Parliamentary questions
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1556/99
by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Council
(1 September 1999)

Subject: The 3 000 Kosovar prisoners still held in Serbia

In the last days of the international policing operations in Kosovo, some three thousand Kosovar prisoners were abducted and forcibly transferred to Serbian prisons by Serbian military and paramilitary forces. The prisoners include Prof. Ukshin Hoti, a prominent member of the opposition, whose prison sentence expired in May 1999 and who has been nominated for the EP's 1999 Sakharov Prize, and Mr Albin Kurti, former leader of the Pristina students' movement.

Can the Council provide detailed information about the whereabouts and conditions of detention of Prof. Hoti, Mr Kurti and the three thousand Kosovar prisoners still being held in Serbia?

What steps does the Council intend to take to ensure that the Belgrade authorities immediately and unconditionally release these 3 000 people and allow them to be reunited with their families in Kosovo?

Will the Council provide all the necessary assurances that neither the sanctions nor the embargo on Serbia and Yugoslavia will be lifted until the Belgrade authorities release all the Kosovar prisoners currently held in Yugoslav prisons?

P-1556/99
Reply
(22 October 1999)

Regarding detailed information about the whereabouts and conditions of detention of these prisoners, the Council wishes to inform the Honourable Parliamentarian that the ICRC has been allowed access to Serbian jails by the Belgrade authorities and that it has identified 2 000 Kosovo Albanian prisoners so far. On the issue of sanctions relief, the Council wishes to reassure the Honourable Parliamentarian that progress in democratic freedoms and respect for the rights of minorities will be key elements in deciding the lifting of sanctions targeting the Belgrade regime.