Da ICDSM-Italia: Verso la ripresa del "processo" contro Milosevic e
contro la Jugoslavia

1. [icdsm-italia] Verso la ripresa del processo-farsa
2. [icdsm-italia] V. Valkanov: Can the truth be killed ?


=== 1 ===


Da: ICDSM Italia
Data: Ven 18 Giu 2004 11:30:54 Europe/Rome
A: icdsm-italia @ yahoogroups.com
Oggetto: [icdsm-italia] Verso la ripresa del processo-farsa


Verso la ripresa del processo-farsa

Sta per riprendere - il 5 luglio p.v. - il "processo" intentato dalla
NATO, attraverso il suo tribunale-fantoccio, contro Slobodan Milosevic.
Sara' la fase dibattimentale cosiddetta "della autodifesa", con le
deposizioni dei testimoni convocati dallo stesso Milosevic. Come in
passato, il "processo" si potra' seguire via internet su vari siti, in
particolare su quello "ufficiale":

DOCUMENTAZIONE + AUDIO/VIDEO:
http://www.un.org/icty/

VERBALI:
http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/transe54.htm

E' opportuno seguire direttamente ed integralmente il dibattimento,
poiche' esso non viene "coperto" dai mass-media, che sull'andamento del
"processo" preferiscono tenere la bocca ben cucita.

Nei giorni scorsi i "giudici" hanno deciso quali capi di imputazione
conservare, e quali invece considerare gia' decaduti per insufficienza
di prove. Nel dettaglio le loro decisioni sono riportate qui:
http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2004/p858-e.htm
Chi ne avesse la possibilita' dovrebbe pero' piuttosto studiarsi il
lungo documento
http://www.un.org/icty/milosevic/trialc/judgement/mil-dec040616e.pdf
nel quale sono riportate le motivazioni, e dal quale si evince anche
che uno dei "giudici", il sud-coreano Kwon, ha espresso una opinione in
contrasto con gli altri sulla accusa di "genocidio".
Milosevic, dal canto suo, ha presentato la lista dei testimoni, che
include non solo analisti, diplomatici, e vittime serbe dei
secessionismi degli anni Novanta, ma anche tutti i capi di governo ed i
politici occidentali responsabili dello squartamento della RFS di
Jugoslavia. Tutti costoro pero' non e' detto che si presenteranno a
deporre: i "giudici" devono infatti essere d'accordo sui nomi; i
testimoni stessi devono poi accettare di comparire, e devono essere in
condizione di farlo (ad es. dal punto di vista delle spese di viaggio).


Sulla ripresa del "processo" vedi anche:

PRE-DEFENSE CONFERENCE SUMMARY
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - June 17, 2004
by Andy Wilcoxson
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg061704.htm


Sulla illegittimita' del "tribunale ad hoc" dell'Aia vedi invece:

La recente lettera di Ramsey Clark a Kofi Annan
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/50

L'appello del "Tribunale Clark" (2001)
http://www.pasti.org/milosev2.htm

A. Martocchia: La battaglia dell'Aia (in: "La rimozione della
Jugoslavia) https://www.cnj.it/documentazione/rimozione.htm

I commenti:

F. Grimaldi: Difendere Milosevic e' difendere la liberta' e la
sovranita' dei popoli
http://www.pasti.org/icdsm2.htm
N. Clark: "Il processo Milosevic e' una messinscena"
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/52
K. Hartmann: La “giustizia” dei Nazisti e quella della NATO
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/23
M. Parenti : La demonizzazione di Slobodan Milosevic
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/icdsm-italia/message/60

ed ancora, sul sito http://www.pasti.org/linkmilo.htm :

Statement of Slobodan Milosevic on the illegitimacy of the Hague
"Tribunal"
http://www.pasti.org/dichmilo.htm

# Un tribunale che viola il diritto internazionale - Una giustizia
tribale, di Raniero la Valle, 4 aprile 2001
# La vergogna internazionale del Tribunale ONU sulla Jugoslavia, di
Christopher Black e Edward Herman, febbraio 2000
# Il Tribunale per la Jugoslavia, creazione e strumento della NATO, di
Rajko Dolecek, testo inglese, presentato al Forum per la Pace di
Berlino, 23-24/3/2001
# Chi paga il Tribunale sulla Jugoslavia e come questo calpesta i
principi base del diritto, di Michel Collon, testo inglese
# Illegale fin dal principio: analisi accurata delle gravissime
violazioni di elementari principi legali che fanno del Tribunale
dell'Aja una sorta di nuova Inquisizione, di Kosta Cavoski, testo
inglese. Il testo contiene una ricostruzione particolareggiata del caso
del generale Djukic

Esiste inoltre un interessante documentario televisivo:
http://info.vpro.nl/info/tegenlicht/index.shtml?7738514+7738518+8048024


Si veda infine il testo del volantone diffuso da ICDSM-Italia:
http://www.pasti.org/difesasm.htm


---

http://www.ansa.it/balcani/serbiamontenegro/20040617131332981370.html

TPI: MILOSEVIC, CONTRO DI ME FLAGRANTI MENZOGNE

(ANSA) - L'AJA, 17 GIU - ''Intendo combattere le menzogne flagranti
lanciate contro di me''. Cosi' l'ex presidente jugoslavo Slobodan
Milosevic ha esordito presentando oggi davanti ai giudici del Tribunale
penale internazionale (Tpi), la difesa che fara' a partire dal 5 luglio
prossimo. E' stata la prima volta che l'imputato ricompariva da tre
mesi, dopo che la fase riservata alla difesa e' stata piu' volte
rinviata per motivi di salute accampati dall'accusato. ''Sapete molto
bene che delle terribili accuse sono state pronunciate qui e sapete
anche, come lo sa il pubblico in Serbia, che le menzogne piu' flagranti
sono state dette qui ed il solo modo per combatterle e' dire la verita'
'', ha aggiunto rivolto ai giurati. L'udienza era destinata a fissare
gli ultimi dettagli, tra i quali i tempi per l'esposizione e eventuali
limitazioni del numero dei testimoni indicati dall'imputato, che ha
deciso di difendersi personalmente e rinunciare agli avvocati. ''Voglio
provare qui davanti al pubblico che questi atti d'accusa sono sbagliati
e comportano accuse contro la Serbia, contro me stesso e contro quelle
che voi definite le truppe serbe'', ha aggiunto Milosevic, il quale e'
imputato di crimini di guerra e contro l'umanita' e di genocidio e di
una sessantina di altre imputazioni per le guerre di Croazia (1991-95),
di Bosnia (1992-95) e del Kosovo (1998-99). Milosevic, apparso molto
battagliero ed in buona salute, ha nuovamente chiesto di avere piu'
tempo per la difesa e che non siano messi limiti al numero dei
testimoni per i quali ha presentato una lista di oltre 1.500 nomi, tra
i quali numerosi capi di stato e di governo, incluso l'ex presidente
statunitense Bill Clinton. Il processo contro l'ex presidente jugoslavo
e' cominciato il 12 febbraio del 2002 e dovrebbe concludersi tra la
fine del prossimo anno e l'inizio del 2006.(ANSA). VS
17/06/2004 13:13


=== 2 ===


Da: ICDSM Italia
Data: Dom 20 Giu 2004 16:46:01 Europe/Rome
A: icdsm-italia @ yahoogroups.com
Oggetto: [icdsm-italia] V. Valkanov: Can the truth be killed ?


[ L'altro ieri, 18 giugno, i "giudici" dell'Aia hanno formalmente
rifiutato la richiesta di Milosevic di un prolungamento del tempo per
preparare la sua "autodifesa". A Milosevic erano stati accordati
solamente tre mesi - rispetto ai circa tre anni utilizzati dalla
"pubblica accusa" per istruire il processo - ma di questi tre mesi
Milosevic ne ha potuti usare appena la meta' a causa dei suoi problemi
di salute.
Inoltre, i "giudici" dell'Aia hanno concesso solo 150 giornate di
dibattimento per la "autodifesa", rispetto alle circa 300 usate per la
"accusa", dichiarando candidamente che Milosevic non puo' "pretendere"
che nel processo siano usati gli stessi standard per la difesa come per
l'accusa. Nervosi e preoccupati per come Milosevic usera'
l'opportunita' di questa "autodifesa" nell'aula del tribunale-fantoccio
dell'Aia, i "giudici" si sono premurati di diffidarlo dall'utilizzare
"impropriamente" il microfono - che infatti gli e' stato spento piu'
volte mentre parlava.
Milosevic ha presentato una lista di 1631 testimoni a suo favore. La
fase dibattimentale della "autodifesa" dovrebbe incominciare il
prossimo 5 luglio.

Vedi anche / see also:

Former Serb leader refused extra time to prepare fight against
"horrible false accusations". (By Ana Uzelac)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/tri/tri_363_4_eng.txt

Lawyers' motion to throw out main charge is rejected by majority of
Milosevic trial judges. (By Rachel S. Taylor)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/tri/tri_363_5_eng.txt%c2%a0%c2%a0 ]


Da: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Data: Ven 18 Giu 2004  22:44:40 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Can The Truth Be Killed (in The Hague)? - Statement By ICDSM
Cochairman

STATEMENT BY Professor VELKO VALKANOV,
FOUNDER AND COCHAIRMAN OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO DEFEND
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC (ICDSM)

***************************************
CAN   T H E   T R U T H    B E    K I L L E D ?
***************************************

To the Organization of the United Nations
To the International Public

Yesterday the judges of the so-called International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia demonstrated in the clearest way
that for them their political tasks and goals are much more important
than truth, justice and law.
In the Pre-Defense Conference for Slobodan Milosevic's defense case,
which is expected to start in July this year, they were stubbornly
refusing to prolong the unjustly short three month period for the
preparation of the defense case, in spite of the fact that physicians
had forbid President Milosevic to work more than half that time. They
have refused once again without discussion the request for President
Milosevic's provisional release for medical treatment, recovery and
appropriate
preparations for the rest of the process. For presentation of the
defense case, they have allocated 150 working days in spite of the fact
that for its case the Prosecution had twice as much time. The judges
kept the right for themselves to refuse any defense witness as
irrelevant, even during his/her testimony. They have refused to discuss
the demands of President Milosevic for issuing subpoenas for the
leaders of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and for issuing
orders to the intelligence services of the leading NATO countries as
well as to the state of Serbia and Montenegro to disclose the relevant
documents, justifying their refusals with unacceptable
procedural reasons. Ignoring totally the fact that Slobodan Milosevic
with his seriously damaged health conducts his own defense while being
in illegal detention and deprived of any adequate material, financial
or time resources, the judges have imposed or tried to impose a whole
series of procedural restrictions and obstacles relating to the order
of the defense
witnesses and to the information that has to be submitted on the
witnesses and on the content of their testimony. Particularly
irritating was the way yesterday's proceedings were conducted by the
presiding judge Patrick Robinson, who has been, in the same manner as
his predecessor Richard May, switching off the microphone to President
Milosevic and attempting to turn
the debate on the presentation of the defense case into discussion
between the judges, prosecution and friends of the court, without
listening to the opinions of Slobodan Milosevic about the issues of his
primary concern.
Only a day earlier, the newly elected member of the Trial Chamber,
judge Ian Bonomy from Britain ruled with his vote to the detriment of
Slobodan Milosevic in a situation where the opinions of the other two
judges were in conflict on the issue of the acquittal for the charges
of genocide.
By this act Ian Bonomy confirmed that in only two months he managed to
become acquainted with a million pages of relevant material - an
unbelievably disgraceful example of legal malfeasance.

The Hague tribunal is attempting to kill the truth.

Nobody in the World needs such a false court, except those in NATO who
are responsible for the most serious crimes against peace, against
Yugoslavia and against the Serbian people.
In this moment when the whole world is rising up against
aggression and terror, but also against the associated manipulations of
the law, and when the people of Serbia with more and more courage enter
the battle for truth led by Slobodan Milosevic, the crime against
truth, law and elementary human rights being perpetrated at The Hague,
must be stopped now.
ICDSM and its national sections, today, in their statements and
public actions, will  intensify the struggle against the Hague crimes.
Fighters for truth and freedom for Slobodan Milosevic grow in
number. Recently, the Parliaments of the Russian Federation and of the
Republic of Belarus appeared with powerful declarations. The same was
done by the World Peace Council. On the initiative of Canadian poet
Robert Dickson, the most renown international artists - Harold Pinter,
Peter Handke, Alexander Zinoviev, Rolf Becker, Valentin Rasputin,
Dimitri Analis, Nikolai Petev and many others are signing the petition
demanding that this crime, the last, desperate phase of the NATO war
against Yugoslavia be stopped, in the interest of humanity and in the
interest of peace.

The truth cannot be killed.
Freedom for Slobodan Milosevic!
Freedom for Serbia!


Sofia, 18 June 2004

***************************************************************
***************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
=================
ICDSM calls upon all its members and friends to react NOW in similar,
other appropriate or more effective way!
***************************************************************
***************************************************************


******************************************************************

TRUTH
OR SLAVERY, HUMILIATION AND DESTRUCTION OF SERBIAN NATION

  http://www.icdsm.org/battle.htm

THE DECISIVE BATTLE FOR TRUTH NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!

******************************************************************

SLOBODA urgently needs your donation.
Please find the detailed instructions at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/pomoc.htm

To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/ (Sloboda/Freedom association)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
http://www.free-slobo.de/ (German section of ICDSM)
http://www.icdsm-us.org/ (US section of ICDSM)
http://www.icdsmireland.org/ (ICDSM Ireland)
http://www.wpc-in.org/ (world peace council)
http://www.geocities.com/b_antinato/ (Balkan antiNATO center)


==========================
ICDSM - Sezione Italiana
c/o GAMADI, Via L. Da Vinci 27
00043 Ciampino (Roma)
tel/fax +39-06-4828957
email: icdsm-italia @ libero.it

Conto Corrente Postale numero 86557006
intestato ad Adolfo Amoroso, ROMA
causale: DIFESA MILOSEVIC

sito internet:
http://www.pasti.org/linkmilo.htm

VIVA VIVA SANT'EUFEMIA


Il quotidiano croato Glas Istre di oggi, 20 giugno 2004, riporta la
notizia della attribuzione della cittadinanza onoraria di
Rovigno/Rovinj a Stjepan "Stipe" Mesic, presidente della Repubblica di
Croazia.
La proposta, formulata dal Consiglio comunale di Rovigno, ha la
seguente motivazione: Mesic sarebbe legato da cari ricordi alla
cittadina istriana, poiche' negli anni dell'Universita' il suo allora
collega, oggi defunto, giudice Luciano Stuparic lo tenne nascosto in
casa durante la cosiddetta "primavera croata", quando entrambi erano
ricercati dalla polizia. Si narra che ad aiutare i due "sovversivi"
furono alcuni pescatori, che ancora pare ricordino la vicenda.
La cittadinanza onoraria verra' conferita a Mesic in occasione della
festa di Sant'Eufemia, santa patrona di Rovigno.

In effetti Stipe Mesic fu, nel prima anni Settanta, tra i sostenitori
del movimento antijugoslavo, nazionalista e secessionista croato detto
"primavera croata". Braccio destro di Tudjman sin dalla fine degli anni
Ottanta, Mesic fu imposto nel 1991 dalla Comunita' Europea come
(ultimo) Presidente della RFS di Jugoslavia. Nel suo libro "Come
abbiamo distrutto la RFS di Jugoslavia" Mesic si e' poi vantato di
avere svolto quella alta funzione al solo scopo di tradire ed uccidere
il suo paese.

(a cura di Italo Slavo)

AUGURI


Le forze di occupazione della NATO in Bosnia-Erzegovina (SFOR) hanno
augurato a modo loro "Buon compleanno" a Radovan Karadzic, leader
politico dei serbi del paese. Con una inserzione a pagamento di ben due
pagine, apparsa sul quotidiano "Nezavisne" del 18/6/2004, la SFOR ha
espresso i suoi "Auguri" per il compleanno di Karadzic (che cadeva il
giorno dopo) annunciando come regalo un biglietto aereo prepagato
solo-andata da Sarajevo all'Aia, del quale e' stata pubblicata la
fotografia, a fianco di una immagine rappresentante una candela che sta
per spegnersi. L'inserzione si chiudeva con un "A presto!"

Le frustrazioni di questi anni, in cui la SFOR non e' riuscita a
catturare Karadzic nonostante uno spropositato impiego di uomini e
mezzi - e metodi non proprio "ortodossi" - evidentemente inducono i
responsabili SFOR a guardare alla situazione dal lato umoristico. Nel
frattempo, tutti gli osservatori sono concordi sulla intenzione
dell'Occidente di cancellare prima possibile la Repubblica Serba di
Bosnia dalle cartine geografiche.

(a cura di Italo Slavo)

The Voice of Russia / 2

1. KOSOVO CRISIS CAN EMBRACE THE WHOLE OF THE BALKANS
(Vladimir VOLKOV, director of the Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian
Academy of Sciences)

2. MOSCOW URGES TO END ETHNIC PURGES IN KOSOVO
(Novosti, 24/3/2004)

3. MOSCOW CALLS FOR USING UN RESOLUTION 1244 IN KOSOVO SETTLEMENT
(Itar-Tass, 24/3/2004)

4. KOSOVO: SELECTIVE SILENCE OR SOMETHING ELSE?
(Igor Motsnyi, Lawyer, Leiden University, the Netherlands)


See also:

The Voice of Russia / 1
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/3596
1. 206 paratroopers who shocked the world
(A. Khramchikhin, PRAVDA.Ru, 15/6/2004)
2. Kosovo: still the seat of Balkan instability
(Pavel Kandel, Novosti, 19/3/2004)
3. Genocide in Kosovo
(V. Bubnov, PRAVDA.Ru, 19/3/2004)


=== 1 ===


http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?msg_id=4089262
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - March 23, 2004

KOSOVO CRISIS CAN EMBRACE THE WHOLE OF THE BALKANS

Prof. Vladimir VOLKOV, director of the Institute of
Slavic Studies (Russian Academy of Sciences), for RIA
Novosti

NATO started bombing Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999,
allegedly in reply to ethnic cleansing campaigns and
the ousting of Albanians from Kosovo. Today, five
years after it, one can say that the result of NATO
actions was diametrically opposite to the goals
proclaimed at the beginning of the military operation.
The Western powers, which spoke about their desire to
prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo, actually
provoked it. Large-scale ethnic persecution campaigns
against Serbs, Gypsies, Jews, Turks and all other
non-Albanian groups began in Kosovo with the
deployment of "blue helmets." Since then, about
400,000 have fled the province.
The campaign of creating an "ethnically pure Kosovo,"
launched with NATO connivance by Albanian extremists
who seized power in the region, has had its ups and
downs, with another aggravation, apparently planned in
advance, in Kosovo Mitrovice in the past few days. As
a result, more than a score Serbs were killed and
hundreds forced to leave the province, Serb villages
and churches torched, anti-Serb hysteria is gaining
momentum and new demands for the independence of
Kosovo have been made by Albanian extremists. These
demands run counter to UN Security Council Resolution
1244, which seals the territorial integrity of the
former Yugoslavia (and now Serbia and Montenegro),
Kosovo as its inalienable part.
In fact, Kosovo has long escaped the jurisdiction of
Belgrade and turned into a mandate territory of NATO,
whose peacekeepers do not control the situation in the
province. Albanian extremists are its true masters.
Their terrorist organisation - the Kosovo Liberation
Army (KLA), against which fought ex-President Slobodan
Milosevic, who is now facing the Hague tribunal on
charges of ethnic persecution - has not been dissolved
after the deployment of the NATO forces in the
province, though the bloc had pledged to disarm the
bandits.
But the KLA only changed its name to the Kosovo
Protection Corps, whose "men and officers" not only
bring death and destruction to the province but also
make raids to the southern districts of Serbia, where
they attack people and even police stations. The KLA
bandits also infiltrate Macedonia, joining the local
Albanian extremists, fanning their separatism and
encouraging them to begin an armed struggle for the
"independence" of Albanians. As a result of the
legalisation of the KLA through the creation of the
Kosovo Protection Corps, dozens of bandits received
posts in the province's bodies of authority and are
now applying their extremist ideas quite legally.
Regrettably, many politicians in the West are
encouraging the separatist plans of Albanian
extremists, saying that in this situation, there is no
alternative to the independence of Kosovo, as US
ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright used to say.
This is an extremely dangerous stand, as it implies
not only the creation of an independent state of
Kosovo but also the implementation of a more ambitious
plan of creating Greater Albania, which would
incorporate Albania, Kosovo, and a part of Montenegro,
Macedonia and Greece. The appearance in Europe of such
a state as a result of border re-carving, with a
quickly growing population of 6-7 million, would
seriously change the situation in the Balkans and the
rest of Europe. It would thus become extremely
difficult to get rid of the Balkan splinter.
Kosovo has calmed down a bit now after several days of
Serb pogroms, and President Ibrahim Rugova has even
announced a day of mourning for the dead. But this
calm, ensured by the emergency deployment of
additional KFOR units and harsh military-police
measures, is deceptive and, worst still, temporary.
There will be a new outbreak of violence, which can
grow to dangerous proportions, because the Kosovo
problem has not been solved and the West does not seem
willing to bring to order the unruly extremists who
made terror the main instrument of implementing their
separatist plans.
Moscow believes that the situation in Kosovo can be
stabilised if the sides strictly abide by Resolution
1244 and Belgrade's jurisdiction over Kosovo is
restored in practice. "Regrettably, the Albanian
leaders seldom fulfil the demands of the Security
Council," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
the other day in an interview with a Russian
television channel. "Besides, some Western spokesmen
closed their eyes to this and did not call Albanians
to their senses in time. The recent tragedy in
Mitrovice confirmed our fears that such connivance
with the Albanians' intention to cleanse the province
of other ethnic groups is harmful and dangerous." The
minister added that Russia demands compliance with the
basic provisions of the settlement sealed by the UN
Security Council.
Ethnic groups cannot live at peace with each other in
Kosovo, and so we should probably accept the idea of
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on dividing
Kosovo into ethnic cantons. This scheme is actually
used in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Serbs and
Muslims have been living separately after the
hostilities of the early 1990s.
To restore order in Kosovo, the world should really
disarm the KLA or whatever it is called now and call
to account the Albanian "hawks," such as Hasim Taci,
ex-leader of the KLA who has become a "respected
politician" and the leader of the so-called Democratic
Party of Kosovo. He committed many crimes in the past
and is playing politics in Kosovo now, politics that
is fraught with violence and might eventually blow up
the Balkans.


=== 2 ===


http://en.rian.ru/rian/
index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4095196&startrow=21&date=2004-03-
24&do_alert=0

Russian Information Agencies (Novosti)
March 24, 2004

MOSCOW URGES TO END ETHNIC PURGES IN KOSOVO


MOSCOW, March 24, 2004. (RIA Novosti) - Alexander
Yakovenko, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official
spokesman, has issued a statement today, which marks
five years since NATO's air campaign against
Yugoslavia. The campaign was not authorized by the
United Nations Security Council and was a grave
violation of the UN Charter, emphasized Mr Yakovenko.

It took a lot of effort, above all on the part of
Russia, to end the aggression and bring the situation
under the UN control, reads the statement.

Kosovo continues to be "an open wound" despite UN
Security Council resolution 1244, which was passed
overwhelmingly in the wake of the war and outlined the
principles of the Kosovo settlement effort, wrote Mr
Yakovenko.

"There is not a single opportunity today to find a
long-term solution to the Kosovo problem, which would
envisage equal right for all province residents
regardless of their ethnic origin. Moreover, ethnic
purges of non-Albanian population, above all Serbs,
continue in the province," Mr Yakovenko stressed.

The NATO-led international peacekeeping contingents,
which pledged to maintain legal order and security in
Kosovo, assured that life would return to normality,
while the province would be developing in line with
European democratic standards, recalled the diplomat.
"What we are witnessing in reality resembles medieval
savageness: dozens of people were killed, hundreds of
homes and dozens of Orthodox churches and monasteries
under the UNESCO's protection were plundered and burnt
down [in the latest attacks]," said the Russian
diplomat.

Moscow believes the Kosovo settlement effort has
nearly come to a dead-end, which aggravates the
settlement processes in other parts of the former
Yugoslavia, Bosnia, for example.

Russia insists that all available means should be
employed to reinvigorate political settlement in
Kosovo. The global community and the peacekeeping
forces deployed in Kosovo must to this end focus on
fulfilling resolution 1244, which makes the only
available legal basis for settlement, reads the
statement.

This document must be implemented in an "impartial and
consistent" manner, emphasized the diplomat.

"The old methods of conniving at radicals must be
abandoned. Drastic measures need to be taken to end
ethnic purges," says the statement.


=== 3 ===

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=600318&PageNum=0

Itar-Tass (Russia)
March 24, 2004

Moscow calls for using UN resolution 1244 in Kosovo
settlement


MOSCOW, March 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia insists on using
"the opportunities which are still available for
deploying the Kosovo settlement process along a
political course," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Alexander Yakovenko said on Wednesday in connection
with the 5th anniversary of the beginning of NATO's
bombings of Yugoslavia.

"These bombings were carried out in violation of the
UN Charter and in circumvention of the UN Security
Council. It was possible to stop, with tremendous
difficulties, the use of force -- in many respects
thanks to Russia's efforts -- and bring the situation
to the legal fold of the United Nations, where
resolution 1244 was unanimously approved," Yakovenko
said.

Kosovo remains a nonhealing wound of the new state
community of Serbia and Montenegro, and, generally, of
all the Balkans. At present, one is unable even to see
an opportunity for reaching a long-term solution of
the problem, which would envision observation of the
rights of all residents of the province regardless of
their nationality. Moreover, ethnic cleansings of
non-Albanian population -- foremost Serbs -- are
underway in the region, the spokesman said.

"We witness another exodus of Serbs from Kosovo, who
found themselves, as did dozens of thousands of
previous Serb refugees, without basic conditions of
life," Yakovenko said.

As before, Russian Emergency Ministry planes supply
tents, food and medicines for residents of the
province.

The NATO-led international forces which took the
responsibility for maintaining security in Kosovo
"assured that life was coming back to normal there."

But in actual fact, "we see the manifestation of
flagrant medieval barbarism -- dozens of people have
been killed these days, hundreds of homes plundered
and burnt, as well as dozens of Orthodox temples and
monasteries which had been under UNESCO protection,
according to the diplomat.

The global community should focus its efforts on full
implementation of UN SC resolution 1244, the only
legal basis for a settlement.

"It is necessity to take urgent actions to stop ethnic
cleansings," the diplomat said, "only after this we
can have a serious discussion over how to make
progress in the settlement."


=== 4 ===


http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/98/387/12347_Kosovo.html
Pravda.ru (Russia) - March 25, 2004

Kosovo: selective silence or something else?

Igor Motsnyi
Lawyer, (LL.M in European Community Law, Leiden
University, the Netherlands)

One may call it selective silence. I call it fascism.
Once upon a time everything was quite simple and
self-explanatory. The public knew who bad guys were.
Once upon a time human rights activists knew very well
what they should protest against. Just five years ago
there was a hot topic for all western media:
humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. We were reading,
watching and listening to horrific never-ending
stories of gang rapes and mass murders perpetrated by
Serbs. By that time the international community was
already prepared to this sort of information. [The]
Anti-Serb campaign started soon after the beginning of
the war in Croatia. It was far too easy: Serbs are
bad, all others are good (or not as bad as Serbs,
depending upon circumstances). Just keep it simple and
the whole world knows what is going on.
Kosovo is not a big deal anymore. Having looked
through Yahoo! headlines a couple of days ago I
discovered that stories from Kosovo were far behind
the Iraqi war on terrorism, US presidential elections
and the issue of gay and lesbian marriages. CNN just
briefly mentioned Kosovo uproars in its world news
report. Well, I guess I should not have been
surprised. Sure, gays and lesbians have the right to
get married and the right to be heard, US presidential
candidates have the right to explain their views to
the US and international public.
Serbs do not have right to live and practice their
religion on their own land.
Who cares about Serbs after all? Serbs are evil. It is
a postulate.
Since the end of the World War Two there were no
particularly serious military conflicts in Europe.
This peaceful state of affairs ended after the
collapse of Yugoslavia. Soon after unhappy events had
happened the whole world had a chance to see the new
evil. In the whole chain of occasions the people
quickly forgot the simple principle: there are no good
and bad nations, there are good and bad individuals.
The wars in Croatia, Bosnia, an armed conflict in
Kosovo and NATO bombings provided hundreds if not
thousands of jobs for various kinds of writers,
reporters and political analysts who played a major
role in forming international opinion in respect of
the former Yugoslav republics. One of the most
prolific and successful Balkan writers was Tim Judah.
His books "The Serbs. History, Myth and the
Destruction of Yugoslavia" and "Kosovo: War and
Revenge" instantly became authoritative sources of
information on recent Balkan wars. Trying to explain
the nature of Serbs and Serbia's "sad present in the
light of its past" the author comes up with an example
of a famous Serbian (Montenegrin) poem "The Mountain
Wreath" or "Gorski Vijenac" (Serbian) by Petar Njegos,
a Montenegrin prince. The poem tells about the
historic happenings of the end of the 17th century
known as "the exterminations of the Turkish converts."
The main outcome of the author's reasoning was: only
[a] mentally crazy nation may glorify such deeds and
consider the mass killings of one religious group an
act of heroism. Tim Judah however overlooked the fact
that the history of every nation is in a certain way
based on wars against others, particularly on wars
against those considered oppressors. The whole Jean
d"Arc legend is based upon the war against the
British. I would not go so far as to call the French
an insane nation though. Tim Judah was just one of the
many proponents of Anti-Serb hysteria and by all means
not the worst one. He was just one of the myriad of
contributors to "insane nation" myth.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called
burning down Serbian churches and expelling Serbs from
their homes where the lived for centuries "a very bad
thing". His further message to Serbs was to be
self-restrained and avoid any violence.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer could have used stronger terms
to describe the current situation in Kosovo, but why
should he?
Who cares about Serbs? Serbs are mentally sick. Just
read Tim Judah's books.
Walking along a Danube embankment in the city of Novi
Sad with a Hungarian friend of mine we were talking
about some insignificant stuff that pals normally
discuss at 11 p.m. "Serbia seems nice and the people
are so extraordinary friendly"- she said to me,
suddenly. "I did not expect this. I watched some
footages from Serbia before, our TV always showed
Albanian women who were raped by Serbs, they looked
terrified," she added a few seconds later.
For the period between the 17th and the 19th March
more than 20 Orthodox churches and monasteries were
set on fire. Some of them were built in the 14th
century and protected by UNESCO. More than 3,000
(three thousand) Serbs had to leave their homes.
Harri Holkeri, Kosovo's UN administrator, said attacks
"came so suddenly the security forces were not in the
right place at the right time". United Nations
condemned violence in Kosovo. What else could they do?
Condemnation is already too much.
Who cares about Serbs? Serbs are rapists. Just watch
TV to understand this.
During last ten years the whole world has been
learning by heart only one phrase: "Serbs are bad". It
turns out they finally succeeded. No one seems to be
disgusted by the fact that for the past several days
thousands of Serbs were expelled from their homeland
and many Orthodox churches were destroyed. An average
American is more concerned about same-sex marriage
than about burning Orthodox churches. An average
British is more interested in Kylie Minogue-Oliver
Martinez relationship than in thousands of Serbian
refugees.
Nobody talks about ethnic cleansing or genocide this
time, ethnic cleansing simply does not apply to Serbs;
they are the ones who ethnically clean others but not
the ones who get ethnically cleaned. Nowadays there
are just ethnic clashes between "the majority Muslim
Albanians and the Orthodox Christian Serbs" as Reuters
say.
I just wonder how one should call well-planned and
systematic attacks against ethnic and religious
minority as well as persistent destruction of
religious objects?
It is pretty simple though.
This is just fascism, mere fascism, no more, no less.
If you say the others are inferior just because they
belong to a particular nation it is fascism. No doubt
about that. If no one is going to do anything about
current Kosovo crisis it means they deny Serbs the
very basic human rights: the right to human dignity
and the right to life just because they are Serbs.
I do understand that very few actually expected this.
People in the United States and the EU get used to
receiving information about barbaric acts committed by
Serbs and do not want to learn about crimes committed
against Serbs. As I have said it was all too simple
before and it is a bit more complicated now. Perhaps
the rest of the world does not believe Serbs can
suffer as much as other nations. It may also be they
think Serbs deserve current sufferings and that the
situation in Kosovo is getting better in any case. I
remember very well a talk with a young intellectual
from Czech republic right after the NATO military
campaign against Yugoslavia. He was arguing that NATO
military intervention was inevitable. He admitted some
"collateral damage" had been caused to the country but
said that it had been necessary to prevent further
harm and stop humanitarian catastrophe.
Or they do not have an opportunity to learn more about
the genocide that is going on in Kosovo now.
Looks like just very few of us are appalled at the
images of Serbs leaving their homes and blazing
Serbian churches. The rest of the world does not want
to see these images or does not want to believe them.
They are ignoring the truth.
One may call it selective silence. I call it fascism.