Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told 21 of the police officers cut into her finger with a knife so that the ring slid off by means of the blood. In the house the women were forced to undress down to their underwear. The police searched the bodies of the women for more money. One of the police officers took a child and put a knife to its throat. He threatened to kill the child in front of the mother if he was not given more money. 22 During the day the women were forced to work for the Serbian forces, cleaning and cooking. At night the "soldiers" would come with flashlights looking for which women they wanted to take away. The women who would be selected were the educated, beautiful and young ones. The women who were selected would be taken to another house where the "soldiers" were based. There they would be interrogated and raped and forced to do different domestic chores. The women would be taken away one by one; as they returned some would tell the others that they had been raped while others would claim only that they had been forced to work. However, one of the women who was taken away was reported as having told the others that they need not lie that they were taken away just to prepare coffee or to clean and wash, because "they are doing the worst to us". 23 One woman gave a statement about what happened to her when she was taken away one night. The third night they came looking for me. They said they wanted information. I was taken into a room with a white blanket on the floor. They closed the door and the commander told me that I would not leave that room alive if I didn't allow them to do what they wanted to me. After that I was left alone with one man. When we were alone the man took his knife and held it against me throat. He told me what he wanted to do with me and he used dirty words. He forced me down on the blanket, I was lying with my face down. The man took my trousers and underwear off and made me stand on my knees and hands. He raped me from behind, also in the anus. It hurt and I wanted to scream but he put his hand over my mouth. When he was finished he took his trousers up again and left the room. I put my clothes back on. After a while two other men came in. They tried to take off my jumper but I started to cry and I told them that one of them had already done this thing to me and I begged them to let me go. They let me leave and I went back to the other 24 house. After three days the women were ordered to go to a school in a neighbouring village (near a pass on a strategically important highway). They were forced to stay two days in the school. One paramilitary among the group detaining them told them they were being used as human shields against NATO air 25 strikes. In another case similar to that described above, about 500 "young and beautiful" women were selected by the paramilitaries and sent to Staro Cikatova where they were required to clean village houses for use as lodging. The women were kept in two houses and fed once a day. Each woman would be taken to a separate room where she was told to take their clothes off. When they refused they were beaten, 26 harassed and raped. The women were released the next day. One 16-year-old woman was reported to http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch7.htm (8 of 17)12/5/2003 11:51:55 AM