AI is extremely concerned about the dangerous escalation in human rights violations perpetrated by police against ethnic Albanians in the predominantly Albanian-populated province of Kosovo. In late July and early August, three ethnic Albanians were shot dead by police and another wounded. Two other ethnic Albanians were shot dead near the border with Albania by army officers. In at least two cases, one of them involving the death of a six-year-old boy, the police officers in question do not appear to have been under attack. Many incidents of abuse of detainees are reported: brutal beatings, kicking and punching are the most commonly reported forms of torture but electric shocks have apparently been used on occasion. Fourteen cases illustrative of the abuses discussed are appended to the report.
