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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 1 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Kosovo Massacres.

Unfortunately, I only have a few minutes in which to deal with one of the major tragedies of our time. The situation has come to a head once again with the disclosure of appalling further massacres, including significant numbers of women and children, in Kosovo in recent days. According to official figures, the total number of ethnic Albanians murdered in Kosovo by Serbian forces since March of this year is 1,472, of whom 162 were women and 143 children. In addition, 1,255 ethnic Albanians have been kidnapped by the Serbs and are listed as missing. I regret that the majority of them are probably dead. Some 1,700 Albanians have been arrested on charges of plotting against the State and most of these are likely to have been tortured. We can be certain that the total number of casualties will, on investigation, turn out to be higher than the official estimates. More than 450,000 people in Kosovo have been displaced from their homes and it is impossible to make contact with many of them.

I cannot understand how the western world and the European Union can stand back and fail to take action in regard to Milosevic. He is the most evil political individual to appear on the European political scene since the death of Hitler in 1945. His activities in Bosnia are proof of what he is capable of doing in Kosovo if he is allowed to. For more than three years, the West stood back and allowed more than 250,000 people to be murdered and thousands of others to be tortured and permanently displaced from their homes. We are witnessing a repeat of this in Kosovo.

Activity in Bosnia ceased only when the West took strong military action against Milosevic. Not until the West takes similar action against him in regard to Kosovo will he stop his activities there. The Security Council resolutions which people are waiting for will probably never be passed because they will be vetoed by Russia or China or both.

Much has been written in recent months about events in Kosovo. One of the most valuable was an article in yesterday's Guardian by Paddy Ashdown, MP, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Britain. I do not have time to quote from that article but I urge the Minister, Members of the House and the public to read it as it provides a picture of current events in Kosovo. Earlier this week, the author asked an elderly man displaced from his home and living in a forest what he would do once the fierce Kosovo winter sets in. He said that Kosovars would die in the forest rather than return to their villages if the Serbs were still in occupation. He also said there would not be much point in returning as the Serbs had looted and burned their houses, killed their cattle and destroyed their grain stocks.

This is an appalling situation and I plead with the Minister not just to press for the kind of action which the EU is good at calling for in words, but to press for military action to be taken against Milosevic and his regime. Otherwise this will not stop.

Ireland is due to play a soccer match against Serbia in the next couple of weeks. The proper reaction of this country would be not to play that match. It is appalling and deplorable if we are prepared to line out against these people. Sanctions were implemented before and no-one played against them in any sporting contest for a number of years. In view of what they are now doing to innocent people in Kosovo, it is appropriate that the Irish team boycott the match.

I am grateful to the Deputy for raising this important issue in the House today. Yesterday I responded to a written parliamentary question on the matter and I issued a strong statement, although I am not sure whether it saw the light of day. I fully share the sense of outrage at eyewitness reports over the past 48 hours of atrocities perpetrated by security forces in Kosovo under the authority of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

I join with others, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in condemning these evil deeds. The pattern of terror, including the most recent wanton killing of women and children, is totally unacceptable to the international community. I understand the UN Security Council is being convened in New York to meet in emergency session later this afternoon to consider what further steps can be taken to ensure strict compliance by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with its obligations.

The Deputy has spoken of the need for the international community and the European Union to take action against the Milosevic regime to put a stop to these continuing massacres and the displacement of large numbers of people in Kosovo. I will set out what the Government is doing in that regard.

As I indicated in reply to a question in the House yesterday, the situation in Kosovo is a cause for the utmost concern. We are witnessing the prospect of a humanitarian catastrophe which could replicate the horrors of Bosnia. The latest atrocities which have just come to light, with the mutilated bodies of men, women and children being exhumed, make a nonsense of the assertions coming from Belgrade that Serb forces have been withdrawn to barracks. These atrocities must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and the perpetrators brought to justice.

I am arranging for the Government's concerns to be conveyed directly to the authorities in Belgrade. In addition, the Austrian Presidency of the EU yesterday made a strong protest on our behalf in Belgrade about the killing of innocent people and the need to bring those responsible to justice. The EU has also demanded that international forensic experts be allowed immediately to examine all sites of reported mass graves and executions.

The terrible events which we are witnessing follow on from the policy of repression in Kosovo which Belgrade is following. Clearly this policy is targeted at the civilian population. The latest UN estimates of refugees and displaced persons now total more than 300,000 and approximately 50,000 of these are without shelter and other basic needs as the harsh Balkan winter rapidly approaches. The sufferings of these people can only be compounded by this recent wave of terror.

In my address to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York last week, I indicated my most profound concern on this issue and I called on the international community to take urgent and effective action, within the framework of the United Nations, to ensure that our worst fears are not realised. That call has to be repeated today with even more urgency.

Resolution 1199 of the UN Security Council, adopted on 23 September, provides a basis for putting an end to the present intolerable situation and reaching a solution. Its terms set out in detail the steps to be taken to stop this conflict and to provide relief for the suffering civilian population. It is important that all parties to the conflict adhere to its demand that hostilities cease immediately, and this demand must now be implemented by Belgrade.

It is imperative that the intensive efforts being made by the international community to ensure the start of the dialogue between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Albanian leadership should now be pursued with determination.

Resolution 1199 also addresses comprehensively the widespread abuse of human rights in Kosovo, including summary executions, kidnappings and mistreatment of civilians. In particular, it sets out what has to be done by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The work of the International Tribunal has to be facilitated by the Yugoslav authorities, who must assume their responsibilities to bring to justice their agents guilty of such crimes.

Resolution 1199 further calls on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to enable effective and continuous international monitoring in Kosovo by, inter alia, the European Community Monitoring Mission, ECMM, to which Ireland contributes.

While the early start of political dialogue is essential, the provision of humanitarian aid and the implementation of measures to allow the safe return of refugees and displaced persons are equally pressing priorities. Resolution 1199 spells out clearly to the Yugoslav authorities what they are now required to do so that these objectives can be achieved.

The Government has already provided £50,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross for Kosovar refugees in Albania and is actively considering additional assistance. The European Community Humanitarian Office, ECHO, has announced an aid package amounting to 8.55 million ECUs in response to the crisis. An appeal for assistance has just been launched by the United Nations Inter Agency mechanism and I hope that this will quickly set in place the necessary measures and programmes.

The solution to the conflict in Kosovo has to be brought about by negotiation and political means. Resolution 1199 decided that, should the concrete measures which it demanded not be taken, further action and additional measures would be considered to maintain or restore peace and stability to the region. In the light of the latest reports of atrocities and the evidence of non-compliance with its decisions, the Security Council must now consider what further action is called for. I hope that the council will be able to act decisively in that regard.

As regards the pressure which the EU can exert on Belgrade, the Deputy will be aware that the EU is already implementing certain sanctions against the FRY. These include a freeze on new investment in the FRY, a freezing of Yugoslav assets held abroad, and a ban on flights by Yugoslav airlines. We must now look at further measures to demonstrate our determination to ensure that Serbia complies fully with its international obligations. I will ensure that this issue will be raised at the General Affairs Council on Monday.

It is clear that over the past six months the situation in Kosovo has been dramatically transformed. The future of Belgrade to restore Kosovo's autonomous states has resulted in a new situation in which it is hard to conceive how Kosovo Albanians can ever have confidence in the protection which the authorities in Belgrade should afford them. We believe that nothing less than enhancement of the earlier status of autonomy will suffice.

Finally, I reiterate the commitment of the Government to do everything possible, both at national level, at that of the European Union and also in the United Nations and the OSCE.

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