic of
    Yugoslavia. Reports of the renewed conflict in
    the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
    between security forces and armed groups of
    ethnic Albanians raise concerns relating to
    adherence to international humanitarian law. As
    in all other conflicts in the territory of the
    former Yugoslavia, our principal concern is that
    all parties involved respect civilian immunity
    and ensure the protection of civilians. 
    Human Rights Watch wants to express its concern
    that the groups organized under the name of
    National Liberation Army (NLA) take all measures
    to comply with basic principles of international
    humanitarian law applicable to situations of
    internal armed conflict, and enshrined in Common
    Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. This
    provision protects those who do not take an
    active part in hostilities from the most serious
    violations, including acts of murder, torture
    and cruel treatment, the taking of hostages,
    outrages upon personal dignity, and the passing
    of sentences and the carrying out of executions
    without previous judgement pronounced by a
    regularly constituted court. 
    With regard to the renewed fighting, the NLA
    leadership should refrain from any attacks
    against civilians, attacks and reprisals against
    civilian objects, as well as threats of violence
    the primary purpose of which is to spread terror
    among the civilian population. 
    We also call on the NLA leadership to ensure
    that the civilian population of the affected
    areas enjoys as much protection as possible
    against dangers of harm resulting from the
    fighting. The most fundamental principle of the
    laws of war requires that combatants be
    distinguished from noncombatants, and that
    military objectives be distinguished from
    protected property or protected places. Parties
    to a conflict must direct their operations only
    against military objectives (including
    combatants). Also, the use of civilians as
    shields for defensive positions, to hide
    military objectives or to screen attacks,
    violates the principles of the international
    humanitarian law. 
    We also note that the jurisdiction of the
    International Criminal Tribunal for the former
    Yugoslavia (ICTY) applies to serious violations
    of international humanitarian law committed
    after 1991 on the territory of the former
    Yugoslavia, including the former Yugoslav
    Republic of Macedonia. Human Rights Watch also
    recognizes the obligations of the Macedonian
    security forces to uphold the standards of
    international humanitarian law and urges their
    adherence to these norms. Letters expressing
    Human Rights Watch's concerns to this effect are
    being sent to the president and the prime
    minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of
    Macedonia. 
    We hope, Mr. Ahmeti, that you will give serious
    thought to the points 
    addressed in this letter and, guided by
    consideration for human life and well-being, do
    everything in your power to ensure that the NLA
    respects obligations under international
    humanitarian law. 
    Respectfully, 
    Holly Cartner 
    Executive Director 
    Europe and Central Asia Division 
    cc: Mrs. Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor,
    ICTY


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