KOSOVO / 3,500 arrive. Three children die on the road. Another baby is born unexpectedly By late evening, 3,500 highlanders had arrived, most of them coming from the Padesh mountain. The official figures are lower, since some of the arrivals refuse to register. OSCE officials confirm the deaths of three children, while local authorities say only two. Dozens of injured people are being treated at Tropojë hospital, while many others left after receiving first aid. There is no medicine, and there is fear that epidemics may spread. Yesterday, only one group from the Ministry of Health was in Tropojë. No humanitarian organization has sent aid, and the situation appears extremely serious. The people of Tropojë have opened their doors, but they are very poor and unable to cope with such a large influx. BY OUR CORRESPONDENT IN TROPOJË On page 11 Kosovar refugees

Arben Puto On June 15, 1998, an International Conference is to convene in Rome, with 100 countries expected to participate. The aim of the conference is to establish a new Permanent International Court, whose task will be to investigate and hold accountable all those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes in cases where the International Courts do not deal with them or are ineffective. This international judicial institution has its origins in the strong protest that arose after World War II and in the decision taken by the great Allied powers to punish the grave crimes committed in the name of power by Hitler’s Germany and militarist Japan. Thus the Nuremberg and Tokyo courts were established, bringing the principal perpetrators of the crimes to account and imposing severe sentences on them. For the first time, in this way, responsibility was assigned and punishment was even imposed on states and groups implicated in these crimes. It is enough to mention the case of Karakzhiq. The issue of universal jurisdiction over genocide and crimes against humanity is particularly urgent and relevant in connection with events in Kosovo. For a long time, the Serbian authorities have been pursuing a policy of apartheid against the Albanian population. The crimes committed by the Serbs in Kosovo are directed not only against the Albanian population, but also against the international order of values and norms, and as such they must be subject to a jurisdiction that acts on behalf of the international community. In light of these developments, there is a need to take this experience further and raise it to a higher level: to move from these special ad hoc courts to a permanent and universal international criminal court, which would have the authority to try individuals for crimes against humanity, whatever their nationality and wherever committed in the countries occupied by Hitlerian Germany and militaristic Japan. Thus, the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals time, heads of state were held criminally responsible and received heavy sentences from international judicial bodies. This was an important innovation in international law: criminal responsibility was treated not only as the exclusive jurisdiction of international courts, but also as a matter for agreements among nations, concerning the punishment of a specific category of crimes whose effects attain universal proportions and strike not only at conscience, but also at the very foundations of human society. It might have been thought that the experience of international jurisdiction over these kinds of crimes would not extend beyond the events of the Second World War. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and grave atrocities, genocide, mass extermination and war crimes were repeated many years later, not only in underdeveloped regions, but also in Europe. This made it necessary to renew that experience and establish an international tribunal for war crimes in Bosnia and another in Rwanda. In truth, this edition of the International Criminal Tribunal does not seem to be very operational or effective. Particularly in relation to Bosnia, it is apparent that the court is proceeding slowly and encountering continuing difficulties and obstacles. These obstacles are linked to non-cooperation[cut text] To get there, many obstacles must be overcome, connected to the reluctance of certain governments and states, which still find it difficult to break away from old concepts of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs. Under these circumstances, public opinion must make its voice heard. The most important thing is for the court to be permanent and to have jurisdiction free from interference by individual states. This is now becoming a sensitive issue for non-governmental organizations as well. Both the International Helsinki Federation and the major American human rights organization “Human Rights Watch” have launched a campaign in support of this initiative, calling on the Helsinki Committees and other sister organizations to join efforts to raise awareness among their governments and urge them to support without reservation the establishment of a permanent international criminal court at the upcoming Rome conference. We believe that the Albanian Government has more than one reason to support this project. It serves not only a universal ideal, but also responds to the dramatic circumstances in which an ever-greater part of our nation is suffering. * Chairman of the Albanian Helsinki Committee

Wanted by the CIA, they hid in the Bllok A 1994 spy story. Is this how the rift with the USA began? It is not known what became of the people investigated by half the world TIRANA - Four suspicious individuals, suspected by the French secret service and the CIA of being Islamic terrorists, took shelter for some time in the heart of the capital, in one of the villas in the Bloc, which at the time served official purposes. A protracted exchange of coded messages, recorded on SHIK’s powerful computers, took place between Albanian and French intelligence colleagues. After receiving no response, it was the CIA experts’ turn, whose patience had run out: the terrorists are identified as such and are staying in a villa in the Bloc; they have not even forgotten to record the telephone number through which they managed to establish contact with their superiors... On page 3

INVESTIGATIONS TIRANA—The Frenchman who killed his interpreter, a 20-year-old student, had filmed in Kukës and Krumë. The mechanics of the crime have been uncovered, but the motive is still unknown. “I killed him because he interrupted my conversation with Allah,” he told the police. Posing as a journalist, the Frenchman was caught with a Kalashnikov and a machine gun. There are suspicions that he may be an Islamic terrorist... On page 3

“I promised Alia immunity” Ceka Alia Ceka Alia TIRANA - Neritan Ceka again launches a fierce attack on Berisha. “Yes, there was an agreement with Alia that he would not be imprisoned, but Berisha broke it,” said yesterday one of the people who founded the first opposition party in Albania. Ceka said that, on behalf of the PD, he was the one who assured Alia that he would not be convicted if he had not broken the laws of the time. It seems that this agreement may also shed light on Ceka’s departure from Alia’s office in ’91. On page 2

11 senior officials will take part TIRANA - The Property Restitution Committee has been established. Yesterday, the Government approved the decision “On the composition and functioning of the State Committee for the restitution and compensation of former owners.” The committee will have 11 members, while its chairperson will be appointed by a government decision. “Those selected as members of this committee are people directly involved with the property issue,” says Gramoz Pashko, the Prime Minister’s economic adviser. On page 9

BY THE POLICE TIRANA - The police guarantee special protection for the examination period. The head of Tirana police, Fadil Canaj, has promised the directors of Tirana’s schools that the police under his command will step up service measures, particularly on school premises. The examination period could lead to various incidents. Specific measures have also been taken against the falsification of school certificates, which will now each have their own number. On page 4

THE SHKODRA NEWSPAPER Ali Laçej Every present is a continuation of a past, and no future can come without a present. This stretch of time that is Shkodra’s present shows that Shkodra needs a turning point—or, in a philosophical sense, I would say what all of Albania needs: to break away from the philosophy of death and build a philosophy of life, that is, to find reasons to live... On page 6

THE VLORË NEWSPAPER VLORË - Children, pupils and students from Vlorë cleaned the city of dirt and rubbish yesterday. In an initiative organized by local authorities and non-governmental organizations, young people with brooms, shovels and bins removed not only everyday rubbish, but also the waste that had been occupying street corners around the city for two or three years. Under the slogan “Vlora belongs to everyone; let’s take care of it,” they “poured” into the streets throughout the morning, drawing adults along too. Vehicles left there since the unrest last March were also moved. On page 7

THE DURRËS NEWSPAPER DURRËS - “Smuggling in the South remains our problem.” The speaker is an Italian general, deputy commander of the Finance Guard, who arrived at the Port of Durrës yesterday to visit the crew and the Italian ships that have been in Albanian waters for nine months. “The fight against smuggling will continue,” Ninulla said, “but we will bring in other equipment for this, since the equipment we have now is not enough.” On page 8

Ten times less money for the elections The parties will receive 3 million new lek from the state budget for the local by-elections. The Government’s decision allocates 80 percent... On page 9