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CNN World Report

Ethnic Serbs Now Target of Violence in Kosovo

Aired April 29, 2001 - 14:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: One hundred and forty-three ethnic Albanians are back in Kosovo after being freed this week from Serbian prisons. The men were released Wednesday after their sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court in Belgrade. They were arrested almost two years ago during the war the Kosovo.

Their freedom comes amid a political climate in Kosovo in which Serbs are now the target of ethnic Albanians. UNMIK TV reports.

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VICTORIA SCHULZ, UNMIK REPORTER (voice-over): An armored vehicle of the multinational forces in Kosovo escorts a family from a Serb enclave. The baby daughter needs urgent medical attention she can only get in Serbia. Since the end of the devastating conflict that had ethnic Albanians fearing ethnic Serbs, the tables have turned.

Now, it takes a gunner to make sure that Serbs can drive safely to the border with Serbia. A few months ago, a bus carrying Serbs in a convoy was attacked. This made the movement of Serbs in Kosovo seem even more risky than before. One of the 11 people killed in the bus explosion was Milyana, a 20-year-old student who had just passed an exam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Instead of success, we got the horrible news about the explosive device, put in a bus with civilians.

SCHULZ: After the bus attack, people in minority communities in Kosovo worry about the deteriorated security situation. The ability to move freely guarantees many other rights especially Serbs cannot take for granted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't travel so often but people who do travel certainly don't feel safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): With KFOR escort, it's safer. Without escort, it's not so safe.

SCHULZ: These buses drive without escort because they go through an area with only Serb villages. Even so, the security of the passengers is not guaranteed, since mines and grenades on the road are a constant danger. But being confined to one's backyard is no way to live in a free society, and this man knows it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The freedom of movement is not ability to walked in my garden or in my house; the freedom of movement is freedom go to school, to the hospital, to the library, to work in the field and walk in the city.

SCHULZ: A climate of violence requires a strong guard. The sick baby's parents are anxious when they approach the place where the tragic bus explosion occurred, but they arrive safely to the border crossing.

This is Victoria Shultz of UNMIK Television reporting from Kosovo for CNN WORLD REPORT.

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