Yougoslavia, Federal Rep.of
22.03.00
Urgent Interventions
Yougoslavia: Attacks
URGENT APPEL - THE OBSERVATORY
YUG 001/0003/019
Attack
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
22 March 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with utmost urgency in connection with the following situation.
Brief description :
The Observatory was informed by the Humanitarian Law Center that lawyer Husnija Bitici and his wife Sanije were severely beaten up in their Belgrade apartment by three men on 17 March 2000.
According to the information received, at about 8.30 p.m, Mrs. Bitici heard the bell of their appartment ring and when she asked who it was, heard the reply, « Your neighbor, Vlada ». She opened the door and was immediately assaulted in the hallway by one man, as two other men attacked Mr. Bitici.
After the attackers left, Mrs Bitici managed to open the door of her apartment and called for help. The Bitici children say the neighbors found their father tied to the radiator.
Lawyer Bitici sustained serious injuries to his head and body and was operated at the Emergency Medical Center three hours later. Doctors report his condition as grave : even if no vital part of his brain were reached, he has now to undergo a cranial transplant. His wife was also hospitalized.
The police carried out an on-site investigation, and interviewed neighbors and the Bitici’s children, who were not at home at the time of the incident. Signs of violence were evident in the apartment, in which many places were covered with blood.
Husnija Bitici is defense counsel of two Albanian students who are on trial before the Belgrade District Court. The trial was scheduled to take place on 18 March but has been postponed until 30 March this year.
The Observatory fears that this attack is linked with Mr. Bitici’s activities as an Albanian lawyer who defends Albanian prisonners detained in Serbia. The Observatory recalls that it is not the first time that defenders of the right to a defense and to a fair trial are victims of attacks or harassment in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, notably lawyers of Albanian people (in December 1999, three Albanian lawyers were arrested on a motorway in Serbia and one of them, M. Teki Bokshi had been detained in an unknown place during several days - Cf. urgent appeal of the Observatory YUG 002 / 9912 / OBS 081).
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia urging them to :
i. ensure, in all circumstancies, the safety and the physical and psychical integrity of M. Husnija Bitici and of his family ;
ii. carry out a full and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify those repsonsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law ;
iii. abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the general assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998 and more particularly article 1 which provides that « Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels » and 12.2 , which provides that « the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration ».
iv. more generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants ratified by the Federation iof Yugoslavia.
Addresses :
President of the Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic. Fax : 381 11 63 67 75. - Minister of Domestic affairs, Fax : 381 11 361 83 66.
Embassies of the federal Republic of Yugoslavia in your respective countries
Geneva-Paris, 22nd March 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply. The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
YUG 001/0003/019
Attack
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
22 March 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with utmost urgency in connection with the following situation.
Brief description :
The Observatory was informed by the Humanitarian Law Center that lawyer Husnija Bitici and his wife Sanije were severely beaten up in their Belgrade apartment by three men on 17 March 2000.
According to the information received, at about 8.30 p.m, Mrs. Bitici heard the bell of their appartment ring and when she asked who it was, heard the reply, « Your neighbor, Vlada ». She opened the door and was immediately assaulted in the hallway by one man, as two other men attacked Mr. Bitici.
After the attackers left, Mrs Bitici managed to open the door of her apartment and called for help. The Bitici children say the neighbors found their father tied to the radiator.
Lawyer Bitici sustained serious injuries to his head and body and was operated at the Emergency Medical Center three hours later. Doctors report his condition as grave : even if no vital part of his brain were reached, he has now to undergo a cranial transplant. His wife was also hospitalized.
The police carried out an on-site investigation, and interviewed neighbors and the Bitici’s children, who were not at home at the time of the incident. Signs of violence were evident in the apartment, in which many places were covered with blood.
Husnija Bitici is defense counsel of two Albanian students who are on trial before the Belgrade District Court. The trial was scheduled to take place on 18 March but has been postponed until 30 March this year.
The Observatory fears that this attack is linked with Mr. Bitici’s activities as an Albanian lawyer who defends Albanian prisonners detained in Serbia. The Observatory recalls that it is not the first time that defenders of the right to a defense and to a fair trial are victims of attacks or harassment in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, notably lawyers of Albanian people (in December 1999, three Albanian lawyers were arrested on a motorway in Serbia and one of them, M. Teki Bokshi had been detained in an unknown place during several days - Cf. urgent appeal of the Observatory YUG 002 / 9912 / OBS 081).
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia urging them to :
i. ensure, in all circumstancies, the safety and the physical and psychical integrity of M. Husnija Bitici and of his family ;
ii. carry out a full and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify those repsonsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law ;
iii. abide by the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the general assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998 and more particularly article 1 which provides that « Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels » and 12.2 , which provides that « the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration ».
iv. more generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants ratified by the Federation iof Yugoslavia.
Addresses :
President of the Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic. Fax : 381 11 63 67 75. - Minister of Domestic affairs, Fax : 381 11 361 83 66.
Embassies of the federal Republic of Yugoslavia in your respective countries
Geneva-Paris, 22nd March 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply. The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch