KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #17
SYSTEMATIC DEPOPULATION IN KOSOVO'S
CAPITAL

(New York, April 3, 1999, 10:00am EST) -- Serbian authorities
have been systematically depopulating the Kosovo capital
Pristina of its ethnic Albanian population, according to refugees
interviewed yesterday by Human Rights Watch. Serbian
authorities are using passenger trains to transport thousands of
Pristina residents to the Macedonian border.

Testimony from ethnic Albanian refugees collected by Human
Rights Watch in Macedonia reveals an undeniable pattern of
forced expulsion from the following neighborhoods of Pristina:
Vranjevci, Tashlixhe, Dragodan and Dardania. Refugee
statements are highly consistent and describe an orchestrated
mass expulsion.

Expelled refugees uniformly told Human Rights Watch of police
and masked paramilitaries going from door to door to tell ethnic
Albanian residents that they must leave at once. In some cases,
Albanians were warned that they would be killed if they failed to
comply.

Once out of their homes, refugees said, residents were directed
by police towards the central railway station in Pristina, although
some people were allowed to leave in their private cars. Side
roads were blocked by armed police and paramilitaries.
Witnesses told of thousands of people gathered at the railway
station, with armed police posted around the area. Many people
were being herded onto a passenger train headed for the
Macedonian border, where slow-moving checkpoints are
creating a massive bottleneck of thousands of refugees.

One refugee told Human Rights Watch that he was one of
twenty-eight people forced into a train compartment meant for
eight passengers. Several refugees also described people being
loaded onto buses and trucks at the railway station, which
suggests that it is serving as a general collection point for the
organized expulsion.

Refugees have witnessed police dragging some people from cars
and beating them. Most of those interviewed indicated that
police and especially paramilitaries are demanding hard currency
for safe passage, as well as stealing jewelry and vehicles outright.
Looting of Albanian shops and homes was also reported. None
of the refugees interviewed saw anyone shot or killed by the
police, although all interviewed refugees reported hearing
frequent gunshots and explosions while they were being forced
out of the city.