Special Announcement: On the Record in Kosovo
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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 17:01:16 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: Special Announcement: On the Record in Kosovo
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: The Advocacy Project <[email protected]>
Special Announcement: On the Record in Kosovo
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NEW FROM THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
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ON THE RECORD, VOLUME 9:
ON THE RECORD TO PROFILE THE BIRTH
AND REBIRTH OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN KOSOVO
Civil society in Kosovo has survived a traumatic year of war and
exile, but faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the weeks ahead,
according to a new series of the online newsletter On the Record. This
new series on Kosovo and its parallel society replaces On the Record
Volume 6, The Kosovo Internet Monitor. (Please note that subscribers
to the earlier series will not need to subscribe to this one.)
This dramatic and timely series, which examines the perspective of the
citizens of Kosovo, comes at a time when the future of Kosovo and the
credibility of the international community are very much in the
balance.
The nine-part series, which will begin next week, is written by Peter
Lippman and Teresa Crawford, two members of The Advocacy Project who
traveled to Kosovo in July. Crawford is still in Kosovo, working on a
project to link civic organizations to the Internet.
The series takes the form of individual profiles, interspersed with
analysis and diary extracts. Among the prominent organizations
profiled is the renowned Mother Teresa Society, which was founded in
1990 and developed an alternative health system for Kosovar Albanians
who were bypassed by the state-run service. In 1996, Mother Teresa's
92 clinics admitted over a million visitors.
The series profiles the Center for the Protection of Women and
Children, led by an inspiring pediatrician, Vjosa Dobruna; the women's
rights organization "Elena;" and the Prishtina (Pristina)-based
Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms, which monitored
persecution of human rights activists, arbitrary detention, torture,
and murder throughout the 1990s.
The series also pays tribute to the work of the Autonomous Women's
Center Against Sexual Violence, based in Belgrade, which spoke out on
behalf of embattled Albanian friends in Kosovo even as its "fear
counseling team" was helping Serbs traumatized by the NATO bombing.
Subscribers to the series will accompany these and other activists
through a chronological journey, starting with the "parallel society"
that was developed by the Kosovar Albanians during the 1990s in
response to attempts by the Serbian authorities to suppress Albanian
culture.
The second issue looks at their efforts on behalf of displaced
Kosovars between February 1998 and the onset of NATO bombing this
spring - a year when Serbian forces attempted to root out the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) with a scorched-earth policy.
Issue three profiles activists who were brutally expelled from Kosovo
during the refugee exodus earlier this year. Many regrouped in the
refugee camps of Macedonia and Albania.
Those of their colleagues who remained in Kosovo struggled to respond
to Serbian violence often at great personal risk (Issue Four). Scores
of activists were taken off to be imprisoned illegally in Serbia. They
include Albin Kurti, the student leader, and Flora Brovina, a renowned
physician, poet, and human rights activist.
The remaining issues find Kosovo's civil society returning to the
province to pick up the pieces, amidst an unfamiliar political
landscape. While no longer fraught with violence and repression, this
last stage of the journey could present the greatest challenge.
Yet almost three months after the departure of Serbian forces on June
12, civil society still receives only half-hearted support from the UN
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Like many peacekeeping missions, UNMIK has
trouble tailoring its own political and bureaucratic agenda to the
needs of the local population and its activists.
On the Record is distributed free of charge to subscribers by email.
You may subscribe to Volume 9 of On the Record by sending an email
message to <[email protected]> with the words "subscribe
kosovo" in the body of the text. For more information, please contact
us at <[email protected]>.
On the Record is produced by The Advocacy Project, an association of
professionals set up to work on informational projects with advocates
for civil society and human rights campaigners. Four series were
produced in 1998. They covered the establishment of an international
criminal court, refugees and displaced persons, human rights
defenders, and the campaign against landmines.
Series this year have reported on violence against women in Southeast
Asia, the response of civil society in Central America to Hurricane
Mitch, Internet traffic on Kosovo civil society, and efforts by
Bosnian refugees to return home. These can be found on the Project's
website: http://www.advocacynet.org
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