2

Whereas the preponderance of political prisoners within Yugoslavia are ethnic Albanians;

Whereas those arrested have been sentenced to excessive terms of imprisonment ranging from one to fifteen years;

Whereas thousands of ethnic Albanians have lost their jobs because they refuse to abandon their cultural heritage;

Whereas Amnesty International, a highly respected international human rights organization, has published allegations of torture and assassination of ethnic Albanians in exile by the Yugoslav secret police;

Whereas Kosova, the province which is the homeland for the majority of ethnic Albanians, has been denied, by the Yugoslav Government, full-fledged status as a republic equal to Yugoslavia’s six other republics which are the homelands for other ethnic groups with much smaller numbers than ethnic Albanians;

Whereas the Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia is a signatory to the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Final Act;

Whereas Principle VII of the Final Act contains provisions concerning respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief;

Whereas one of these provisions states that "the participating States on whose territory national minorities exist will respect the right of persons belonging to such minorities to equality before the law, will afford them full opportunity for the actual enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms and svill, in this manner, protect the legitimate interests in this sphere: Now, therefore, be it

EON 358 H)