The day of the Kosovo Security Forces or 23 years since the first time the „KLA“ emerged was marked in Kosovo this Friday. The signatories of a joint declaration – „the cultural and scientific institutions of Kosovo, Albania and Northern Macedonia“ reacted on the occasion. In the joint declaration published by the Kosovo media, these institutions praised the role of the KLA, while also criticizing the formation of the Specialist Chambers.
By presenting the KLA as a „criminal enterprise,“ efforts are underway to „discredit the historical truth“ and to tarnish the Albanians as a „freedom-loving and peaceful people, as people who are victims of ethnic cleansing and not instigators and promoters of genocidal policies“ – the joint declaration reads. It further claims that „the KLA is a people’s, voluntary, liberating and self-defense army“ – as opposed to „Serb genocide“ and „oppression in a century-long imprisonment“ – which „saved Albanians from extermination.“ „The use of weapons was the last refuge,“ the joint declaration stressed.
„The latest developments regarding the role, mission, and purpose of the establishment of the Specialist Chambers and the filing of the latest indictments against the founders and former KLA leaders are contrary to all of the above-mentioned,“ the declaration states.
“Specialist Chambers are a historical precedent; they were imposed by a political decision of the Council of Europe, based on a public political indictment“ – reads another assessment of the declaration, adding:
„The character of great historical events is not determined by the courts, but by history and truth based on evidence and public and institutional memory.“
Signatories
The joint declaration was signed by Skender Gjinushi, Director of the Albanian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Tirana, Dr. Hysen Matoshi, Director of the Albanian Institute in Pristina, Dr. Sabit Syla, Director of the Ali Hadri Institute of History in Pristina, Dr. Ardit Bido, Director of the Main Archive of Albania in Tirana, Dr. Skender Asani, Director of the Albanian Institute for Spiritual and Cultural Heritage in Skopje, Dr. Dorian Koci, Director of the National Museum of Albania in Tirana, Ajet Leci, Director of the National Museum of Kosovo in Pristina and Bedri Zyberaj, director of the Kosovo Archives. The last signatory, Bedri Zyberaj is a convicted war criminal.
He was found guilty of war crimes against civilians by the Prizren District Court in 2006. Zyberaj was found to have participated in the detention of „several people suspected of co-operating with Serbian authorities“ – BIRN reported earlier this year.
He was released from prison in 2009 after serving two-thirds of his six-year-long sentence.
In the same year, he started working at the Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo as a media and public relations advisor. In 2014, he became the director of the National Library of Kosovo „Pjeter Bogdani“.
Finally, in 2019, the then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj appointed him to his current position as the director of the State Archives Agency, BIRN writes.
Zyberaj was also questioned in The Hague on January 22nd of this year. He was appointed to the position of the director just four days after it was announced that he would be interrogated.
The text of the joint declaration
Below we publish a translation of the text of the joint declaration in its entirety. The text was initially published by Pristina-based Koha:
As responsible institutions, with a mandate explicitly given to the pertinent laws to study, preserve and manage the past and recent history of our people, as well as the collective memory materialized in the archives, on this the 23rd anniversary of the KLA’s first public appearance, we express our gratitude for its contribution and irreplaceable role in the liberation war of the Albanian people of Kosovo and its citizens, who were part of the ranks and provided support to the KLA in gaining independence and delivering a legitimate response and protection from Serb genocide, against deportation, displacement and mass murder, the goal of which was the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians by the state of Serbia.
In addition to growing evidence, along with documents, and the factual evidence supporting the truth: On the events and wars that followed the inevitable break-up of the former Yugoslavia; on the role and responsibilities of individuals, states, and different forces, in order to clarify and differentiate causal and incentive forces in conflicts and wars, in relation to those created in circumstances of self-defense and collective survival, such was the KLA – certain circles and individuals are not ceasing their efforts to discredit and distort historical truth.
Bearing in mind the fact that any violation of the role of the KLA, its mission and basic purpose, any slander and marking of the KLA as a criminal enterprise, and not as a people’s, voluntary, liberation and self-defense army, is in itself an attempt to tarnish not only certain individuals, but the very national values of the Albanian people of Kosovo – as a freedom-loving and peaceful people, as a nation that was a victim of ethnic cleansing, and not an instigator and promoter of genocidal policies – as representatives of our institutions, based on studies and documents from that period, we once again share our deliberations:
The liberation war and the resistance of the people of Kosovo, in the period of 1998-1999, represent one of the highest and most influential values for the future of the people of Kosovo, as an inseparable part of the European family, and with equal rights. The KLA war embodied resistance to the oppression of a century-long imprisonment and assigned value to the generations of victims which were the result of efforts to achieve national freedom, equality, and social justice – the third largest nation in the former Yugoslavia;
The basic program of the liberation war waged by the KLA included the rescue of ethnic Albanians from extermination, protection, and the prevention of crimes against Albanians – not activities directed against others. The use of weapons was the last choice imposed by the circumstances because the KLA was ready at any time to embrace diplomatic and peaceful solutions, as evidenced by well-known historical facts: the signing of the Rambouillet agreement by representatives in order to peacefully solve the crisis – as offered by the international community; the immediate and unarmed disarmament of the KLA upon the entry of NATO and peacekeeping forces, as well as the acceptance, exercise, and respect of free and democratic elections by all political forces in liberated Kosovo;
The KLA and the war of the people of Kosovo, as a just war, had a wide international resonance and the support of public opinion and various institutions. This war was directly supported by Western democracies and organizations, expressed via the intervention of NATO forces, in order to strike at Milosevic’s military machinery, achieve the liberation of Kosovo and guarantee a democratic government, under the auspices of the international mission – UNMIK;
All events in the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo, especially during the period of the armed conflict, were closely monitored by international institutions. Based on their findings and discoveries, policies, access, and support to specific forces were established; and the character of the KLA war, especially its political attitude towards national minorities, has never been put into question;
Support for the liberation war of the people of Kosovo, their right to freedom and independence is expressed by the fact that the independence of Kosovo was recognized by 112 countries, including the United States and the vast majority of EU member states, as well as the fact it is a member of many international institutions. The legitimacy of Kosovo’s declaration of independence has been recognized and assessed as such by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which is part of the UN;
During this period, not a single court, including the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which was the most specialized and highest international war crimes tribunal, nor a single local court proved that the KLA as a formation or its leaders and leading segments, either massively and systematically, committed war crimes. At the end of the activities of the Hague Tribunal, the KLA as a formation and its chain of command emerged – as it was assessed and supported by institutions and sound international opinion throughout the war in Kosovo – as a liberation force that waged war and popular resistance for freedom and independence, with the support of NATO and democratic states and institutions.
The latest developments regarding the role, mission, and purpose of the establishment of the Specialist Chambers and the filing of the latest indictments against the founders and former KLA leaders are contrary to all of the above-mentioned. Any comment or attitude towards them, expressed in this Declaration, is not related to a violation of the generally accepted principles that the courts are independent; and that every crime should be punished, regardless of the perpetrator, through regular legal proceedings, especially war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These principles were not only recognized but respected by the entire Albanian community in Kosovo and abroad, as well as political forces, Kosovo institutions, the KLA, and its former leaders, who cooperated with The Hague war crimes tribunal in the former Yugoslavia. While all indictees agreed to the trial without interference – as ordinary citizens – and without invoking immunity or political protection.
The Specialist Chambers are a historical precedent; they were imposed by a political decision of the Council of Europe, which is based on public charges, as well as political ones. As such, everyone has the right to express their views and disagreements with everything reflecting these charges and political intentions during the establishment of the Specialist Chambers and its further activities, as this calls into question and compromises impartiality and confidence in a fair trial and an influence-free trial.
These chambers were imposed by the above-mentioned decision, based on a specific political and false accusation, created by a politician, according to which „KLA structures traded human organs of war prisoners.“ It was this new and monstrous indictment that politically legitimized the violation of the principle – that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime, even by a lower court compared to the previous court, such as the Hague war crimes tribunal in the former Yugoslavia. This is an unprecedented case in international law and in the practice of any democratic state. There is an urgent need to cleanse not only the accused individuals but also the war of the people of Kosovo and the international factors that supported that war of these accusations, which resulted in something that is quite rare – in the accused, with their voice and political influence, forming a court to punish their own crimes!
The absence of new indictments in relation to this crime (human organ trafficking) calls into question the further legitimacy of the chambers themselves and the proceedings initiated against former KLA leaders. Also, such definitions and allegations presented in the indictment, which stem from Dick Marty’s political report, such as the classification of a criminal enterprise; mixing war crimes with post-war and alleged inter-ethnic and inter-party crimes; motivation for certain crimes due to religion gives reason for the politicization of this process, which is well misused by well-known circles to turn individual indictments for individual crimes into accusations against the KLA as a formation and against the very nature of the liberation war and resistance of Kosovo Albanians, establishing equality between the state crimes of Serbia and individual crimes committed with the aim of international self-defense by members of the KLA or the citizens of Kosovo, to incite hatred of inter-religious conflicts or give nuances of civil conflict to the liberation war of the Albanian people.
All of this does not correspond to the historical truths of the present and the past. The KLA, as the main force of war and resistance of the Kosovo Albanians, has been and will be assessed as a legitimate reaction of one people to surviving the centuries-old ethnic cleansing, massacres, and displacement of biblical proportions, committed in the 20th century; a force that, with the support of NATO and democratic forces, led to the liberation and independence of Kosovo and the establishment of a democratic order based on interethnic coexistence.
Such assessment will be made because the character of great historical events is not determined by the courts, but by history and truth themselves based on evidence and public and institutional memory.
On the occasion of the 23rd anniversary, while once again sharing our gratitude for the war of the people of Kosovo to the KLA and its former leaders, we express the belief that truth and justice will be used as the basis of the decisions made in the initiated processes.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
