Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told Many of those arrested and detained during the conflict, as well as detainees who had been in pre-trial detention in Kosovo prisons or serving prison sentences after convictions, were not released, but were transferred to prisons in Serbia proper accompanied by Serbian and Yugoslav forces when they withdrew from Kosovo in early June. Whereas many of them are accounted for, there are many unconfirmed reports of hundreds of men (but also some women) who were arrested and detained by the Serbian authorities and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown. These allegations of enforced disappearances are currently being followed up by the OSCE with the Yugoslav authorities. Arbitrary arrests as a method of restricting freedom of movement Checkpoints and other forms of police control, particularly on public transport, increased the possibility of Kosovo Albanians' being victims of arbitrary arrest. This, in turn, played a significant part in generating fear of movement among the population. Prior to the OSCE-KVM's deployment, arrests during police controls were common occurrences and, as a result, movements in and out of certain areas were almost non-existent. Even travels in or out of Kosovo could expose individuals to such arrests, as highlighted by the case of the arrests of several Kosovo Albanian men returning from working abroad. [The informant] stated that after working in [the former Yugoslav Republic of] Macedonia for two months … he became concerned about the safety of his family in Suva Reka [and returned to Kosovo]. On 3 July 1998 … the bus he was travelling on was stopped by the police in Prizren. [The] police gathered 61 men including the complainant and transferred them to the police station in Prizren, [where] they [took] his personal property and [detained] him. During this time he was beaten severely by several police [officers], and tormented when they placed electrical devices on his hands and ears. While they were doing this they kept asking questions about the UCK. When he told them that he didn't even know what the UCK was they kept up this type of treatment for hours. [The complainant] stated that they released him at about 03:00 hours. All they gave him at this time was a document release form and his ID card. They kept three boxes of cigarettes and 26 his passport. The OSCE-KVM's verification activities assisted in many ways in restoring freedom of movement as, in the beginning at least, checkpoints were taken down. As the situation deteriorated, police controls reappeared on a larger scale although in more deceptive ways, and numerous cases of arbitrary arrests again started to be reported. In turn, fear of travelling increased. It can be argued that the Serbian authorities had some legitimate purposes in conducting police controls, since they were conducting a widespread anti-terrorist operation. However, the arbitrary nature of the actions taken by the police in exercising these controls, particularly through arrests, had a significant impact on restricting the otherwise legitimate movement of persons. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch9.htm (9 of 16)12/5/2003 11:52:05 AM