Civil society writes to the American Senate: Do not let Russia, Serbia tarnish KLA war and yours

In a request to the Head of the Senate of Foreign Relations Commission, James E. Rich, as well as members of this commission, Kosovo civil society has asked US senators to vote Resolution for the commemoration of Kosovo's freedom war and implementation of CAATSA sanctions on Serbia.

The request has been made by the Institute for Freedom and Justice as leader of the coalition of 18 Kosovo civil sign society organisations, which are the Centre for Advanced Studies, FIT, Ecovision, Energy Perspective, Federation of Health Unions, Independent Union of Miners, Independent Union of Minors and Travel Workers, Development Initiative and Social Integration SDI, the Kosovar Association for the Protection of Consumers, Kosovar Initiative for Stability, Lettés Do It Kosova! , NGO Accesses, New Milenium NGO, Juridical and Social Survey Organisation OMNES, Quality Institute for Exploration, Analysis and Training CHAT, the Sharcem Workers' Union, Together Realizing our Joint Environments TROja and Vizionida.

The purpose of this requirement, according to these civil society organisations, is concern over the hostile and intentional efforts of Russia and Serbia as its representative, for ravaging the fair fight for freedom of the Kosovo Liberation Army and international military intervention led by the United States of America and NATO.

“In the continuation of these operations aimed at covering the genocide made by Serbia in Kosovo during 1998-1999, we are very kindly asked by your honoured commission to present the Senate's resolution of the victims' commemoration and recognition of freedom fighters in Kosovo's painful fight for its universal and insecurable rights for freedom and democracy. Over the past two decades, we signatories many of us witness the crimes committed by Serbs we have promoted truth and justice as cornerstones for the reconciliation process that would bring lasting peace and spiritual fulfillment to victims and their families”, writes among other things in this letter to civil society for the US Senate Commission for Foreign Relations.

It says Serbia has been braved by international amnesty for its crimes and by the lack of sanctions on its behaviour, facing a confused European Union and a lack of US actions to support diplomatic pressure, where the example is failure to impose sanctions on Serbia in line with the provisions of the Act against America's countersmen through Sanctions (CAATSA).

Russia's “Actions and intentional efforts to make it clear that no international conflict can be resolved without the reconciliation and fulfillment of their political interests, followed by Serbia's major investments in the creation of exhumation and instability in Kosovo. Misinformative campaigns, promotion and election of war criminals to high positions, campaigns for the accusations of KLA and NATO for war crimes are just some of Serbia's deliberate instruments. The latest examples of this aggression directed not only towards Kosovo, but also to the US, have occurred less than a month ago, beginning with the press conference of Serbian President Vucic and Russia's Foreign Minister on June 18th, who warned that any agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia in Washington DC would also require the approval of Russia”, the civil society letter said.

According to her, six days after ignoring the warning, Kosovo's Specialised Prosecutor's Office (ZPS) issued a political statement against the Kosovo Liberation Army, claiming they have presented a ten-point indictment in the Specialised Chambers for Investigation by the Court, where Kosovo President Hashim Thaci is charged with -- former Parliament Speaker Kadri Veselini and others for a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes -- thus distorting peace talks between Kosovo and Serbia and effectively turning the US away from its role as its mediator.

The ZPS media statement incorrectly mentions that the indictment is only accusation and that the Judge of the preliminary procedure had not yet decided to confirm these charges. With a scandalous political statement, the SPS became nothing more than an additional tool of the Russian and Serbian joint campaign to counterfeit historical data and disqualified US efforts to reach a final peace agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Unfairly, the Specialised Chambers have been created as a result of the Russian campaign to re-investe claims the KLA leaders had already been released after countless acts and court cases before TTPJ, as well as other international and national courts. As a country that seeks its future based on the American values of democracy, freedom and justice, Kosovo and its people have co-operated and endured more than two decades of unjust persecution in the name of prosecution, even facing double prosecution, triple and fourfold for the same work”, it is further said on paper.

Kosovo's civil society in its arguments sent to the American Senate stresses that despite Serbia's sending more than 50,000 armed men to commit genocide and mass rape in Kosovo, rather than the opposite, the number of alleged war crimes charges against former KLA freedom fighters is almost triple higher than the number of cases filed by the International Court against members of Serbian forces.

Even 21 years after the war in Kosovo, more than seven decades after Serbia declared itself the second European country “judenfrei”, Serbia never passed through a process of denasiation and transitional justice to bring its criminals to justice and to ensure a spiritual fulfillment for their Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Jewish and Roma victims. We believe that justice and history go in parallel, just as they stand together on the eastern entrance to the US Senate and we ask your commission to commit to our case in view of both of these”, it is said in the letter of civil society sent by Senton Kachanic as head of the Institute for Freedom and Justice on behalf of Kosovo civil sign society organisations.

It is clear that Serbia has been involved in Russia's malicious agenda, and this was publicly demonstrated during the joint press conference of Vuciqi and Lavrov, where he spoke of Russia's commitment to protecting Serbia's interests, which according to Russia plays “important and positive key account” in ensuring peace and stability in the region. As Russia publicly demonstrates its support for Serbia's interests, while continuing to cover a genocide past, we believe it is time for the United States to respond in line with the circumstances in supporting its most loyal ally in the world, the Republic of Kosovo. We believe it is time to take a clear stand against Russian and Serbian deinformative campaigns through a bipartisan republic of the Senate, commemorating the 21st anniversary of Kosovo's war and its legacy of victims on the road to Kosovo towards freedom and democracy. Of the over 13 thousand people who died during the Kosovo war, at least 10.334 were civilians, 84% of them were Kosovo Albanians killed by the army, police and Serb paramilitary. 20,400 women, children and other Kosovo Albanian men were violated by these Serb formations through organised use of rape as a war tool sponsored by the Serbian state. Twenty-one years later, a bipartisan Senate resolution would honour the life and heritage of victims, freedom fighters and all those who fought to tell the truth despite a Russian and Serbian coverage campaign now for two decades. Such a resolution would condemn the efforts of the Serbian and Russian government, as well as their allies, to spread dezinforms about the history of the Kosovo war and undermine the common foreign policy goal of the United States and Kosovo for lasting peace in the Western Balkans. We believe that it is very important for justice to go to the country and the first step towards this is the removal of Serbia's international amnesty for crimes, the implementation of CAATSA sanctions, and the presentation of a resolution, which defines the facts and rejects the false arrogance, where Serbia tries to present itself as the victim of the wars it itself began against Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo<3>, the letter to the American Senate continues.

This letter of civil society sent to the US Senate ends up praising the continuing leadership of American senators for the enterprise of acts against atrocities and genocide, requiring the American Senate to promote bipartisan support for Kosovo, which has existed historically.

“Our expectations lie in the historic bipartisan consensus in the United States whenever Kosovo” was in question, the letter signed by 18 civil society organisations in Kosovo concludes.