from Human Rights Watch, Mar 29, 1999

On March 28, Serbian Minister of Justice Dragoljub Jankovic proposed that the federal Yugoslav government reinstate the death penalty for crimes of particular gravity. The Yugoslav constitution prohibits the death penalty, but this prohibition can be waived in times of national emergency or state of war.

Human Rights Watch is concerned that the death penalty proposal will be adopted in an effort to threaten and intimidate Serbs opposed to the conflict in Kosovo or unwilling to perform military service. There are some confirmed reports of forced conscription into the Yugoslav Army.

In similar efforts to mute domestic criticism of the government, the Yugoslav and Serbian authorities have systematically closed or silenced many independent media outlets throughout Yugoslavia, most recently "TV Soko" from Soko Banja, a Serbian town of 24,000. Strict censorship rules are in effect.