-Caveat Lector-
"The language [in the article] is completely shocking," said William Houwen,
coordinator of media development for the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe. "Goebbels couldn't have done it better."
{{<Begin>}}
http://www.iwpr.net/
Hate Speech In Pristina - The Kosovo Media Wars Could Start Here
A KLA-linked news agency created a firestorm when it launched a vicious attack
on a leading independent publisher and political personality. The media wars
inside Kosovo may be only just beginning.
By Anthony Borden in Pristina
(Published on October 8, 1999)
Political debate in Kosovo took a potentially dangerous turn this week with a
ferocious denunciation of a leading independent publisher by the press agency
linked to the unofficial Kosovo Albanian interim government and the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
In an extended article, transmitted October 2, Kosovapress assails Veton
Surroi, a leading Kosovo Albanian public figure and independent newspaper
publisher, as a traitor of the Kosovo Albanian cause and warns that he is at
risk of "eventual and very understandable revenge". The article concludes
ominously, "Such criminals and enslaved minds should not have a place in the
free Kosovo."
The publication has provoked a firestorm in Pristina, with counter editorials
by Koha Ditore, a public criticism of the "abuse of the freedom of speech . . .
through threats and incitement of violence" by the United Nations, and a
distancing of the interim government from the press agency which during the war
was the direct voice of the KLA general staff.
"The language [in the article] is completely shocking," said William Houwen,
coordinator of media development for the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe. "Goebbels couldn't have done it better."
In the wake of extensive revenge attacks against minorities, public beatings of
people speaking Serbian, and various forms of intimidation against foreigners
and Albanians expressing alternative views, many journalists and others in
Pristina have seen the attack as a further setback for open and responsible
debate within Kosovo.
The broadside comes in response to a notable editorial by Surroi first
published in August in his newspaper, Koha Ditore, in which he accuses Kosovo
Albanian elements of descending into "fascism".
Criticising both the widespread revenge attacks against Serbs in Kosovo and the
failure of the Kosovo Albanian leadership to condemn them, he argues that such
"systematic intimidation of all Serbs" because of their ethnicity is
fundamentally the same as the racist policies of the regime in Belgrade. He
says the next victims will be dissident Albanians. In a plaintive warning, he
asks, "Is this really what we fought for?"
The article was widely published within the region and internationally [see
Kosovo Fascism, Albanians' Shame]. Within Kosovo, it sparked a swirl of
controversy.
But in a manner not uncommon to Albanian debate, it remained under the surface. Some
observers suggested that Surroi's comments, however outspoken, reflect a widespread
view among Kosovo Albanians, who wish to move away f
rom the political radicalism of wartime and get on with rebuilding normal
lives.
Others reacted with anger. One Kosovo Albanian man appeared at the newspaper's
office and, explaining that his entire family had been killed during the war,
asked how Surroi could criticise Albanians now.
Editors received threatening telephone calls and other warnings from unknown
sources. But the dispute broke into the open following an interview in late
September by the Koha Ditore editor, Baton Haxhiu, in the German weekly Der
Spiegel. Titled 'Lauter Gorillas' ("Loud Gorillas"), the article quotes Haxhiu
referring to the KLA as a "mafia". Now, he said, "we have loud gorillas on the
top."
The thrust of the article is to highlight Koha Ditore as a unique voice for
"social freedom" - against Serb oppression previously and what Haxhiu calls a
"lack of Albanian morals" now.
It emphasises that this struggle was not merely an intellectual one, but
ultimately about real power - and plays up confrontation between the KLA and
the publisher and editor of Koha Ditore. Considering the possible political
future of Surroi, it quotes German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer as saying,
"Watch out for this man". And it neatly flips a quote by Haxhiu into a direct
challenge: "`We have a newspaper but we don't have a political nest. That's why
we cannot win.' Not yet."
Haxhui's comments in Der Spiegel were the tripwire. Surroi's "fascism" editorial is
notably measured, not making direct mention of any political party or politicians. But
Haxhui's comments as published appear to lay gener
al accusations against a movement for which many Albanians have strong
emotional feelings, especially so soon after the war.
Kosovapress' reaction was virulent - and unruly. Calling Surroi and Haxhiu
"bastard ragtag", "ordinary mobsters" and the "garbage of history", its
article, by contributor Marxhan Avdyli, claims evidence that they had been
supported by Serb paramilitaries during the war, and are now spies on behalf of
the international community.
It condemns the revenge attacks, "if they exist," but suggests that some of
them may have been carried out by friends of the Koha Ditore publisher and
editor in order to compromise the new political class in Kosovo and the
national wing of the Kosovo Albanians. It refers to Haxhiu's "idiotic delirium"
and Surroi's "Seseljian idiotism". It says they belong in The Hague, with
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, whom they support.
The article constantly taunts the pair about their ethnicity, pointedly
referring to them as "gospodin" (the Serbian honorific for "Mr."), saying they
have a "Slav stink" even if they "unfortunately were made of Albanian blood, or
at least were declared as such, because you never know the origin of the pro-
Serbs."
Koha Ditore's response was also sharp, if more considered. Republishing the
text in full within its own pages, it argues in an accompanying editorial, "The
commentary by the Kosovo Interim Government news agency will enter the history
of Kosovar journalism, not just because of its mental limitations, but also as
the first commentary calling for murder."
Because of the close link between Kosovopress and the interim Kosovo Albanian
administration - the agency has been funded by the KLA - the editorial argues
that such statements go beyond hate speech. Its vocabulary [and] way of
thinking reflect that of the [interim government] and can only be considered as
"a call to action."
Reiterating Surroi's earlier editorial, it argues that "the systematic
persecution of a human being because of his ethnic or racial group is fascism,
and the Albanian nation, as a victim of fascism, should not tolerate the
attempt of the commentary to persecute those who don't think the same, which
falls into the same category." It calls for an explanation from the Kosovo
interim administration.
The gathering firestorm broke when the Kosovapress/Koha Ditore exchange was
excerpted by the UN's media monitoring service, from which the translations in
this article are taken. Concerns have focused on the implications for open
debate and democracy within Kosovo, with the UN issuing a short statement the
same day.
"Someone is taking Veton [Surroi] as a very dangerous political rival, and his
views as deeply distressing," says Dukadjin Gorani, editor of KD Times, the
English-language edition of Koha Ditore. "This is one of the ways to start his
political elimination-and it was done in a very primitive manner."
By implication, as Kosovo begins to prepare for elections, the level of debate
will thus only deteriorate.
Compounding the difficulty, there is no legal remedy in Kosovo. The
international administration is unlikely to take measures against the agency,
and there are no libel or defamation laws, much less a judicial system, through
which individuals could seek redress against irresponsible media.
"The OSCE is putting in place regulations and perhaps sanctions for the
electronic media, but it is likely to leave the press alone," says the OSCE's
Houwen. "In normal circumstances, this would be something for the criminal
court. But there is nothing in place, so the only thing journalists can do is
write about it and say it is unacceptable."
Indeed, while Reporters sans Frontieres has called for an official
investigation, the combatants in the dispute seemed, at least for the moment,
to step back.
The representatives of the interim government said they had no responsibility
for the offending text, and some official voices criticised its harshness.
While confirming its feeling that Surroi and Haxhiu are "enemies" of the
Albanian cause, Kosovapress has claimed that it is an open agency - even re-
publishing articles from Surroi and Haxhiu - and that all texts are the
individual responsibility of the authors, including Avdyli. Koha Ditore issued
a clarification: it seems that in the Der Speigel interview, Haxhiu had been
misunderstood when he referred to loud Albanian leaders - the word was
guerrillas, not gorillas.
Koha editor Gorani stresses that the details are important, and that
Kosovapress and Koha Ditore will both take lessons from articles and interviews
they have made. At a recent meeting on the media in Pristina, which was marked
by sharp exchanges between Koha Ditore and Kosovapress representatives, a
consensus emerged among most representatives of the Kosovo media to put aside
their rivalries and develop a code of ethics and professional standards, as
well as to increase training and other efforts to raise the quality and
responsibility of the media.
The uproar thus marks a new stage for the post-war media in Kosovo. In breaking
open debate - "touching the most sensitive national point," in the words of
Kosovapress - the affair could begin to exorcise the extraordinary trauma and
moral quandaries the entire society has passed through. Yet the process of
describing someone as "the Other", as achieved in such detail in the
Kosovapress article, has been a classic pre-conflict media strategy throughout
the crises in the Balkans.
Whether the episode represents a new low or could in fact offer a possible
turning point remains to be seen. "This is not Kosovo's first encounter with
harsh debate," says Gorani, "Nor will it be the last."
Anthony Borden is executive director of IWPR.
© Institute of War & Peace Reporting
{{<End>}}
{{<Begin>}}
http://www.iwpr.net/balkans/news/bcr250899_1_eng.htm
Comment: Kosovo Fascism, Albanians' Shame
The systematic intimidation of Kosovo's Serbs brings shame on the province's
Albanians and will have far-reaching and long-term consequences.
By Veton Surroi in Pristina
(Published on August 25, 1999)
In the past month an old woman has been beaten to death in her bath; a two-year-
old boy has been wounded and his mother shot dead; two youths have been killed
with a grenade launcher; and a woman dares not speak her name in public for
fear that those who attempted to rape her will return. All these victims were
Serbs.
Sadly, these are not isolated incidents. Many more of Kosovo's remaining Serbs
have locked themselves in their homes, terrified by an atmosphere in which
every sound seems threatening and every vehicle that stops might take you away
to your death.
Then there is the case of the elderly couple with nothing to eat who are afraid
to venture out to buy food because they know their poor Albanian language will
be noticed. Their Albanian neighbours cannot give them any food because they
have been warned not to "feed Serbs".
I know how Kosovo's remaining Serbs, and indeed Roma, feel, because I, along
with nearly 2 million Albanians, was in exactly the same situation only two and
a half months ago. I recognise their fear. We learned from the radio that
Belgrade had given its units the right to kill at will - even women, children
and the old. As a result, every car that stopped was a potential danger; every
unusual sound appeared to herald inevitable death. Meanwhile, little or no help
could be expected from our Serb neighbours.
This is why I cannot hide my shame to discover that, for the first time in our
history, we, Kosovo Albanians, are also capable of such monstrous acts. I have
to speak out to make it clear that our moral code, by which women, children and
elderly should be left unharmed, has been and is being violated.
I know the obvious excuse, namely that we have been through a barbaric war in
which Serbs were responsible for the most heinous crimes and in which the
intensity of violence has generated a desire for vengeance among many
Albanians. This, however, is no justification.
Those Serbs who carried out Belgrade's orders and committed atrocities against
Albanians have already fled, as have others fearing reprisals from relatives of
the thousands who are buried in mass graves. Today's violence - more than two
months after the arrival of NATO forces - is more than simply an emotional
reaction. It is the organised and systematic intimidation of all Serbs simply
because they are Serbs and therefore are being held collectively responsible
for what happened in Kosovo.
Such attitudes are fascist. Moreover, it was against these very same attitudes
that the people of Kosovo stood up and fought, at first peacefully and then
with arms, during the past 10 years.
The treatment of Kosovo's Serbs brings shame on all Kosovo Albanians, not just
the perpetrators of violence. And it's a burden we will have to bear
collectively. It will dishonour us and our own recent suffering which, only a
few months ago, was broadcast on television screens throughout the world. And
it will dishonour the memory of Kosovo's Albanian victims, those women,
children and elderly who were killed simply because of their ethnic origins.
The international community will probably not punish us for failing to defend
multi-ethnicity in Kosovo. After all, even before the war, the number of non-
Albanians in Kosovo was akin to that of non-Slovenes in Slovenia, yet nobody
talks today of a multi-ethnic Slovenia. However, from having been victims of
Europe's worst end-of-century persecution, we are ourselves becoming
persecutors and have allowed the spectre of fascism to reappear.
Anybody who thinks that the violence will end once the last Serb has been
driven out is living an illusion. The violence will simply be directed against
other Albanians. Is this really what we fought for?
Veton Surroi is publisher of the Pristina daily Koha Ditore, in which a version
of this article has previously appeared.
© Institute of War & Peace Reporting
{{<End>}}
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