HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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FIRST LETTER TO UNMIK
From: Sonja Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Need accurate information
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date sent: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 16:59:03 -0600
Sonja Myers
2602 Werlein Avenue
Houston, TX 77005
U.S.A.
November 27, 2001
UNMIK - Kosovo
Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
Dear Ms. Manuel
I am turning to you as a spokesperson of UNMIK in Kosovo, in order to
obtain an accurate information regarding the lack of electricity in the
majority Serbian populated Gracanica town in Kosovo. My cousin who lives
there told me that the population of Gracanica is living without
electricity for the last fifteen days. He said that the power generating
unit supplying electricity to this city and its vicinity is not
operational due to the lack of maintenance and funds to repair it. He
also mentioned that some $240.000.000 were invested in the last general
service and overhaul of the power supply infrastructure in Kosovo, a sum
that would be sufficient to build two completely new, state-of-the-art
power plants to supply the whole of Kosovo. Which begs the question: was
this sum really allocated for this purpose and if so where did the money
go since it had obviously not been used to service and/or repair the
power supply infrastructure in Kosovo.
According to my cousin there are two solutions to overcome this problem.
One is to have the power generating unit brought to Gracanica from
Serbia/FR Yugoslavia which would be free of all charges (cost of the
unit and transport charges). Another is to purchase the unit from
Albania.
For the municipality that is short of funds, the first solution would be
the most sensible and frankly the only one. However, it appears that
UNMIK is seeking to impose CUSTOM DUTIES for the power generating unit
which Serbia/FR Yugoslavia wants to GIVE as a way of helping the
Gracanica population currently facing a harsh winter.
Apart from humanitarian concerns, this act would suggest that Kosovo is
an internationally recognized independent country - which it is not!
Kosovo is still a Serbian province and part of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. As far as I know, the goods sent from one to another Swiss
canton, or from one to another Canadian province, or from one to another
American state - are not and have never been subjected to customs
duties.
Please comfort me, tell me that UNMIK is not a part of this complete and
utter nonsense. Tell me that there is some kind of misunderstanding on
either the UNMIK's or my cousin's part. Reassure me that UNMIK is NOT
treating Kosovo as a separate country but as what it factually is - THE
SERBIAN PROVINCE in the FR of Yugoslavia! Please assure me that UNMIK is
working in compliance with the UN Security Council's Resolution 1244 and
not contrary to its provision which clearly states, and I quote below,
that the UN is
"Reaffirming the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the
other States of the region, as set out in the Helsinki Final Act and
annex 2"
I thank you in advance for your cooperation and look forward to hearing
from you
Respectfully
Sonja Myers
c.c. UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Yugoslav Ambassador to the UN, H.E. Dejan Sahovic,
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Texas Senator, Hon. Kay Bailey-Hutchison
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Texas Senator, Hon. Phil Gramm ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Texas Congressman 25th District, Hon. Ken Bentsen
(http://www.house.gov/htbin/wrep_const)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LETTER TO SENATOR HUTCHISON RE: GRACANICA WITH COPY OF THE FIRST LETTER
TO SUSAN MANUEL
Sonja Myers
2602 Werlein Ave.
Houston, TX 77005
U.S.A.
Tel: 713 668-4524
November 27, 2001
To the Honorable Kay Bailey-Hutchison
United States Senate
Washington, DC
Dear Senator Hutchison
Re: Blackout for Serbian enclave in Kosovo
I have Serbian cousins living in small place by the name of Gracanica in
Kosovo. Kosovo which is a Serbian province within the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia is, as you know, currently run by the United Nations
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) and Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). I am attaching a letter sent
to the UNMIK's spokesperson in Kosovo, Ms. Susan Manuel (November 27,
2001) and would appreciate your assistance in the matter of power
generating unit replacement.
Meanwhile I would like to update you on the effects or rather
non-effects of a two-year management of the Kosovo province by the
international caretakers - the UNMIK, KFOR, OSCE and many NGO's. Their
joint administration of Kosovo since their arrival in June 1999, has
been a dismal failure in many respects including their collective lack
of competence and commitment to:
a) stop the local extreme Albanian elements from the terrorist
actions against non-Albanians in Kosovo;
b) prevent bin Laden's envoys from joining the local forces and
setting up terrorist training camps in Europe. If you are interested, I
will send you information on bin Laden and al-Qaeda's activities in
Kosovo in the past two years, all from independent sources;
c) disarm the former "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) as was their
mandate but have allowed them the freedom to organize and mount yet
another brutal uprising using terrorist tactics in order to instigate a
break-up and secession of Albanian population living in the neighboring
independent country of Macedonia;
d) protect the Serbian and other non-Albanian civilians from
murder, rape, torture and abduction by the ex KLA-members. On the
contrary, most of those known terrorists (one has recently been indicted
by the War Crimes Tribunal in Hague) are members of the Kosovo Security
Forces established by the UNMIK. Consequently, the fate of 1300 Serbs
that have gone missing since UNMIK's arrival is still unknown.
e) enable the return of some 250.000 Serbian and non-Albanian
refugees to their homes in the villages around Kosovo
f) pressure the ex-KLA to release the Serbian and non-Albanian
political prisoners from the KLA held jails around Kosovo especially in
view of the fact that the new Yugoslav government has released the
Albanian political prisoners long time ago.
In short Senator Hutchison, Kosovo is a mess. It is a lawless place
where violence over defenseless civilians still reigns, before the very
eyes of the "international community." Along with Bosnia, Kosovo is one
of the few main European routes and distribution points for the heroin
trade hauled from Afghanistan (see The Economist, October 18, 2001, "The
powder trail" at:
http://www.economist.com/library/backgrounders/displaystory.cfm?story_id
=822303
Similarly, Kosovo is the collection center and the distribution point
for the women brought under false pretenses to Kosovo, mostly from the
former East European countries, only to be sold to the prostitution
rings and forced to work in Western European cities.
If we are to fight terrorism everywhere, then we have to re-evaluate the
actions of our "friends and allies" in the Balkans, mainly the Bosnian
and Albanian Muslims (latter living in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia,
Montenegro and Greece). It is patently clear now that we have been duped
and sucked into a "humanitarian war" (what a contradiction in terms!) on
the side of the "underdog", the Kosovo Liberation Army, who were once
before we "helped" them on the State Department's terrorist list and who
used every terrorist trick in the book to provoke overreaction from the
Serbian/Yugoslav authorities. It is even more clear that in Kosovo, we
have become an accomplices to the very terrorism we are supposedly now
fighting against.
Respectfully
Sonja Myers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNMIK - SUSAN MANUEL'S RESPONSE TO S. MYERS' LETTER DATED: November 27,
2001
Subject: Re: Need accurate information
To: "wiggler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "Susan Manuel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date sent: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 10:55:30 +0100
Dear Ms. Meyers,
Thanks for writing again.
The power situation has been abysmal for all of Kosovo. This is the
third winter I have been here, and so far it is like the first winter,
with cuts often of four hours off and two on, or vice versa, while it
has been very cold. We are all very fed up..... The situation in the
Serb enclaves has been worse than for most of the rest of Kosovo, except
Mitrovica which seems to get power from Serbia proper. Kosovo Power Co.
(KEK) says they cut off people by groups for non-payment of bills, as
opposed to individuals. So they tend to cut off whole Serb villages,
which is totally inhumane. They are now seeking to hire Serbs to collect
payments from the enclaves, so that people are encouraged and
facilitated to pay their bills. Nevertheless it is clear that the KEK
practice has been discriminatory. And it is also clear that many Serbs
cannot pay the bills. There have also been cuts of entire buildings in
Pristina when bills are not paid. I have to find out the current policy
regarding Serb enclaves.
The decision was made by the EU in summer '99 to refurbish the two power
plants rather than build a new one. I don't know what power plants cost,
but it seems to many people in retrospect to have been a bad decision,
as more than 320 million euros have been spent on these plants, with
little if any results. The power plants used to be part of a Serbian
grid so that if they were failing in the past, they could be compensated
from the rest of Serbia. Now UNMIK has attempted to make our system
self-sufficient, which has not been successful so far. Any power from
outside has to be purchased, and apparently there is not much for sale
and it is extremely expensive. We do buy power from Serbia however.
While Gracanica has been hard hit, a part of Gracanica did not have
power for 15 days, as some kind of unit, or a part of some kind of
substation had broken down. This information is from my Serbian
colleagues who live there. That part or unit has been located, and it
may be what you were referring to as coming from Serbia. It is not a
power generating station itself, but some kind of transformer or
substation, and the power is back on across Gracanica today.
I don't know anything about charging customs duties, but I do know that
UNMIK makes it difficult for Serbia/Yugoslavia to render such kind of
free material assistance to Kosovo as UNMIK fears "parallel structures"
and attempts at parallel administrations. So they may have tried to work
out some way that Serbia could deliver this unit without appearing to be
involved in the free delivery of services in Kosovo. At any rate the
unit is here, so something has been worked out. Perhaps KEK purchased
it. But I am only speculating at this point.
I really don't think you need to remind me that Kosovo is not an
independent country. This is the daily air we breathe, and we have
strictly set up rules, regulations, an Assembly and a provisional
self-government that is clearly to operate under 1244 with no say or
activities regarding Kosovo's final status.
But UNMIK is the administration and while fighting off calls or acts of
independence, UNMIK is also trying to prevent parallel administrations.
There are no customs duties between Serbia and here, but there are sales
taxes. Again, it may have been a way of making the transfer more
legitimate. But Kosovo is not the same as a Swiss canton; that type of
relationship has not yet been determined. Sometimes this policy of
preventing all attempts at parallelism seems unreasonable to me,
personally especially in the case of Osojanje, the return project which
was having a lot of trouble. Covic/Serbia/FRY wanted to donate tons of
material and men to help and UNMIK stopped it. But I believe something
was worked out so that FRY/Serbia could help by other avenues. It seemed
cruel and overly strict to me at the time, but it has nothing to do
with independence. .
Haekkerup is very strict about ensuring that UNMIK is the
administration as mandated. FRY/Serbia sometimes attempts to "help"
people in Kosovo in a way that to HH denotes a parallel structure. It
can be very political and not as humanitarian as you make it sound,
although there are instances as in Osojanje, where I feel people have
suffered unduly because of this policy.
I'm afraid at this point in history, this is the strict interpretation
of 1244 that is endorsed not just by UNMIK, but also by the Security
Council and involved embassies.
That's all I have time for at this moment. I will ask further about the
power.
Susan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S. MYERS' ANSWER TO UNMIK'S LETTER DATED November 2, 2001
Sonja Myers
2602 Werlein Ave.
Houston, TX 77005
U.S.A.
December 10, 2001
Dear Ms. Manuel,
Once again thank you very much for your prompt and frank reply.
I have read your letter several times. I do appreciate your efforts to
further investigate UNMIK's position pertaining to several points you
could not comment on. I am specifically interested in UNMIK's current
policy re: power (non)supply to the Serbian enclaves. As indicated in my
previous letter I am seeking - accurate information - and believe that
UNMIK's spokesperson is one of the legitimate sources if not - the only
one.
I am puzzled by some statements in your letter evidently suggesting that
the UNMIK leadership seems to pick and chose if, when, where and how it
will exercise its authority. I may be wrong, but how else could one
explain for instance, that UNMIK can ban the Yugoslav government from
helping the people living on its sovereign territory in Kosovo but - it
cannot ban the Albanian run KEK (Kosovo Power Co.) from cutting the
power off to entire Serbian villages. Or, why is it that UNMIK was able
to facilitate the return of approximately 800,000 Albanian refugees to
Kosovo within 7-10 days after the bombing stopped, but in thirty months
since - it has been unable to facilitate the return of some 250.000
Serbian and non-Albanian refugees, save for a total of some 126
individuals? These among many other examples stand as clear testimony to
UNMIK's preferential treatment and its role in upholding the Albanian
majority's dream to have an ethnically clean Kosovo. Such policy,
however unintentional, is in direct contradiction to UN Resolution 1244
which is committed to the principles of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious,
civilized and democratic society. The question is why? Or better still -
who is in charge in Kosovo and who is accountable. Is UNMIK running
Kosovo or is the Albanian majority running UNMIK? Would you please
clarify this for me.
I am sorry, but I do not understand the concept of "parallel structures"
or "parallel administration" or "parallelism" - certainly not in this
context. As far as I know all federal governments around the world have
the right, indeed, the duty to extend help to the people in need within
its sovereign territory. Since Mr. Hans Heackerrup seems to have his own
interpretation of "sovereignty and territorial integrity" as opposed to
the legal understanding reaffirmed to Yugoslavia in the UN Security
Council's Resolution 1244, please clarify Mr. Hans Heackerrup's
understanding on what in fact are the rights of the Yugoslav government
and what is UNMIK's jurisdiction in Kosovo?
I understand that Kosovo is not a Swiss canton but I've mentioned it for
two reasons. One is that there are no import duties between the cantons
and/or autonomous regions within the same sovereign country. The other
was as an illustration of a multi national, multi ethnic,
multi-religious, civilized and democratic federalist country. Unless I
am mistaken, UNMIK's stated goals are to turn Kosovo into an autonomous
region within the Yugoslav federation and Switzerland's canton's
arrangements could serve as a pretty good model.
I recognize that what is being done in Kosovo is almost all politics and
little else. This would explain why, contrary to the UN charter,
Yugoslavia with its new democratic government, is still NOT allowed to
exercise its sovereignty over the Kosovo province's borders with Albania
and Macedonia. The fact that all Kosovo's inhabitants hold Yugoslav
passports, makes the Yugoslav government's position all the more
peculiar. It would be interesting to know how many illegal immigrants
came from and via Albania due to the lack of border controls. And, how
many heroin traffickers, prostitution ring organisers, and criminals of
all sorts including bin Laden and al-Quaeda's terrorists are walking
around Kosovo or travelling the world with forged Yugoslav passports.
But, I guess, this is for UNMIK to answer, and the UN/US to investigate
now in the aftermath of September 11th.
For the sake of accuracy I would like to know if my understanding of
several issues you have discussed, is in fact correct:
1) You said that in summer of 1999 the EU decided to repair two Kosovo
power stations damaged by the NATO's 78-day bombing of Kosovo and
Serbia, rather than build a new one. Presumably the EU acted on
recommendations of UNMIK and NATO who were on the ground by then and
invested 320 million euro's or roughly 260 million US dollars for these
repairs. Evidently, the power situation in Kosovo is almost the same
three winters later as it was the first winter when the repair of the
electric power infrastructure was just beginning.
As a US tax-payer I believe in my right to know where my money goes and
how it is spent or squandered so here are several questions I would like
answers to:
a) Who were the main contractor(s) in charge of the repair of the
power stations and why are they not called to answer for the current
appalling situation?
b) Are there any records along with bills paid at UNMIK or KEK that
show what has and what has not been done, to put the power supply back
to normal? Have these been audited, by whom and when?
c) Does anyone know how much money was really spent on repair,
where is the rest of it and what is being done right now to rectify the
situation with power supply in Kosovo at large and the Serbian enclaves
in particular?
2) You said that that the Kosovo Power Co. or KEK is cutting the
power supply to the entire Serbian villages and sometimes individual
buildings (presumably also occupied by Serbs) in the capital Pristina.
The KEK justifies this kind of cruelty and denial of equal rights to
non-Albanians in Kosovo by the fact that SOME Serbs/Romas in some
villages and SOME Serbs/Romas in large apartment buildings - are not
paying their bills. Rather than be accused of targeting individuals
(???) the KEK is cutting the power off to the "whole groups" e.g. the
whole Serbian/Roma villages/buildings.
Here is what I would like to know:
a) Am I right in assuming that the KEK is run entirely by the
ethnic Albanians?
b) Is the KEK cutting the power supply to entire Albanian populated
villages and/or buildings as there must be some Albanians who also do
not pay their bills? Or, does the KEK cut the power only to the
particular Albanian individual's house or apartment? Or, does the KEK
not cut the power to the Albanian population/individuals at all, whether
they pay bills or not, since UNMIK/European and American tax-payers are
paying their bills anyway?
c) How can UNMIK along with other international/humanitarian
organizations allow this kind of ethnic persecution to take place and do
nothing? Don't' all Kosovo's "caretakers" realize that they are becoming
accomplices to this appalling abuse of basic human rights?
3) You said that Serbs are not paying their bills because most of
them do not have money. But it also seems to me that they do not feel
safe to venture out of their enclaves or buildings in order to go to the
Post Office or the KEK offices. The KEK is now trying to employ Serbs to
collect payments, and I quote your words: "so that people are encouraged
and facilitated to pay their bills."
My questions are:
a) If most of the Serbs do not have money, what is the point in the
KEK sending Serbian employees to collect nothing? Or rather, why would
the KEK spend money on employees that will not make such collections?
And how would this futile exercise improve the situation for both, the
Serbian population as well as the KEK?
b) Why is UNMIK still unable to provide security to the Serbian and
non-Albanian population in Kosovo and what would it take to rectify this
problem?
c) What is UNMIK going to do to solve this issue and save in
particular old and weak villagers in Serbian enclaves from dying of
hypothermia this winter?
d) Will UNMIK prevent the Federal government of Yugoslavia
extending federal assistance in the form of free electricity to the
needy people living within its borders? If so, are UNMIK, Hans
Heackerrup and the Albanians running the KEK prepared to take
responsibility for the hypothermia deaths among the non-Albanian
population this winter?
4) You said that goods from Serbia/Yugoslavia are subject to sales
taxes on arrival to Kosovo and not subject to customs duties as is
wrongly identified. Since Serbia/Yugoslavia have already applied the
sales tax at the "point of sale", it would appear that the second "sales
tax" for the same goods charged and/or prescribed by UNMIK is not only
illegal but frankly reminiscent of what is known as "racket." I may be
wrong but please clarify:
a) How can such practices be viewed as UNMIK's "encouragement of
Kosovo's economic self-reliance?" Isn't it obvious that UNMIK's policies
are in fact discouraging and will ultimately result in halting all of
the economic trade and political ties between Kosovo and the Yugoslav
federaton it is supposedly a part of? Is it surprising then that ethnic
Albanians interpret these and many other of UNMIK's seemingly separatist
policies in Kosovo as de-facto independence from the Yugoslav
federation? Isn't it somewhat immoral to mislead either the ethnic
Albanians or the Yugoslav federation in this manner?
b) Are these "double sales taxes" applying to the humanitarian and
commercial goods arriving to Kosovo for instance from Albania? Or to put
it differently, are the goods from Albania subject to UNMIK's Kosovo
custom duties as they should be or - there are no sales or customs taxes
at all?
Ms Manuel, I have taken up an entirely too much of your time and I
sincerely apologize for it. Please give me some allowances for my
failure to understand many issues regarding complexities of Kosovo that
frankly seem to defy logic on both, legal and common sense grounds.
Please let me have your answers to the questions I raised and if you do
not have them, please direct me to those individuals that do.
Sincerely
Sonja Myers
c.c.
a) Mr. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
b) Mr. Dick Cheney, Vice-President of the United States of America
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
c) Ms. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor to the President
(Fax: 202-456-9290)
d) Mr. Joseph Biden, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
e) UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
f) Yugoslav Ambassador to the UN, H.E. Dejan Sahovic,
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
g) Texas Senator, Hon. Kay Bailey-Hutchison
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
h) Texas Senator, Hon. Phil Gramm ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
i) Texas Congressman 25th District, Hon. Ken Bentsen
(http://www.house.gov/htbin/wrep_const)
j) Ken Roth, Executive Staff Director, Human Rights Watch
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
k) Irene Khan, Secretary General, Amnesty International
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COVER LETTER TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (SAME TO KEN, ROTH OF HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH) ATTACHING CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN S. MYERS AND UMNIK (three
letters)
From: Sonja Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: For Irene Khan - Blackouts for Serbian enclaves
in Kosovo
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date sent: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 01:18:23 -0600
December 12, 2001
Amnesty International
Irene Khan, Secretary General
Dear Ms. Khan
Re: Serbs in Kosovo without electricity - just because they are Serbs
I am turning to you for help. I have contacted UNMIK in Kosovo asking
for
explanations as to why is the Albanian run Kosovo Electric Company
currently cutting the power supply to the entire Serbian enclaves in
Kosovo.
UNMIK's spokesperson Susan Manuel wrote back saying a lot of words
- but almost nothing about how this ethnic persecution of non-Albanians
in Kosovo will be stopped. The most alarming aspect of her letter was
the
fact that UNMIK apparently has no control and no influence in what
Albanians are doing to the Serbs. Kosovo appears to be a lawless place
where nobody is in charge and nobody is responsible when it comes to
protecting the basic human rights of the Serbs and non-Albanians. On the
other hand, UNMIK is firmly in charge and capable of banning the
Yugoslav government from extending federal help in the form of free
electricity to those in need on its sovereign territory - which still
legally
includes the Kosovo province. As far as I could understand, the reasons
for such inhumane behaviour on the part of UNMIK's Hans Heackerrup
are purely political and aimed at respecting the Albanians
"sensitivities"
to anything remotely connected with the Yugoslav/Serbian government.
I am outraged with the political games UNMIK and NATO are playing at
the expense of innocent Serbian population in Kosovo. UNMIK's policies
defy logic and go directly against all international laws and
conventions
one can think of not to mention the UN Charter.
I do not know what to do! Can you help and bring this issue into the
open
or use your organization's influence and connections to force Kosovo
"caretakers" to address this problem and solve it as soon as possible.
I enclose letters exchanged between Ms. Manuel and myself which would
give you more details and a better picture of UNMIK's created Kosovo
humanitarian nightmare.
I hope to hear from you soon and thank you in advance for your
cooperation.
Sincerely
Sonja Myers
2602 Werlein Ave.
Houston, TX 77005
USA
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