- Judging by the proceedings of the first sessions of this sitting - At last, we too have a real parliament, where deputies are not puppets. The first three sessions of this sitting seem to me sufficient for the people to see that the people for whom they voted this time have gone to the assembly not merely to vote for something decided somewhere else, but to make decisions themselves. In this new picture of the Albanian parliament, as is natural, the opposition attracts most of the attention of our public. Since we are not accustomed to its presence, just as we are not accustomed to criticism in general, it is mostly difficult for us to imagine its mission realistically. As a member of this opposition, in conversations with people I have seen that, in many cases, voters on both sides share this difficulty. Some of those who gave their vote of confidence to candidates of the Party of Labour often prejudge us as people who instinctively oppose every proposal made by their deputies. Indeed, not only every proposal, but everything connected with their deputies. And they are mistaken. So too are those of our voters who think that we, being a minority and therefore unable to influence decisions through the voting mechanism, should remain silent in the assembly hall, leaving the government free to act as it wishes. This attitude underestimates not only ourselves, but also the opposition. We went to the opening session. Those eager to insult us at any cost called us destroyers of national unity. But time showed that this was not so. Our action was useful not only because it clarified our conciliatory but firm position regarding the people’s progress, but also because it left its mark on the Communist deputies. Let us recall how “Zëri i popullit” was compelled to say something about finding the guilty parties the day after the assembly opened. So everyone can see that the opposition’s position was useful to all, because it helped mobilize everyone to block the path to a repetition of events that lead to the breakdown of social peace. Being such, this position has nothing of “political-war fever” about it, as some scribbler tried to portray it. But we went to the second session and those that followed. Because the people had elected us to be in the assembly and fight there for their rights. And we tried to adhere as firmly as possible to this sacred principle. We firmly opposed Kastriot Islami presiding over the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. The argument: the first decision he made as Minister of Education was to close the University. In general, this decision was called obscurantist from the moment it was announced. Even today, with him presiding over us, I still believe that this is a dishonourable shadow even for an ordinary deputy, let alone a parliamentary speaker. None of us, nor OMONIA, gave him… BESNIK MUSTAFAJ (Continued on page 5) too are those of our voters who think that, the voting mechanism, they should enter the assembly hall with nothing but the “against” card in their pocket. Otherwise, we would be compromising. Let us pause for a moment over the proceedings of the first sessions, and we will see how unjust these prejudices are. We did not…

the eager ones… defense of an insulter… at any cost called us destroyers of national division. the University. In general, this decision was branded obscurantist, and this had nothing to do with partisan opposition, simply because the proposal came from the group of deputies of the Party of Labour. For Dritëro Agolli, who proposed Kastriot Islami’s replacement, was also a member of that group. Even the simplest reasoning, provided it is honest, reveals the motives that led us to vote against without hesitation. We, the determined “opponents,” agreed with the Communists on setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate the work of the investigative group of the Shkodër council. But we could not agree with their view that the commission’s report should be placed as the seventh item on the agenda of this session. That is, after the election of the president and the appointment of the new government. It was too late, for many reasons that we listed there. The people could not wait so long to learn the truth. We also said that we did not rule out the risk that someone implicated in this matter might enter the new government. Ultimately, both calming the people and keeping politically compromised people out of the government are necessary for Albania. This session will also discuss and approve the new constitution. Everyone can imagine… I think that Albanian Stalinists, after having done so much damage to this society, continue to condemn it. Albanian Stalinists, at whatever level they may be, must be isolated, driven out of power, and excluded from all public activity. While they are sucking the life out of Albania, Albanian Stalinists must be isolated, whether they are members of the Communist leadership, deputies, party secretaries in the districts, or volunteers for the so-called “volunteers for the defence of Enver Hoxha”—those hysterical crowds that bring to mind the hordes of Esat pasha with their pro-Turkish slogan “dum babën.” Albanian Stalinists are no longer a force about which one can hold differing opinions. They are an anti-national force; they are enemies of Albania and must be treated as such. I am convinced that most Albanian Communists are against the Stalinists. If this is so, these Communists, wherever they may be, must attack the Stalinists. They must attack them starting in the People’s Assembly. I have said this before. I find it unacceptable that there should be deputies, even Communist deputies, who previously worked in the Sigurimi, or who sentenced people, ruined people’s lives, or are hated by the people. The Communists must… Answer: I think that Albanians in general have the right to complain of a certain indifference by the world toward their problems. But if Albanians have this right as a nation, Albanian officials have no such right at all. It was the Communist dictatorship—that is, these officials—who isolated Albania, separated this country from the world, destroyed all its ties with the world, and consistently sabotaged its relations with Europe. Therefore, before complaining about the world’s indifference, Albanian officials must do something fundamental: apologize. First of all, they must admit their mistake and apologize to the Albanian people for isolating them. Secondly, they must admit their mistakes and apologize to the entire civilized world for the isolation they imposed on it. Only then will they have the moral right to speak of indifference and abandonment. I think it is the Albanian people, and not the Party of Labour, who should have the first word regarding foreign relations.

- Interview with the writer Ismail Kadare, given to “Voice of America” radio on 21.4.1991 - Question: Mr Kadare, you attended the inauguration ceremony of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development at the invitation of its management. Did you discuss Albania’s participation in this bank? Answer: It is true that I attended the inauguration of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The invitation was extended to me by its president, who has been my friend for many years. The importance of this Bank is well known. It is one of the principal instruments for integrating the countries of the East into Europe. Although it was not said publicly, Albania was the only country not taking part. The president of this Bank nevertheless thought it would be good for an Albanian to attend the ceremony—not a representative of the state, but of the Albanian nation. When I learned that the decision had been made for Albania not to be included, I accepted the invitation because, quite frankly, in this case there was no one from the Albanian state, and it was good that someone from this people should be there. I went there to listen, to talk with the leaders of this Bank, and to find out what was required of our country. I spoke at length with the president of the Bank. He explained to me the reasons why Albania was not accepted, for the time being, as a member of this Bank. There is only one reason: democracy. The Bank is indeed an economic institution, but one of the basic principles on which it operates is democratic. Democracy in Albania is still considered insufficient. To be precise and more concrete, there are two signs, indicators, of this lack of sufficient democracy. The first is what happened during the elections: that is, the tense atmosphere of the elections, the threats, manipulations and fraud. The second, and more important, is the killings that took place in Shkodër and the reluctance, especially of the Albanian Stalinists, to condemn the killers. This is unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable to today’s Europe. The question is simple: Why are the killers not condemned? Why are they being spared? In other words, those who showed no mercy in other cases, why do they show mercy to those who had no mercy—that is, to the killers? This is very serious. This is called state terrorism. And state terrorism is unacceptable in the world today. No country can be accepted into the European family if it practices state terrorism. Therefore, the Albanian government must condemn the killers in Shkodër as soon as possible. Albania must therefore condemn the defenders of these killers. It must condemn them in the strongest terms. It is the honour of the Albanian opposition to demand full accountability for its martyrs. I believe that on this matter it will make no concessions. For me, it was a great sadness to attend a magnificent ceremony at which only one country was absent—my country. It is lamentable to me when I think that Albanian Stalinists, after causing Albania so much harm, continue to damage of the Communist leadership or deputies of this… It is a disgrace for these representatives. They should demand that these deputies resign. Albania’s participation depends on Albania itself: free elections, a market economy, and a free press. Regarding the latter, it is true that the opposition press is free, but television and radio are still at the service of one party. And this is undemocratic. It is repulsive. If Albania respects these principles, it can enter the European family very soon. As for the Bank specifically, Albania’s accession will not be delayed by more than a year, perhaps less, its president promised me. Question: Do you think the Communists’ victory in the elections and their insistence on a gradual transition from the present centralized system to a free-market system will delay Albania’s integration into Europe? Answer: Naturally, the victory of the Communists—or, more accurately, the way the Communists won—hinders the country’s rapid integration into Europe. But I think this can be overcome. If the Communist Party becomes emancipated, integration will undoubtedly be faster. What does the emancipation of the Communists mean in this case? The first sign of emancipation would be that, having seen that they lost in the more advanced part of Albania, the Communists should be deeply concerned about everyone. If they love this country even a little, they must do two things: first, break away from the conservative wing of their party; second, accept the truth and look it in the eye. That is, they must remember what place they can occupy in Albania. They should occupy only the place to which they are entitled, and no more. Albania will truly be able to breathe freely when the Communist Party is an ordinary party among other parties, and not the dominant party. I think it has lost its historic right to be the dominant party. I think it would be better for the Communists themselves to occupy a more modest place, a much more modest place than the one they occupy today in Albanian life. Viewed from a broader perspective, I find it incomprehensible that a party should insist on remaining in power when it is clear that it has become an obstacle for the country and has caused the world to turn away from it. The very fact that it insists on staying in power under these circumstances calls the morality of this party into question. Question: Mr Kadare, recently Albanian officials have been complaining that the world has forgotten Albania. Are such statements justified, when for years the Albanian government looked upon the outside world with contempt and maintained only minimal ties with other countries? nation, Albanian officials have no such right at all—

- Statement by the Forum for the Protection of Human Rights - During its brief activity, the Human Rights Forum has come into contact, both through direct meetings and through letters addressed to it, with a very large number of facts and testimonies proving that the 45-year one-party regime gravely violated and trampled on human rights in Albania. Such facts and testimonies are so numerous, and the tragedies, sorrows and graves they contain so great and so grave, that the Forum—a newly formed, still fragile, unstructured and unsupported mechanism—feels utterly powerless to confront them, indeed as if crushed under a heavy psychological pressure. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of letters, testimonies and oral complaints alone, coming from former prisoners convicted in staged political trials (for crimes alleged to be “against the state”) or arbitrarily deported for political reasons. They ask the Forum to help them “find justice and have what is theirs recognized”; they seek moral rehabilitation and material compensation, integration into society as equals, restoration of the right to practise their profession, and release from the places of internment where they were forcibly held, for decades in some cases, far from their relatives and friends. There are also those seeking the remains of people who died in prisons and were buried somewhere in an abyss, and so on and so forth. The number of these people is great, and equally great is the number of rights trampled and violated, and therefore of the problems that must be resolved to normalize their relations with society. They have moral problems, and material problems too… Many of these problems are of such a nature that they can no longer be resolved, because for many of them their families, love, joy, hopes and dreams for life, the energies of their best years, professional abilities, opportunities for education, and so on have been destroyed forever. Nevertheless, they have problems that can and must be resolved as soon as possible, both in the interests of restoring justice for them and in the interest of the nation: restoring a balance in Albanian society that has long been disrupted. We are dealing with people who were sentenced in violation of the human-rights norms enshrined in the UN Declaration of 10 December 1948—in other words, innocent people. The moral and legal problems that arise in a society when innocent people are convicted are expressed clearly and powerfully in the proverbial saying: “It is better for a hundred guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to be convicted.” Therefore, the Forum regards these people’s tragedies as the nation’s moral wounds, as disease centres which, if not cleansed, will continually spread metastases through the body of the nation. The Forum believes that the Albanian people are today passing through delicate moments in their history. With the establishment of pluralism, they are breaking up and dissolving the artificial unity imposed through violence, in order to build genuine democratic unity. Following the developments of this difficult birth, the Forum observes the danger of polarization, the tension it brings with it, and the destructive explosions that accompany it; which will… (Continued on page 2)

“Voice of America” radio reports that the United States has renewed its call on the Albanian government to conduct full investigations into the recent use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Shkodër. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the Albanian authorities have appointed a commission to examine the outbreak of violence, as a result of which four people from the opposition ranks lost their lives. Around 60 demonstrators were injured in the 2 April incident, when shooting began inside the “KPP” building in Shkodër. The demonstrators were protesting against the falsification of votes two days earlier. The American spokesman said that the head of the United States delegation in Albania had requested a thorough review of the matter, but an official report is expected to be released.

- Albania, our country, needs all its sons and daughters. Today more than ever. - Exclusive interview with Dr. Idriz Basha, given to Preç Zogaj, chairman of the publishing council of the newspaper “Rilindja Demokratike”. Born in the village of Novosej in the district of Kukës, having left Albania at the age of 9, a wanderer for a long time like most Albanian emigrants—first in Prishtina, then in the USA, Canada, France and, most recently, Brussels—a psychoanalyst by profession, Dr. Idriz Basha is today one of the most active spouses in the service of democracy in Albania. He founded the “Union of Free Albanians,” an organization based in Brussels that has gathered around it the younger generation of emigrants, those who left [fundo?] from here, or have felt [at home?] abroad. As head of the organization and long known as a publicist, Dr. Idriz Basha has earned himself a respected place in the political circles of Brussels and Paris, particularly in the European Parliament, where he has also helped increase attention toward Albania and the Democratic Party. Question: How did you receive the invitation and permission to come to your homeland? Answer: You may think me a little weak, but I’ll tell you that when my arrival in the country where I was born was becoming a reality, I was overcome by sleeplessness, just like a child. I went to Paris with Klemente to bring my brothers. For the first time, at that well-mannered entrance, we were welcomed warmly; we sat down with the people working at the embassy for [unclear], had coffee and talked. I told them: look, although we may think differently about many things, we can still come together with mutual feelings as Albanian people. For me, this is another sign that Albanian society is moving toward civilization. The fact is that all of us Albanian emigrants have lived with one word, with one image: Albania, the land of my birth. Although they have… The fact is that he came to Albania. Before I left Albania, Dr. Idriz Basha gave me this interview. (Continued on page 5)