Conferenza
Mercato della guerra: dall'Iraq al Piemonte
Guerra e globalizzazione

Lunedì 31 maggio 2004 ore 12:30
Aula Magna Politecnico di Torino
corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24


-Quale futuro per l'Iraq? - Sherif El Sebaie, redattore di AlJazira.it

-Conflitti dimenticati - Fulvio Poglio, redattore di Warnews.it

-Il mestiere delle armi in Piemonte - Francesco Bonavita, FIOM CGIL Alenia

-Ideologia del libero mercato, guerra e movimento per la pace -
Vittorio Agnoletto (Forum Sociale Mondiale)

Ore 14:30
Proiezione dei film
-`L'arcobaleno e il deserto - Emergency in Iraq' di Antonio Di Peppo e
Guido Morozzi
durata 25 minuti
-`Fotoricordo' di Tamara Bellone e Piera Tacchino durata 35 minuti

con interventi su "Cultura di pace e diritti umani" di collaboratori
di Peacereporter, Emergency, CGIL Lavoro e Società, AlJazera,
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia, R.S.U. Politecnico.

From: "Roland Marounek"
Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 00:15:54 +0200
To: <alerte_otan @ yahoogroupes.fr>
Subject: [alerte_otan] DE LA YOUGOSLAVIE A L'IRAK : L'EUROPE FACE AUX
GUERRES D'AUJOURD'HUI ET DE DEMAIN

DE LA YOUGOSLAVIE A L’IRAK

L’EUROPE FACE AUX GUERRES D’AUJOURD’HUI ET DE DEMAIN



BILAN ET RESPONSABILITES DES INTERVENTIONS MILITAIRES OCCIDENTALES

 

Un ancien Ministre belge occupant d’importantes fonctions lors du
déclenchement des guerres balkaniques reconnaît avoir été alors
conditionné par la médiatisation ambiante de ce conflit et dénonce
aujourd’hui les grandes impostures qui servirent à justifier
l’agression de l’OTAN contre la Yougoslavie. Il dialoguera et débattra
de la scène internationale et des responsabilités actuelles et passées
de l’Europe avec un économiste égyptien, observateur lucide et engagé
de la situation internationale, et avec le Directeur de la revue
«Alternatives Sud» et co-fondateur du Forum Social Mondial, à
l’invitation de l’Espace Marx.

 
VENDREDI 28 MAI A 19H30 : CONFERENCE-DEBAT

A l’Espace Marx : 4, rue Rouppe – 1000 Bruxelles

 
Avec la participation de :

 
Samir AMIN
(professeur universitaire et écrivain égyptien, Directeur du Forum du
Tiers Monde) 

Guy SPITAELS
(ancien Ministre, auteur du livre « L’improbable équilibre »),

François HOUTART
(Directeur du Centre Tricontinental et Président du BRrussels Tribunal)

 

Modérateur : Vladimir CALLER (journaliste)

 

P.A.F. : 4 euros

(étudiants, chômeurs : 1,50 euros)

Attention : LA SEANCE COMMENCERA A 19 HEURES 30 PRECISES.

 

SOUS LES AUSPICES DE LA FONDATION JACQUEMOTTE

(fjj.timmermans.eliane @ skynet.be)



Pour vous désabonner de cette liste de diffusion, envoyez un email à :
alerte_otan-unsubscribe@...

Pour retrouver les messages précédemment envoyés:
http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/alerte_otan/messages

Cette liste est gérée par des membres du Comité de Surveillance OTAN.
Les opinions éventuellement exprimées n'engagent que les auteurs des
messages, et non le CSO.

(deutsch / english / srpskohrvatski)

[ Il settimanale tedesco DER SPIEGEL, in un recente articolo dai toni
allarmati sulla esplosione dei pogrom lo scorso marzo e sul perdurare
delle violenze degli irredentisti pan-albanesi, definisce semplicemente
"conigli" i soldati tedeschi dell'UNMIK apparentemente incapaci di
difendere le persone ed il patrimonio storico-artistico della
provincia... ]


THE RABBITS OF KOSOVO
DIE HASEN VOM AMSELFELD
ZECEVI SA KOSOVA

(R. Flottau, O. Ihlau, A. Szandar, & A. Ulrich - DER SPIEGEL)


=== ENGLISH ===


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/81752


Der Spiegel, Germany
May 3, 2004

German soldiers: The Rabbits of Kosovo*

*In German Original: Amsfeld - Field of blackbirds (in Serbian - Kosovo
Polje)

Serious criticism of the German KFOR contingent in the restless
province of Kosovo: German UN policemen accuse the Bundeswehr (German
Army) of humiliation and defeat during violence by Albanian extremists.

By Renate Flottau, Olaf Ihlau, Alexander Szandar, Andreas Ulrich


The voice of the German UN policeman betrayed panic. "When will you
finally came," pleaded the man over the radio, "For God's sake, we
urgently need support."

In front of the building of the UN police in the town of Prizren, in
the sector of the German KFOR peacekeeping force in the restless
province Kosovo, the unbridled mass of Albanian nationalists raged for
hours. They set out on a hunt for Serbs and their alleged protectors.
Stones flew and Molotov cocktails, flames covered the light brown earth
next to the turned over and destroyed police cars. Confronted with this
orgy of hate, several dozen UN officials had sought sanctuary in the
police station and barricaded themselves. Many were bleeding.

"Come quickly, we need assistance," repeated the German policeman again
and again over the radio. But nobody came and the military sent no
assistance. The UN employees were probably saved from the worst only by
the circumstance that on the second day of the March riots, the madness
of the Albanians turned toward the burning of the church of Sveti Spas
(Christ the Savior) and the settlement where 2,000 Serbs had lived
before the war.

During the recent riots in Kosovo 19 people were killed, 8 Serbs and 11
Albanians, the latter primarily in self-defense by threatened UN
policemen and KFOR soldiers. According to the balance sheet of UNMIK,
the UN civil administration of this international protectorate, there
were about 900 injured, among them 65 members of the international
forces. Twenty-nine churches and monasteries, as well as about 800
houses belonging to the Serbian minority were destroyed, while several
thousand Serbs saved themselves by fleeing.

With these acts of violence probably the last illusions of a possible
reconciliation of the national communities and the building of a
multiethnic democracy have been destroyed. In the war for human rights
in 1999 NATO bombers expelled the murderous military machinery of
Serbian ruler Slobodan Milosevic from Kosovo and enabled the return of
800,000 Albanian refugees. Five years later the international community
must recognize that it has gambled away its moral and military victory
and that its ambitious mission is in danger of failing. Many of the
victims of yesterday are the criminals of today. Like the former
Belgrade despot, Albanian extremists are now carrying out bloody ethnic
cleaning in order to create a Serb-free state of Kosovo - centering on
the historic Field of Blackbirds (Kosovo Polje) where an army of
Serbian knights bled in the battle against the Turks in 1389 and
created the myth of the Serbs as victims.

"We reacted quickly," lieutenant general Kammerhoff said of the
engagement of the 20,500 KFOR troops, which he has commanded since last
October. German defense minister Peter Struck also highly praised the
"prudent behavior" of his 3,600 soldiers: "They reacted rationally,
preventing an escalation and thus protecting human lives."

That is Berlin's version. Reports of eyewitnesses in Prizren, however,
reveal a completely different picture. Not only Serbs, but also UN
officials, troops from other KFOR contingents, Albanian human rights
activists and independent journalists accuse the Bundeswehr of failure
and even cowardice. The Bundeswehr played a sad, perhaps even very
shameful role in restraining the violence. The German soldiers ran
away, hiding like rabbits in their barracks and emerged again with
armored vehicles only once the Albanian crowd had calmed down, having
completed its work of destruction. So far no other such harsh
accusation has been heard against the international missions of the
German military.

The failure to stop this naked terror reminded some Balkans observers
of Srebrenica: After the fall of the Bosnian city in July 1995, the
Dutch UN officer Karremans was toasting the Serb general Mladic while
thousands of Muslims were removed for execution.

"Their intervention was a failure, they should withdraw," said Bishop
Artemije of the Serbian Diocese of Kosovo and Metohija, speaking of the
Germans. And Father Sava Janjic, the spokesman for Decani monastery,
added: "After what the Germans have done in two world wars, we want
them to leave the Balkans."(*)

But the German UN policemen, too, felt abandoned by the German
soldiers. Herbert Fischer Drumm, the police pastor in
Rhineland-Palatinate, discovered "signs of trauma" in some of the 278
German policemen with whom he personally spoke, "because their calls
for assistance to KFOR fell on deaf ears". Many officials, the minister
said, ask themselves why the soldiers were there in the first place if
they could not offer them assistance.

Reports of the frustrated policemen have been presented, in the
meanwhile, to UNMIK. Their Finnish boss Harri Holkeri, Albanian
newspapers report, allegedly had a bitter dispute with the KFOR
commander Kammerhoff. The reports are now being evaluated. "KFOR must
reexamine its concept of security," demanded Saxonia-Anhalt interior
affairs minister Klaus Jeziorsky (CDU), who returned last week with his
colleague from Hamburg Udo Nagel from a visit to Kosovo. Nagel is also
of the opinion that "KFOR must able be to protect UN employees".

After an inspection tour of Kosovo on 5 and 6 April, the chairman of
the German task group for international police forces, North
Rhine/Westphalia police inspector Dieter Ve, summarized the results of
his findings in a report and sent it to the German interior ministry
and provincial interior ministers. His conclusion: "During violent
unrest KFOR is not adapted to calming the situation. Cooperation
between Kfor and Unmik is not coordinated."

In Prizren "despite constant requests for assistance to KFOR" not one
soldier appeared in order to support the police. KFOR "proved to be
unable to carry out its assigned tasks".

UN police commissioner Stefan Feller is also quoted in the report as
saying that KFOR is not up to calming of riots, that the military not
sufficiently trained and prepared. KFOR could not guarantee "security
tasks assigned to it and provide protection for the Serbian population".

"For weeks a steady increase in tension could be felt," German police
officers in Prizren told Der Spiegel. They do not want to give their
names and rank because they are presently under UN command and any
statement could have legal consequences.

The pressure was concretely directed against the some 100,000 Serbs
remaining in the province and against UNMIK, which has began to conduct
an investigation against the former Kosovo Liberation Army for war
crimes. The rhetoric of the Albanian nationalists became more sharp, as
did the political graffiti written on the walls. "It was clear that
something was going to happen," said one official, "we just didn't know
when." Eruptions of Albanian violence during which Serbian villages,
monasteries and churches were systematically attacked have occurred on
several occasions since the end of the war. However, earlier KFOR
peacekeeping forces with 50,000 troops were considerably more agile.
"We are expected to work miracles," complained the very first UN
administrator, Bernard Kouchner of France, after periodically
reoccurring outbursts of ethnic hate.

This time the – unproven – claim that two Albanian boys were chased by
Serbs into the river Ibar and drowned led to the explosion of violence.
First in Kosovska Mitrovica and then in almost every other town and
city in the crisis-ridden province, including Prizren.

There, according to the debriefing of German policemen, about thousand
demonstrators marched through the city center on 17 March, chanting
"UCK, UCK" (KLA, KLA) and "UNMIK, ARMIK" (Unmik is the enemy). People
from the surrounding villages joined them; obviously they were
Islamists, recognizable by their long beards.

At 5:30 p.m. the first houses in the old part of the city began to
burn. The Serbian seminary was set on fire with the approval of the
gathered residents, stones flew at the civil administration building,
automobiles were destroyed. Not a sign of KFOR, although anxious
eyewitnesses requested intervention by German officers several times by
telephone.

Only when the flames threatened to spread to the surrounding houses did
Argentine UN police special forces approach, remaining at a safe
distance of 300 meters. Their attempt to disperse the crowd with
teargas was countered with a hail of stones and bottles. The South
Americans dropped their clubs and protective shields and fled.

The German KFOR appeared for the first time when the rioters took a
fire truck and drove to the UNMIK building. The appearance of the
military had an obvious effect. The mass continued on, nothing stopping
it in its march of destruction.

Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. the mass rioted in the old part of town on
the slope beneath the ruins of a Byzantine castle. The houses of
Serbian refugees were set on fire. A company of KFOR soldiers, guarding
the Serbian church of St. George from behind barriers of sandbags, fled
with the clergy and the remaining Serbs into the barracks. The
demonstrators applauded, set fire to the church and 56 more houses and,
in the end, the Orthodox church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevis, not far
from the municipal building. German defense minister Struck once had
said that this church is "a symbol of lasting peace brought by our
mission".

Some extremists continued on up the river Bistrica to the monastery of
Holy Archangels. The approach road could have been easily blocked with
a few armored vehicles, especially since master sergeant Udo Wambach
and 19 soldiers of the Bundeswehr were stationed in the 14th century
monastery.

About 200 demonstrators sent a delegation under a white flag to the
Germans and ensured them that nothing bad would happen to them, that
"we only want to burn down the monastery". The KFOR protectors
evacuated six monks and their two visitors to their armored vehicles
and drove them to the other side of the Bistrica. The monastery was
then burned down.

Master sergeant Wambach was expressly commended for his "outstanding
act" in mid-April by the deputy defense minister, Walter Kolbow, during
his visit to Prizren. No medal was issued but nevertheless a note was
included in his personnel file. According to the commendation, the
sergeant avoided "by his prudent behavior and courageous action, an
escalation of violence, preventing bloodshed and protecting the human
lives entrusted to him".

When night fell, the fire from the burning of the old part of town
illuminated the sky over Prizren. The next morning, on Thursday, March
18, smoke still could be seen rising above the rubble. But now
everything was calm.

At about 12:30 p.m. the mass again went into action. Since all Serbian
institutions were destroyed, the hatred of the Albanians was directed
now against the municipal administration, the UN civil administration
and the two police stations.

The first attacks began at about 3:00 p.m. and targeted the police
station in the city center. Calls for assistance directed to KFOR
remained unanswered. Stones flew at the house, automobiles were
overturned, no soldiers anywhere were to be seen. KFOR obviously had
not used the time to consider the reexamine its concept of engagement
in order to prevent renewed unrest.

This was followed by an attack on the police headquarters only a
kilometer away. Policemen from different nations, including Germans,
were exposed to a constant hail of stones and Molotov cocktails. The
extremists were receiving support and refills from a nearby gas
station. Gunshots rang out.

"We pleaded with KFOR for assistance," reported one official. "They
told us that the soldiers were on their way but nothing happened." The
one thing which the policemen was a military vehicle from which
soldiers on a nearby hillside were observing the orgy of violence. "I
felt like scum," wrote a German policeman in his report. "The worst
thing," said another official, "is that the rioters achieved their
goals. The soldiers merely watched the progression of ethnic cleansing.
Our mission failed."

Only when the rioters in Prizren began to throw grenades into the UNMIK
building did German KFOR intervene. It sent a few armored vehicles and
the situation calmed down immediately.

The German contingent in Prizren did not report any injuries during the
two days of chaos. That is really commendable. Other KFOR contingents,
including the Italians, the Greeks and the French, reported numerous
injuries. Didn't these KFOR soldiers have the same orders as the
Germans? Did they act on their own initiative or were they simply more
courageous?

The Swedish battalion which attempted to protect the Serbs in the
village of Caglavica from the Albanian arsonists had 14 men inured. "We
were surprised and now we are waiting for the next round," junior
officer Andersson admitted to reporters. "We will pay these Albanians
back." In Mitrovica, where most of the casualties occurred, French KFOR
troops and UN police prevented the Albanians from arriving in the
Serbian, northern part of the city.

Why was it not possible to protect the monasteries in Prizren, a
journalist from the Canadian "Chronicle Herald" asked some German
officers. Their response: "It is not in our mandate to hurt innocent
civilians in order to protect an old church."

Colonel Dieter Hintelmann, the commander of the German KFOR contingent
in Prizren, defended himself with a similar line: "We acted exactly
according to our regulations.
Protection of buildings is not the task of the Bundeswehr in Kosovo. It
is allowed to fire only in self-defense."

Every soldier has a little pocket edition of the "Rules of Engagement".
They do not foresee the protection of buildings with the use of weapons
and shooting at demonstrators who are throwing Molotov cocktails at
churches or monasteries. The chapter on "rules for the use of military
force" gives the soldier clear recommendations: "You have the right to
repel attacks against KFOR personnel, KFOR material and persons under
the protection of KFOR." It is precisely this right, the German
policemen criticize, that the Bundeswehr in Prizren unfortunately
failed to use.

"The leaders of the demonstrations knew exactly that as long as they do
not attack us, we cannot shoot," said Hintelmann. An authorization for
the raging mob? "I cannot order soldiers to shoot into a crowd of
people which includes children," said the officer. "Columns of
demonstrators including women and children blocked the military base
and prevented reinforcements."

The officer has received strong support from his superiors back at home.

"The essence of our task is to protect human lives," said the mission
command administration in Potsdam, where Hintelmann's military
commanders are located. The unit was right to concentrate "on
protecting the Serbian population and UN employees." Although German
policemen also waited for it in vain.

Accusations that the Germans withdrew in cowardly fashion are
"completely absurd" for the chief of the Bundeswehr. According to
effective German law, the military is not allowed to use teargas or
fire rubber bullets at crowds, Struck explained, merely "to fire
warning shots into the air".

The foreign affairs minister ("I am not one of those people who accuse
soldiers") has also protected the troops. "Our soldiers have carried
out a lot of things under substantial risk and enormous pressure," said
Joschka Fischer (Green Party), "They have saved many people and this
prioritization was correct."

However, both the Germans in Prizren and in Berlin grant one thing:
They were surprised by the rebellion, which in just a few hours spread
throughout the entire area of conflagration. Kfor reconnaissance units
and the secret services of several countries failed.

At the same time, none other than the Germans praised themselves for
their outstanding contacts with the population, in part thanks to a
historical bonus: during the World War II, the Albanians supported the
Wehrmacht in the fight against Serbian partisans and even sent Hitler
an entire SS division named after their national hero, Skenderbey(**).

Anyone "who attacks Serbian enclaves or cultural properties in Kosovo
in the future will confront Kfor," general-lieutenant colonel
Kammerhoff announced, suggesting by the firmer posture an implicit
acknowledgement of failure. An internal "progress report" speaks of
"the need to act in order to bring riots under control".

Minister Struck would now like to equip the Bundeswehr with teargas and
pepper spray. Unlike police, however, the Bundeswehr considers teargas
to be a chemical agent. Chemical weapons are internationally banned and
the Bundeswehr is not permitted to use them. In order to equip the
soldiers with teargas or pepper spray, the legislation must first be
changed, including the "law on the implementation of the convention on
chemical weapons". In letters addressed to internal affairs minister
Otto Schily and foreign affairs minister Joschka Fischer, Struck asked
for their "support" so that the Bundeswehr in the future during
international missions "can react adequately beneath the threshold for
the engagement of firearms".

The nationalistic demons in the Balkans may offer KFOR the opportunity
to act again very quickly. Something else can happen again at any
moment, experienced UN policemen fear: after a new incident, at the
next elections but certainly no later than 2005 if the Albanians want
to achieve the independence of the province while the Serbs, with the
support of Belgrade, seek its division into ethnic cantons.

Joerg Lembke, a policeman from Hamburg who is busy in Kosovo on the
identification of bodies from the civil war, does not trust either
UNMIK nor KFOR peacekeeping forces with security. Lembke asked his
colleagues for their correct address and, if possible, a photo of the
house where they live: "So we can prepare a evacuation plan for when we
need to withdraw as fast as possible."


ERP KIM Info-service remarks:
* Fr. Sava was referring to German army, not to Germans in general.
** More about Skenderbey SS division you can find at:
http://www.kosovo.com/skenderbeyss.html


=== DEUTSCH ===


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/81752


Die Hasen vom Amselfeld

Renate Flottau, Olaf Ihlau, Alexander Szandar, Andreas Ulrich
DER SPIEGEL

http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,297969,00.html


Schwere Vorwürfe gegen die deutsche Kfor-Schutztruppe in der
Unruheprovinz Kosovo: Deutsche Uno-Polizisten werfen der Bundeswehr
vor, bei den Ausschreitungen albanischer Extremisten gekniffen und
versagt zu haben.

Die Stimme des deutschen Uno-Polizisten überschlug sich vor Panik.
"Wann kommt ihr endlich", schrie der Mann flehentlich in das Funkgerät,
"um Himmels willen, wir brauchen dringend Unterstützung."

Vor dem Gebäude der Uno-Polizei in der Provinzstadt Prizren,
Einsatzsektor der deutschen Kfor-Friedenstruppe in der Unruheprovinz
Kosovo, wütete seit Stunden der entfesselte Mob albanischer
Nationalisten. Er machte Jagd auf Serben und deren vermeintliche
Beschützer. Steine flogen und Molotow-Cocktails, Flammen züngelten auf
hellbrauner Erde neben umgekippten und demolierten Einsatzwagen. Vor
der Orgie des Hasses hatten mehrere Dutzend Uno-Beamte sich in den
Polizeiposten gerettet und verbarrikadiert. Viele bluteten.

"Kommt schnell, wir brauchen Hilfe", hämmerte der deutsche Polizist
wieder und wieder in das Sprechgerät. Doch niemand kam, das Militär
schickte keinerlei Hilfe. Wohl nur der Zufall, dass an diesem zweiten
Tag der März-Ausschreitungen im Kosovo sich in Prizren der Amoklauf der
Albaner dann dem Abfackeln der Kirche Sveti Spas sowie einer Siedlung
zuwandte, in der vor dem Krieg 2000 Serben lebten, mag die
Uno-Mitarbeiter vor dem Schlimmsten bewahrt haben.

Bei dem jüngsten Aufruhr im Kosovo wurden 19 Menschen getötet, 8 Serben
und 11 Albaner. Letztere meist in Notwehr von bedrängten Uno-Polizisten
und Kfor-Soldaten. Nach einer Bilanz der Unmik, der Uno-Zivilverwaltung
dieses internationalen Protektorats, gab es etwa 900 Verletzte,
darunter waren 65 Angehörige der internationalen Kräfte. Es wurden 29
Kirchen und Klöster sowie etwa 800 Häuser der serbischen Minderheit
zerstört, mehrere tausend Serben retteten sich durch Flucht.



Zerstoben sind mit diesen Gewalttaten wohl auch die letzten Illusionen
über eine mögliche Aussöhnung der Volksgruppen und den Aufbau einer
multiethnischen Demokratie. In einem Krieg um Menschenrechte hatten
1999 Nato-Bomber die mörderische Militärmaschinerie des
Serben-Herrschers Slobodan Milosevic aus dem Kosovo vertrieben und 800
000 albanischen Flüchtlingen die Rückkehr ermöglicht. Beklommen muss
die internationale Gemeinschaft fünf Jahre danach erkennen, dass sie
diesen moralischen und militärischen Sieg zu verspielen, ihre
ehrgeizige Mission zu scheitern droht. Viele der Opfer von gestern sind
die Täter von heute. Wie einst der Belgrader Despot, betreiben nun
albanische Extremisten das blutige Geschäft ethnischer Säuberungen, um
den "serbenfreien" Staat "Kosova" zu schaffen - rund um das historische
Amselfeld (Kosovo Polje), auf dem 1389 das serbische Ritterheer im
Kampf gegen die Türken verblutete und den Opfermythos der Serben schuf.

"Wir haben schnell reagiert", beschreibt Generalleutnant Holger
Kammerhoff den Einsatz der 20 500 Mann starken Kfor-Schutztruppe, die
er seit vergangenen Oktober kommandiert, bei den jüngsten Unruhen. Und
auch Verteidigungsminister Peter Struck lobt das "umsichtige Verhalten"
seiner 3600 Soldaten in höchsten Tönen: "Sie haben besonnen reagiert,
eine Eskalation verhindert und so Menschenleben geschützt."

Dies ist die Berliner Version. Berichte von Augenzeugen in Prizren
ergeben indes ein ganz anderes Bild. Nicht nur Serben, sondern auch
Uno-Beamte, Soldaten anderer Truppenkontingente, albanische
Menschenrechtler oder unabhängige Journalisten werfen der Bundeswehr
Versagen, ja Feigheit vor. In der Bekämpfung der Ausschreitungen habe
sie eine klägliche, wenn nicht die blamabelste Rolle gespielt. Die
deutschen Soldaten seien weggerannt, hätten sich wie Hasen in den
Kasernen versteckt und seien mit gepanzerten Fahrzeugen erst wieder
erschienen, als sich der albanische Mob ausgetobt und sein
Vernichtungswerk vollendet hatte. Solch harsche Beschuldigungen hatte
es noch bei keinem der Auslandseinsätze deutscher Militärs gegeben.

In dem Versagen vor dem nackten Terror glaubten einige
Balkan-Beobachter gar einen Hauch von Srebrenica zu verspüren: Als nach
dem Fall der bosnischen Stadt im Juli 1995 der holländische
Uno-Offizier Karremans dem Serben-General Mladic zuprostete, während
Tausende Muslime zur Exekution abtransportiert wurden.

"Ihr Einsatz war ein Fehlschlag, sie sollten abziehen", grollte Bischof
Artemije von der serbischen Diözese Kosovo-Metohija über die Deutschen.
Und Vater Sava Jancic, Sprecher des Klosters Decani, fügte hinzu: "Nach
dem, was die Deutschen in zwei Weltkriegen getan haben, wünschen wir
uns, sie würden vom Balkan verschwinden."

Doch auch die deutschen Uno-Polizisten fühlten sich von den deutschen
Soldaten im Stich gelassen. "Anzeichen von Traumatisierung" hat Herbert
Fischer-Drumm, Polizeipfarrer in Rheinland-Pfalz, bei manchem der 278
deutschen Polizisten in persönlichen Gesprächen registriert, "weil ihre
Hilferufe an die Kfor auf taube Ohren stießen". Viele Beamte, so der
Pfarrer, fragten sich, wozu die Soldaten überhaupt da seien, wenn sie
ihnen nicht Beistand leisten könnten.

Berichte der frustrierten Polizisten liegen unterdessen der
Unmik-Verwaltung vor. Deren finnischer Chef Harri Holkeri, melden
albanische Zeitungen, soll dazu einen vehementen Disput mit dem
Kfor-Kommandeur Kammerhoff geführt haben. Die Berichte werden jetzt
ausgewertet. "Die Kfor muss ihr Sicherheitskonzept überdenken", fordert
Sachsen-Anhalts Innenminister Klaus Jeziorsky (CDU), der vergangene
Woche mit seinem Hamburger Kollegen Udo Nagel von einem Besuch im
Kosovo zurückkehrte. Auch Nagel ist der Ansicht, "Kfor muss in der Lage
sein, die Uno-Mitarbeiter zu schützen".

Nach einer Inspektionsreise am 5. und 6. April fasste der Vorsitzende
der Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgruppe International Police Task Force, der
nordrhein-westfälische Polizeiinspektor Dieter Wehe, die Ergebnisse in
einem Bericht zusammen und schickte sie an das Bundesinnenministerium
sowie die Innenminister der Länder. Wehe kommt zu dem Schluss: "Die
Kfor ist bei gewalttätigen Unruhen zur Lagebewältigung nicht geeignet.
Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Kfor und Unmik ist nicht abgestimmt."

In Prizren sei "trotz ständiger Hilfeersuchen an die Kfor" kein Militär
erschienen, um die Polizei zu unterstützen. Die Kfor "erwies sich als
unfähig, die ihr übertragenen Aufgaben zu gewährleisten".

Auch Uno-Polizeichef Stefan Feller wird in dem Bericht mit den Worten
zitiert, die Kfor sei den Unruhen nicht gewachsen gewesen, das Militär
nicht ausreichend ausgebildet und vorbereitet. Die Kfor konnte "die ihr
zugewiesenen Objektschutzaufgaben nicht gewährleisten und auch nicht
den Schutz der serbischen Bevölkerung aufrechterhalten".

"Seit Wochen schon wurde die Stimmung immer angespannter", berichten in
Prizren deutsche Polizeibeamte dem SPIEGEL. Sie wollen Namen und
Dienstgrad nicht genannt sehen, weil sie derzeit der Uno unterstellt
sind und jede Aussage rechtliche Folgen hätte.

Der Druck habe sich konkret gegen die noch etwa 100 000 Serben der
Provinz und die Unmik gerichtet, die wegen Kriegsverbrechen auch gegen
die einstige Kosovo-Befreiungsarmee UÇK zu ermitteln begann. Reden
albanischer Nationalisten wurden schärfer, ebenso die politischen
Schmierereien an Häuserwänden. "Es war klar, dass etwas passieren
würde", so ein Beamter, "nur nicht wann." Eruptionen albanischer
Gewalt, bei denen Sprengkommandos systematisch serbische Dörfer,
Klöster und Kirchen attackierten, hatte es seit Kriegsende mehrfach
gegeben. Nur war seinerzeit die Kfor-Schutztruppe mit 50 000 Mann noch
wesentlich agiler. "Man erwartet von uns Wunder", stöhnte schon als
erster Uno-Verwalter der Franzose Bernard Kouchner über die periodisch
wiederkehrenden Ausbrüche des ethnischen Hasses.

Diesmal führte die - unbewiesene - Behauptung, zwei albanische Jungen
seien von Serben in den Fluss Ibar getrieben worden und dort ertrunken,
zur Gewaltexplosion. Zunächst in Kosovska Mitrovica und dann in fast
allen Städten der Krisenprovinz, auch in Prizren.

Dort marschieren, so der Einsatzbericht deutscher Polizisten, am 17.
März etwa tausend Demonstranten durch das Zentrum, skandieren "UÇK -
UÇK" und "Unmik - armik", die Unmik ist der Feind. Menschen aus den
umliegenden Dörfern stoßen hinzu, offenkundig auch Islamisten, an ihren
langen Bärten erkennbar.

Um 17.30 Uhr brennen die ersten Häuser in der Altstadt. Die
Theologische Fakultät der Serben wird unter dem Beifall der Bevölkerung
in Brand gesetzt, Steine fliegen gegen die Zivilverwaltung, Autos
werden demoliert. Von der Kfor ist nichts zu sehen, obwohl besorgte
Augenzeugen mehrmals die deutschen Offiziere telefonisch zum Eingreifen
aufgefordert haben.

Erst als die Flammen auch auf die umliegenden Häuser überzugreifen
drohen, nähern sich Spezialeinheiten der argentinischen Uno-Polizei.
Allerdings nur mit einem Sicherheitsabstand von 300 Metern. Ihr
Versuch, die Menge mit Tränengas aufzulösen, wird mit einem Hagel von
Steinen und Flaschen gekontert. Die Südamerikaner lassen Knüppel und
Schutzschilde fallen und fliehen.

Die deutsche Kfor lässt sich erstmals blicken, als die Randalierer ein
Löschfahrzeug kapern und zum Unmik-Gebäude fahren. Das Erscheinen des
Militärs zeigt offenbar Wirkung. Der Mob zieht weiter, wird an seinem
Vernichtungsmarsch nicht gehindert.

Zwischen 18 und 21 Uhr wütet der Pöbel in der Altstadt am Hang
unterhalb der Ruine einer byzantinischen Burg. Die Häuser serbischer
Flüchtlinge werden angezündet. Ein Zug Kfor-Soldaten, der hinter
Sandsackbarrieren die serbische Kirche St. Georg bewacht, flüchtet mit
Geistlichen und den verbliebenen Serben in eine Kaserne. Die
Demonstranten applaudieren, räuchern die Kirche aus, zünden 56 Häuser
an und schließlich auch, nicht weit vom Bürgermeisteramt, die
griechisch-orthodoxe Kirche Heilige Jungfrau von Ljeviska. Über die
hatte Verteidigungsminister Struck einst gesagt, sie sei ein "Symbol,
dass der Frieden währt und unser Einsatz ihn brachte".

Einige Extremisten ziehen weiter, flussaufwärts an der Bistrica entlang
zum Kloster des Heiligen Erzengels Michael. Der Zufahrtsweg wäre mit
ein paar Panzern zu blockieren, zumal an dem Bauwerk aus dem 14.
Jahrhundert die Bundeswehr stationiert ist - Hauptfeldwebel Udo Wambach
mit 19 Soldaten.

Die etwa 200 Demonstranten schicken eine Delegation mit weißer Fahne zu
den Deutschen und versichern, ihnen werde kein Leid geschehen, "wir
wollen nur das Kloster abfackeln". Die Kfor-Beschützer setzen sechs
Mönche und zwei Besucher in ihre gepanzerten Fahrzeuge und fahren durch
das Niedrigwasser der Bistrica davon. Das Kloster wird niedergebrannt.

Hauptfeldwebel Wambach wird für seine "hervorragende Einzeltat" Mitte
April bei einem Prizren-Besuch von Verteidigungsstaatssekretär Walter
Kolbow ausdrücklich belobigt. Kein Orden, aber immerhin ein Vermerk in
der Personalakte. Der Feldwebel habe, so die Würdigung, "durch
umsichtiges Verhalten, mutiges Verhandeln eine Eskalation der Gewalt
vermieden, Blutvergießen verhindert und die ihm anvertrauten
Menschenleben geschützt".

Als die Nacht einbricht, erhellt der Feuerschein der brennenden
Altstadt den Himmel über Prizren. Am nächsten Morgen, Donnerstag, 18.
März, rauchen die Trümmer noch immer. Aber es bleibt zunächst ruhig.

Gegen 12.30 Uhr tritt der Pöbel erneut in Aktion. Da sämtliche
serbischen Einrichtungen zerstört sind, richtet sich der Hass der
Albaner nun gegen die Stadtverwaltung, die Uno-Zivilverwaltung und die
beiden Polizeistationen.

Die erste Attacke trifft gegen 15 Uhr die Polizeiwache in der
Innenstadt. Hilferufe an die Kfor bleiben erfolglos. Steine fliegen
gegen das Haus, Autos werden umgeworfen, von Soldaten ist nichts zu
sehen. Die Kfor hatte die Zeit offenkundig nicht genutzt, das
Einsatzkonzept zu überdenken, um erneuten Unruhen zu begegnen.

Dann der Angriff auf das einen Kilometer weiter gelegene
Polizeihauptquartier. Polizisten aus verschiedenen Nationen, auch
deutsche, sind einem Dauerfeuer aus Steinen und Molotow-Cocktails
ausgesetzt, von der nahen Tankstelle kriegen die Extremisten immer
wieder Nachschub. Schüsse fallen.

"Wir haben die Kfor um Hilfe angefleht", berichtet ein Beamter. Die
Soldaten kämen gleich, heißt es. Doch nichts geschieht. Das Einzige,
was die Polizisten sehen, ist ein Militärauto, in dem Soldaten von
einem nahen Hügel aus die Gewaltorgie beobachten. "Ich kam mir vor wie
der letzte Dreck", schreibt ein deutscher Polizist in seinem Rapport.
"Das Schlimmste" sei, so ein anderer Beamter, dass die Randalierer ihre
Ziele erreicht hätten: Die Soldaten schauten zu, als die ethnische
Säuberung ein Stück weiter vorangetrieben wurde, "unsere Mission ist
gescheitert".

Erst als die Randalierer von Prizren in den Hof des Unmik-Gebäudes
Granaten werfen, greift die deutsche Kfor-Truppe ein. Sie schickt
gepanzerte Fahrzeuge, und die Situation beruhigt sich sofort.

Das deutsche Kontingent in Prizren hatte während des zweitägigen Chaos
keine Verletzten zu beklagen. Das ist schön. Aus anderen
Kfor-Kontingenten wurden zahlreiche Verletzte gemeldet, zum Beispiel
bei den Italienern, Griechen, Franzosen. Hatten diese Kfor-Soldaten
nicht dieselben Direktiven wie die Deutschen? Handelten sie auf eigene
Faust, oder waren sie schlicht mutiger?

14 Verwundete gab es beim schwedischen Bataillon, das versuchte, das
Serben-Dorf -aglavica vor den albanischen Feuerteufeln zu schützen.
"Wir waren überrascht und warten jetzt auf die nächste Runde",
vertraute Unteroffizier Andersson Reportern an, "wir werden das diesen
Albanern heimzahlen." In Mitrovica, wo es die meisten Toten gab,
verhinderten französische Kfor-Soldaten und Uno-Polizei, dass die
Albaner in den serbischen Nordteil der Stadt gelangen konnten.

Warum es denn nicht möglich war, die Klöster zu schützen, werden in
Prizren deutsche Offiziere von einem Journalisten des kanadischen
"Chronicle Herald" gefragt. Ihre Antwort: "Es ist nicht unser Mandat,
unschuldige Zivilisten zu verletzen, um eine alte Kirche zu schützen."

Auf ähnlicher Linie wehrt sich Oberst Dieter Hintelmann, der Führer des
deutschen Kfor-Kontingents in Prizren: "Wir haben genau nach unseren
Bestimmungen gehandelt."

Objektschutz ist nicht die Aufgabe der Bundeswehr im Kosovo. Geschossen
werden darf nur in Notwehr.

Jeder Soldat hat eine kleine "Taschenkarte" mit den "Rules of
Engagement", den Einsatzvorschriften, dabei. Gebäude mit Waffengewalt
zu schützen und auf Demonstranten zu schießen, die MolotowCocktails in
Kirchen oder Klöster schleudern, ist darin nicht vorgesehen. Das
Kapitel "Regeln für die Anwendung militärischer Gewalt" macht den
Soldaten eindeutige Vorgaben: "Sie haben das Recht, Angriffe
abzuwehren, die sich gegen Kfor-Personal, Kfor-Material und unter
Schutz von Kfor stehende Personen richten." Doch von diesem Recht,
schimpfen deutsche Polizisten, machte die Bundeswehr in Prizren leider
keinen Gebrauch.

"Die Anführer der Demonstrationen wussten genau, solange sie uns nicht
angreifen, können wir nicht schießen", sagt Hintelmann. Also ein
Freibrief für den rasenden Pöbel? "Ich kann doch nicht auf eine
Menschenmenge schießen lassen, in der sich auch Kinder befanden",
erklärt der Offizier. Demonstrationszüge, in denen auch Frauen und
Kinder waren, hätten das Feldlager blockiert und so das Ausrücken von
Verstärkung verhindert.

Massive Rückendeckung erhält der Offizier von Vorgesetzten in der
Heimat.

"Kern unserer Aufgabe ist es, Menschenleben zu schützen", so das
Einsatzführungskommando in Potsdam, Hintelmanns vorgesetzte
militärische Dienststelle. Zu Recht habe sich die Truppe "darauf
konzentriert, serbische Bevölkerung und Uno-Mitarbeiter zu schützen".
Darauf allerdings warteten die deutschen Polizisten vergebens.

Vorwürfe, die Deutschen hätten feige gekniffen, sind auch für den
Bundeswehrchef "völlig absurd". Nach den geltenden deutschen Gesetzen
dürften die Soldaten weder Tränengas einsetzen noch mit Gummigeschossen
in eine Menschenmenge schießen, sondern, erläutert Struck, nur
"Warnschüsse in die Luft abgeben".

Auch der Außenminister ("Ich gehöre nicht zu denen, die Vorwürfe gegen
die Soldaten erheben") nimmt die Truppe in Schutz. "Unsere Soldaten
haben unter erheblichem Risiko und unter enormem Druck Großes
geleistet", so der Grüne Joschka Fischer, "sie haben viele Menschen
gerettet, diese Priorität war richtig."

Eines hingegen räumen die Deutschen in Prizren wie in Berlin
mittlerweile ein: Sie wurden von dem Aufstand, der sich binnen Stunden
zum Flächenbrand ausweitete, völlig überrascht. Die Kfor-Aufklärung und
diverse nationale Geheimdienste hatten versagt.

Dabei hatten sich gerade die Deutschen gerühmt, ihre Kontakte zur
Bevölkerung seien hervorragend, wobei ihnen auch ein historischer Bonus
zugute kam: Im Zweiten Weltkrieg unterstützten Albaner die Wehrmacht im
Kampf gegen serbische Partisanen und schickten Hitler sogar eine
SS-Division, benannt nach ihrem Nationalhelden Skanderbeg.

Wer im Kosovo "künftig einen Angriff auf serbische Enklaven oder
Kulturgüter startet, wird auf die Kfor stoßen", kündigte
Generalleutnant Kammerhoff unterdessen eine härtere Gangart an, damit
implizit ein Fehlverhalten einräumend. Von einem "Handlungsbedarf für
die Aufgabe riot-control" spricht ein interner "Sachstandsbericht" der
Truppe.

Minister Struck möchte die Bundeswehr nun mit Tränengas und
Pfefferspray ausrüsten. Anders als bei der Polizei gilt Tränengas für
das deutsche Militär als chemischer Kampfstoff. Chemiewaffen aber sind
international geächtet, ihre Anwendung ist der Bundeswehr nicht
erlaubt. Um die Soldaten mit Tränengas oder Pfefferspray auszurüsten,
müssen erst Rechtsvorschriften geändert werden, darunter das
"Ausführungsgesetz zum Chemiewaffenübereinkommen". In Briefen an
Innenminister Otto Schily und Außenminister Joschka Fischer bat Struck
um "Unterstützung", damit die Bundeswehr künftig bei Auslandseinsätzen
"unterhalb der Schwelle des Schusswaffeneinsatzes angemessen reagieren"
könne.

Die nationalistischen Dämonen auf dem Balkan dürften der Kfor schon
sehr bald erneut Gelegenheit zum Handeln bieten. Es könne jederzeit
wieder losgehen, fürchten erfahrene Uno-Polizisten: Nach irgendeinem
neuen Zwischenfall, bei den nächsten Wahlen, spätestens aber 2005, wenn
die Albaner die Unabhängigkeit der Provinz durchpauken wollen und die
Serben, von Belgrad gestützt, eine Aufteilung in ethnische Kantone
(siehe Kostunica-Interview Seite 146).

Jörg Lembke, Polizist aus Hamburg und im Kosovo mit der Identifizierung
von Leichen aus dem Bürgerkrieg beschäftigt, traut jedenfalls in Sachen
Sicherheit weder der Unmik noch der Kfor-Schutztruppe. Seine Kollegen
hat Lembke aufgefordert, ihre exakte Anschrift, möglichst mit einem
Foto ihres Hauses abzugeben: "Dann können wir einen Evakuierungsplan
ausarbeiten, damit wir möglichst schnell rauskommen."


=== SRPSKOHRVATSKI ===


http://www.apisgroup.org/article.html?id=1859


Der Spiegel, Nemacka
3 maj, 2004

Kukavicluk nemackih vojnika

ZECEVI SA KOSOVA

Ozbiljni prekori upuceni nemackim snagama KFOR-a u nemirnoj pokrajini
Kosovo: Nemacki UN policajci optuzuju Nemacku vojsku (Bundeswehr) da su
ponizeni i porazeni u nasilju albanskih ekstremista

Renate Flottau, Olaf Ihlau, Aleksander Szandar, Andreas Ulrich


Hamburg, 3. maja - Glas nemackog policajca UN odavao je paniku. "Kad
cete vec jednom doci", molio je covek preko radio-veze, "za boga
miloga, hitno nam je potrebna podrska".

Ispred zgrade policije UN u Prizrenu, sektoru nemackih snaga Kfora na
Kosovu, razularena masa albanskih nacionalista je satima pravila nered.
Oni su krenuli u lov na Srbe i njihove navodne zastitnike. Letele su
kamenice i molotovljevi kokteli, plamen je prekrio svetlo braon zemlju
pored prevrnutih i demoliranih vozila. Pred takvom orgijom mrznje vise
desetina sluzbenika UN se sklonilo u zgradu policije gde se
zabarikadiralo. Mnogi su krvarili.

"Dodjite brzo, potebna nam je pomoc", ponovio je nemacki policajac vise
puta preko radio-veze. Ali, niko nije dosao, vojska nije poslala pomoc.
Saradnike UN je od najgoreg spasila slucajnost to sto se drugog dana
martovskih nemira na Kosovu ludilo Albanaca u Prizrenu okrenulo ka
paljenju crkve Svetog spasa i naselju u kojem je pre rata zivelo 2.000
Srba.

Prilikom nedavne pobune na Kosovu ubijeno je 19 ljudi, osam Srba i 11
Albanaca koje su uglavnom ubili ugrozeni policajci UN i vojnici Kfora u
samoodbrani. Prema bilansu Unmika, civilne uprave UN ovog medjunarodnog
protektorata, bilo je oko 900 povre- djenih, medju kojima 65 pripadnika
medjunarodnih snaga. Unisteno je 29 crkava i manastira kao i oko 800
kuca pripadnika srpske manjine, dok je vise hiljada Srba pobeglo i tako
se spasilo.

Ovim nasiljem srusene su i poslednje iluzije o mogucem pomirenju
nacionalnih zajednica i izgradnji multietnicke demokratije. U ratu za
ljudska prava NATO bombarderi su 1999. godine proterali ubilacku vojnu
masineriju srpskog despota Slobodana Milosevica sa Kosova i omogucili
povratak 800.000 albanskih izbeglica. Medjunarodna zajednica sada posle
pet godina mora da prizna da je proigrala ovu moralnu i vojnu pobedu,
njena ambiciozna misija preti da propadne. Mnoge tadasnje zrtve su
danasnji zlocinci. Kao nekad beogradski despot sada albanski
ekstremisti vrse krvavo etnicko ciscenje da bi stvorili drzavu Kosovo
bez Srba - oko istorijskog Kosova Polja na kojem su srpski vitezovi
1389. godine krvarili u borbi protiv Turaka i stvorili mit o Srbima kao
zrtvama.

"Mi smo brzo reagovali", opisuje general-potpukovnik Holger Kamerhof
angazovanje 20.500 ljudi u sastavu Kfora kojima on komanduje od oktobra
prosle godine. I nemacki ministar odbrane Peter Struk hvali "oprezno
ponasanje" svojih 3.600 vojnika: "Oni su reagovali razumno, sprecili su
eskalaciju i tako zastitili ljudske zivote".

Ovo je verzija Berlina. Izjave ocevidaca u Prizrenu, medjutim, na kraju
odaju drugaciju sliku. Ne samo Srbi, vec i sluzbenici UN, vojnici
drugih kontingenata, albanski borci za ljudska prava ili nezavisni
novinari prebacuju Bundesveru da je zakazao pa cak i da se poneo
kukavicki. U suzbijanju nemira Bundesver je odigrao jednu zalosnu, ako
ne i najsramotniju ulogu. Nemacki vojnici su pobegli, sklonili se poput
zeceva u kasarnu i ponovo izasli sa oklopnim vozilima tek kada se
albanska rulja smirila i zavrsila svoj rusilacki posao. Do sada se nije
mogla cuti ovako teska optuzba na racun nemacke vojske u nekoj drugoj
misiji u inostranstvu.

Neuspeh da se spreci ovaj teror mnoge balkanske posmatrace podseca na
Srebrenicu: kada je nakon pada ovog bosanskog grada u julu 1995. godine
holandski oficir UN Karemans nazdravio srpskom generalu Mladicu dok su
hiljade muslimana odvodjene na egzekuciju.

"Njihova intervencija bila je neuspesna, oni bi trebalo da se povuku",
rekao je vladika rasko-prizrenski Artemije o Nemcima. A otac Sava
Janjic, portparol manastira Decani, dodao je: "Nakon onoga sto su Nemci
ucinili u dva svetska rata, mi zelimo da oni odu sa Balkana".

Medjutim, i nemacki policajci UN su osecali da su ih nemacki vojnici
ostavili na cedilu. "Znake traumatizacije", primetio je Herbert
Fiser-Drum, pastor pri policiji u Rajnsko-falackoj oblasti, kod nekih
od 278 nemackih policajaca sa kojima je licno razgovarao, "zato sto
njihovi pozivi u pomoc upuceni Kforu nisu naisli na prijem". Mnogi
sluzbenici, kaze ovaj svestenik, pitali su se zasto su vojnici uopste
bili tu kada nisu mogli da im pruze podrsku.

Svedocenja razocaranih policajaca predocena su, medjutim, upravi
Unmika. Njihov sef Hari Holkeri, izvestavaju albanske novine, navodno
je imao zestoku raspravu sa komandantom Kfora Kamerkofom. Izvestaji se
sada proveravaju. "Kfor mora da preispita svoj koncept bezbednosti",
zahteva ministar unutrasnjih poslova pokrajine Saksonija Anhalt - Klaus
Jeciorski, koji se prosle nedelje vratio sa svojim hamburskim kolegom
Udom Nagelom iz posete Kosovu. I Nagel je misljenja da "Kfor mora da
bude u stanju da zastiti saradnike UN."

Nakon posete Kosovu 5. i 6. aprila predsedavajuci nemacke radne grupe
za medjunarodne policijske snage policijski inspektor Severne Rajne i
Vestfalije Diter Ve, sazeo je rezultate svoje provere u izvestaj i
poslao ga saveznom ministarstvu unutrasnjih poslova kao i ppokrajinskim
ministrima unutrasnjih poslova. On je dosao do zakljucka: "U nasilnim
nemirima Kfor nije prigodan za smirivanje situacije. Saradnja izmedju
Kfora i Unmika nije uskladjena".

U Prizrenu se "uprkos stalnim pozivima u pomoc upucenim Kforu" nije
pojavio nijedan vojnik da zastiti policiju. Kfor "se pokazao
nesposobnim da obavlja zadatke koji su mu dodeljeni".

U izvestaju se navode i reci sefa policije UN Stefan Feler da Kfor nije
dorastao smirivanju nemira, da vojska nije dovoljno obucena i
pripremljena. Kfor nije mogao da garantuje "zadatke zastite objekata
koji su mu dodeljeni i da pruzi zastitu srpskom narodu".

"Vec nedeljama se osecala sve napetija atmosfera", kazu nemacki
policijski sluzbenici u Prizrenu. Oni nisu zeleli da se navedu njihova
imena i cinovi jer su sada pod komandom UN i svaki iskaz povlaci pravnu
posledicu.

Pritisak se konkretno usmerio na nekih 100.000 Srba u pokrajini i na
Unmik koji je zbog ratnih zlocina poceo da vodi istragu protiv
nekadasnje Oslobodilacke vojske Kosova. Retorika albanskih nacionalista
je postojala ostrija, bas kao i politicke poruke na zidovima kuca.
"Bilo je jasno da ce se nesto dogoditi", rekao je jedan sluzbenik,
"samo se nije znalo kad". Erupcija albanskog nasilja prilikom cega su
se sistematski napadala srpska sela, manastiri i crkve bilo je u vise
navrata od kraja rata. Samo sto su svojevremeno zastitne snage Kfora sa
50.000 vojnika bile znatno agilnije. "Od nas se ocekuje cudo", jadao se
je jos prvi administrator UN Francuz Bernar Kusner povodom izliva
medjunacionalne mrznje koji su se periodicno ponavljali.

Ovog puta je - nepotvrdjena - tvrdnja da su Srbi naterali dva albanska
decaka da skoce u Ibar u kome su se udavili, dovela do eksplozije
nasilja. Najpre u Kosovskoj Mitrovici, a onda u gotovo svim gradovima
ove krizne pokrajine, pa i u Prizrenu.

Tamo, prema pricanju nemackih policajaca, 17. marta marsira oko hiljadu
demonstranata kroz centar grada skandirajuci "OVK - OVK" i "Unmik -
armik", Unmik je neprijatelj. Ljudi iz obliznjih sela su se
prikljucivali, ocigledno da su bili islamisti jer su imali duge brade.

U 17.30 sati pocinju da gore prve kuce u starom gradu. Srpska
Bogoslovija je zapaljena uz odobravanje okupljenih stanovnika, kamenice
su bacane na civilnu administraciju, automobili su demolirani. Od Kfora
ni traga, mada su zabrinuti ocevici vise puta telefonom trazili od
nemackih oficira da intervenisu.

Tek kada je vatra pretila da zahvati okolne kuce priblizavaju se
specijalne jedinice argentinske policije UN. Doduse, ostaju na
bezbednom odstojanju od 300 metara. Njihov pokusaj da rasteraju gomilu
pomocu suzavca izazvao je bacanje kamenica i flasa. Juznoamerikanci su
bacili palice i zastitne oklope i pobegli.

Nemacki Kfor se mogao videti tek kada su nasilnici uzeli vatrogasno
vozilo i dovezli se do zgrade Unmika. Pojava vojske ocigledno je imala
efekta. Masa nastavlja, nista je ne sprecava u njenom rusilac kom marsu.

Izmedju 18 i 21 cas masa pravi nerede u starom gradu na obronku ispod
ostataka vizantijske tvrdjave. Kuce srpskih izbeglica su zapaljene.
Jedna ceta vojnika Kfora, koja iza barikada od dzakova peska stiti
srpsku crkvu Svetog Georgija, bezi sa duhovnicima i preostalim Srbima u
jednu kasarnu. Demonstranti aplaudiraju, pale crkvu i jos 56 kuca i
konacno, nedaleko od opstine, pravoslavni Hram bogorodice Ljeviske. O
njoj je nemacki ministar odbrane Struk svojevremeno rekao da
predstavlja "simbol ocuvanja mira koji je donela nasa misija".

Neki ekstremisti nastavljaju dalje uzvodno duz Bistrice do manastira
Svetih arhangela. Put do tamo se mogao blokirati sa nekoliko oklopnih
vozila pogotovo sto je u toj gradjevini iz 14. veka stacioniran
Bundesver - narednik Udo Vambah sa 19 vojnika.

Oko 200 demonstranata salje delegaciju sa belom zastavicom kod Nemaca i
uverava ih da im se nece desiti nista lose, "mi zelimo samo da zapalimo
manastir". Zastitnici iz redova Kfora sklanjaju sest monaha i dva
posmatraca u svoja oklopna vozila i odvoze ih preko Bistrice. Manastir
je spaljen.

Narednika Vambaha je za njegovo "istaknuto delo" sredinom aprila
izricito pohvalio zamenik ministra odbrane Valter Kolbov prilikom
posete Prizrenu. Nema ordena, ali beleska ulazi u dosije. On je, kako
glasi ocena, "opreznim ponasanjem i odvaznim delovanjem izbegao
eskalaciju nasilja, sprecio krvoprolice i zastitio ljudske zivote koji
su mu povereni".

Kada se spustila noc vatra iz starog grada je obasjavala nebo iznad
Prizrena. Sledeceg jutra u cetvrtak 18. marta iz rusevina se jos uvek
vije dim. Ali za sada je sve mirno.

Oko 12.30 masa ponovo stupa akciju. Unistene su sve srpske ustanove,
mrznja Albanaca se sada usmerava na gradsku upravu, civilnu
administraciju UN i dve policijske stanice.

Prvi napadi pocinju oko 15 casova i pogadjaju policijsku strazu u
centru grada. Pozivi u pomoc upuceni Kforu ostaju bez uspeha. Kamenice
lete na kuce, prevrcu se automobili, a vojnici se ne mogu nigde videti.
Kfor ocigledno nije iskoristio ovo vreme da preispita svoj koncept
angazovanja kako bi sprecio nove nemire.

Zatim sledi napad na glavni policijski stab udaljen kilometar odatle.
Policajci iz razlicitih drzava, medju njima i Nemci, izlozeni su
konstantnim napadima kamenica i molotovljevih koktela. Iz obliznje
pumpe ekstremisti dobijaju podrsku. Puca se.

"Mi smo molili Kfor za pomoc" kaze jedan sluzbenik. Rekli su nam da
vojnici stizu odmah. Ali, nista se ne desava. Jedino sto policajci vide
jeste vojni automobil u kojem vojnici sa obliznjeg brezuljka posmatraju
orgijanje nasilja. "Osetio sam se kao poslednji bednik", pise nemacki
policajac u svom izvestaju. "Najgore je", kaze jedan drugi sluzbenik,
sto su izgrednici postigli svoje ciljeve: vojnici su posmatrali kako je
etnicko ciscenje otislo korak dalje, "nasa misija je propala".

Tek kada su nasilnici u Prizrenu bacili granate u dvoriste zgrade
Unmika nemacki Kfor se umesao. Poslao je oklopna vozila i situacija se
odmah smirila.

Nemacki kontingent u Prizrenu nije tokom dvodnevnog haosa prijavio da
je imao povredjene. To je bas lepo. Drugi kontingenti Kfora su
prijavili veci broj povre- djenih, na primer Italijani, Grci, Francuzi.
Zar ovi vojnici Kfora nisu imali iste direktive kao i Nemci? Da li su
oni radili na svoju ruku ili su jednostavno bili odvazniji?

U svedskom bataljonu koji je pokusao da zastiti Srbe u selu Caglavica
od albanskih vatrenih djavola bilo je 14 povredjenih. "Mi smo bili
iznenadjeni i sada cekamo sledecu rundu", priznao je podoficir Anderson
reporterima, "mi cemo se osvetiti ovim Albancima". U Mitrovici, gde je
bilo najvise mrtvih, francuski vojnici Kfora i policija UN su sprecili
da Albanci stignu u severni deo grada. Zasto nije bilo moguce zastititi
manastir pitao je nemacke oficire jedan novinar kanadskog lista
"Hronikl herald". Njihov odgovor: mi nemamo mandat da povredjujemo
neduzne civile da bismo zastitili jednu staru crkvu".

Sa slicnim recima brani se pukovnik Diter Hintelman, komandant nemackog
kontingenta Kfora u Prizrenu: "Mi smo postupali tacno po nasim
propisima".

Zastita objekata nije zadatak Bundesvera na Kosovu. On sme da puca samo
u samoodbrani.

Svaki vojnik ima kod sebe mali "dzepni spisak" sa "pravilima
postupanja". Tu nije predvidjeno da se zgrade stite uz upotrebu oruzja
i pucanje na demonstrante koji bacaju molotovljeve koktele na crkve ili
manastire. Poglavlje "pravila za upotrebu vojne sile" daje vojnicima
jasne preporuke: "Imate pravo da se branite od napada koji su usmereni
na osoblje Kfora, materijal Kfora i osobe koje se nalazi pod zastitom
Kfora". Medjutim, ovo pravo, kritikuju namacki policajci, Bundesver u
Prizrenu na zalost nije iskoristio.

"Predvodnici demonstracija su tacno znali da mi ne mozemo da pucamo ako
nas ne napadnu", kaze Hintelman. Dakle, povlastica za pobesnelu masu?
"Ja ne mogu da naredim da se puca u gomilu ljudi u kojoj se nalaze i
deca", kaze oficir. Kolone demonstranata u kojima su bile i zene i deca
blokirali su poljski logor i tako sprecili pojacanje. Snaznu podrsku
oficir dobija od pretpostavljenih u domovini.

"Sustina naseg zadatka je da zastitimo ljudske zivote", kaze komanda za
rukovodjenje misije u Potsdamu gde se nalaze Hintelmanovi vojni
pretpostavljeni. S pravom su se snage "koncentrisale na to da zastite
srpsko stanovnistvo i saradnike UN". Doduse, na to su cekali i nemacki
policajci uzaludno.

Optuzbe da su se Nemci kukavicki povukli za sefa Bundesvera su "potpuno
apsurdni". Prema vazecim nemackim zakonima vojnici ne smeju da upotrebe
suzavac niti da pucaju gumenim mecima u gomilu ljudi vec, kako obja-
snjava Struk, samo da "ispale pucnje upozorenja u vazduh".

I ministar inostranih poslova ("Ja ne pripadam onima koji optuzuju
vojnike") uzima trupe u zastitu. "Nasi vojnici su ucinili puno toga uz
ogroman rizik i pod enormnim pritiskom", rekao je Joska Fiser, "oni su
spasili puno ljudi i ovaj prioritet je bio ispravan". Nasuprot tome,
jednu stvar priznaju i Nemci u Prizrenu i oni u Berlinu: svi su bili
potpuno izena- djeni pobunom koja se za samo par casova prosirila na
celu pokrajinu. Izvidjacke jedinice Kfora i tajne sluzbe raznih drzava
su zakazale.

Pri tome su se bas Nemci hvalili da su njihovi kontakti sa stanovni-
stvom bili izuzetni pri cemu im je koristio i svojevrsni istorijski
bonus: u Drugom svetskom ratu Albanci su podrzalli Vermaht u borbi
protiv srpskih partizana i cak su poslali Hitleru jednu SS diviziju
nazvanu po njihovom nacionalnom heroju Skenderbegu.

Svako ko "ubuduce napadne srpske enklave ili kulturna dobra na Kosovu
suocice se sa Kforom", najavio je general-potpukovnik Kamerhof zescu
reakciju priznaju- ci tako implicitno pogresno pona- sanje. "O potrebi
delovanja da bi se nemiri stavili pod kontrolu" govori jedan interni
izvestaj trupa.

Ministar Struk bi sada zeleo da opremi Bundesver suzavcem i drugim
slicnim hemikalijama. Za razliku od policije suzavac za nemacku vojsku
predstavlja i hemijski borbeni materijal. Hemijsko oruzje je, medjutim,
medjunarodno zabranjeno, njegova upotreba nije dozvoljena Bundesveru.
Da bi opremio vojnike suzavcem i slicnim hemikalijama prvo moraju da se
izmene pravni propisi, medju kojima i "zakon o primeni sporazuma o
hemijskom oruzju". U pismima upucenim ministru unutrasnjih poslova Otu
Siliju i ministru inostranih poslova Joski Fiseru, Struk je zamolio za
"podrsku" kako bi Bundesver ubuduce prilikom misija u inostranstvu
mogao "da reaguje adekvatno "ispod praga upotrebe vatrenog oruzja".

Nacionalistickim demonima na Balkanu Kfor bi vrlo brzo mogao ponovo da
pruzi priliku da deluju. U svakom trenutku ponovo bi moglo da desi
nesto, strahuju iskusni policajci UN: nakon nekog novog incidenta, na
sledecim izborima, ali najkasnije 2005, ako Albanci zele da ostvare
nezavisnost pokrajine, a Srbi uz podrsku Beograda podelu na etnicke
kantone.

Jerg Lembke, policajac iz Hamburga koji se na Kosovu bavi
identifikovanjem leseva iz gradjanskog rata ne veruje po pitanju
bezbednosti ni Unmiku, a ni zastitnim snagama Kfora. Lembke je od
svojih kolega trazio njihove tacne adrese, eventualno sa fotografijom
kuce: "Onda mozemo da razradimo plan evakuacije kako bismo sto pre
mogli da se povucemo."

[ Una dettagliata analisi sul "genocidio amministrativo" attuato negli
ultimi 13 anni in Slovenia ai danni di quegli abitanti che si sono
rifiutati di chiedere la cittadinanza del nuovo staterello monoetnico.
Staterello che oggi - avendo dimostrato di garantire i prerequisiti
richiesti, spec. fedelta' all'Occidente e riforma in senso
neoliberista dell'economia - e' entrato a far parte della Unione
Europea...
Vedi anche:
LA SLOVENIA TRA NATO ED UE (english / italiano / po slovenskom)
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/3459
"IZBRISANI", "ERASED", "CANCELLATI"
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/3365
LA SLOVENIA E LE "FRATERNE UNIONI DI POPOLI"
http://auth.unimondo.org/cfdocs/obportal/
index.cfm?fuseaction=news.notizia&NewsID=3082 ]


http://preventgenocide.org/europe/slovenia/


News Monitor for Slovenia, 1998 to 2004

Focusing on coverage of the Izbrisani (Erased Citizens) issue,
concerning "administrative ethnic cleansing'

Slovenia ratified the Genocide Convention on July 6,1992.
Previously the Yugoslavia ratified the Convention on August 29, 1950.
Slovenia became a party to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the
Additional Geneva Protocols of 1977 on March 26, 1992.
Slovenia ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
on December 31, 2001.



The Izbrisani (Erased residents) Issue in Slovenia:
An introduction by Jim Fussell (Feb. 26, 2004), followed by news articles.


On February 26, 1992, the newly independent state of Slovenia deleted
the names of some 30,000 residents from the nation's civil registries.
The targeted population, which came to be known as izbrisani (erased
residents) were not of Slovenian ancestry, but were so-called 'new
minorities" including ethnic Serbs, ethnic Croats and ethnic Bosnian
Muslims, ethnic Albanian Kosovars and ethnic Roma which the government
sought to force out of the country. (In contrast 'old minorities'
include ethnic Italians and ethnic Hungarians, specifically mentioned
in the December 1991 Constitution.)

Twelve years later the Slovenian Government has still not yet
acted to fully redress this massive violation of human rights. Critics
of this radical action by the Slovenian government have sometimes
characterized the mass erasure as 'soft genocide' or 'administrative
genocide." A more appropriate term is probably 'administrative ethnic
cleansing' or 'civil death.' By whatever description, redress for the
mass 'erasure' is still badly needed. In other historical contexts
this kind of radical action which in and of itself is a massive
violation of human rights, has been a step toward more extreme actions
including mass expulsion and even genocide. In the case of Slovenia,
the izbrisani were targeted for elimination solely on account of the
non-Slovene groups into which they were born. Furthermore, this
'administrative ethnic cleansing' on February 26, 1992 in Slovenia can
be viewed as a contributing factor to the radicalization in former
Yugoslavia which only a few months later saw violent ethnic cleansing
in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The policy of "mass erasure", which could also be called mass
denationalization, must especially be condemned because it was a
partially successful policy, causing over one-third (12,000 out of
30,000) of the targeted population to leave Slovenia. When officials
asked an izbrisani for his old Yugoslav passport the top right corner
would be cut off, making the document useless and marking the bearer
for further discrimination. The izbrisani (erased residents) were not
forced out at gunpoint and their homes were not burned down as in
Bosnia, nevertheless they lost their jobs, medical benefits and
sometimes were deported for minor offenses. The multiple possible
translations of the term "izbrisati" (erase, red pencil, rub out,
score out, scratch out, delete, expunge, obliterate) shows the impact
the policy might have on a person. In Slovenia, seven izbrisani
committed suicide. Ultranationalist politicians characterized the
izbrisani as war criminals, swindlers and undesirables.

The radical 'mass erasure' of February 26, 1992 took place eight
months after Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia on June
25, 1991. The erasure occurred just days after Slovenian Athletes
participated for the first time in Olympic competition at the XVI
Winter Olympic in Albertville, France. Acceptance into the United
Nations was still three months away (May 22, 1992). Notably, Slovenia
was not at war at the time the 'mass erasure'. The previous summer war
with Yugoslavia had lasted only a few weeks ending a with European
Union sponsored agreement calling for withdrawal of Yugoslav Federal
troops from Slovenia and the demobilization of Slovenian troops.
Furthermore the 'mass erasure' came after the completion of a new
Constitution is which Slovenia committed itself to protect human
rights and fundamental freedoms (Article 5, and Articles 61 to 63).

For the past 12 years the status of the 18,000 izbrisani who
remained in Slovenia in limbo status, has been unresolved. This year,
after much delay and pressure from Human Rights groups, the European
Union, and judges within Slovenia, the government may soon act to
reverse the policy and compensate the victims of erasure.

Presently Slovenia is scheduled to join the European Union on May
1, 2004 and will also soon join NATO. The European Union and Council
of Europe are providing important guidance toward a positive
resolution of this issue. If this should occur the case of Slovenian
izbrisani may become an important precedent for other countries which
have pursued policies of mass denationalization. Other countries which
have pursued such policies include Cambodia (ethnic Vietnamese 1993),
Myanmar (Rohingya Arakanese 1992) and Syria (Kurds 1962). Another set
of countries conducted mass denationalization followed by mass
expulsion, including Ethiopia (Persons with Eritrean affiliation
1998), Bhutan (Lhotshampas - ethnic Nepalis 1991), Vietnam (Hoa -
ethnic Chinese 'boat people', 1978-1979), France (ethnic Germans in
Alsace-Lorraine 1918-1920). Seen together, these cases along with that
of Slovenia, demonstrate that policies of this type can create
large-scale international refugee problems.

Mass Erasure (or mass denationalization) can not be viewed solely
as a matter of domestic policy, but must be viewed as a matter of
international concern. Civil Society organizations within a country
and outside it, along with regional intergovernmental organizations
(such as the European Union) must hold countries which engage in
policies accountable for their actions. This case of a massive human
rights violation is quite different from other cases of atrocities,
massacres, crimes against humanity and genocide. Still if global civil
society is to truly prevent genocide instead of only halting it or
afterward assisting the victims, we must also look at cases such as
this one. Some governments will not stop with mere 'civil death', but
will seize opportunities to take still more radical measures such as
internment, expulsion or physical elimination of targeted population
groups.

[For a related global survey of this issue, see Jim Fussell's
report Group Classification on National Identification Cards as a
Facilitating Factor in Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing, presented at
Yale University in Nov. 2002]

An organization Drustva izbrisanih (Stran Drustva izbrisanih
drzavljanov Republike Slovenije - Society of Erased Residents of
Slovenia www.geocities.com/drustvo_izbrisanih/izbrisani.html) has been
established for izbrisani to advocate for restoration of their
citizenship.

See also the online forum: http://izbrisani.siol.net/ and
www.dostje.org/Izbrisani/izbrisani.htm

See also the Mirovni inštitut/Peace Institute's report "THE
ERASURE: 'Eleven Years After' " by Jasminka Dediæ February 27, 2003
www.mirovni-institut.si/eng_html/publications/Erasure.doc


Articles and Reports on the Izbrisani Issue, 2000 to 2004


Helsinki Monitor Slovenia, statement N° 9, Restitution of Permanent
Residence Permit to the Erased Citizens, 11 December 2000

www.insightnewstv.com [date not known] Slovenia: The Erased People
Duration: 8'58" Director: Ron McCullagh Producer: Mariana van Zeller
Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that you no longer
exist. That's happened to 130,000 people in Slovenia. People who had
been born or had lived most of their lives in this newly independent
state have discovered that their government has 'erased' them from all
public records. They have lost their jobs. Their children have been
turned away at the school gates. Pensions have vanished. Suddenly they
have no health insurance. Many have been evicted from their homes.
When Slovenia seceded from Yugoslavia and became independent in 1991,
one of the first acts of the new government was to remove non-ethnic
Slovenes from the public registries. Their votes had counted in the
referendum for Slovenian independence, but now they're not welcome in
the new republic. In Slovenia they are known as the 'erased people'
and their lives have become Kafkaesque. The Helsinki Monitor of
Slovenia has documented 6,500 cases of what they call "civic death,"
or "administrative genocide." Ten years ago construction worker Franjo
Herman became one of those people. Born in Croatia, he moved to
Slovenia in 1955. Like all former Yugoslavs he had had the right to
live anywhere in what was then a united Yugoslavia. Deregistered, he
lost all his social security benefits. In August 2000 he was diagnosed
with cancer. Franjo paid his National Insurance until the day he was
'erased'. They refused to treat him at the hospital. They said he
wasn't insured. Mr Herman died a year ago, untreated and unrecognised
by the state he had lived in for nearly fifty years. Officials of the
European Union were horrified at the actions of the nation whose
independence they had brought about. They pressurised Slovenia's
authorities to adopt legislation to deal with the injustices. That law
took effect in August 1999. It gave 'the erased' three months to apply
for citizenship. Only 14,000 people took up the offer, although 70,000
of these people, according to UNHCR, were still living in Slovenia.
Critics, including a senior judge, now say the legislation was
impractical - many people simply didn't know the law existed, others
couldn't get required documents in the time allowed. Those who
overcame the obstacles found more hurdles to jump - they needed to
prove they had lived in Slovenia before independence. How do you do
that when there are no records of your existence? And it's still
happening. Two years ago Milenko Zoric tried to extend his driving
license. The Ministry of the Interior said he couldn't. He was no
longer 'in the computer.' Apparently he was a Slovenian no more.
Officials told him that because he'd been out of the country for more
than three months he was now an illegal alien. Desperate, many have
fled. Those who have stayed behind live in fear of arrest, abuse and
deportation. The latest EU report on enlargement says: 'Slovenia
continues to respect human rights and freedoms.'


Ljubljana Life 29 June 2002 (Weekly Bulletin in English )
www.geocities.com/ljubljanalife/ by Brian J. Pozun
Helsinki Monitor (HM) filed suit against former Interior Minister
Igor Bavc(ar, present Interior Minister Rade Bo hinec and head of the
national police force Marko Pogorevec this week at the Ljubljana
district court. In 1992, thousands of people were erased from the
register of permanent residency and left with no legal status in the
country; nearly 6000 of them have sought the assistance of HM. The
suit accuses the three of abuse of position and official rights as
well as irresponsible execution of their duties. On Monday, head of
the Slovene branch of HM Neva Miklavc(ic( Predan called the erasure an
"administrative genocide."


Ljubljana Life 22 February 2003 (Weekly Bulletin in English )
www.geocities.com/ljubljanalife/ by Brian J. Pozun
Week of the Erased in Ljubljana Upon independence from Yugoslavia,
the Slovene government undertook what some have called a "soft
genocide" by revoking the residency status of nearly 30,000 people who
were living in Slovenia at the time but who did not have, or otherwise
qualify for, citizenship in the newly independent Slovenia. Wednesday,
26 February, marks the eleventh anniversary of the so-called izbris
(erasure). The Society of the Erased, which is working for a
resolution of the issue, organized a week of events to mark the
anniversary, beginning with a screening of a documentary produced by
the BBC about the situation. Other events included one round table
called "Erasure, Legal Error or Ideology?" and another "The People
Without." The Society also held a lecture for foreign ambassadors. The
highlight was Wednesday's protest march, which passed by both the
parliament building and the office of the president. The week ended on
Friday with a reception at Gromka club at Metelkova. In November,
Internal Minister Rado Bohinc and State Secretary Bojan Bugar ic(
confirmed that the erasure was illegal, although the Constitutional
Court came to the same conclusion in 1999. In October 2002, Bohinc
promised to resolve the issue within one month's time, however,
nothing has been done yet. According to unofficial estimates, there
are between 3000 and 4000 people in Slovenia who were erased from the
registries and have not yet been able to regulate their status.


Ljubljana Life 4 July 2003 (Weekly Bulletin in English )
www.geocities.com/ljubljanalife/ by Brian J. Pozun
Constitutional Court restores the "Izbrisani" On 3 April, the
Constitutional Court finally resolved the case of the so-called
izbrisani ("erased"). The izbrisani are citizens of other republics of
the former Yugoslavia who were living in Slovenia at the time of
independence but who did not have, or otherwise qualify for,
citizenship in the newly independent country. The government revoked
their permanent resident status and erased them wholesale from the
registries. The act has been called a "soft genocide" by activists.
The Court has ruled that the Law on the Regulation of the Status of
Citizens of Other Successor States to the Former Yugoslavia from 1992
is unconstitutional, and that all of the izbrisani must have their
residency rights returned. The government has six months in which to
bring the law into alignment with the constitution, based on the
Court's decision. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there
were 18,305 citizens of other Yugoslav republics living in Slovenia in
1992 who had permanent resident status, though unofficial accounts put
the figure as high as 30,000. Of the Ministry's figure, 12,937 have
applied for citizenship under procedures introduced later. Some 10,713
have since gotten citizenship. But according to unofficial estimates,
3000 to 4000 people are still without formal legal status in the country.

Radio Free Europe/ Rado Liberty 3 Nov 2003 From: Ivo Skoric Balkan
Report Vol. 7, No. 36, 31 October 2003
RESTORING 'THE ERASED' IN SLOVENIA. Slovenian political vocabulary
is full of peculiar expressions that in their simplicity belie the
historical import packed into them. For example, the "pregnanci"
(expellees) are the 63,000 Slovenes forcibly deported by the Axis
powers during World War II (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 13 June 2003),
and the "optanti" (choosers) are the 130,000 ethnic Italians who fled
to Italy when Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste was incorporated
into Yugoslavia in 1954 (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 May 2002). A
new term was added to this lexicon in 1992: the "izbrisani" (erased
ones). On 26 February of that year, the Slovenian authorities deleted
from the official records all non-Slovenian residents who had not
applied for citizenship in the new state. Nearly 30,000 people were
affected by the decision. The reasons for not applying for citizenship
were various. Many of those who failed to do so belonged to the social
underclass and were ignorant of the requirement. Some had criminal
records and were reluctant to make contact with the authorities. Still
others opposed Slovenian independence from Yugoslavia on principle,
and made a political decision not to comply. Altogether, over
one-third of the "erased" left Slovenia permanently and renounced
their residency, but 18,000 remained without official status. Under
pressure from the EU, in 1999 Slovenia adopted the Act on Regularizing
the Status of Citizens of Other State Successors of the Former SFRY in
the Republic of Slovenia, giving the "erased" a second chance to
regulate their status. The law required that applicants prove
permanent residency in Slovenia prior to independence as well as
current residency in Slovenia. Some 12,000 people took advantage of
the new law -- 7,000 received citizenship, and 4,800 obtained
permanent or temporary residency. However, critics faulted the
three-month deadline, arguing that it was often insufficient to allow
time to gather the necessary paperwork from Slovenia's cumbersome
public administration system. An 18 April "Delo" interview with the
president of the Society of Erased Residents of Slovenia, Aleksandar
Todorovic, revealed the mixed feelings of some erased persons toward
their host country. "I didn't apply for citizenship because that would
be agreeing to discrimination against myself," he declared. "I'm a
foreigner with permanent residency, and that's what I wish to remain."
A new law being debated in the National Assembly this week will grant
permanent residency status to nearly all the remaining 4,200
unregulated cases from the 1992 erasure, excepting those convicted of
crimes against the state or against humanity. Most significantly, this
"third chance" will be a blanket decision instead of applying on a
case-by-case basis, and will take effect retroactively. The erasures
have been an embarrassment to Slovenia's otherwise fairly good record
on human rights, with unpleasant social consequences for those who
refused to comply. Driver's licenses and identity cards were
confiscated when presented for renewal, state health insurance was
cancelled and free health care denied, and pensions were lost. While
this fell far short of the atrocities committed elsewhere in
Yugoslavia, critics of Slovenia have used hyperbole to characterize
the erasures as "civic death," "administrative genocide," or "soft
genocide." Jasminka Dedic, a researcher at Ljubljana's Peace
Institute, recently noted that because the erasures affected almost
exclusively non-Slovenes, and particularly nonindigenous Roma and
former Yugoslav Army (JNA) officers, the action was ethnically and
socially discriminatory. Dedic also observes that Slovenia differs
from other postcommunist successor states, where non-naturalized
long-term residents (e.g., Russians in Estonia or "Slovak Roma" in the
Czech Republic) have not been stripped of their previous status, even
if citizenship is difficult to attain (paper available at:
www.mirovni-institut.si/eng_html/ publications/Erasure.doc). On the
other hand, many Slovenes are incensed by the concessions being made.
The non-parliamentary Party of the Slovenian Nation (SSN) has
characterized the erased as traitors who left Slovenia in 1991 in the
hope that it would be reconquered by the JNA, only to return later to
take advantage of its relative prosperity. Repeated attempts to launch
a popular referendum on the issue have also been struck down.
Opposition parties warn that the erased could take advantage of the
new law to demand up to 600 billion tolars ($3 billion) in damages,
"Delo" reported on 29 October. Majda Zupan of the New Slovenia party
(NSi) warned that such a claim would amount to 300,000 tolars ($1,500)
per Slovenian citizen -- well over the average monthly wage, the news
site 24ur.com reported on 28 October. The right-wing Slovenian
National Party (SNS) has condemned the proposed law, saying that it
rewards those who gambled against Slovenia's future. The United List
of Social Democrats (ZLSD), along with the other coalition parties,
favors resolving the issue once and for all for the sake of "human
rights and a state based on the rule of law," according to a 10
October statement from Milan Potrc, the head of the ZLSD parliament
group. Notwithstanding the opposition, the law is expected to pass,
finally turning the question of the "izbrisani" from an ongoing civic
debate into another footnote in Slovenian history. (Donald F. Reindl,
dreindl at indiana.edu)

Radio Prague 9 Jan 2004 www.radio.cz/en Slovenia's forgotten
minorities [09-01-2004] By Ksenija Samardzija-Matul Slovenia's
president has launched a blistering attack on what he calls "elements
of intolerance" in his country. He was speaking after parliament
approved a referendum, which seeks to overturn a Constitutional Court
decision to restore permanent residency status and other rights to
minority groups living in Slovenia. It concerns around 20,000 people,
mostly Croats, Bosnians and Serbs who were living in Slovenia before
it won independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. They were
originally stripped of their permanent residency because they did not
apply for Slovene citizenship by 1992. In April 2003 the
Constitutional Court ordered that the status of citizens of the former
Yugoslavia who were erased from the population registry in February
1992, must be reinstated from that date onward. Although the decision
refers to the fulfilment of basic human rights the issue caused a rift
on the political scene. Miran Potrc, head of the United List of Social
democrats wants a quick implementation of the Constitutional Court's
decision: "Our party wants Slovenia to respect the rule of law, we
want a Slovenia that follows human rights and the clear and concrete
decisions of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court has
stated repeatedly - the last time in April --which the erased have
been deprived of their rights. We want the decision of the
Constitutional Court to be implemented. I believe that a referendum in
this case would be extremely useless and harmful. No legal proceedings
will be solved, and everything will result in misunderstandings and a
lot of interpersonal disputes and political discord. This, of course
is not useful. If we want to continue respecting the rule of law in a
country where people living together have understanding and care for
each other, we have to solve this problem sooner or later. Delaying
the problem and trying to find a solution by carrying out a referendum
is not useful." Slovenia's opposition parties however claim that the
people in question were not erased in the first place and Zmago
Jelincic head of the Slovene Nationalist party viewpoint on this topic
differs completely from the intensions of the Slovene government.
"They were not erased from any register, but were simply not filed in
the citizens register because they did not want to. The Slovene
National Party is concerned about the estimated financial consequences
of this decision as we are certain that restitution claims of the
erased could be as high as 1 billion euros or possibly even up to 4
billions. We are convinced that all expenses will be transferred to
the taxpayer's shoulders. With this ruling the constitutional court
has annulled the act of independence and activities connected to it
and also disgraced all independence fighters and equalled them to
those who were acting against Slovenia's independence." And it looks
like there will be a referendum on the erased. But the question is, is
it really useful to let voters decide on issues such as the erased or
other minorities. And is there a point in carrying out the referendum,
if the outcome has no effect on the Constitutional Court's decision.

Slevenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA) Slovene Press Agency
www.sta.si/en/ Interior Ministry Starts Issuing Decrees on the Erased
Ljubljana, 03 February (STA) - The Interior Ministry on Tuesday
started issuing the decrees on the permanent residency of the erased
that reinstate their permanent residency status for the period they
were without it. The decrees are based directly on the 2003 ruling of
the Constitutional Court, the ministry said in a press release.

Slevenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA) Slovene Press Agency
www.sta.si/en/ Another Referendum Petition Filed as "Erased" Story
Continues Ljubljana, 03 February (STA) - Slovenia looks set to head to
another referendum, but not on the technicalities act on the erased,
as might be expected. Much to the dismay of the opposition, parliament
rejected amendments to the decree on the referendum on the
technicalities act on the erased at Monday's extraordinary session.
Opposition lawmakers struck back, submitting late in the night 1,000
voters' signatures in support of a legislative referendum on a second
piece of legislation on the erased, the systemic bill.

Associated Press 5 Feb 2004 A 'genocide' through paperwork By
WILLIAM J. KOLE
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- On a bright morning in 1992, Zoran
Vojinovic awoke to the realization that he no longer existed. Not on
paper -- when his identity card expired, officials refused to renew
it. Not at the hospital -- when he got sick and sought treatment, he
was told he had lost his health benefits. Not in government computers
-- when he asked an agency for help in finding a job, he was turned
away as an illegal alien. Vojinovic, 29, is among 18,000 people in
Slovenia known ominously as "the erased ones" -- non-Slovene residents
whose names were deleted from the population registry a year after the
country declared independence from Yugoslavia. Under pressure from the
European Union, which Slovenia joins in May, voters will decide in a
referendum, likely next month, whether to restore permanent residency
and rights to those who suffered what critics call "administrative
genocide." "In Bosnia, fascists walked around doing horrible things
with weapons. Slovenia did the same thing with paperwork," said
Aleksandar Todorovic, an archaeologist born in Serbia who heads the
Association of Erased Persons. For the erased, it's a question of
recovering dignity and the right to drive a car, get health care, own
property and collect pensions. Permanent residency also would carry
the option of citizenship. The dispute also underscores the murky Cold
War-era pasts confronting the EU as it expands to take in a part of
the continent stained by nationalism and strife. Most of the erased
were Bosnians and Serbs stripped of their rights in February 1992
after declining offers of citizenship. Many say they were hesitant
because of unrest in Bosnia and Croatia, and thought Slobodan
Milosevic might retake Slovenia. Nearly all 18,000 lost their jobs,
and at least seven people committed suicide in despair. Some were
arrested for simple offenses such as jaywalking and were deported for
lack of documents. Zoran Vojinovic , 29, was erased even though he was
born in Slovenia to Serbian parents and has never left. Deputy
Interior Minister Bojan Bugaric, acknowledging that the erasure was a
"mistake," said his office approved retroactive residency for 40
people this week and would issue permits to others. Parliament is
expected to enact a law soon laying out guidelines for seeking
damages. But the government is under fire by boisterous right-wing
opposition parties who could use the dispute to make gains in October
parliamentary elections. Vojinovic now has a job supervising a
cleaning crew at a shopping mall. "I was cheated, and Slovenia should
be ashamed," he said.

Slevenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA) Slovene Press Agency
www.sta.si/en/ Erased Referendum Question Largely Unconstitutional
Ljubljana, 26 February (STA) - The Constitutional Court has found that
most parts of a question proposed to be put at a referendum on the
systemic bill on the erased violates the Constitution. The court said
that as many as five of seven points enumerated in the question are
unconstitutional.

Slevenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA) Slovene Press Agency
www.sta.si/en/ Protest in Support of Erased Staged in Ljubljana
Ljubljana, 26 February (STA) - Some hundred people gathered for a
protest in the centre of Ljubljana on Thursday to bring the problem of
the erased to the public's attention. Moving from Zvezda Park to the
near-by parliament building, the protesters, a few dozen of them
dressed in white overalls sprayed red, unveiled a banner saying
"Freedom Is Diversity".

BBC 26 Feb 2004 Referendum question on "erased" violates
constitution, Slovene court rules February 26, 2004 Excerpt from
report by Slovene television on 26 February [First Announcer] The
Constitutional Court has ruled that the question in the motion to call
a referendum on a systemic bill on the erased [citizens from former
Yugoslav republics who had been unlawfully erased from the Slovene
population register in 1992] filed by Coalition Slovenia [a coalition
of opposition parties Slovene Democrats and New Slovenia] is
unconstitutional in all its most important points. [Second announcer]
The National Assembly sent the questions together with the motion to
the Constitutional Court for examination. The court's verdict means
that at the referendum on 4 April we will not be deciding on both
bills on the erased, but only on the technicalities bill. [Reporter S.
Rakusa] [Passage omitted] The chairman of the [Social] Democrats
[Janez Jansa] who, in case it was unsuccessful, had announced a new
referendum motion, was today reserved. [Jansa] After studying this
ruling, the Slovene Democratic Party will decide what to do in the
future, more precisely, what to do to prevent the enforcement of the
law in line with which decrees [on reinstatement of residence rights]
would be issued retrospectively without any kind of selection, which
would enable the filing of high compensation claims. [Passage omitted]
[Reporter] The LDS [Liberal Democracy of Slovenia party] and the
United List [of Social Democrats] expected this kind of verdict. [LDS
executive director Bogdan Biscak] We hope that with this the
referendum mania in Slovenia will be over. But at the same time we
fear that Coalition Slovenia will continue blocking the adoption of
legislation in this area and the settlement of this issue. [Passage
omitted] (Source: BBC Monitoring / Television Slovenia, Ljubljana) .

BBC 26 Feb 2004 Slovenia: Erased citizens write to CoE about their
plight February 26, 2004 Text of report in English by Slovene news
agency STA Ljubljana, 26 February: Marking twelve years since they had
been deleted from the population register, the erased citizens [from
former Yugoslav republics] on Thursday [26 February] wrote a letter to
the Council of Europe (CoE), saying they decided for the move because
they feel the only institutions they can trust in Slovenia are the
Constitutional Court and the ombudsman. The letter was addressed to
Alvaro Gil-Robles, the CoE human rights commissioner, and the CoE
Commission Against Racism and Intolerance. It informs the CoE about
the latest developments in the attempts to solve the problem of the
erased, the efforts made by the erased and the responses of the
politicians to the problem. The Association of the Erased has so far
addressed three calls to the state and the public, which have all been
ignored. Because the solving of the issue is taking so long, many of
the erased might not live to see the day when the story gets to an
end, the association wrote. "The shame of Slovenia, which is also our
home, will rise to unthought-of proportions," the association
believes. The letter was addressed to the CoE as the association held
its third assembly in Ljubljana on Thursday, exactly 12 years since
the erasure. Presenting the efforts of the erased, Aleksandar
Todorovic, the president of the association, said that the media are
the chief means with which the erased are fighting for their rights.
While the seven founding members of the association needed primarily
courage, the association now needs better organization, said
Todorovic. "We have managed to become the main political topic in
Slovenia, and the problem is also institutionalising," he said.
Todorovic also said that members should be solving their problems on
the principle of solidarity as this is the only way to solve all
problems. Matevz Krivic, a former constitutional judge who legally
represents the erased, said the association finds the current
situation worse than that a year ago. Last year there was still hope
that the problem could be solved within Slovene borders, while this
hope is gone today. "We have won in a legal way, but the more we win
legally, the more we lose politically," said Krivic. The assembly of
the erased is just one of the activities staged within the "Week of
the Erased", reminding the public of the illegal and unconstitutional
removal of 18,305 people coming from former Yugoslav republics from
the Slovene population registry, which happened twelve years ago, to
the day. Thursday also marks two years since the erased started
organized efforts in a bid to get their rights back. (Source: BBC
Monitoring / STA news agency, Ljubljana)


For Slovenian coverage of the Izbrisani Issue see


Slevenska Tiskovna Agencija (STA) Slovene Press Agency www.sta.si/en/

www.mladina.si/tednik/200239/clanek/izbrisani/


Prevent Genocide International
info@...