www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]

By Vanja Mekterovic and Vladimir Radomirovic Translated by S. Lazovic (Posted April 9, 2000)

[Editors note : In a couple of cases English names used in the following article are followed by [sp?]. This is because this is the English translation of an article originally published in Serbo-Croatian in "Reporter." Translating names back and forth wrecks havoc with the spelling. For instance, my own name (Jared Israel) is written 'Dzered Izrael' in Serbo-Croatian, using the Latin alphabet. If translated back to English, who knows how it would be spelled?]

From 'Reporter', April 5, 2000, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska

• Sefko Alomerovic claims that Aljos Malja, the head of the KLA secret police, is running concentration camps for Serbs in Kosovo. Foreigners ask who is Alomerovic

The question whether anything else can possibly shock us about Kosovo was answered last week. The news that Kosovo Albanians are keeping Serbs in concentration camps is all the more convincingly shocking because it is not coming from pro-Belgrade sources. This claim was first made by the well-known human rights activist Sefko Alomerovic, President of the Sandzak Helsinki Committee. He describes himself as "fighting the Serbian government for 12 years."

Alomerovic told 'Reporter' that the concentration camp story is not new:

• "As far back as September we talked about this at a forum in Sarajevo organized by the council of Bosniac intellectuals. We sent all the documentation to the Helsinki Committee. I gave endless interviews. Nobody reacted. Now suddenly everyone is denying our claims," says Alomerovic.

Documents: The President of the Sandzak Helsinki Committee says the kidnapped Serbs are held in six locations, most frequently in boiler rooms, garages and basements of public buildings and private houses. Immediately following the arrival of KFOR [NATO in Kosovo] these were transformed into concentration camps which hold up to 50 people.

These people are moved when necessary. Alomerovic claims all the camps are run by Aljos Malja, head of the KLA secret police.

• "Our member spoke on January 20 at 2:00 p.m. in Novi Pazar with two representatives of the International Red Cross, Nils Melzer and Joan Verhonig [sp?]. When we asked about concentration camps, they became excited and left the office. Fifteen minutes later they returned and insisted that we tell them where we got our information," says Alomerovic.

"Reporter" confirmed with with the Belgrade office of the Red Cross that Melzer and Verhonig are indeed Red Cross employees. However, it was impossible to get statements from the two.

Alomerovic told "Reporter" that KFOR [NATO in Kosovo] and UNMIK knew about the Sandzak Helsinki Committee's charges. He says the Committe "has people who work for both KFOR and UNMIK." He says these people confirmed that KFOR offices in Pristina, Pec and Kosovska Mitrovica [in Kosovo] received the relevant materials from the Committee. "These are our people, people we trust," says Alomerovic. "They work in jobs like security and were able to hand-deliver the documents. Their testimony consistutes sufficient evidence that KFOR knows about the concentration camps."

Suzanne Manuel [sp?], the press representative of the UN mission in Pristina, told "Reporter" she had received no documentation from the Sandzak Committee.

• "I checked with all representatives of UNMIK and KFOR but no one has heard of such documentation. There were reports regarding the existence of concentration camps or prisons for Serbs and other non-Albanians in June or July of 1999 but there is no evidence of this now," says Manuel, adding that she spoke with Italian sector Command "which also claims that there are no locations where Serbs are imprisoned."

Albania: In proving the stories about the concentration camps, Alomerovic states with disappointment that the Committee has problems on four fronts. "We have problems proving everything we claim to KFOR, UNMIK, the Serbian authorities and the Albanians. But when the Albanians and KFOR say that this is all Serbian propaganda, I personally don't buy it," he says and adds: "I don't know how KFOR imagines its role in Kosovo if that is their strongest argument."

KFOR officials deny the existence of concentration camps claiming that they control all territory in Kosovo and that it is impossible for concentration camps to exist somewhere without them knowing about them. Alomerovics claims and the denials of KFOR may be reconciled by the fact that in the northern parts of Albania there exist concentration camps for Serbs which KFOR does not control.

With regard to this Alomerovic says: "There is information but the only fact which we have is the statement of an Albanian who told an activist of Amnesty International that he saw a large number of imprisoned people in Kukes and Tropoja but that he did not know their nationality. In addition to this, it is good to keep in mind that uncontrolled groups are constantly crossing the border and thus territory which is controlled by KFOR."

According to the data of the newly founded Association of Families of the Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija "in the territory of the province since 1998 1,200 people have been kidnapped". The president of the association, Ranko Djinovic, said on Wednesday at a press conference in Belgrade that 75 percent of the kidnappings occurred after the arrival of KFOR and UNMIK. He, too, claims that kidnapped people are being kept in mobile concentration camps located in the regions of Klina, Pec and Djakovica.

"Reporter" was unable to get more precise information from the government committee for war crimes in Belgrade. As explained by judge Ilija Simic, one of the reasons is the great fear of relatives for their kidnapped loved ones. "It is a very sensitive subject," said Simic, affirming that "the committee does have some data but not complete insight into the documentation".

"At this moment we still cannot make a public statement of any sort. We have very bad and serious experiences from Bosnia. As far as the kidnapped are concerned, they are generally kept in houses, and as soon as they are found out, they are moved. The same thing was done by Muslims in Bosnia. We have very little information and are having a difficult time collecting more," said Simic.

Exchange: Zivorad Jovanovic, the well-informed owner of the private detective agency Ozna in Kragujevac, which took part in an exchange of imprisoned Serbs from Kosovo with Albanians from prisons in Serbia, also shared his knowledge with "Reporter". He, too, believes that the majority of kidnapped Serbs are located in concentration camps in the north of Albania "which are run by the KLA. A somewhat smaller number is located in regions bordering with Albania and in Drenica," said Jovanovic, expressing the fear that a negligible number of the kidnapped are still alive. "The Albanians are tired of constantly moving them from one place to another," he said and added that "some people are still located in private jails because the Albanians are hoping that they will be able to exchange them for their relatives who received heavy prison sentences". However, he also cited "five or six recent cases of fraud where Serbs paid from ten to fifteen thousand marks to free their relatives. O! ! One father paid 30,000 marks ransom for his soldier son but he has not seen his son".

Despite everything, in the story of the concentration camps the two extremes are irreconcilable. Alomerovic refuses to accept that the issue is a matter of opinion, claiming that many foreign reporters said that everyone knew about the existence of concentration camps in Kosovo. "The concentration camps are a secret known to all," says Alomerovic categorically. "To claim there are no concentration camps is to claim that these people were killed. If someone accepts that a thousand people were killed, and claims to control all territory in Kosovo, then he is claiming that he is a possible accomplice in their murder".

Rewriting of reports

"I cannot either claim nor deny that concentration camps exist because I know nothing about it," Sonja Biserko, the president of the Helsinki Committee of Serbia, tells "Reporter". "We have experience with such information because it appeared very frequently during the war and after the war in Bosnia. Just remember Srebrenica," said Biserko.

When asked why the Helsinki Committee in Serbia does not know whether concentration camps exist, Alomerovic responded that "first they have to find Kosovo on the map. Every year they rewrite their reports. Unlike our Committee, they work in offices and organize round table discussions. This is not a good way of keeping up with what is happening out in the field."

Biserko responded that her committee performed numerous interviews with Serbs and Romanies in Kosovo and that in them there was no mention made of concentration camps.

Disappeared

In the office of the International Red Cross Committee in Belgrade "Reporter" was told that between January 1, 1998 to February 1, 2000 the disappearance of 4,434 people from Kosovo was reported. The fate of 2,987 people remains unknown. Of that number, according to the data of the International Red Cross Committee, 346 people were kidnapped by armed Albanians.

For more on the same topic - click on 'We have seen five concentration camps in Kosovo ' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/wehave.htm

***

In 1992 the world was shocked by pictures of a supposed death camp run by the Bosnian Serb government. These pictures were distributed by ITN, the British news station. The worst - a faded black and white photo of an almost skeletal man, naked to the waist, apparently behind barbed wire - stuck in people's minds. These pictures convinced millions that the Serbs were the new Nazis.

The pictures were fabricated - staged and edited to communicate a lie. "Judgment," the new emperors-clothes.com documentary, proves it.

The video relies on footage shot at the same time the 'death camp' shots were filmed. The narration is thoughtful, understated. The film itself shows what ITN chose not to let people see. And it illustrates, step by step, how the phony pictures were created.

We urge you to order the 32 minute video for yourself. It's $20 plus shipping but if you cannot afford the full cost pay what you can. Let's get this video seen by every Western citizen. It needs no introduction. It presents a compelling argument and its conclusions are irrefutable. Therefore it jogs the mind that has been fogged with lies; it jogs the mind to life, to doubt, to think.

We are now raising money to translate the film into Spanish, French, German, Dutch Polish, Italian, Greek, and other languages.

HOW TO ORDER

BY MAIL - Send check to EMPERORS CLOTHES, PO Box 610-321, Newton, MA 02461-0321 If you are making an extra donation, please tell us!

BY PHONE - all 617-916-1705 from 8:30 am to 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

BY SECURE SERVER - Go to http://emperors-clothes.com/howyour.html#donate Pay the appropriate amount as a donation. Then send us an email so we know that your donation is meant to pay for one or more videos. Send the email by clicking on judgment00@hotmail.com or email to: judgement00@hotmail.com

Total cost with shipping:

• 2-3 days within US - $25.00
• Massachusetts $26.00
• For next day, in US add $11.00
• Total outside the US - $26.00

If you find emperors-clothes.com useful, we can use your help...

All our expenses are covered by individual donations. Right now we are behind on phone bills (we use the phone for interviews and editorial meetings) and for Lexis, the wonderful Internet research tool. Any donation will help with these expenses. To use our secure server, please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com/howyour.htm. Or you can mail a check to Emperor's Clothes, P.O. Box 610-321, Newton, MA 02461-0321. Thanks.

To browse articles from Emperors-Clothes.com, click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com and scroll down the page

www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]