Press Release

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HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
CALLS ON YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT TO END "VICIOUS
ABUSES" IN KOSOVO AND COMMIT TO RETURN 
OF REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS

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HR/99/44
13 May 1999
 

Expresses Concern Over Impact of Aerial Bombardment on Civilians
 

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said in Belgrade today the Yugoslav Federal Government must end immediately "the vicious human rights violations" its army, police and paramilitary forces are accused of in Kosovo and commit itself to the unconditional and safe return of all refugees and internally displaced persons.

Speaking at the end of a tour of countries affected by the Kosovo crisis, Mrs. Robinson said she had told Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic earlier in the day that the accounts she had been given by hundreds of Kosovar Albanian refugees pointed to "a campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out with cold-blooded determination by Government military and security forces."

"After hearing these harrowing accounts, I believe it is appropriate that I should come to the place where many of these stories lead and bring the issues to those directly concerned," said the High Commissioner.

Mrs. Robinson said none of the refugees she had spoken to in camps in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania told her they had fled Kosovo because of the current aerial bombardment. "The reason they gave for leaving was very clear: they were driven out by men in uniform. The Federal Yugoslav Government must stop this policy," she continued.

Mrs. Robinson recalled that the Emergency Operation her Office has established in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is cooperating with international partners in collecting, verifying and cross checking testimonies from refugees. During her visit to the region, the High Commissioner has met with representatives of the International Criminal Tribunal, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission and other organizations to discuss coordination of the collection of evidence.

"Justice must be done," said Mrs. Robinson. "I am determined that there will be accountability and that we will break the cycle of impunity. The similarities between Kosovo and Bosnia should not include suspected war criminals walking around freely after a settlement is reached."

Mrs. Robinson said she had come to Belgrade also to see for herself the effects of the aerial bombardment on civilians. Yesterday in the city of Nis, south of Belgrade, she saw the damage caused to a residential area by bombing that had taken place shortly before her arrival. She expressed concern over the "considerable number" of reported civilian deaths attributable to the bombing campaign, and urged that diplomacy and peacemaking take centre stage in the crisis. 

In Belgrade, Mrs. Robinson also met local human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Acknowledging that their work had become even more difficult since the beginning of the conflict, the High Commissioner told the NGOs, "I will be a voice for you in these hard times."

Originally planned as an opportunity to see first-hand the work of the field presences of the Office of the High Commissioner in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Mrs. Robinson's tour of the region was expanded in response to the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. During the trip, which began on 2 May, Mrs. Robinson visited her monitors in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. The High Commissioner also visited her offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. She is returning to Geneva today to participate in a meeting of United Nations agencies on the Kosovo crisis.