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| presented to Belgrade in 1987
and signed by 60,000 Kosovo Serbs, which called for the
removal of the Albanian leadership of Kosovo. At
precisely this time, Slobodan Milosevic, head of the
Serbian Communist party, was consolidating his power and
it was the very issue of Kosovo which he utilised to
galvanise popular support. In a now infamous speech given
in Kosovo Polje, on 24 April 1987, he promised the Kosovo
Serbs that no-one would be allowed to "beat"
them again. Milosevic swiftly ensured the dismissal of two of Kosovo’s top officials and replaced them with persons loyal to himself. The demonstrations and riots which resulted from this were met with the imposition of a partial state of emergency in 1989 and the Kosovo Assembly was coerced into accepting a new constitution, returning their powers to Belgrade. In the unrest which followed, several demonstrators were killed on the streets of Pristina and elsewhere across the province. Despite this abrogation of autonomy, the Kosovar population established their own parallel State structures and proclaimed their own Constitution of the independent Republic of Kosovo in 1990. The only State to recognise the Republic of Kosovo, however, was Albania, in 1991. Thereafter, the Kosovars organised elections for a parliament, the majority of seats going to the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and its leader, Ibrahim Rugova, became their President. The parliament was, however, prevented from convening due to concerns about safety from the Serbian police. Since 1989, the Serbian government in Belgrade, headed by now President Milosevic, imposed a series of measures which resulted in a state of apartheid with Kosovo. Serbs were prohibited from selling property to the Kosovars and were encouraged to move into the province. A uniform school curriculum was imposed which removed the teaching of Albanian culture, language and history and, subsequently, funding was cut off to Albanian language schools. Similarly, in the field of university education, Kosovar students and professors were prevented from continuing their classes and many teachers were dismissed. In addition, in the health-care system, large-scale dismissals of Kosovar professionals were inflicted. In response, the Kosovar parliament established a parallel system of education and health-care, financed largely by way of taxes imposed on the many Kosovars who live abroad, mainly in Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia. Furthermore, after the removal of the majority of Kosovars from the police forces within the province, the Serbian police adopted a modus operandi characterised by intimidation, arbitrary arrest and mistreatment. Trials of those considered to be "separatists" have been swift and often resulted in long terms of imprisonment. Moreover, many of those interned have described various forms of ill-treatment and torture inflicted upon them. Indeed, in December 1996, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an improvement in the human rights situation in Kosovo, the release of political prisoners and the establishment of genuine democratic institutions.20 The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the former Yugoslavia has also condemned the torture and mistreatment of persons in custody in Kosovo. Despite the harshness of the Belgrade regime and the denigration of the Kosovar
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