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--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
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--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
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GUERRA PSICOLOGICA: "SE NON ABBIAMO VINTO NOI ALLORA NON VALE"
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/25-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 25/9/2000
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
ELECTIONS 2000:
Offical Schedulings of Elections
Instructions for Foreign Observers
Info
Results of Elections
Federal Elections Committee (STATEMENT 24/9/2000)
> http://www.ansa.it/fattidelgiorno/20000926134057783/20000926134057783.shtml
Dispacci ANSA
===
Monday, September 25, 2000 11:06 PM
Subject: En direct de Belgrade: Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington
tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Belgrade, 25 septembre 2000, 15h.
Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Analyse d'un observateur belge des elections en Yougoslavie
MICHEL COLLON
(Avec mes excuses pour les fautes de frappe dues a l'utilisation d'un
clavier serbe sans accent)
BELGRADE - LUNDI, 15 HEURES. Selon un scenario que nous avions annonce,
tous les medias
occidentaux se sont precipites pour annoncer que Kostunica, le candidat
de l'opposition, avait
gagne l'election presidentielle. Il etait pourtant evident que les
chiffres etaient encore minimes et
que ceci faisait partie d'une bataille psychologique. Actuellement,
chaque parti revendique la
victoire, mais en se basant sur 37% des votes, la coalition Milosevic
revendique 45% contre 40%
a Ko
Des elections tout a fait regulieres
En tout cas, ceci devrait mettre un terme a toute la campagne mediatique
assez hysterique
declenchee depuis des semaines aux Etats Unis et en Occident, selon
laquelle Milosevic allait
manipuler inevitablement les elections qui ne pourraient etre que
frauduleuses.
J'etais invite a controler la regularite de ces elections en compagnie
de deux cents personnalites
internationales venues de plus de cinquante pays. Nous avons pu nous
rendre partout ou nous
voulions, dans tout le pays. Nous avons visite des centaines de bureaux
de vote, interroge des
electeurs et les membres des bureaux de vote, nous avons pu constater
que les operations s'y
deroulaient comme dans bien d'autres pays. Chaque vote etant controle
par les representants des
divers partis, opposition comprise
Tous nous ont confirme que les operations etaient parfaitement
regulieres. A Vranje, une
representante de l'opposition et militante du mouvement etudiant Otpor
(soutenu par les
Etats-Unis) est venue nous trouver au bureau central pour se plaindre
d'irregularites graves au
bureau 19. Nous nous y sommes rendus avec une equipe d'une dizaine
d'observateurs. Mais
toutes les personnes presentes nous ont dit au contraire qu'il n'y avait
aucun probleme.
A Subotica, un representant du parti hongrois est aussi venu se
plaindre, mais mon collegue
observateur hongrois est alle verifier et ses plaintes n'etaient pas
fondees. Il a eu comme moi
l'impression que ces fausses plaintes faisaient partie d'une tactique
coordonnee pour jeter le
discredit si Milosevic gagnait.
Le camp de la fierte et le camp de la soumission
Il reste indeniable que Kostunica a obtenu beaucoup de voix, et qu'on a
de grandes chances
d'assister a un deuxieme tour. D'ou l'importance d'eclairer l'enjeu.
En quoi s'opposent les deux camps? Milosevic incarne la resistance a
l'Otan, il a obtenu un
soutien enorme durant la guerre et aussi un certain prestige avec la
reconstruction rapide des
ponts, des routes et d'une partie des usines detruites. Les dirigeants
classiques de l'opposition
(Draskovic et Djindjic) auraient certainement perdu s'ils s'etaient
presentes contre lui car ils
s'etaient compromis du cote de l'Otan et la grande majorite des
Yougoslaves reste farouchement
attachee a l'independance du pays
La Yougoslavie va-t-elle devenir un pays d'esclaves, une colonie? Je le
crains si les dirigeants
des partis d'opposition peuvent appliquer leur programme. Certes,
Monsieur Kostunica a multiplie
les declarations "critiques" a l'egard des Etats-Unis et de l'Otan; il
devait le faire s'il voulait
garder ses chances dans un pays comme celui-ci. Seulement, bien qu'il
reste tres vague sur son
programme economique et social, il convient justement d'examiner ce
programme de pres...
Le programme de Kostunica est celui d'un groupe d'economistes
yougoslaves tres a droite, connu
sous le nom de "G 17". Il prevoit:
1. L'introduction du deutsche mark comme monnaie nationale!
2. Une forte reduction du budget militaire, ce qui priverait lepays des
moyens de se defendre
contre de nouvelles agressions.
3. L'alignement sur les recettes anti-sociales que veut imposer le Fonds
Monetaire International.
Apres une annee de 'sursis'.
Ce sont les memes reformes qui ont deja devaste l'economie de pays comme
la Bulgarie, l'Albanie
ou la Roumanie. Un observateur roumain me confiait ce matin: "On nous a
promis qu'apres la
chute de Ceaucescu, le capitalisme sans freins apporterait la
prosperite. Mais, aujourdhui,
l'economie est en ruines. Nous avons ramasse dix milliards de dollars de
dettes, mais on ne voit
pas un seul investissement. Les batiments en cours de construction sous
Ceaucescu ne sont
toujours pas acheves"
Effectivement, il y a lieu de reflechir. Beaucoup de Yougoslaves ont
vote Kostunica, esperant
qu'en changeant de dirigeants, ils seraient debarrasses des sanctions
internationales qui
etranglent leur pays et les obligent a vivre tres difficilement. Mais la
victoire de Kostunica
va-t-elle reellement leur apporter un soulagement et la stabilite?
On peut apporter trois elements de reponse:
1. Ou ira l'argent?
2. L'exemple d'un precedent comme le Nicaragua.
3. Qu'a apporte l'Ouest, d'ores et deja, au Kosovo?
Avec Kostunica, Djindjic et le FMI, la population serait-elle soulagee?
1. Sans doute de l'argent occidental irait dans certaines poches de ce
pays. Le vrai chef de
l'opposition, Zoran Djindjic - l'homme qui tire les ficelles de
Kostunica - a recu des millions de
dollars pour faire le travail de Washington. Et une nouvelle classe
d'hommes d'affaires s'est
developpee et elle trepigne d'impatience. Elle veut recevoir toutes
libertes de mettre fin aux
protections sociales et aux conditions de travail reglementees. Afin de
pouvoir exploiter au
maximum la main d'oeuvre yougoslave.
Bref, travailler sous le regne de la peur, comme dans les pays dits
'avances' ou une grande partie
des travailleurs se creve au boulot, de plus en plus stresses tandis que
l'autre partie deprime au
chomage. Voila le sort qui attendrait le peuple yougoslave. Sans compter
que la dereglementation
chere au 'G-17' leur permettrait surement de jouir des avantages comme
une viande atteinte de la
maladie de la vache folle ou bien bourree d'hormones et de dioxine, et
autres pollutions...
Une grande illusion domine actuellement la jeunesse yougoslave, car
c'est elle surtout qui nourrit
le plus d'illusions envers les promesses de l'Occident. La grande
illusion, c'est de croire qu'en
acceptant les volontes des multinationales et des dirigeants
occidentaux, la prosperite viendra
recompenser la population yougoslave.
Mais d'ou provient la richesse de ces multinationales occidentales? Du
fait qu'elles ne paient
pratiquement pas les matieres premieres qu'elles enlevent au tiers
monde. Et que dans tous les
pays du monde ou elles exploitent des travailleurs, elles font tout pour
maintenir les salaires de
ceux-ci au plus bas. C'est d'ailleurs une regle economique que le
systeme de la concurrence
capitaliste les oblige a appliquer: si elles ne le faisaient pas, elles
seraient battues et eliminees
par leurs concurrents.
Bref, si les societes des pays riches sont riches, c'est parce qu'elles
volent en realite les pays
pauvres. Aussi quand elles promettent a un pays pauvre qu'en se
soumettant, il pourra rejoindre le
club des pays riches, c'est un mensonge. Cette promesse ne saurait etre
tenue car, s'il n'y a plus
d'exploites qui se font voler, il n'y aura plus d'exploiteurs qui
s'enrichissent. La seule solution est
un monde sans exploiteurs et sans exploites, un monde de reelle
cooperation internationale basee
sur la solidarite.
2. Ensuite, peut-on croire les promesses des Etats-Unis? Je viens de
discuter avec un
observateur nicaraguayen: "Je suis frappe par la ressemblance entre la
situation de la Yougoslavie
aujourd'hui et celle du Nicaragua en 1990. A l'epoque, pour renverser
notre gouvernement
progressiste, celui des sandinistes, les Etats-Unis avaient egalement
combine deux methodes.
D'un cote, ils avaient arme des bandes appelees "contras" qui
massacraient et terrorisaient la
population, comme l'UCK. De l'autre cote, ils agitaient l'alternative
électorale. Mais les
promesses n'ont pas ete tenues et aujourd'hui, la situation du peuple
nicaraguayen a enormement
empire. Dans ce pays de quatre millions d'habitants, le chomage a grimpe
a 40%, et avec lui la
delinquance, la prostitution, le trafic de drogue. Aux feux rouges, vous
rencontrez plein d'enfants
qui mendient. La sante s'est degradee, on assiste au retour de maladies
que la revolution avait
eliminees, comme la pneunomie; la mortalite (surtout infantile)
augmente. Idem pour
l'analphabetisme. Voila ce qui arrive quand on fait confiance aux
promesses des Etats-Unis.
Mais j'ai bonne confiance que la gauche sandiniste gagnera les
prochaines elections en novembre;
les sondages lui accordent 42% contre 23%."
3. Un troisieme element de reponse pour savoir si on peut faire
confiance aux promesses de
l'Occident, c'est de regarder ce qui a été fait au Kosovo.
L'Ouest avait promis d'y instaurer la paix, la democratie et la
tolerance entre nationalites. Ou en
est-on? Plus de 5.OOO actes terroristes ont ete commis en un an, tuant
un millier de personnes.
350.000 Serbes, Juifs, Roms, Musulmans et autres membres de minorites
nationales ont ete
chasses sous les yeux et avec l'aide de l'Otan. Resultat: la maffia
albanaise a transforme cette
region en une tete de pont pour le trafic de drogue, de voitures volees
et de prostituees. Un celebre
criminologue de l'universite de Paris 2, Xavier Rauffer, denonce "un
enorme trafic d'etres
humains, une prostitution gigantesque qui maintenant envahit toute
l'Europe, une prostitution
dirigee par des proxenetes albanais. On assiste a l'heure actuelle a une
inondation de toute
l'Europe occidentale d'heroine qui vient des Balkans." (RTBF, 24 mars
2000). On sait que de
grosses banques europeennes blanchissent secretement les fortunes
accumulees par ces trafics.
L'Otan reussira-t-elle a transformer tous les Balkans en une
"gangocratie"? La jeunesse
yougoslave et europeenne se verra-t-elle livree de plus en plus a ce
fleau de la drogue?
Colonisation ne signifie pas stabilite
La colonisation de la Yougoslavie et des Balkans par l'Ouest
n'apporterait pas la stabilite. Si les
inegalites sociales et la misere augmentent, les peuples prendront
conscience qu'ils ont ete
trompes, ils se revolteront afin de regagner leur independance. On verra
alors que les bases
militaires de l'Otan ont pour fonction non seulement des objectifs
strategiques a l'encontre de la
Russie, du petrole du Caucase et du Moyen-Orient, mais aussi le role de
reprimer les peuples des
Balkans.
Aujourd'hui, le mecontentement augmente dans des pays comme la Macedoine
ou la Roumanie et
les observateurs de ces pays m'ont confie que les prochaines elections
pourraient voir un retour
de la gauche. En Yougoslavie aussi, si Kostunica - c'est-a-dire Djindjic
- venait au pouvoir, il ne
faudrait sans doute pas tres longtemps au peuple yougoslave pour
comprendre qu'il a ete trompe.
Pour briser et detourner les revoltes, les Etats-Unis et leurs amis
essayeraient certainement a
nouveau d'exciter des affrontements.
La resistance est donc la seule voie possible pour assurer la paix et le
developpement social dans
les Balkans. Milosevic a declare dans son dernier grand discours
electoral: "Si nous devenions
une colonie, nous ne serions jamais liberes des sanctions (l'embargo),
car etre une colonie c'est
la pire forme de sanctions. Si nous devenions une colonie, nous
n'aurions aucune chance de
developpement, ni a court, ni a long terme."
Sur ce point, on ne peut que lui donner raison.
La responsabilite des jeunes du monde
A l'heure actuelle, il est impossible de predire ce qui va se passer
ici. Plusieurs elections se
deroulaient simultanement et on manque encore de chiffres suffisants. En
outre, il s'agissait
d'elections parlementaires au niveau de la federation Serbie-Montenegro.
Les elections pour le
parlement serbe se derouleront dans un an.
D'ici la, les pressions et ingerences des Etats-Unis ne manqueront pas
mais aussi, le debat
politique. Et la resistance des secteurs progressistes qui aspirent a
une autre societe que le
capitalisme feroce a l'assaut du monde. Et beaucoup de retournements
peuvent encore se
produire.
Dans ce debat, la jeunesse progressiste des pays "riches" et celle des
pays exploites de l'Est et
du tiers monde ont un role tres important a jouer. Faire prendre
conscience que le monde n'est pas
ce que pretendent la TV et la pub, qu'il n'est pas possible que tous les
peuples du monde
recoivent en cadeau leur ticket pour entrer dans le club des voleurs,
que seule la solidarite - et
non la colonisation - permettra le developpement. Pour vivre et se
developper dans la dignite, on
ne peut compter sur les promesses.
A propos des 77 millions de dollars
pour "imposer la democratie"
Plus vous etes "independant", plus Washington vous paie.
Que veut donc dire ce mot "independant"?
MICHEL COLLON
Que diriez-vous si Moscou offrait deux ou trois milliards a un parti
belge pour acheter des
dirigeants de partis politiques et les aider a remporter les elections?
Vous parleriez de corruption
et vous auriez raison.
Eh bien, c'est ce qui se passe ici. Les Etats-Unis ont verse 77 millions
de dollars a l'opposition.
Est-cela le critere de la democratie? Plus on verse de dollars, plus les
elections sont "libres"?
===
Unser Kandidat hat gewonnen oder es gibt Krieg
(von Rainer Rupp)
Wolfgang Gehrke, verantwortlich für Außenpolitik in der
PDS-Bundestagsfraktion des Bundestags, hatte kürzlich im "Neuen
Deutschland" der NATO und der EU vorgeworfen, auf Grund ihrer
offensichtlichen Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten Jugoslawiens
vor den Wahlen am 24. September überhaupt nicht an einem Frieden auf dem
Balkan interessiert zu sein. In der Tat drohen EU und NATO sogar mit
einem neuen Krieg, nur damit ihre Kandidaten auf jeden Fall die Wahl in
Jugoslawien gewinnen.
Schon vor Ende der Wahl schrieen NATO und EU gemeinsam mit der von
ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition "Wahlbetrug". Denn wenn
der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte, dann war die Wahl von
Milosevic manipuliert und sie kann folglich von EU und NATO nicht
anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen, - so die Überlegung der
westlichen Wertegemeinschaft, die sich in der Welt moralisch selbst am
höchsten stellt - musste die NATO erneut ihre humanitäre Kriegsmaschine
rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag Nacht noch über Radio Monte
Carlo wissen, dass seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spät in einer
Telephonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, "falls Präsident
Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte." Wobei
natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vorn herein klar war, dass Milosevic
mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens $75 Millionen
Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
Versprechungen gemacht, wenn die Jugoslawen sich in der Wahl für den von
der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
Dass die militärischen Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit
wieder aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem
beeindruckenden Zusammenzug militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien
deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die Friedensbotschaft der westlichen
humanitären Krieger nicht missverstanden wird, hat NATO Generalsekretär
Lord Robertson einer Reutersmeldung vom Sonntag zufolge Präsident
Milosevic bereits mit militärischen Aktionen gedroht, "falls er bei den
Wahlen betrügt". Er warnte, dass die "Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf
dem Balkan sich in Alarmbereitschaft befinden". ("EU leaders in
consultation over Yugoslav election", Paris, Reuters 24.9.00)
Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig zur Wahl die größte Seearmada
seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien im Mittelmeer zusammen
gezogen. Der britische Premier Toni Blair, der sich mit seinem
militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz im Himmel der
Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, hat als "Botschaft an Präsident
Slobodan Milosevic" den britischen Flugzeugträger "Invincible" und den
Hubschrauberträger "Ocean" ins Mittelmeer geschickt, wo sie auf eine
amerikanische Schlachtgruppe stoßen werden.
Am Montag berichtete die britische Tageszeitung "The Independent", dass
unlängst während einer Beratung einer britischen Luftlandebrigade, die
Teil der Schnellen Eingriffstruppe der NATO ist, darum ging, die Chancen
für eine militärische Operation in Montenegro zu erörtern, wozu auch die
Einnahme von Flugplätzen und anderen strategisch wichtigen Punkten ging.
"Nato sends strong message to Milosevic", By Vesna Peric Zimonjik in
Belgrade, Kim Sengupta in London and Steve Crawshaw in Podgorica, The
Independent, 25 September 2000).
In den nächsten Tagen soll außerdem ein gemeinsames
kroatisch-amerikanisches Seemanöver vor der montenegrinisch-kroatischen
Küste stattfinden, bei dem die US-Marines auch amphibische Landungen
üben sollen. Weitere Manöver sind für französische und holländische
Schiffe geplant. Zugleich halten sich hartnäckig aus Bulgarien kommende
Gerüchte im Internet, dass die USA im Rahmen des groß angelegten
NATO-Manövers "Trans-Carpathia 2000" unter Beteiligung der
NATO-Verbündeten Ungarn und Poland und neun weiterer "NATO
Partnerländer" einschließlich Kroatiens und Rumänien von bulgarischem
Territorium aus Angriffe auf Südserbien planen, um von dort aus zu den
im südöstlichen Kosovo stationierten US-Einheiten durch zu stoßen.
"Trans-Carpathia 2000" begann am 20. 9. und soll bis 29. 9. dauern.
Mit diesen beindruckenden militärischen Drohgebärde wollen die
westlichen Vorkämpfer des Friedens ihrer Opposition in Belgrad unbedingt
an die Macht verhelfen. Dafür scheinen die NATO-Humanisten nicht einmal
vor einem neuen Krieg auf dem Balkan zurück zu schrecken.
Saarburg den 25.9.00
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/25-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 25/9/2000
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
ELECTIONS 2000:
Offical Schedulings of Elections
Instructions for Foreign Observers
Info
Results of Elections
Federal Elections Committee (STATEMENT 24/9/2000)
> http://www.ansa.it/fattidelgiorno/20000926134057783/20000926134057783.shtml
Dispacci ANSA
===
Monday, September 25, 2000 11:06 PM
Subject: En direct de Belgrade: Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington
tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Belgrade, 25 septembre 2000, 15h.
Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Analyse d'un observateur belge des elections en Yougoslavie
MICHEL COLLON
(Avec mes excuses pour les fautes de frappe dues a l'utilisation d'un
clavier serbe sans accent)
BELGRADE - LUNDI, 15 HEURES. Selon un scenario que nous avions annonce,
tous les medias
occidentaux se sont precipites pour annoncer que Kostunica, le candidat
de l'opposition, avait
gagne l'election presidentielle. Il etait pourtant evident que les
chiffres etaient encore minimes et
que ceci faisait partie d'une bataille psychologique. Actuellement,
chaque parti revendique la
victoire, mais en se basant sur 37% des votes, la coalition Milosevic
revendique 45% contre 40%
a Ko
Des elections tout a fait regulieres
En tout cas, ceci devrait mettre un terme a toute la campagne mediatique
assez hysterique
declenchee depuis des semaines aux Etats Unis et en Occident, selon
laquelle Milosevic allait
manipuler inevitablement les elections qui ne pourraient etre que
frauduleuses.
J'etais invite a controler la regularite de ces elections en compagnie
de deux cents personnalites
internationales venues de plus de cinquante pays. Nous avons pu nous
rendre partout ou nous
voulions, dans tout le pays. Nous avons visite des centaines de bureaux
de vote, interroge des
electeurs et les membres des bureaux de vote, nous avons pu constater
que les operations s'y
deroulaient comme dans bien d'autres pays. Chaque vote etant controle
par les representants des
divers partis, opposition comprise
Tous nous ont confirme que les operations etaient parfaitement
regulieres. A Vranje, une
representante de l'opposition et militante du mouvement etudiant Otpor
(soutenu par les
Etats-Unis) est venue nous trouver au bureau central pour se plaindre
d'irregularites graves au
bureau 19. Nous nous y sommes rendus avec une equipe d'une dizaine
d'observateurs. Mais
toutes les personnes presentes nous ont dit au contraire qu'il n'y avait
aucun probleme.
A Subotica, un representant du parti hongrois est aussi venu se
plaindre, mais mon collegue
observateur hongrois est alle verifier et ses plaintes n'etaient pas
fondees. Il a eu comme moi
l'impression que ces fausses plaintes faisaient partie d'une tactique
coordonnee pour jeter le
discredit si Milosevic gagnait.
Le camp de la fierte et le camp de la soumission
Il reste indeniable que Kostunica a obtenu beaucoup de voix, et qu'on a
de grandes chances
d'assister a un deuxieme tour. D'ou l'importance d'eclairer l'enjeu.
En quoi s'opposent les deux camps? Milosevic incarne la resistance a
l'Otan, il a obtenu un
soutien enorme durant la guerre et aussi un certain prestige avec la
reconstruction rapide des
ponts, des routes et d'une partie des usines detruites. Les dirigeants
classiques de l'opposition
(Draskovic et Djindjic) auraient certainement perdu s'ils s'etaient
presentes contre lui car ils
s'etaient compromis du cote de l'Otan et la grande majorite des
Yougoslaves reste farouchement
attachee a l'independance du pays
La Yougoslavie va-t-elle devenir un pays d'esclaves, une colonie? Je le
crains si les dirigeants
des partis d'opposition peuvent appliquer leur programme. Certes,
Monsieur Kostunica a multiplie
les declarations "critiques" a l'egard des Etats-Unis et de l'Otan; il
devait le faire s'il voulait
garder ses chances dans un pays comme celui-ci. Seulement, bien qu'il
reste tres vague sur son
programme economique et social, il convient justement d'examiner ce
programme de pres...
Le programme de Kostunica est celui d'un groupe d'economistes
yougoslaves tres a droite, connu
sous le nom de "G 17". Il prevoit:
1. L'introduction du deutsche mark comme monnaie nationale!
2. Une forte reduction du budget militaire, ce qui priverait lepays des
moyens de se defendre
contre de nouvelles agressions.
3. L'alignement sur les recettes anti-sociales que veut imposer le Fonds
Monetaire International.
Apres une annee de 'sursis'.
Ce sont les memes reformes qui ont deja devaste l'economie de pays comme
la Bulgarie, l'Albanie
ou la Roumanie. Un observateur roumain me confiait ce matin: "On nous a
promis qu'apres la
chute de Ceaucescu, le capitalisme sans freins apporterait la
prosperite. Mais, aujourdhui,
l'economie est en ruines. Nous avons ramasse dix milliards de dollars de
dettes, mais on ne voit
pas un seul investissement. Les batiments en cours de construction sous
Ceaucescu ne sont
toujours pas acheves"
Effectivement, il y a lieu de reflechir. Beaucoup de Yougoslaves ont
vote Kostunica, esperant
qu'en changeant de dirigeants, ils seraient debarrasses des sanctions
internationales qui
etranglent leur pays et les obligent a vivre tres difficilement. Mais la
victoire de Kostunica
va-t-elle reellement leur apporter un soulagement et la stabilite?
On peut apporter trois elements de reponse:
1. Ou ira l'argent?
2. L'exemple d'un precedent comme le Nicaragua.
3. Qu'a apporte l'Ouest, d'ores et deja, au Kosovo?
Avec Kostunica, Djindjic et le FMI, la population serait-elle soulagee?
1. Sans doute de l'argent occidental irait dans certaines poches de ce
pays. Le vrai chef de
l'opposition, Zoran Djindjic - l'homme qui tire les ficelles de
Kostunica - a recu des millions de
dollars pour faire le travail de Washington. Et une nouvelle classe
d'hommes d'affaires s'est
developpee et elle trepigne d'impatience. Elle veut recevoir toutes
libertes de mettre fin aux
protections sociales et aux conditions de travail reglementees. Afin de
pouvoir exploiter au
maximum la main d'oeuvre yougoslave.
Bref, travailler sous le regne de la peur, comme dans les pays dits
'avances' ou une grande partie
des travailleurs se creve au boulot, de plus en plus stresses tandis que
l'autre partie deprime au
chomage. Voila le sort qui attendrait le peuple yougoslave. Sans compter
que la dereglementation
chere au 'G-17' leur permettrait surement de jouir des avantages comme
une viande atteinte de la
maladie de la vache folle ou bien bourree d'hormones et de dioxine, et
autres pollutions...
Une grande illusion domine actuellement la jeunesse yougoslave, car
c'est elle surtout qui nourrit
le plus d'illusions envers les promesses de l'Occident. La grande
illusion, c'est de croire qu'en
acceptant les volontes des multinationales et des dirigeants
occidentaux, la prosperite viendra
recompenser la population yougoslave.
Mais d'ou provient la richesse de ces multinationales occidentales? Du
fait qu'elles ne paient
pratiquement pas les matieres premieres qu'elles enlevent au tiers
monde. Et que dans tous les
pays du monde ou elles exploitent des travailleurs, elles font tout pour
maintenir les salaires de
ceux-ci au plus bas. C'est d'ailleurs une regle economique que le
systeme de la concurrence
capitaliste les oblige a appliquer: si elles ne le faisaient pas, elles
seraient battues et eliminees
par leurs concurrents.
Bref, si les societes des pays riches sont riches, c'est parce qu'elles
volent en realite les pays
pauvres. Aussi quand elles promettent a un pays pauvre qu'en se
soumettant, il pourra rejoindre le
club des pays riches, c'est un mensonge. Cette promesse ne saurait etre
tenue car, s'il n'y a plus
d'exploites qui se font voler, il n'y aura plus d'exploiteurs qui
s'enrichissent. La seule solution est
un monde sans exploiteurs et sans exploites, un monde de reelle
cooperation internationale basee
sur la solidarite.
2. Ensuite, peut-on croire les promesses des Etats-Unis? Je viens de
discuter avec un
observateur nicaraguayen: "Je suis frappe par la ressemblance entre la
situation de la Yougoslavie
aujourd'hui et celle du Nicaragua en 1990. A l'epoque, pour renverser
notre gouvernement
progressiste, celui des sandinistes, les Etats-Unis avaient egalement
combine deux methodes.
D'un cote, ils avaient arme des bandes appelees "contras" qui
massacraient et terrorisaient la
population, comme l'UCK. De l'autre cote, ils agitaient l'alternative
électorale. Mais les
promesses n'ont pas ete tenues et aujourd'hui, la situation du peuple
nicaraguayen a enormement
empire. Dans ce pays de quatre millions d'habitants, le chomage a grimpe
a 40%, et avec lui la
delinquance, la prostitution, le trafic de drogue. Aux feux rouges, vous
rencontrez plein d'enfants
qui mendient. La sante s'est degradee, on assiste au retour de maladies
que la revolution avait
eliminees, comme la pneunomie; la mortalite (surtout infantile)
augmente. Idem pour
l'analphabetisme. Voila ce qui arrive quand on fait confiance aux
promesses des Etats-Unis.
Mais j'ai bonne confiance que la gauche sandiniste gagnera les
prochaines elections en novembre;
les sondages lui accordent 42% contre 23%."
3. Un troisieme element de reponse pour savoir si on peut faire
confiance aux promesses de
l'Occident, c'est de regarder ce qui a été fait au Kosovo.
L'Ouest avait promis d'y instaurer la paix, la democratie et la
tolerance entre nationalites. Ou en
est-on? Plus de 5.OOO actes terroristes ont ete commis en un an, tuant
un millier de personnes.
350.000 Serbes, Juifs, Roms, Musulmans et autres membres de minorites
nationales ont ete
chasses sous les yeux et avec l'aide de l'Otan. Resultat: la maffia
albanaise a transforme cette
region en une tete de pont pour le trafic de drogue, de voitures volees
et de prostituees. Un celebre
criminologue de l'universite de Paris 2, Xavier Rauffer, denonce "un
enorme trafic d'etres
humains, une prostitution gigantesque qui maintenant envahit toute
l'Europe, une prostitution
dirigee par des proxenetes albanais. On assiste a l'heure actuelle a une
inondation de toute
l'Europe occidentale d'heroine qui vient des Balkans." (RTBF, 24 mars
2000). On sait que de
grosses banques europeennes blanchissent secretement les fortunes
accumulees par ces trafics.
L'Otan reussira-t-elle a transformer tous les Balkans en une
"gangocratie"? La jeunesse
yougoslave et europeenne se verra-t-elle livree de plus en plus a ce
fleau de la drogue?
Colonisation ne signifie pas stabilite
La colonisation de la Yougoslavie et des Balkans par l'Ouest
n'apporterait pas la stabilite. Si les
inegalites sociales et la misere augmentent, les peuples prendront
conscience qu'ils ont ete
trompes, ils se revolteront afin de regagner leur independance. On verra
alors que les bases
militaires de l'Otan ont pour fonction non seulement des objectifs
strategiques a l'encontre de la
Russie, du petrole du Caucase et du Moyen-Orient, mais aussi le role de
reprimer les peuples des
Balkans.
Aujourd'hui, le mecontentement augmente dans des pays comme la Macedoine
ou la Roumanie et
les observateurs de ces pays m'ont confie que les prochaines elections
pourraient voir un retour
de la gauche. En Yougoslavie aussi, si Kostunica - c'est-a-dire Djindjic
- venait au pouvoir, il ne
faudrait sans doute pas tres longtemps au peuple yougoslave pour
comprendre qu'il a ete trompe.
Pour briser et detourner les revoltes, les Etats-Unis et leurs amis
essayeraient certainement a
nouveau d'exciter des affrontements.
La resistance est donc la seule voie possible pour assurer la paix et le
developpement social dans
les Balkans. Milosevic a declare dans son dernier grand discours
electoral: "Si nous devenions
une colonie, nous ne serions jamais liberes des sanctions (l'embargo),
car etre une colonie c'est
la pire forme de sanctions. Si nous devenions une colonie, nous
n'aurions aucune chance de
developpement, ni a court, ni a long terme."
Sur ce point, on ne peut que lui donner raison.
La responsabilite des jeunes du monde
A l'heure actuelle, il est impossible de predire ce qui va se passer
ici. Plusieurs elections se
deroulaient simultanement et on manque encore de chiffres suffisants. En
outre, il s'agissait
d'elections parlementaires au niveau de la federation Serbie-Montenegro.
Les elections pour le
parlement serbe se derouleront dans un an.
D'ici la, les pressions et ingerences des Etats-Unis ne manqueront pas
mais aussi, le debat
politique. Et la resistance des secteurs progressistes qui aspirent a
une autre societe que le
capitalisme feroce a l'assaut du monde. Et beaucoup de retournements
peuvent encore se
produire.
Dans ce debat, la jeunesse progressiste des pays "riches" et celle des
pays exploites de l'Est et
du tiers monde ont un role tres important a jouer. Faire prendre
conscience que le monde n'est pas
ce que pretendent la TV et la pub, qu'il n'est pas possible que tous les
peuples du monde
recoivent en cadeau leur ticket pour entrer dans le club des voleurs,
que seule la solidarite - et
non la colonisation - permettra le developpement. Pour vivre et se
developper dans la dignite, on
ne peut compter sur les promesses.
A propos des 77 millions de dollars
pour "imposer la democratie"
Plus vous etes "independant", plus Washington vous paie.
Que veut donc dire ce mot "independant"?
MICHEL COLLON
Que diriez-vous si Moscou offrait deux ou trois milliards a un parti
belge pour acheter des
dirigeants de partis politiques et les aider a remporter les elections?
Vous parleriez de corruption
et vous auriez raison.
Eh bien, c'est ce qui se passe ici. Les Etats-Unis ont verse 77 millions
de dollars a l'opposition.
Est-cela le critere de la democratie? Plus on verse de dollars, plus les
elections sont "libres"?
===
Unser Kandidat hat gewonnen oder es gibt Krieg
(von Rainer Rupp)
Wolfgang Gehrke, verantwortlich für Außenpolitik in der
PDS-Bundestagsfraktion des Bundestags, hatte kürzlich im "Neuen
Deutschland" der NATO und der EU vorgeworfen, auf Grund ihrer
offensichtlichen Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten Jugoslawiens
vor den Wahlen am 24. September überhaupt nicht an einem Frieden auf dem
Balkan interessiert zu sein. In der Tat drohen EU und NATO sogar mit
einem neuen Krieg, nur damit ihre Kandidaten auf jeden Fall die Wahl in
Jugoslawien gewinnen.
Schon vor Ende der Wahl schrieen NATO und EU gemeinsam mit der von
ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition "Wahlbetrug". Denn wenn
der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte, dann war die Wahl von
Milosevic manipuliert und sie kann folglich von EU und NATO nicht
anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen, - so die Überlegung der
westlichen Wertegemeinschaft, die sich in der Welt moralisch selbst am
höchsten stellt - musste die NATO erneut ihre humanitäre Kriegsmaschine
rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag Nacht noch über Radio Monte
Carlo wissen, dass seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spät in einer
Telephonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, "falls Präsident
Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte." Wobei
natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vorn herein klar war, dass Milosevic
mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens $75 Millionen
Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
Versprechungen gemacht, wenn die Jugoslawen sich in der Wahl für den von
der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
Dass die militärischen Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit
wieder aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem
beeindruckenden Zusammenzug militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien
deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die Friedensbotschaft der westlichen
humanitären Krieger nicht missverstanden wird, hat NATO Generalsekretär
Lord Robertson einer Reutersmeldung vom Sonntag zufolge Präsident
Milosevic bereits mit militärischen Aktionen gedroht, "falls er bei den
Wahlen betrügt". Er warnte, dass die "Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf
dem Balkan sich in Alarmbereitschaft befinden". ("EU leaders in
consultation over Yugoslav election", Paris, Reuters 24.9.00)
Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig zur Wahl die größte Seearmada
seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien im Mittelmeer zusammen
gezogen. Der britische Premier Toni Blair, der sich mit seinem
militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz im Himmel der
Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, hat als "Botschaft an Präsident
Slobodan Milosevic" den britischen Flugzeugträger "Invincible" und den
Hubschrauberträger "Ocean" ins Mittelmeer geschickt, wo sie auf eine
amerikanische Schlachtgruppe stoßen werden.
Am Montag berichtete die britische Tageszeitung "The Independent", dass
unlängst während einer Beratung einer britischen Luftlandebrigade, die
Teil der Schnellen Eingriffstruppe der NATO ist, darum ging, die Chancen
für eine militärische Operation in Montenegro zu erörtern, wozu auch die
Einnahme von Flugplätzen und anderen strategisch wichtigen Punkten ging.
"Nato sends strong message to Milosevic", By Vesna Peric Zimonjik in
Belgrade, Kim Sengupta in London and Steve Crawshaw in Podgorica, The
Independent, 25 September 2000).
In den nächsten Tagen soll außerdem ein gemeinsames
kroatisch-amerikanisches Seemanöver vor der montenegrinisch-kroatischen
Küste stattfinden, bei dem die US-Marines auch amphibische Landungen
üben sollen. Weitere Manöver sind für französische und holländische
Schiffe geplant. Zugleich halten sich hartnäckig aus Bulgarien kommende
Gerüchte im Internet, dass die USA im Rahmen des groß angelegten
NATO-Manövers "Trans-Carpathia 2000" unter Beteiligung der
NATO-Verbündeten Ungarn und Poland und neun weiterer "NATO
Partnerländer" einschließlich Kroatiens und Rumänien von bulgarischem
Territorium aus Angriffe auf Südserbien planen, um von dort aus zu den
im südöstlichen Kosovo stationierten US-Einheiten durch zu stoßen.
"Trans-Carpathia 2000" begann am 20. 9. und soll bis 29. 9. dauern.
Mit diesen beindruckenden militärischen Drohgebärde wollen die
westlichen Vorkämpfer des Friedens ihrer Opposition in Belgrad unbedingt
an die Macht verhelfen. Dafür scheinen die NATO-Humanisten nicht einmal
vor einem neuen Krieg auf dem Balkan zurück zu schrecken.
Saarburg den 25.9.00
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Considerazioni sul Montenegro
* Per i mafiosi di tutto il mondo: "Open an off-shore bank in
Montenegro!"
* Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
* 12/9/2000: Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
ALTRI LINK SEGNALATI:
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS
Nostri documenti dello scorso anno:
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/160799a.htm
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/090899.htm
---
CONSIDERAZIONI SUL MONTENEGRO
Ieri mi sono imbattuto quasi per caso nel programma TG2 Dossier di RAI2
dove si parlava della situazione in Jugoslavia
alla vigilia delle elezioni. Dopo il primo servizio delirante di Ennio
Remondino, come al solito fazioso e pieno di bugie,
c'è stato un servizio sul Montenegro.
Adesso la tattica per disorientare lo spettatore è quella di
presentargli i due nazionalismi contrapposti, quello serbo
panslavo e quello montenegrino, senza quasi mai far riferimento ai
sentimenti jugoslavisti, ancora presenti secondo me
nella maggioranza della popolazione, anzi la parola Jugoslavia non viene
quasi mai detta e viene sostituita con la parola
Serbia.
Le parole del metropolita della chiesa ortodossa in Montenegro vengono
messe in contrapposizione con quelle dei
nazionalisti montenegrini e presentate come opinioni personali al fine
di screditarle, con affermazioni del tipo "Lui crede
che in Montenegro hanno sempre vissuto i serbi sa secoli" oppure
"Secondo lui non esiste nessuna etnia montenegrina".
Anche Milosevic sarebbe un nazionalista che tenta di tenere sottomessi i
montenegrini come una provincia serba, non come
una regione della federazione jugoslava. Per questo motivo (cioè per
colpa di Milosevic) è normale che si sviluppi il
nazionalismo in Montenegro ("con la sua politica Milosevic sta
incendiando il nazionalismo"). Hanno presentato
Djukanovic come colui che ha sconfitto alle elezioni (democratiche,
quando gli fa comodo in Serbia c'è la dittatura) il
candidato del partito di Milosevic. Hanno intervistato anche Bogdanovic,
che si vantava di come le sue squadracce ("la
polizia speciale del Montenegro") abbiano fermato l'esercito federale
diretto in Kossovo al tempo della guerra.
Insomma, la disinformazione strategica ha messo le mani pure sul
Montenegro e io non sono molto ottimista. Come
possiamo evitare che si compia un altro scempio? Dopo inizieranno pure
con la Vojvodina o il Sangiaccato?
Vi ho tediato anche troppo. Vi volevo soltanto ringraziare perché per
merito vostro mi sono innamorato di un paese e del
suo modo di vivere, anche se ormai questo quasi non esiste più. Adesso
so veramente cosa significa Jugoslavia, però so
anche che la stiamo perdendo e questo mi fa star male...
Spero di poter vedere la Jugoslavia tornare quella di un tempo, uno dei
pochi paesi dove vorrei vivere.
Un fraterno abbraccio.
Pino C.
---
JUGOSLAVIA: ELEZIONI; MINACCE MONTENEGRO, DENUNCIA BULATOVIC
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 25 SET - Il voto in
Montenegro e' stato
condizionato da ''pressioni e minacce'' del governo
riformista
del presidente Milo Djukanovic, ha sostenuto il
premier federale
Momir Bulatovic in una conferenza stampa.
Molti cittadini, ha detto Bulatovic, ''sono stati
minacciati
di licenziamento se fossero andati a votare, e da
stamane
infatti i siluramenti sono cominciati''. Sarebbe
questa, secondo
il premier, la causa della bassa affluenza, che egli
stima
comunque intorno al 60% e non il 22% come dichiarato
dall'opposizione serba. Stando a Bulatovic, il 93%
dei votanti
montenegrini si sono pronunciati per l'attuale
presidente
federale Slobodan Milosevic. Dei 50 seggi
parlamentari riservati
al Montenegro, ha concluso, la coalizione di regime
ne controlla
almeno 47. (ANSA).
OT
25/09/2000 15:56
---
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if the founders are legal entities, then copies of the registration
papers, which must also be affixed with an Apostille. If you require
nominees, we recommend you simply take two off-the-shelf Panama
corporations which we have in stock with all necessary documents.
Payment of USD 10,000 as founder's capital, which you must pay by wire
transfer direct to the central bank of Montenegro. After formation you
are
free to withdraw or reallocate this capital.
Power-of-Attorney to our lawyers in Montenegro to file the necessary
documents. We can supply this form on receipt of your confirmed order
and
payment.
Payment of incorporation fee ($8000) plus first year's domiciliary fee
($4000) by wire transfer. (Guaranteed refundable in the unlikely event
that your banking licence is declined). A 50% deposit will be accepted
to
start work, with the balance payable when your banking licence has been
issued and you have verified it with the government if you wish.
Documents you will receive by courier on completion:
Certificate of the opened foreign currency correspondent account as well
as a receipt for the foreign currency account issued by MONTENEGRO BANK.
Certificate of inscription in the Companies Register.
Memorandum of Association of the bank.
Articles of Association.
Licence as proof for conducting bank and other financial activities.
Certified translations of above in English and Russian with Apostille.
If you have any additional question feel free to ask: simply click here!
---
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=199518
Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
MOSCOW, Sep 15, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia was deeply
concerned
with NATO's threat of sending ground troops to Montenegro in the case of
Belgrade using force in Podgorica, the Russian foreign ministry said in
a
statement Thursday.
"Recent comments made by U.S. Air Force Commander in Europe, General
Gregory Martin, about NATO having already conceived several variants of
military action against Montenegro, including the use of ground troops,
are
shocking," said the ministry.
"By his statement, the general has confirmed that the North Atlantic
alliance is constantly planning military operations against a sovereign
state without consulting Russia, which is in breach of the cooperation
agreement between NATO and Russia," the statement read.
"It is amazing that the general could make that statement, especially
during such a critical time in the Balkan region," the ministry said.
Local and presidential elections are due to be held in the former
Yugoslavia on September 24.
The Russian State Duma lower house of parliament plans to send observers
to
monitor the forthcoming elections. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
---
dal Corriere della Sera on line 12/9/2000
PER ALCUNE ORE
Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
Il braccio destro di Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Krsmanovic, è stato
arrestato per alcune ore dalla polizia montenegrina perché sorpreso a
scrivere sui muri di un palazzo di Podgorica con una bomboletta spray.
[SIC! Facile immaginare che il vero motivo del sequestro e' legato alle
elezioni nella Federazione...]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Per i mafiosi di tutto il mondo: "Open an off-shore bank in
Montenegro!"
* Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
* 12/9/2000: Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
ALTRI LINK SEGNALATI:
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS
Nostri documenti dello scorso anno:
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/160799a.htm
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/090899.htm
---
CONSIDERAZIONI SUL MONTENEGRO
Ieri mi sono imbattuto quasi per caso nel programma TG2 Dossier di RAI2
dove si parlava della situazione in Jugoslavia
alla vigilia delle elezioni. Dopo il primo servizio delirante di Ennio
Remondino, come al solito fazioso e pieno di bugie,
c'è stato un servizio sul Montenegro.
Adesso la tattica per disorientare lo spettatore è quella di
presentargli i due nazionalismi contrapposti, quello serbo
panslavo e quello montenegrino, senza quasi mai far riferimento ai
sentimenti jugoslavisti, ancora presenti secondo me
nella maggioranza della popolazione, anzi la parola Jugoslavia non viene
quasi mai detta e viene sostituita con la parola
Serbia.
Le parole del metropolita della chiesa ortodossa in Montenegro vengono
messe in contrapposizione con quelle dei
nazionalisti montenegrini e presentate come opinioni personali al fine
di screditarle, con affermazioni del tipo "Lui crede
che in Montenegro hanno sempre vissuto i serbi sa secoli" oppure
"Secondo lui non esiste nessuna etnia montenegrina".
Anche Milosevic sarebbe un nazionalista che tenta di tenere sottomessi i
montenegrini come una provincia serba, non come
una regione della federazione jugoslava. Per questo motivo (cioè per
colpa di Milosevic) è normale che si sviluppi il
nazionalismo in Montenegro ("con la sua politica Milosevic sta
incendiando il nazionalismo"). Hanno presentato
Djukanovic come colui che ha sconfitto alle elezioni (democratiche,
quando gli fa comodo in Serbia c'è la dittatura) il
candidato del partito di Milosevic. Hanno intervistato anche Bogdanovic,
che si vantava di come le sue squadracce ("la
polizia speciale del Montenegro") abbiano fermato l'esercito federale
diretto in Kossovo al tempo della guerra.
Insomma, la disinformazione strategica ha messo le mani pure sul
Montenegro e io non sono molto ottimista. Come
possiamo evitare che si compia un altro scempio? Dopo inizieranno pure
con la Vojvodina o il Sangiaccato?
Vi ho tediato anche troppo. Vi volevo soltanto ringraziare perché per
merito vostro mi sono innamorato di un paese e del
suo modo di vivere, anche se ormai questo quasi non esiste più. Adesso
so veramente cosa significa Jugoslavia, però so
anche che la stiamo perdendo e questo mi fa star male...
Spero di poter vedere la Jugoslavia tornare quella di un tempo, uno dei
pochi paesi dove vorrei vivere.
Un fraterno abbraccio.
Pino C.
---
JUGOSLAVIA: ELEZIONI; MINACCE MONTENEGRO, DENUNCIA BULATOVIC
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 25 SET - Il voto in
Montenegro e' stato
condizionato da ''pressioni e minacce'' del governo
riformista
del presidente Milo Djukanovic, ha sostenuto il
premier federale
Momir Bulatovic in una conferenza stampa.
Molti cittadini, ha detto Bulatovic, ''sono stati
minacciati
di licenziamento se fossero andati a votare, e da
stamane
infatti i siluramenti sono cominciati''. Sarebbe
questa, secondo
il premier, la causa della bassa affluenza, che egli
stima
comunque intorno al 60% e non il 22% come dichiarato
dall'opposizione serba. Stando a Bulatovic, il 93%
dei votanti
montenegrini si sono pronunciati per l'attuale
presidente
federale Slobodan Milosevic. Dei 50 seggi
parlamentari riservati
al Montenegro, ha concluso, la coalizione di regime
ne controlla
almeno 47. (ANSA).
OT
25/09/2000 15:56
---
http://offshore-bank-accounts.net/Offshorebank.html
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The country.
The Republic of Montenegro technically forms part of the Yugoslav
Federation and is situated on Balkans, having the seashore on Adriatic
right in the heart of Europe and Mediterranean.
However, Montenegro is autonomous within Yugoslavia. Montenegro has a
pro-western government and remained neutral during the recent Balkan
war.
Economic sanctions against Yugoslavia do not apply to Montenegro.
The capital of the Republic of Montenegro is Podgorica. The country has
its own Constitution and President, as well as Government and Parliament
structures.
The Government of the Republic of Montenegro has been preparing for a
long
time and with great care the Montenegro - Free Economic Zone, within
which
"Development of Montenegro as an International Offshore Centre" is one
of
the main sub projects. This project envisages that Montenegro shall
become
a new centre suitable for international business operations providing
business, tourist and other services to foreign companies on top-level
standards.
Legal Basis of Offshore Banking in Montenegro.
The "Act on companies which are established and which conduct business
activity on special terms" was adopted by the Assembly of the Republic
of
Montenegro July 26 1996 in conformity with the Article 88, point 2 of
the
Constitution of Montenegro.
This act allows for the establishment offshore banks, and also for
numerous other tax advantages designed to encourage inward foreign
investment. Foreign-owned companies are privileged and completely
exempted
from exchange controls etc. Further details of this law can be supplied
on
request to seriously interested parties.
According to the Article 2 of the Act one of the allowed activities is
financial services. To obtain a banking license a company must be
established as Joint Stock Company ("JSC") formed by at least two
subscribers (as subscriber may participate physical or juridical person)
and have it paid capital of US$ 10,000.
Confidentiality.
All information provided to the Ministry of Finance, banks and other
organizations who perform duties of registering the bank and other
duties
for the company, is protected by specific confidentiality laws. This
includes identities of principals, financial statements etc.
Bank License.
The Ministry of Finance of Montenegro is also the regulatory body which
issues the bank licence.
A standard bank license allows a JSC registered under the Act the
following banking operations:
Payments under client instructions and bank exchanges under
correspondent
banks name, cashing services, establishing of correspondent relations
with
foreign banks and opening of "nostro" and "loro" accounts.
Opening and supervising of clients' nominee accounts in correspondent
banks in foreign currencies.
Acceptance of all kinds of deposits and exercising of all kinds of
deposit
works.
Attracting and managing of new money instruments, deposits, and credits
of
business partners, excluding money deposits of Citizens of the Republic
of
Montenegro.
Financing under other party instruction.
Handling, buying, selling and keeping of payment documents and value
papers (checks, letters of credit, shares, taxes and other documents and
exercising of other legal operations with these documents.
Granting of bank guaranties for third parties, which foresee payment in
money.
Contracting and exercising of factoring services, purchasing of the
rights
on goods delivery and services granting, acceptance of risks under non
cumpliment of such liabilities and bills collecting.
Purchasing and selling of cash currency and currency which is deposited
on
accounts of juridical and physical persons.
Intermediary operations in trade with value papers.
Purchasing and payment receiving.
Attracting and investing of assets and managing of value papers
according
clients instructions and other persons on the market and trust
representation operations.
Rendering of brokerage, consultant service and leasing.
Creating a reserve, insurance and other funds from own and attracted
assets for guaranties and insurance and development of banking activity
and investment to Montenegro, according to the law on companies
established and operated under special terms.
Participating as a founding party or shareholder of banking
organizations
in Montenegro and also abroad - in subsidiary banks, as well as in
similar
institutions and organizations, according to the law on companies that
established and operated in Montenegro.
Opening of branches and representation offices on the territory of the
republic of Montenegro and abroad".
Such banking license is not limited by time.
Tax Regime.
The bank has a duty to file a tax declaration in due time or to hand
over
to the competent tax authority other data necessary for calculating
taxable profit. The bank pays the tax at the rate 2.5% on its declared
profit. The tax base is further reduced with the amount of financial
resources from income which is directed into investments within the
territory of the Republic.
Annual Payments.
An amount of US$ 100 is payable to the Registry for the joint stock
companies annually. An annual fee of US$4000 is payable for the
Registered
Agent and Registered Office in the Republic of Montenegro (payable on
incorporation, then annually on the anniversary thereafter).
Book-keeping
and accountancy costs are not included: these extra services can be
provided if required.
This fee includes provision of mail forwarding and shared telephone and
fax facilities. It is therefore possible to run an internet banking
operation without the need to establish a physical presence in
Montenegro
beyond the registered office address.
Correspondent Accounts.
The basic package includes opening a correspondent account at the Bank
of
Montenegro. This allows the new bank to use their existing correspondent
network which includes Citibank, Commerzbank, Union Bank of Switzerland
etc for sending and receiving payments.
For additional fee we can arrange direct correspondent accounts with
banks
in other countries.
Formation Time.
Usually to form a new bank with the client's directors and name proposed
takes 4-8 weeks. Sometimes it can be completed much quicker, especially
if
extra care is taken to ensure that all documents are in order.
Requirements to Commence Formation.
At least three potential names of the bank, so that one can be chosen
which is free. Please send them by e-mail, since all documents which we
send you will bear the name of the bank.
At least two founders - they can be physical persons, in which case we
will require photocopies of their passports, certified with an
Apostille;
if the founders are legal entities, then copies of the registration
papers, which must also be affixed with an Apostille. If you require
nominees, we recommend you simply take two off-the-shelf Panama
corporations which we have in stock with all necessary documents.
Payment of USD 10,000 as founder's capital, which you must pay by wire
transfer direct to the central bank of Montenegro. After formation you
are
free to withdraw or reallocate this capital.
Power-of-Attorney to our lawyers in Montenegro to file the necessary
documents. We can supply this form on receipt of your confirmed order
and
payment.
Payment of incorporation fee ($8000) plus first year's domiciliary fee
($4000) by wire transfer. (Guaranteed refundable in the unlikely event
that your banking licence is declined). A 50% deposit will be accepted
to
start work, with the balance payable when your banking licence has been
issued and you have verified it with the government if you wish.
Documents you will receive by courier on completion:
Certificate of the opened foreign currency correspondent account as well
as a receipt for the foreign currency account issued by MONTENEGRO BANK.
Certificate of inscription in the Companies Register.
Memorandum of Association of the bank.
Articles of Association.
Licence as proof for conducting bank and other financial activities.
Certified translations of above in English and Russian with Apostille.
If you have any additional question feel free to ask: simply click here!
---
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=199518
Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
MOSCOW, Sep 15, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia was deeply
concerned
with NATO's threat of sending ground troops to Montenegro in the case of
Belgrade using force in Podgorica, the Russian foreign ministry said in
a
statement Thursday.
"Recent comments made by U.S. Air Force Commander in Europe, General
Gregory Martin, about NATO having already conceived several variants of
military action against Montenegro, including the use of ground troops,
are
shocking," said the ministry.
"By his statement, the general has confirmed that the North Atlantic
alliance is constantly planning military operations against a sovereign
state without consulting Russia, which is in breach of the cooperation
agreement between NATO and Russia," the statement read.
"It is amazing that the general could make that statement, especially
during such a critical time in the Balkan region," the ministry said.
Local and presidential elections are due to be held in the former
Yugoslavia on September 24.
The Russian State Duma lower house of parliament plans to send observers
to
monitor the forthcoming elections. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
---
dal Corriere della Sera on line 12/9/2000
PER ALCUNE ORE
Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
Il braccio destro di Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Krsmanovic, è stato
arrestato per alcune ore dalla polizia montenegrina perché sorpreso a
scrivere sui muri di un palazzo di Podgorica con una bomboletta spray.
[SIC! Facile immaginare che il vero motivo del sequestro e' legato alle
elezioni nella Federazione...]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Yugoslavia Amid the Maelstrom
By Gregory Elich
The sound was like no other. Hundreds of blackbirds were perched in trees
throughout the park in central Belgrade where our bus stopped, and their
loud and raucous cries startled me. I had never seen so many blackbirds in
one place. Our host, Nikola Moraca, and his son were there to greet us.
When asked about the blackbirds, Nikola replied, "We never had these
before. They are from Kosovo. They migrated here because the bombing in
Kosovo was too intense." The birds' piercing cries were unsettling, and
seemed a harbinger of all of the pain and suffering we would come to
witness during our stay in Yugoslavia. We were a delegation of peace
activists and concerned individuals, organized and led by Barry Lituchy, a
specialist on European history. Our mission was to bring medical aid to
the people of Yugoslavia, and we would spend the first two weeks of August
1999 gathering evidence of NATO war crimes for former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark's Independent Commission of Inquiry.
Years of hardship had taken their toll on Yugoslav society. Burdened by
sanctions, a massive influx of refugees, and NATO's destruction of
factories and workplaces, the unemployment rate had soared. All along
Revolution Boulevard, sidewalks were jammed with street vendors selling
paltry goods. It was an important means of survival for many people in
Belgrade. I saw two very elderly women sitting behind a card table, on
which the only goods were stones, hand-painted with designs and
affectionate sayings. Gasoline is strictly rationed, and stations were
usually closed. We frequently saw people standing by roadsides, plastic
bottles of gasoline for sale. Gasoline smuggled across the border from
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary was another means of survival for the
destitute. Buses and streetcars were densely crowded. Windows were sealed
in some streetcars, a sign of air conditioning in better times. Now the
closed windows served to trap the oppressive summer heat as people, soaked
with sweat, crowded and pressed against each other. "The burden of imposed
sanctions is felt in nearly every situation on a daily basis," Danka
Moraca, Nikola's wife, informed us. "Sanctions have changed our lives
tremendously, if not totally. Now we are all used to shortages of everyday
necessities such as basic food, cleaning products and personal items. If
you are fortunate enough to be able to afford them, you must wait in long
lines." Sanctions, she added, have resulted in a "decline of salaries,
pensions and a general impoverishment of ordinary people." According to
the Yugoslav Red Cross, approximately 100,000 people, primarily pensioners
and welfare recipients, rely on soup kitchens, but the need outstrips the
supply of available meals. Eight years of sanctions have taken their toll,
and the war compounded the effect, nearly doubling the poverty rate.
On our first morning in Belgrade, we met with Bratislava Morina, Federal
Minister for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Aid. It was
Morina's ministry that was responsible for coping with Europe's largest
refugee population. Already burdened with 700,000 refugees from wars in
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 200,000 people had fled from
Kosovo by the time of our visit, a number that would soon grow to over
350,000. Morina, whose husband is Albanian, listed several prominent
political positions held by Albanians in Yugoslavia, "until they were
given orders to leave office" by secessionists "and become part of the
parallel world." - a reference to the secessionist's boycott of
institutions. Calm and dignified, Morina spoke eloquently of the
destruction wrought by NATO, but concluded that these were "not the worst
crimes committed" by President Clinton. "When we hear claims that they
want to create a multiethnic society in Kosovo, this is ironic," she said,
"because we have witnessed one of the most radical ethnic cleansing
campaigns" since the arrival of NATO troops.
We next met with officials of the Yugoslav Red Cross. We gave them several
bags of medicines that were donated by American doctors and individuals.
Dr. Miodrag Starcevic talked of the refugee crisis, pointing out that "our
needs are very urgent," and that they lacked food, shelter, clothes and
medicines for refugees. Officials there felt that the level of need for
humanitarian aid greatly exceeded what international organizations were
providing. Another serious problem for the organization is that it cannot
operate freely in Kosovo. "We cannot go there," Dr. Starcevic said. "Even
when we send humanitarian relief, we must provide in advance for some kind
of escort by KFOR [NATO's Kosovo Force], because it is impossible to go
there. It is too dangerous." Medical officer Ljubisa Dragisic told us that
local production met most of the nation's needs for drugs and medical
supplies, but that sanctions caused shortages in imported medicines. "It's
especially a problem with some services," she said. "For example, the
transfusion service, because we import the bags and blood tests, and some
drugs...oncology drugs, and some programs for example, the dialysis
program, and a part of the program for treatment of diabetics." Suture
material and anesthetic drugs were also in short supply.
Poisoning an Entire Nation and People
We were particularly interested in learning more about the environmental
aspect of NATO bombing. The systematic destruction of chemical,
petrochemical, fertilizer plants, and oil refineries seriously poisoned
the local environment. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1999, NATO
missiles rained down on the industrial town of Pancevo, just northeast of
Belgrade. A petrochemical plant was hit, sending into the atmosphere 900
tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), an extremely dangerous carcinogen.
By sunrise, clouds of VCM poured through the town, at levels exceeding
10,600 times the permissible limit for human safety. Burning VCM released
phosgene gas, a substance that was used as a poison gas during the First
World War. Chlorine gas - also used as a poison gas during World War I -
was also discharged by fires at the plant, as were other dangerous
chemicals, such as naptha, ethylene dichloride and hydrochloric acid. A
poison rain spattered the region, and hundreds of tons of oil and
chemicals soaked into the soil and poured into the Danube River. Pools of
mercury formed on the grounds of the plant. After a missile narrowly
missed striking a tank of liquid ammonia, panicked workers dumped the
liquid ammonia into the Danube in order to avert a terrible tragedy. The
entire population of Pancevo was evacuated immediately, but residents had
returned to their homes by the time of our visit. Doctors there advise
women to avoid pregnancy for the next two years, and many residents are
coming down with red rashes and blisters. Although we were only in Pancevo
for a few hours, some of us, myself included, found rashes appearing on
our legs before the end of the day. My lower legs were covered with
rashes, and it was two weeks before they would finally disappear.
According to one worker we talked with, eighty percent of the
petrochemical plant was destroyed. Another worker told us that "vast
quantities of ammonia and VCM spilled into the river," and that he could
"see an immediate effect because one meter above the river the bank
appears burned. All the plants look as if they had been burned by fire."
Several people expressed fears for their health and that of their
families.
Serious environmental hazards also resulted from the destruction of power
plants in Bor and Kragujevac. Transformers there relied on transformer oil
containing polychlorinated biphenyles (PCB) pyralene, as a coolant.
According to the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, "one liter of the PCB pyralene pollutes one billion liters of
water." We visited an oil refinery in Novi Sad. One resident of Novi Sad,
whose home was located a mere three blocks from the refinery, later told
me that the refinery was bombed on virtually a daily basis and that his
neighborhood was constantly enveloped in smoke. Outside the refinery, we
saw a struggling bird soaked in oil, near death
Perhaps the deadliest weapon in NATO's arsenal was depleted uranium (DU)
tipped missiles and bombs. Depleted uranium's high density enables
projectiles to easily penetrate armor and concrete targets. When DU
weapons impact on their target, thousands of radioactive particles are
released into the atmosphere, and may be borne for miles by the wind. When
people ingest these particles, serious bodily damage can result. Following
the use of DU weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, rates of birth defects and
leukemia rose dramatically in southern Iraq.
Barry and I talked with Dr. Radoje Lausevic, an environmental specialist
and assistant professor at the University of Belgrade. Dr. Lausevic's
appearance and manner of speech reminded me of my best friend, Jorge, so
he made an immediately favorable impression. While driving us in his car,
he commented on the ecological impact of the war, and it wasn't until we
arrived at our destination that I realized that his talk was so
interesting that I forgot to record him or take notes. We arrived at the
office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, where we briefly concluded our discussion of the environmental
damage. Barry asked about depleted uranium (DU) weapons. My impression was
that use of depleted uranium weapons was limited to Kosovo, but Dr.
Lausevic told us that Russian sources determined that 30 metric tons of DU
was used outside of Kosovo. The entire territory of Yugoslavia was exposed
to these weapons. One particle of DU in the lungs, he said, is equivalent
to a daily chest x-ray for life.
The delegation also met with Dusan Vasiljevic, president of Green Table, a
Belgrade-based environmental non-governmental organization. A man with an
elegant manner of speech, he also acted as our guide and translator when
we visited Pancevo. Vasiljevic told us that 135,000 tons of toxic
chemicals spilled into the environment as a result of NATO bombing.
Speaking of Pancevo, he pointed out that VCM "is one of the most dangerous
toxic chemicals that ever existed. It's gastro organic in the first place,
and disrupts the cells inside," the consequences of which are "liver
disease, kidney disease and of course cancer itself." Vasiljevic also
confirmed Dr. Lausevic's report of widespread use of DU weapons.
Vasiljevic explained that as DU particles spread over an area, it "enters
the food chain, as well as to water, soil, even in the air. Once you get
these depleted uranium particles in your body, they stay there. You can't
get rid of them. And they move in your body...mostly they go to the
kidneys, and also to the liver." Vasiljevic's comments on Kosovo were
sobering. "Kosovo itself is a nuclear desert now. I wouldn't go there
myself...because the level of radiation in Kosovo is over any tolerable
level." Depleted uranium emits primarily alpha radiation, which is 20
times more deadly internally than gamma radiation, he said. The United
Nations Balkan Task Force, as well as other Western investigators "did not
find any increased radiation. How could they say so? Because they did not
have the proper equipment for that....They had just a Geiger counter." A
Geiger counter is worthless for measuring DU because it measures primarily
gamma radiation, not alpha.
Exhaust from NATO overflights, Vasiljevic claimed, severely damaged the
ozone layer above Yugoslavia. Immediately following NATO's bombing
campaign, Yugoslavia was ravaged by a series of floods and severe
rainstorms. By the time of our visit, the temperature was searing,
unbearable at times. People speculated that the heat, floods and rains
were a result of the thinning of the ozone. The damaged ozone layer would
soon drift over Western Europe, Vasiljevic said. It is difficult to
determine a correlation, but on December 2, 1999, the European Space
Agency reported that the lowest ever levels of ozone, "nearly as low as
those found in the Antarctic," were measured over northwest Europe during
November. Everyone was concerned about the food supply. Danka worried that
"all that we have on the green markets or in the shops nowadays has been
contaminated, either by the destroyed chemical industry or by the new
weapons dropped on our heads. I can't even think about the possible
consequences of consuming such food."
A City Crippled by Bombs
In the northern city of Novi Sad, we viewed three bridges spanning the
Danube River. All three were severed by NATO missiles. The Varadin Bridge
carried a main water pipe, and when the bridge was destroyed on April 1,
the Petrovaradin section of the city lost its water supply. Similarly,
destruction of the Zezelj Bridge on April 26 eliminated water in the
suburbs. Water had to be trucked in until service could be restored. At
the Executive Council Building in Novi Sad, we met Dr. Zivorad Smiljanic,
president of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and an
interesting and knowledgeable man. Smiljanic pointed out, as did many
others during our visit, that Yugoslavia has 26 nationalities and is a
multiethnic society. "Even the smallest nationalities have education in
their own mother tongue," he said. "Now you can see for yourselves what
NATO did." NATO leaders "constantly talk about democracy, but we could see
that democracy in action here: democracy that bombed and destroyed
bridges, schools and hospitals....all these aims were actually false,
because the real truth and their real aim was to conquer everything and
put everything under one system." Smiljanic was asked to name their most
urgent need. "The thing that we would like most of all is for the
international community to leave us alone;" he exclaimed, "to lift
blockades and sanctions, and stop 'helping' us in the way that they are
doing."
Following the meeting, one official approached Barry. His eyes were moist.
"It was such a difficult time for those of us with children," he said. "We
didn't know what to do: take both children in one cellar, or put them in
separate cellars." A terrible dilemma, whether to keep the family together
and risk losing everyone in a single moment; or split the family apart,
thus increasing the chances of losing someone.
We were scheduled to tour and view bomb damage at the Executive Council
building later in the day. When we arrived, our bus pulled to a stop in
front of the building and our delegation began to disembark. A woman
walked up to our bus, and asked us through an open window, "Are you a
delegation?" Receiving an affirmative answer, she spoke in an angry and
outraged tone, "We're a delegation from Germany. We've been here one week
already. We've seen such terrible things, you can't imagine. People here
have a system like no one in the world. It's a true multiethnic society.
Back in Germany, all we hear are lies. There is no way to get the truth
out." We soon came to share her reaction and her outrage. The portrayal of
Yugoslavia in Western media is bizarre for anyone who troubles himself to
actually visit the place. A multiethnic society where peoples of many
nationalities work and live together is painted as racist. A society in
which women walk calmly and unafraid in a park at midnight, as we
regularly saw, is portrayed as crime-ridden. Knowledgeable and worldly
people are represented as ignorant and irrational. How often had I read in
the Western press of President Slobodan Milosevic's 1989 speech at Kosovo
Polje, in which it was claimed that he whipped the crowd into a
nationalist frenzy with a language of hate? Western reporters can get away
with such monstrous lies because they know no one will bother to check the
text of that speech. I couldn't believe the accusation because it ran
counter to those speeches I was familiar with. When I found a copy of the
speech, my suspicions were confirmed. There was not one phrase of hatred.
What I found instead were phrases such as, "Serbia has never had only
Serbs living in it. Today, more than in the past, members of other peoples
and nationalities also live in it. This is not a disadvantage for Serbia.
I am truly convinced that it is its advantage." Or these examples:
"Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society,
should not allow people to be divided in the national and religious
respect," and "Yugoslavia is a multiethnic community and it can survive
only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in
it." These are the phrases Western media would have one believe are filled
with hate and racism. When I returned to the United States, it was weeks
before I could bear to listen to the news and its spewing of lies and
obsession with trivial issues.
Whatever else would happen during our stay in Yugoslavia, it was clear
that we would be well fed. Every morning and evening, Nikola and Danka
prepared a spectacular banquet for us. We were continually delighted by a
dazzling array of delicious dishes. Their extraordinary hospitality and
kindness made me feel like part of their family, and Nikola's impish sense
of humor brought daily merriment. The importance of family and friends was
paramount in this society. Friends, family, and neighbors often visited.
On the street, we often saw family members holding hands. Displays of
affection were open. Due to sanctions, their lives are materially
impoverished compared to earlier times, but still they lead rich lives. As
one man in Novi Sad told me, "We have a different philosophy here than in
the West. We have a saying, 'The man is rich who has many friends'."
NATO did not ignore Vidovdan Skonaselje, a suburb of Novi Sad. People were
living in the ruins of their homes, simply because they had nowhere else
to go. The home of Rajko and Gordana Matic was severely damaged. Rajko and
his wife Gordana fled Zagreb in 1992 and built their new home here. Now
NATO had bombed their new house. Heavy plastic covered the windows. With
the exception of the frame and base, nothing remained of the roof. The
explosion had dented and twisted their car. They allowed us inside to view
their home. Holes in the walls, a result of the bomb blast, allowed
chickens to enter and wander about. On the second floor, one of the
interior walls, broken and cracked, was bowed to an alarming degree, like
the letter 'C'. Light streamed in through a ruptured wall, and mounds of
rubble filled the rooms. It didn't seem safe, but they had nowhere else to
go, nor money to repair the damage. Previous Western visitors had promised
them help, which never came. To the left of the Matic's house stood an
empty shell of another home. Only the brick walls still stood. Everything
else was blown away in the bombing. Farther to the left, the roof of a
demolished home angled down to the ground. Behind it stood more homes with
blasted roofs, damaged walls and seared interiors. The house to the right
was missing the second floor. Only remnants of the front and back wall
remained. Hammering sounds told us that the owners had begun the arduous
task of rebuilding. Across the street, the roof of one home was a mass of
twisted wreckage. Between these buildings, a roadside sign listed at a
drunken angle, punctured neatly by shrapnel from a NATO bomb. It was a
"welcome" sign.
NATO also left its calling card at another suburb of Novi Sad, Detelinara.
On May 6, a powerful bomb landed at the juncture of two apartment
buildings and the Svetozar Markovic elementary school. By the time of our
visit, the huge crater had been filled in, and all 20 of the demolished
automobiles removed. The buildings were severely damaged, and many
apartments were devastated. Seven people were wounded in the attack, and
the site followed a pattern that we would witness repeatedly during our
two weeks in Yugoslavia. Residential areas with no military value were
targeted on a regular basis.
Belgrade Bombarded
In New Belgrade, the more recently built section of the city, we stopped
at Hotel Yugoslavia. On May 7, just before midnight, two NATO missiles
struck the hotel near the main entrance. One person was killed, and four
wounded. It was impossible to view the extensive destruction without
contemplating the mentality that could order missiles to be fired at a
hotel. As we stood before the Chinese embassy, only a few blocks away,
NATO's excuses seemed absurd. Architecturally distinctive, the embassy's
unique beauty could not possibly be mistaken for the nearby Federal
Directorate of Supply and Procurement, nor any other building in the
vicinity. Similarly difficult to swallow was the claim that the embassy
was bombed because the CIA had relied on an old map. The embassy building
was built during 1992-93, and an old map would have shown an empty field.
One would have to believe that NATO intended to bomb an empty field.
Certainly, the CIA would have closely monitored the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade, particularly as NATO prepared to wage war on Yugoslavia. Three
satellite-guided missiles struck the embassy, just twenty minutes after
the bombing of Hotel Yugoslavia. The missile that did the most damage
penetrated through the roof, burrowing down to the basement. Three people
were killed, and 20 wounded. Fire and smoke poured through the building.
The stairways were demolished, and people trapped on the top three floors
tied bedsheets together, hanging them out of windows as a means of escape.
We saw that one rope of bedsheets still hung from a fourth story window.
Two days before my departure for Yugoslavia, I obtained a copy of an
article from the July 2 issue of Kai Fang, published in Hong Kong. The
article's author, Su Lan, wrote that embassy personnel electronically
monitored NATO's military operations, and that NATO feared that the
downing of its F-117 Stealth fighter-bomber may have been a result of
information passed along by them to Yugoslav officials. The October 17
issue of The Observer and a follow-up story a few weeks later, confirmed
that the embassy was deliberately targeted. A NATO flight controller based
in Naples told The Observer, "The Chinese embassy had an electronic
profile, which NATO located and pinpointed." "The aim," said another NATO
officer, "was to send a clear message to Milosevic that he should not use
outside help in the shape of the Chinese."
Not far away stood the ruins of another beautiful building, the 23-story
Usce Business Center, the target of four missiles on April 21. Much of the
building's exterior was blackened by fire, and many windows were a mass of
twisted metal. I remembered seeing dramatic photographs of this building
engulfed in flames. NATO planners anticipated high "collateral damage."
Their plans anticipated that up to 100 government officials and 250
civilians residing in nearby apartments in the "expected blast radius"
would be killed in the attack. Unfazed at the prospect of murdering up to
350 people, President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave
their approval for the building's destruction. The Usce Business Center
housed offices of a variety of businesses and political organizations. The
rationale for the building's destruction was that some of the offices
belonged to the Serbian Socialist Party and the closely allied Yugoslav
United Left. Only prior evacuation of the building averted a tragedy and
no one perished in the attack.
NATO's bland assertions seemed obscene. Bombing the Chinese embassy was an
"accident," and therefore excusable. This carried with it the unspoken
assumption that bombing another building and killing Yugoslav civilians
would be acceptable. The destruction of Hotel Yugoslavia and the Usce
Business Center was also acceptable, because these somehow fell into the
all-inclusive category of "military targets." Many people in the West were
completely indifferent to the death and destruction carried out in their
names. All of NATO's claims were accepted without examination or
questioning. The United States, it is assumed, has an inherent right to
invade or bomb another country and to trample international law underfoot.
In this context, I found it poignant when we saw a billboard in Belgrade,
which read: "They believe in bombs. We believe in God."
That night, in the Moraca's home, delegation member Ken Freeland
interviewed Nenad Gudjic, a Serbian refugee from Kosovo. Gudjic said he
felt that "Albanians suppressed me, especially when I started to date my
present wife, who is Albanian." His wife also felt strong pressure from
Albanian extremists, prompting them to leave Kosovo. "Something very
interesting is happening now," Gudjic said. "I lived in Pristina for 33
years. Now, on the streets of Belgrade, I saw a few of my Albanian friends
who escaped, as I escaped, from Pristina. They are living now in Belgrade
without any problems. These are ethnic Albanians of my generation who
escaped that chaos."
Every Federal building in downtown Belgrade bore the scars of bombing.
Almost every day we passed these buildings, and each day the sight was as
painful as the day before. Late one night during the war, kept awake by an
air raid, Nikola was on his balcony talking to his neighbor across the
street on her balcony. The sound of flying missiles interrupted their
conversation. Nikola shouted at his neighbor, "Get down. This one will hit
us." His shoulders rose as a chill travelled down the back of his neck.
Two explosions roared. Only a few short blocks away, one missile smashed a
house on Maxim Gorky Street, also damaging an adjoining apartment building
and a restaurant. The other missile struck a street nearby. Four people
were injured; one of whom, 23-year old Sofija Jovanovic, died of her
wounds two days later. On my last day in Belgrade, I walked down to view
the site. Nothing remained but a mound of concrete, bricks, broken boards,
and upturned earth. As a sort of memorial, someone had scrawled graffiti
on the remnants of an adjacent building: "Bombed April 30." With
fatalistic humor, graffiti on another house read, "Sorry. You missed us."
Danka described life during the bombing. "We were bombed constantly for 78
days and nights, without any break or pause. We were without water or
electricity for days. We had to throw away everything from the
refrigerator, including all medicaments essential for our family, because
of the high temperatures in May. The bombing was awful, cruel and savage.
We were all afraid, staying in the dark lobby for hours, listening to the
scary sounds of the low-flying warplanes, detonations, children crying,
car alarms, and people screaming who simply couldn't stand it anymore."
Later in the war, "NATO changed its tactics, and by the end they were
bombing us every two hours. That was part of their psychological war, I
suppose." The effects of the bombardment were widespread. "There was no
bread. The bakeries couldn't produce bread without electricity. The smell
of spoiled food spread from nearby supermarkets. There was no milk for
children." Her children were upset, asking, "Why are those people bombing
us? Why do they hate us so much when we didn't do anything wrong to them?"
Danka revealed that every time she kissed her children goodnight "during
the bombing campaign, deep inside me I was praying for God to see them
healthy and alive the next morning. During those long bombing nights, they
were awakened so many times by strong nearby explosions, annoyed and
panicked."
The Belgrade 5 transformer station of the Serbian Electric Company is
located at Bezanijska Kosa in New Belgrade. It was bombed, as were many
other electrical power and transformer stations. Several Tomahawk missiles
struck here, as well as a new weapon, the CBU-94, a cluster bomb which
releases a web of carbon-graphite threads, resulting in electrical
short-circuits and burnt components. At one point, seventy percent of
Yugoslavia's power supply was knocked out, which also adversely affected
water supplies that depended on electrical pumps. About 50,000 hospital
patients, including those on dialysis and babies in incubators, also
suffered from the power outages. When workers proved adept at restoring
power rapidly, NATO then targeted the plants with cruise missiles and
conventional bombs. By the end of the war, one third of the electricity
transmission systems were damaged or destroyed. During our visit to
Belgrade 5, workers were busily repairing the damage. We talked with one
of the workers, who said that most of the Belgrade suburb of Zemun was
without electricity. He worried about the onset of winter, when people
would have to rely on alternative sources of heat, such as coal and small
heaters. He pointed out that the coolant for the plant's transformers
contained PCBs, and that consequently, "when the fuel burns, it is toxic,
so [NATO] poisoned nature around here also. It went into the ground, so it
will reach our water supplies." One of our delegation members, Jeff
Goldberg, asked him if this was the most expensive damage inflicted on
Yugoslavia, and the worker immediately responded, "The most expensive
damage is that they killed a lot of people." When asked about the length
of time required for repair, the worker answered. "We need equipment. We
need spare parts...without foreign aid we are dead. We have a factory that
makes spare parts, converters, but...they can make only one switch per
month. It's a low capacity factory."
The previous day, due to bomb damage, virtually all of Serbia's steam
power plants shut down, and much of the country was left without power. On
the day of our visit, a breakdown at the power line at the Djerdap-Bor
hydroelectric plant caused a chain-reaction of breakdowns in other power
lines, resulting in more blackouts. It was expected that hundreds of
thousands of people would freeze during winter, with sanctions blocking
the import of much-needed parts, but prospects improved due to a
remarkable program of reconstruction and improvisation. Electricity is
severely rationed, with frequent power cuts. But what seemed an inevitable
humanitarian disaster has been averted through the ingenuity and heroic
efforts of workers in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The
electrical worker we talked with summed up the war: "We were bombed
because we refuse to be slaves. We are a proud people and we don't want to
be enslaved. Rich people want slaves. They want obedient people."
Our meeting with the Belgrade-based Committee for Compiling Data on Crimes
against Humanity and International Law was of particular interest for me.
I had read several articles about the work of the committee as well as
interviews with its president, Dr. Zoran Stankovic, so I was familiar with
the meticulous and significant work they had done in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Croatia. All nine members of the committee work on a volunteer basis,
constrained by severely limited resources, outmoded personal computers and
only one copy machine. The committee was tasked to investigate NATO war
crimes, and that was the main focus of our discussion. A point of
frustration for the committee was that they had submitted eight files of
documentation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal, which treated their
reports with complete disinterest.
Albanian Refugees and Civil War: Behind the Media Screen
NATO officials accused the Yugoslav government of expelling its Albanian
population and committing genocide. The flood of refugees pouring into
Albania and Macedonia was trumpeted as justification for bombing
Yugoslavia. Few dwelled on the logical fallacy of NATO's claim that a
refugee crisis which occurred subsequent to bombing was itself the
motivation for that bombing. Western leaders presented a simple picture,
one easily grasped. Reality is seldom as simple as a Hollywood action
movie, though, and Western leaders intentionally distorted events for an
uncritical public.
Every nationality can be found in the membership of the Serbian Socialist
Party, including Albanian, and the party has long prided itself on a
commitment to a multiethnic society. This commitment is evident in its
program and in virtually every document and every speech. Toward the end
of 1998, during the period of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the Yugoslav
government set up 14 centers throughout Kosovo, where people could come
and take free lumber and building supplies for reconstruction of homes
damaged in the civil war. These supplies were open to every person of
every nationality. There were no restrictions. It was impossible for me to
believe that the Serbian Socialist Party metamorphosed overnight into a
racist organization, bent on national exclusivity. It did not fit, so I
dug into the matter, trying to ascertain the truth among a torrent of
lies. A more subtle picture emerged, still with suffering on a mass scale,
but this time with NATO as the central catalyst. According to an
intelligence report from the German Foreign Office, dated January 12,
1999, "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian
ethnicity is not verifiable...actions of the security forces [are] not
directed against the Kosovo Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but
against the military opponent and its actual or alleged supporters." A
civil war was raging in the province of Kosovo between the Albanian
secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav security forces.
This internal document presented a very different message than Western
leaders' public statements.
Concomitant with NATO's bombing campaign, hundreds of thousands of people
of all nationalities fled their homes. When the first bombs fell,
extremists became enraged and blamed Albanians for the bombing. Many of
these extremists formed paramilitary groups and criminal gangs, and vented
their rage on the local Albanian population. NATO's bombs created an
environment of anarchy and chaos that allowed thugs, paramilitary gangs,
and renegade police to operate freely. One Serbian official was reported
as saying, "It was a catastrophe. Podujevo was emptied in about three
hours. There were a lot of vile and angry people, maddened, who were out
of control." In Kosovo's capital city of Pristina, the first wave of
refugees departed when threatened by thugs during the week and a half
following NATO's first bombs on March 24. The second wave left when the
center of the city was bombed on April 6 and 7, and the third wave left
later, out of a panic that something may happen. Zoran Andjelkovic,
president of the then governing Provisional Executive Council for Kosovo,
pointed out that the first ten days or so of chaos included fierce clashes
among angry civilians. Criminal gangs ran wild, ordering people to leave
so that their homes could be robbed. Both Albanian and Serbian criminal
gangs roamed the region. Adrian Gillan, in an article in the London Review
of Books, talked with Ben Ward, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Ward
told him, "There doesn't appear to be anything to support allegations of
mass killings. It is generally paramilitaries who are responsible. It
doesn't seem organized. There appear to be individual acts of sadism
rather than anything else. There seems not to be any policy or
instruction, but that isn't to say that people have not been given the
latitude to kill. However, I don't think at this stage we have anything
that adds up to the systematic killing of civilians." Restoring order was
an extremely difficult task for the Yugoslav Army and security forces
because they were under constant NATO bombardment. Yet, by the third week
of the war they had succeeded in restoring order in much of the region,
and in the latter half of April, Yugoslav police began escorting refugees
back to their homes. By the time Yugoslav troops and security forces
withdrew from Kosovo in early June, they had arrested over 800 thugs and
paramilitaries for crimes against civilians.
At the beginning of the war, Yugoslav troops evacuated villages along the
border with Albania where KLA bunkers and arms depots where found. An
invasion by NATO troops was anticipated, and as one Yugoslav soldier
explained, "You can't be waiting for the American army and at the same
time have armed Albanians behind your back." In an interview for UPI
conducted during the war, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said, "Our
regular forces are highly disciplined. The paramilitary irregular forces
are a different story. Bad things happened, as they did with both sides
during the Vietnam war, or any other war for that matter. We have arrested
those irregular self-appointed leaders. Some have already been tried and
sentenced to 20 years in prison."
People fled for other reasons as well. There was a clear pattern of people
fleeing areas subjected to intensive bombardment. Some of the refugees Ben
Ward talked with said they had fled from NATO bombs. Other refugees fled
to escape being caught in battles between Yugoslav and KLA forces.
Thousands more fled to avoid forcible conscription into KLA ranks. Every
Albanian man KLA soldiers encountered was forced to enlist. Those who
refused were either savagely beaten or killed.
Refugee flight, though, was never as thorough as painted by NATO
propaganda, and hundreds of thousands of Albanians remained in Kosovo.
Paramilitary rage swept through portions of the western region, while much
of the remainder of the province was unscathed. Even during the period of
bombing, many thousands of Albanian refugees returned to their homes.
The web of lies spun by the NATO propaganda machine started to unravel
once KFOR entered the province. Claiming that there would be half a
million internally displaced people inside the province, KFOR instead
found only small isolated pockets of refugees. "We planned for what we
thought was a potential disaster...and we just haven't found it," admitted
Lt. General Mike McDuffie. Lurid tales of mass genocide fell apart, as
forensic specialists investigated suspected mass graves. Up to 700 bodies
were said to be hidden in the Trepca lead and zinc mines. Not one body was
found there. About 350 were buried in a mass grave in Ljubenic, the public
was told. A thorough examination of the site found only seven. The leader
of the Spanish forensic team, Emilio Perez Pujo, was told that his team
would go to the "worst zone of Kosovo," and to "prepare ourselves to
perform more than 2,000 autopsies." But, "the result is very different. We
only found 187 cadavers." "There were no mass graves" in his team's area,
he said. "For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been
painted." Faced with increasingly embarrassing questions about the lack of
evidence for NATO's justification for military aggression, The Hague war
crimes tribunal scrambled to release a statement asserting that they had
indeed found 2,108 bodies. Far short of genocide, but certainly more than
individual reports of excavations would indicate. Significantly, the
tribunal neglected to categorize these deaths. We are not told how many
bodies of each nationality were found, how many died from executions, how
many were KLA or Yugoslav soldiers killed in combat, how many died from
NATO bombs, and how many died from natural causes.
NATO claimed that its intervention was necessary to quell the civil war in
Kosovo, while neglecting to reveal its role in creating and escalating the
conflict. A September 24, 1998 report on the Monitor television program on
German ARD Television Network, revealed that the German Federal
Intelligence Service [BND] was engaged in "several illegal arms supplies"
to Albania, in cooperation with the Military Counter Intelligence Service
[MAD], and that "via these channels" military equipment was supplied to
the KLA. An ex-MAD official claimed that orders for the illegal arms
shipments were issued "from the very top." Several monitors from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) patrolling
Kosovo during 1998-99 were CIA officers, revealed The Times on March 12,
2000. Their function was to provide advice and training manuals to the
KLA. The same article reports that Shaban Shala, a KLA commander, met
British, American and Swiss intelligence agents in northern Albanian as
early as 1996. According to Belgrade's Politika Ekspres, "a leak from
well-informed circles in the [secessionist] Democratic League of Kosovo"
disclosed that during a meeting between US envoy Richard Holbrooke and KLA
officers at Junik on June 26, 1998, Holbrooke promised the KLA $10 million
for the purchase of U.S. arms. One week later, Albanian media reported
mysterious flights of U.S. C-130 cargo planes landing at Gjadar airport in
northern Albania, a region under the control of the KLA. None of the
flights were reported to Albanian air traffic controllers, causing alarm
over potential collisions. Paul Beaver, an editor at Jane's Defence Weekly
was told by a Pentagon source, "Even before the air strikes seemed
inevitable, a [Military Professional Resources - MPRI] team was there [in
Kosovo] giving basic military training in tactics to the KLA field
commanders." MPRI is an organization of ex-US military officers that is
contracted by the Pentagon to provide training to foreign armed forces
when it is politically awkward for the U.S. government to be seen as
directly involved. KLA bunkers captured by Yugoslav forces often turned up
sophisticated Western weapons and U.S. food tins and medical packs. The
Fate of the Roma (Gypsy) People in Kosovo
On August 6, we visited Zemun and met with Jovan Damjanovic, president of
the Federal Association of Roma (Gypsy) People in Yugoslavia. A passionate
man, Damjanovic described the horrors visited upon his community by the
KLA following the occupation of the province by KFOR. Once Yugoslav forces
withdrew, there was nothing to restrain the KLA from pursuing its policy
of murdering and driving out every non-Albanian ethnic group, and every
non-secessionist Albanian. Under the protective umbrella of KFOR, the KLA
went on a murderous rampage, killing or expelling virtually everyone who
opposed it and leaving in its wake a trail of burning homes.
Damjanovic told us that the European Union had issued a list of 300
Yugoslav citizens who it banned from travel outside of Yugoslavia. The
United States and several other nations also joined in imposing the travel
restrictions. Individuals whose names are on the list and who have
investments or accounts outside of Yugoslavia had those assets seized.
U.S. intelligence agents visited many of the people on the list, implying
that their names could be removed from the list if they cooperated with
Western attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of
Yugoslavia. There were also hints that uncooperative individuals would
face trumped-up war crimes charges. Right-wing opposition leader Vuk
Draskovic is not on the list, but he also was told he would face war
crimes charges if he did not join the U.S. effort to topple the
government, an assignment he readily accepted. Almost the entire
government of Yugoslavia is on the list, as well as many prominent people
in the society. On December 6, 1999, the list was expanded to 590 names,
and more than two months later, on February 28, an additional 180 names
were added. Looking over the list of names, I recognized several people we
had met, such as Commissioner for Refugees, Displaced Persons and
Humanitarian Aid Bratislava Morina and President of the Vojvodina Assembly
Zivorad Smiljanic. In Smiljanic's case, Western officials supposedly knew
enough about him to add him to the list, but not enough to spell his name
correctly. Only a complete reading of the list can bring a full
understanding of its vindictive nature. Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic's daughter-in-law is on the list. The Minister of Sport,
apparently, also bears guilt, as do the Minister of Tourism and the
Minister of Family Care. Also punished is the owner of a fashion-clothing
store, the owner of a watch company, bankers, family members of a banker,
and the Secretary of the Red Cross. In short, anyone of prominence who has
not lent him or herself to the Western project to impose a puppet
government is treated as a criminal.
On September 17, 1999, Damjanovic issued a statement condemning the KLA's
pogrom against non-Albanians in Kosovo. "This state of affairs calls into
question the justification for the foreign presence," the statement
declared, and "the exodus of Serbs, Montenegrins, and the Romanies
continues on the lines of the Nazi scenario of fifty years ago, while the
world looks on." It was a strong statement, but also a cry from the heart.
Damjanovic's organization faced the daunting task of providing housing and
aid for the mass exodus of the Romany people from Kosovo. His plea did not
go unnoticed in the West. On December 6, he too, was added to the EU's
travel ban list. Now the president of the Roma people in Yugoslavia, too,
is a criminal.
We were driven to a Roma settlement in Zemun Polje, on the outskirts of
Zemun. Romany residents here and in Zemun itself had taken into their
homes over 5,000 refugees. Coping with this influx placed a considerable
strain on the local population. Those who had little still opened their
arms to help their fellow human beings. It said much for the people, and I
was deeply impressed. This was a poor neighborhood, and several of the
homes demonstrated an ingenuity for improvised construction with found
materials that reminded me of a similar resourcefulness found among poor
residents of Bangkok. One home in particular fascinated me, with what
appeared to be a fur-covered roof, and a fur tail waving aloft from a pole
which protruded from the roof. The moment our cars pulled to a stop, a
crowd gathered. We interviewed several Roma and Egyptian refugees; people
who had lost everything. Krasnic Tefiq brought his family here from Obilic
after KLA soldiers came to his house and threatened to kill him and his
family. For two months they had nowhere to sleep until a family here took
them in, but life was still hard. "We have no food," he told us, "We are
starving. We are begging in the streets for food." Puco Rezeza's
experience was similar. His brother was killed by the KLA, and KLA
soldiers threatened to kill him and his family if they did not leave. He
too told us he was starving. We interviewed several more people, but when
emotions flared, Damjanovic decided to cut short the interviews. As our
cars departed, children ran excitedly behind us, enveloped in the dust
kicked up by our cars. We passed two boys standing by the side of the
road, who pumped their fists in the air, and chanted, "Yugoslavia!
Yugoslavia!"
We resumed our interviews in Zemun the next day. We were surrounded and
pressed on all sides by a crowd of refugees, all anxious to tell us their
stories and to hear what others had to say. The heat was sweltering, and
sweat poured down my back. Estrep Ramadanovic, vice president of the Roma
association, told us that 120,000 out of 150,000 Romany people had been
expelled from Kosovo. Ramadanovic himself had taken 20 refugees into his
home. "The KLA soldiers don't want any other ethnic group to be in
Kosovo," he told us, "Only Albanians." Bajrosha Dulaj was angry. "My
daughter, Anesi Akmeti, was raped by KLA soldiers. At night we were
sleeping in our house, and KLA soldiers broke in and dragged my daughter
out and raped her." Her family's only remaining possessions were the
clothes they wore on the day they were driven from Kosovo. "These are the
only clothes I have. I have no food, nowhere to sleep," she said. "Should
I sleep on the street?" The psychological effects of bombing persisted.
"The children awake at night, calling 'Mama, Mama,' and I have nothing to
give to them. They are afraid of airplanes. They can't sleep well. They
can't eat."
Adan Berisha survived KLA torture. He showed us his wife, who was also
tortured by KLA soldiers. It appeared as if acid had been poured on her
face and arm. The KLA killed their 12-year-old son, Idis, as well as
Adan's father and two of his uncles. "A KLA soldier gave us only three
hours to leave our home," Adan said, "or he would kill us." His voice was
filled with anguish as he concluded, "Sorrow. A world of sorrow."
"KLA soldiers took everything, all my furniture from my home," Rakmani
Elis told us, "and then they burned down my house." Rakmani expressed
himself with a passion that swept all before it. "I'm not against the
American people," he exclaimed, "but this decision they made strikes me as
lunatic. The rights of every people, the Serb, the Montenegrin and the
Gypsy, have been annulled. People are going out to kill, but you, as an
army," - referring to KFOR - "just sit there. Did you come here to help or
to watch this circus going on? Events now are making history. It is not
acceptable what the American people are doing to us. If they came to help,
let me see them help. But if they did not come here to help, then
everyone, Serbs and Gypsies, will be stamped out."
KLA solders had dragged Aysha Shatili and her children from her home, and
started removing her furniture. "I called three British KFOR soldiers for
help. They came, but did nothing," she said. Her son was stabbed in the
back when he attempted to stop the KLA soldiers from looting their home.
Her two houses were then burned down. Like most of the refugees, she too
owned only the clothes she wore on the day she was driven from her home.
Five KLA soldiers visited Hasim Berisha, looking for his brother. "They
told me I have just five minutes to produce my brother or they will kill
my entire family." He left immediately and went to his sister's house. His
sister reported the incident to British KFOR headquarters, where they told
her to go wherever she would like to go, just so she won't be killed.
Hasim checked on his house the following day, and saw that it had been
burned down. His brother was caught by the KLA and severely beaten, and he
too was forced to flee the province.
Abdullah Shefik was fleeing from Urosevac in his van when KLA soldiers
stopped him and ordered him to leave his van with them. "American KFOR
soldiers stood nearby when my van was hijacked," he said, "but they did
nothing." All of his belongings were in the van.
Becet Kotesi told us that when British and French KFOR troops entered
Gnjilane, KLA soldiers "attacked Serbian and Roma people. KFOR did nothing
because they were on the other side of town, but the town is not very big,
so they had to know what was happening." Kotesi was in a pharmacy when the
shooting began, and promptly left to ride his bicycle home. "Three hundred
meters behind me was another man riding a bicycle, and KLA soldiers threw
a grenade at him and killed him." Kotesi fled the province because "KLA
soldiers searched for my compatriots, to beat and kill them because many
fought against them as members of the Yugoslav Army."
A Humanist Scholar, Driven from his Home
The Provisional Executive Council, which governed Kosovo up until the
entry of NATO troops, represented every ethnic group in the province. On
August 8 we interviewed Bajram Haliti, one of the Council's members.
Haliti, a Roma, also serves as Secretary for Development of Information on
the Languages of National Minorities. Always well-dressed and dignified,
he was gentle and soft-spoken, and I took an immediate liking to this
scholarly man who described himself as a humanist. Two years before, he
published a book, "The Roma: a People's Terrible Destiny," concerning the
genocide against the Roma people during the Second World War, and he
kindly gave each of us a copy of his book. In his personal library were
over 500 books in several languages from many countries on the subject of
the Roma and the genocide against them. Both of his homes were burned down
by KLA soldiers, including the library that Haliti had spent a lifetime
collecting. "I can't set a price on that library," he told us. At the
beginning of May 1999, Haliti sent an open letter to President Clinton,
protesting the bombing of his country. In the letter, he wrote, "Everyone
who cares for peace supports Yugoslavia, its leadership and people, who
are fighting for freedom, independence and territorial integrity." Calling
for an end to the bombing, his letter pointed out that "only peaceful
means can lead to a just settlement for all national communities which
live in Kosovo and Metohija." The letter made an impression. Haliti was on
the first travel ban list.
Addressing the issue of the rights of the Albanian people in Kosovo,
Haliti mentioned that a Yugoslav delegation arranged 17 meetings with
secessionists prior to NATO's bombardment. "In those negotiations," he
said, "we wanted to offer the Albanian people maximum legal, cultural and
political autonomy," but the secessionist delegation refused to meet with
them. "Every ethnic group was guaranteed all political, cultural and legal
rights," but secessionist Albanians boycotted institutions. "People
outside of Yugoslavia did not know that Albanians refused to exercise
their rights. For example, Albanians boycotted schools in their own
language, and told the world that they can't receive an education in their
own language." There were 65 newspapers in the Albanian language in
Kosovo, he added. "Many of these newspapers advocated secession, to sever
ties. Not one newspaper was forbidden. In America, if a group put out a
newspaper advocating secession and terrorism, would that newspaper be
allowed to publish?"
"Why doesn't NATO challenge [KLA leader] Hasim Thaci? Why don't they bomb
Hasim Thaci," he asked, "as he carries out massive ethnic cleansing? In
Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] now, few Serbs remain, few Roma remain and few
Gorans remain.... The Roma people are in a very hard situation. It is the
same situation Jewish people faced in 1939. At that time, Hitler
persecuted every Jew in his territory. And now we have Hasim Thaci. Now
Roma houses are burned down. Roma are expelled by the KLA."
"The hostility toward Roma people is because we want a normal life
together with other ethnic groups, we oppose division of our country, and
we give our political support to the government."
One of our delegation members, Ken Freeland, a pacifist and anti-war
activist from Houston, was keenly interested in a journal edited by
Haliti, Ahimsa, the title of which was taken from Gandhi's term for
non-violence. "Roma people are a peaceful people," Haliti explained. "The
Roma are a cosmopolitan people. Roma do not have a country. The exodus of
the Roma people has brought them to every country, where they are loyal
citizens who live a normal life. The Roma people have earned the right to
give this name to the journal."
Haliti told us that in a few months "we will have our own radio and
television frequencies, and a station" called Romany National Television,
and that he would be the station's chief editor. I wondered in how many
other countries Romanies held government positions. How many other
countries had a Romany radio and television station, in the Romany
language? Were there any, besides Yugoslavia? NATO propaganda had turned
reality completely on its head, painting the most multiethnic society in
the Balkans, in which every nationality was represented in the Kosovo
government, as nationalist and racist.
Haliti and I shared a passion for music, and following our interview, we
had a very interesting discussion of Roma culture, and the contribution of
the Romany people to the world of music. Haliti told us that flamenco
music originated among Roma people, and also talked of several prominent
Roma musicians, such as jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and flamenco
musician Camaron De La Isla.
Twelve days later, Haliti was again interviewed, this time by Tanjug, the
Yugoslav news agency. "It is useless to talk about the position and the
rights of Romanies, as the UN peace mission is unable to protect any
inhabitants of the province, including ethnic Albanians who do not accept
the terror of their extremist fellows," he declared. KLA leaders "reject
the fundamental democratic and humane principles on which contemporary
civilization rests and without which there can be no peace or stability in
multiethnic communities." It will be a long time before Bajram Haliti's
name is removed from the travel ban "enemies list."
War on Belgrade
One of NATO's innovations was a rather novel form of censorship. On April
23, missiles slammed into Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in downtown
Belgrade, killing 16. The studio, NATO claimed, was a "legitimate military
target" because it broadcast "propaganda," meaning, of course, that it was
reporting the effects of NATO's bombing. RTS Belgrade was passing footage
of destruction to Western media, a practice that evidently had to be
stopped. CNN had a studio there, but was warned of the attack beforehand
and pulled out its equipment and personnel. CNN invited Serbian Minister
of Information Aleksandar Vucic to the studio for a live broadcast
interview. Vucic was asked to arrive for makeup at 2:00 AM sharp on April
23, for an interview scheduled to take place half an hour later. At 2:20,
RTS was no more. Shortly after the attack, RTS employee Sava Andjelkovic
described the scene. "A wall behind me virtually vanished, and then the
entire wing of the building. We heard screams of wounded people." Several
people were trapped in the rubble, and it was some time before all of the
survivors could be rescued. Vucic was more fortunate. His tardiness spared
his life, foiling the attempted assassination.
By the time of our visit, the rubble had been cleared, but the building
still stood with one wing sheared away, the multi-floor building standing
with each floor exposed. Nearby, missing railings and smashed windows at
the Dusko Radovic Children's Theater hinted at greater damage within.
RTS Belgrade was not alone. Radio and television stations and towers
throughout Yugoslavia were targeted. Our host Nikola demonstrated what was
on his television. Only static could be found on state channels. Untouched
were opposition channels, as well as music video and fashion channels, and
always there was access to Western cable. Western media stories about the
so-called "media dictatorship" in Yugoslavia, like all Western media
stories about Yugoslavia, are less believable for those who visit there.
We stopped at the Tanjug Press Center, housed in an aged and
unprepossessing building. As we climbed the stairs, delegation member
Michael Parenti pointed to several steps that were missing chunks of
concrete and quipped, "So this is the well-oiled Milosevic propaganda
machine we hear so much about." Not far away, an opposition-owned
television station, housed in a tall gleaming modern building, towered
above its surroundings. The U.S. and European Union have funnelled
millions of dollars to opposition media in Yugoslavia. One wonders what
the reaction would be in the United States were a hostile foreign
government to fund American media advocating the overthrow of the
government. In Yugoslavia, this media, bought and paid for, operated
freely. Newsstands were everywhere, and perusal revealed that a flood of
opposition newspapers and magazines vastly outnumbered pro-government
publications such as Politika, Borba, and Vecernje Novosti. It presented
an interesting study in semantics. A media dictatorship is where state
television cannot be viewed, but opposition television can; where there
are three pro-government papers and dozens of opposition papers. In the
United States, freedom of the press is lauded. One can pick up any
newspaper in any city with the confident expectation that it will have
essentially the same content as any other newspaper in any other city.
Alternative publications, often tepid and predictable, are marginalized
and often difficult to find, virtually to the point of irrelevance.
NATO's media war against Yugoslavia continues unabated. In place of bombs,
more subtle methods are implemented, outside the perception of the
American public. As state television returns to the air, transmitters
based in neighboring countries jam it. Such stations as Voice of America,
BBC, Radio Free Europe and USA Radio broadcast on Yugoslav state radio and
television frequencies. While we were in Yugoslavia, on August 11, RTS
issued a statement condemning this "media occupation," and pointing out
that these "frequencies were awarded to our country by international
conventions" and that this "violates all international standards in the
sphere of telecommunications." Appeals to international law fell on deaf
ears.
From RTS, a long trolley ride took us to the Belgrade suburb of Rakovica.
There we viewed the 21st of May Industrial Complex, which manufactured
automobile engines, and like many factories throughout Yugoslavia, it lay
in ruins. Now it was merely a mass of twisted wreckage; steel pipes,
girders and concrete jumbled together. The deliberate targeting of
factories was an extension of sanctions, an attempt at economic
strangulation. Over 600,000 people lost their jobs during the period of
bombing, raising the number of unemployed to over two million. About $100
billion damage was inflicted on Yugoslavia, president of the Trade Union
Association Radoslav Ilic announced during the war. "This aggression has
all the characteristics of a dirty war," he said, "in which workers are
the biggest sufferers. Workers and the products of their work have become
military targets, and the international progressive public is too slow in
awakening." Much of the Western progressive public still slumbers.
While in Rakovica, we met a refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina who had
earlier worked in Germany for seven years. He wanted to show us his
child's school, the France Presern elementary school, one of dozens of
schools targeted by NATO. Virtually every window was broken and several
window frames were damaged. The doors were locked, so we were unable to
view interior damage. He told us that the school year would begin in two
weeks, and wondered where his child would go to school.
Kosovo's Other Albanians
Later that afternoon we met with three Albanian refugees from Kosovo. All
three, Faik Jasari, Corin Ismali and Fatmir Seholi, were members of the
Kosovo Democratic Initiative, an Albanian political party that favored a
multiethnic Kosovo within Yugoslavia and opposed the KLA's policy of
secession and racial exclusion. Jasari is president of the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative, as well as a member of the Provisional Executive
Council, which governed Kosovo prior to NATO's occupation of the province.
Jasari said he was forced to flee from his home in Gnjilane on June 18th
because "members of the KLA were showing photos of my family and me to
people, trying to find us. I am now at the top of the list of people the
KLA is looking for." Jasari lost everything. "My wife and I worked for 34
years, and now we have nothing. Nothing." Barry asked him if he was afraid
for his life. "Yes. I am afraid.....If they find me, they will kill me."
He had good reason to be afraid. The KLA had already killed several
hundred pro-Yugoslav Albanians. Many more were beaten and tortured. In
all, Jasari said, the KLA had expelled over 150,000 Albanians from Kosovo,
both before and after the entry of KFOR. He could not stand idly by, and
sent a letter to UN Special Representative for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner,
asking "to visit with him and discuss the situation in Kosovo and with my
party." Predictably, his letter went unanswered. "Where is democracy and
pluralism in Kosovo? I can't go there," he told us. I can't take part in
the political process. Where is democracy?" All of NATO's pretty-sounding
phrases about democracy and human rights, aimed at the Western domestic
audience, rang hollow for him.
When asked about reports of Serbian oppression of Albanians, Jasari
responded firmly, "It is not true. It is not true. I am Albanian and I
have all the same rights as any Serbian."
Corin Ismali, Under-Secretary for National Social Questions in the
Provisional Executive Council, also attempted to meet with Kouchner, and
he too was rebuffed. Ismali was forced from his home by threats from KLA
soldiers, he explained, "because I supported Yugoslavia and I opposed
secession....We want to live with other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. We do
not want to live in a country that has only one ethnic group."
Fatmir Seholi worked in public relations for the Kosovo Democratic
Initiative, and was chief editor at Radio Television Pristina. "I must
point out," he said, "that the Albanian people had more media than did the
Serbian people" in Kosovo. "You could find only one newspaper in the
Serbian language, but you could find about 65 newspapers in the Albanian
language." That one Serbian newspaper was closed down shortly after the
arrival of KFOR in Kosovo. Seholi studied at Pristina University, and
pointed out that Albanian people were able to study in their own language.
"I think that America did not have the right information about Albanian
people in Kosovo, or did not want to get the correct information about the
rights of Albanian people in Kosovo."
The tragedy that befell Seholi's country had disillusioned him. "Until the
NATO bombing, I loved and<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
By Gregory Elich
The sound was like no other. Hundreds of blackbirds were perched in trees
throughout the park in central Belgrade where our bus stopped, and their
loud and raucous cries startled me. I had never seen so many blackbirds in
one place. Our host, Nikola Moraca, and his son were there to greet us.
When asked about the blackbirds, Nikola replied, "We never had these
before. They are from Kosovo. They migrated here because the bombing in
Kosovo was too intense." The birds' piercing cries were unsettling, and
seemed a harbinger of all of the pain and suffering we would come to
witness during our stay in Yugoslavia. We were a delegation of peace
activists and concerned individuals, organized and led by Barry Lituchy, a
specialist on European history. Our mission was to bring medical aid to
the people of Yugoslavia, and we would spend the first two weeks of August
1999 gathering evidence of NATO war crimes for former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark's Independent Commission of Inquiry.
Years of hardship had taken their toll on Yugoslav society. Burdened by
sanctions, a massive influx of refugees, and NATO's destruction of
factories and workplaces, the unemployment rate had soared. All along
Revolution Boulevard, sidewalks were jammed with street vendors selling
paltry goods. It was an important means of survival for many people in
Belgrade. I saw two very elderly women sitting behind a card table, on
which the only goods were stones, hand-painted with designs and
affectionate sayings. Gasoline is strictly rationed, and stations were
usually closed. We frequently saw people standing by roadsides, plastic
bottles of gasoline for sale. Gasoline smuggled across the border from
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary was another means of survival for the
destitute. Buses and streetcars were densely crowded. Windows were sealed
in some streetcars, a sign of air conditioning in better times. Now the
closed windows served to trap the oppressive summer heat as people, soaked
with sweat, crowded and pressed against each other. "The burden of imposed
sanctions is felt in nearly every situation on a daily basis," Danka
Moraca, Nikola's wife, informed us. "Sanctions have changed our lives
tremendously, if not totally. Now we are all used to shortages of everyday
necessities such as basic food, cleaning products and personal items. If
you are fortunate enough to be able to afford them, you must wait in long
lines." Sanctions, she added, have resulted in a "decline of salaries,
pensions and a general impoverishment of ordinary people." According to
the Yugoslav Red Cross, approximately 100,000 people, primarily pensioners
and welfare recipients, rely on soup kitchens, but the need outstrips the
supply of available meals. Eight years of sanctions have taken their toll,
and the war compounded the effect, nearly doubling the poverty rate.
On our first morning in Belgrade, we met with Bratislava Morina, Federal
Minister for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Aid. It was
Morina's ministry that was responsible for coping with Europe's largest
refugee population. Already burdened with 700,000 refugees from wars in
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 200,000 people had fled from
Kosovo by the time of our visit, a number that would soon grow to over
350,000. Morina, whose husband is Albanian, listed several prominent
political positions held by Albanians in Yugoslavia, "until they were
given orders to leave office" by secessionists "and become part of the
parallel world." - a reference to the secessionist's boycott of
institutions. Calm and dignified, Morina spoke eloquently of the
destruction wrought by NATO, but concluded that these were "not the worst
crimes committed" by President Clinton. "When we hear claims that they
want to create a multiethnic society in Kosovo, this is ironic," she said,
"because we have witnessed one of the most radical ethnic cleansing
campaigns" since the arrival of NATO troops.
We next met with officials of the Yugoslav Red Cross. We gave them several
bags of medicines that were donated by American doctors and individuals.
Dr. Miodrag Starcevic talked of the refugee crisis, pointing out that "our
needs are very urgent," and that they lacked food, shelter, clothes and
medicines for refugees. Officials there felt that the level of need for
humanitarian aid greatly exceeded what international organizations were
providing. Another serious problem for the organization is that it cannot
operate freely in Kosovo. "We cannot go there," Dr. Starcevic said. "Even
when we send humanitarian relief, we must provide in advance for some kind
of escort by KFOR [NATO's Kosovo Force], because it is impossible to go
there. It is too dangerous." Medical officer Ljubisa Dragisic told us that
local production met most of the nation's needs for drugs and medical
supplies, but that sanctions caused shortages in imported medicines. "It's
especially a problem with some services," she said. "For example, the
transfusion service, because we import the bags and blood tests, and some
drugs...oncology drugs, and some programs for example, the dialysis
program, and a part of the program for treatment of diabetics." Suture
material and anesthetic drugs were also in short supply.
Poisoning an Entire Nation and People
We were particularly interested in learning more about the environmental
aspect of NATO bombing. The systematic destruction of chemical,
petrochemical, fertilizer plants, and oil refineries seriously poisoned
the local environment. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1999, NATO
missiles rained down on the industrial town of Pancevo, just northeast of
Belgrade. A petrochemical plant was hit, sending into the atmosphere 900
tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), an extremely dangerous carcinogen.
By sunrise, clouds of VCM poured through the town, at levels exceeding
10,600 times the permissible limit for human safety. Burning VCM released
phosgene gas, a substance that was used as a poison gas during the First
World War. Chlorine gas - also used as a poison gas during World War I -
was also discharged by fires at the plant, as were other dangerous
chemicals, such as naptha, ethylene dichloride and hydrochloric acid. A
poison rain spattered the region, and hundreds of tons of oil and
chemicals soaked into the soil and poured into the Danube River. Pools of
mercury formed on the grounds of the plant. After a missile narrowly
missed striking a tank of liquid ammonia, panicked workers dumped the
liquid ammonia into the Danube in order to avert a terrible tragedy. The
entire population of Pancevo was evacuated immediately, but residents had
returned to their homes by the time of our visit. Doctors there advise
women to avoid pregnancy for the next two years, and many residents are
coming down with red rashes and blisters. Although we were only in Pancevo
for a few hours, some of us, myself included, found rashes appearing on
our legs before the end of the day. My lower legs were covered with
rashes, and it was two weeks before they would finally disappear.
According to one worker we talked with, eighty percent of the
petrochemical plant was destroyed. Another worker told us that "vast
quantities of ammonia and VCM spilled into the river," and that he could
"see an immediate effect because one meter above the river the bank
appears burned. All the plants look as if they had been burned by fire."
Several people expressed fears for their health and that of their
families.
Serious environmental hazards also resulted from the destruction of power
plants in Bor and Kragujevac. Transformers there relied on transformer oil
containing polychlorinated biphenyles (PCB) pyralene, as a coolant.
According to the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, "one liter of the PCB pyralene pollutes one billion liters of
water." We visited an oil refinery in Novi Sad. One resident of Novi Sad,
whose home was located a mere three blocks from the refinery, later told
me that the refinery was bombed on virtually a daily basis and that his
neighborhood was constantly enveloped in smoke. Outside the refinery, we
saw a struggling bird soaked in oil, near death
Perhaps the deadliest weapon in NATO's arsenal was depleted uranium (DU)
tipped missiles and bombs. Depleted uranium's high density enables
projectiles to easily penetrate armor and concrete targets. When DU
weapons impact on their target, thousands of radioactive particles are
released into the atmosphere, and may be borne for miles by the wind. When
people ingest these particles, serious bodily damage can result. Following
the use of DU weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, rates of birth defects and
leukemia rose dramatically in southern Iraq.
Barry and I talked with Dr. Radoje Lausevic, an environmental specialist
and assistant professor at the University of Belgrade. Dr. Lausevic's
appearance and manner of speech reminded me of my best friend, Jorge, so
he made an immediately favorable impression. While driving us in his car,
he commented on the ecological impact of the war, and it wasn't until we
arrived at our destination that I realized that his talk was so
interesting that I forgot to record him or take notes. We arrived at the
office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, where we briefly concluded our discussion of the environmental
damage. Barry asked about depleted uranium (DU) weapons. My impression was
that use of depleted uranium weapons was limited to Kosovo, but Dr.
Lausevic told us that Russian sources determined that 30 metric tons of DU
was used outside of Kosovo. The entire territory of Yugoslavia was exposed
to these weapons. One particle of DU in the lungs, he said, is equivalent
to a daily chest x-ray for life.
The delegation also met with Dusan Vasiljevic, president of Green Table, a
Belgrade-based environmental non-governmental organization. A man with an
elegant manner of speech, he also acted as our guide and translator when
we visited Pancevo. Vasiljevic told us that 135,000 tons of toxic
chemicals spilled into the environment as a result of NATO bombing.
Speaking of Pancevo, he pointed out that VCM "is one of the most dangerous
toxic chemicals that ever existed. It's gastro organic in the first place,
and disrupts the cells inside," the consequences of which are "liver
disease, kidney disease and of course cancer itself." Vasiljevic also
confirmed Dr. Lausevic's report of widespread use of DU weapons.
Vasiljevic explained that as DU particles spread over an area, it "enters
the food chain, as well as to water, soil, even in the air. Once you get
these depleted uranium particles in your body, they stay there. You can't
get rid of them. And they move in your body...mostly they go to the
kidneys, and also to the liver." Vasiljevic's comments on Kosovo were
sobering. "Kosovo itself is a nuclear desert now. I wouldn't go there
myself...because the level of radiation in Kosovo is over any tolerable
level." Depleted uranium emits primarily alpha radiation, which is 20
times more deadly internally than gamma radiation, he said. The United
Nations Balkan Task Force, as well as other Western investigators "did not
find any increased radiation. How could they say so? Because they did not
have the proper equipment for that....They had just a Geiger counter." A
Geiger counter is worthless for measuring DU because it measures primarily
gamma radiation, not alpha.
Exhaust from NATO overflights, Vasiljevic claimed, severely damaged the
ozone layer above Yugoslavia. Immediately following NATO's bombing
campaign, Yugoslavia was ravaged by a series of floods and severe
rainstorms. By the time of our visit, the temperature was searing,
unbearable at times. People speculated that the heat, floods and rains
were a result of the thinning of the ozone. The damaged ozone layer would
soon drift over Western Europe, Vasiljevic said. It is difficult to
determine a correlation, but on December 2, 1999, the European Space
Agency reported that the lowest ever levels of ozone, "nearly as low as
those found in the Antarctic," were measured over northwest Europe during
November. Everyone was concerned about the food supply. Danka worried that
"all that we have on the green markets or in the shops nowadays has been
contaminated, either by the destroyed chemical industry or by the new
weapons dropped on our heads. I can't even think about the possible
consequences of consuming such food."
A City Crippled by Bombs
In the northern city of Novi Sad, we viewed three bridges spanning the
Danube River. All three were severed by NATO missiles. The Varadin Bridge
carried a main water pipe, and when the bridge was destroyed on April 1,
the Petrovaradin section of the city lost its water supply. Similarly,
destruction of the Zezelj Bridge on April 26 eliminated water in the
suburbs. Water had to be trucked in until service could be restored. At
the Executive Council Building in Novi Sad, we met Dr. Zivorad Smiljanic,
president of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and an
interesting and knowledgeable man. Smiljanic pointed out, as did many
others during our visit, that Yugoslavia has 26 nationalities and is a
multiethnic society. "Even the smallest nationalities have education in
their own mother tongue," he said. "Now you can see for yourselves what
NATO did." NATO leaders "constantly talk about democracy, but we could see
that democracy in action here: democracy that bombed and destroyed
bridges, schools and hospitals....all these aims were actually false,
because the real truth and their real aim was to conquer everything and
put everything under one system." Smiljanic was asked to name their most
urgent need. "The thing that we would like most of all is for the
international community to leave us alone;" he exclaimed, "to lift
blockades and sanctions, and stop 'helping' us in the way that they are
doing."
Following the meeting, one official approached Barry. His eyes were moist.
"It was such a difficult time for those of us with children," he said. "We
didn't know what to do: take both children in one cellar, or put them in
separate cellars." A terrible dilemma, whether to keep the family together
and risk losing everyone in a single moment; or split the family apart,
thus increasing the chances of losing someone.
We were scheduled to tour and view bomb damage at the Executive Council
building later in the day. When we arrived, our bus pulled to a stop in
front of the building and our delegation began to disembark. A woman
walked up to our bus, and asked us through an open window, "Are you a
delegation?" Receiving an affirmative answer, she spoke in an angry and
outraged tone, "We're a delegation from Germany. We've been here one week
already. We've seen such terrible things, you can't imagine. People here
have a system like no one in the world. It's a true multiethnic society.
Back in Germany, all we hear are lies. There is no way to get the truth
out." We soon came to share her reaction and her outrage. The portrayal of
Yugoslavia in Western media is bizarre for anyone who troubles himself to
actually visit the place. A multiethnic society where peoples of many
nationalities work and live together is painted as racist. A society in
which women walk calmly and unafraid in a park at midnight, as we
regularly saw, is portrayed as crime-ridden. Knowledgeable and worldly
people are represented as ignorant and irrational. How often had I read in
the Western press of President Slobodan Milosevic's 1989 speech at Kosovo
Polje, in which it was claimed that he whipped the crowd into a
nationalist frenzy with a language of hate? Western reporters can get away
with such monstrous lies because they know no one will bother to check the
text of that speech. I couldn't believe the accusation because it ran
counter to those speeches I was familiar with. When I found a copy of the
speech, my suspicions were confirmed. There was not one phrase of hatred.
What I found instead were phrases such as, "Serbia has never had only
Serbs living in it. Today, more than in the past, members of other peoples
and nationalities also live in it. This is not a disadvantage for Serbia.
I am truly convinced that it is its advantage." Or these examples:
"Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society,
should not allow people to be divided in the national and religious
respect," and "Yugoslavia is a multiethnic community and it can survive
only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in
it." These are the phrases Western media would have one believe are filled
with hate and racism. When I returned to the United States, it was weeks
before I could bear to listen to the news and its spewing of lies and
obsession with trivial issues.
Whatever else would happen during our stay in Yugoslavia, it was clear
that we would be well fed. Every morning and evening, Nikola and Danka
prepared a spectacular banquet for us. We were continually delighted by a
dazzling array of delicious dishes. Their extraordinary hospitality and
kindness made me feel like part of their family, and Nikola's impish sense
of humor brought daily merriment. The importance of family and friends was
paramount in this society. Friends, family, and neighbors often visited.
On the street, we often saw family members holding hands. Displays of
affection were open. Due to sanctions, their lives are materially
impoverished compared to earlier times, but still they lead rich lives. As
one man in Novi Sad told me, "We have a different philosophy here than in
the West. We have a saying, 'The man is rich who has many friends'."
NATO did not ignore Vidovdan Skonaselje, a suburb of Novi Sad. People were
living in the ruins of their homes, simply because they had nowhere else
to go. The home of Rajko and Gordana Matic was severely damaged. Rajko and
his wife Gordana fled Zagreb in 1992 and built their new home here. Now
NATO had bombed their new house. Heavy plastic covered the windows. With
the exception of the frame and base, nothing remained of the roof. The
explosion had dented and twisted their car. They allowed us inside to view
their home. Holes in the walls, a result of the bomb blast, allowed
chickens to enter and wander about. On the second floor, one of the
interior walls, broken and cracked, was bowed to an alarming degree, like
the letter 'C'. Light streamed in through a ruptured wall, and mounds of
rubble filled the rooms. It didn't seem safe, but they had nowhere else to
go, nor money to repair the damage. Previous Western visitors had promised
them help, which never came. To the left of the Matic's house stood an
empty shell of another home. Only the brick walls still stood. Everything
else was blown away in the bombing. Farther to the left, the roof of a
demolished home angled down to the ground. Behind it stood more homes with
blasted roofs, damaged walls and seared interiors. The house to the right
was missing the second floor. Only remnants of the front and back wall
remained. Hammering sounds told us that the owners had begun the arduous
task of rebuilding. Across the street, the roof of one home was a mass of
twisted wreckage. Between these buildings, a roadside sign listed at a
drunken angle, punctured neatly by shrapnel from a NATO bomb. It was a
"welcome" sign.
NATO also left its calling card at another suburb of Novi Sad, Detelinara.
On May 6, a powerful bomb landed at the juncture of two apartment
buildings and the Svetozar Markovic elementary school. By the time of our
visit, the huge crater had been filled in, and all 20 of the demolished
automobiles removed. The buildings were severely damaged, and many
apartments were devastated. Seven people were wounded in the attack, and
the site followed a pattern that we would witness repeatedly during our
two weeks in Yugoslavia. Residential areas with no military value were
targeted on a regular basis.
Belgrade Bombarded
In New Belgrade, the more recently built section of the city, we stopped
at Hotel Yugoslavia. On May 7, just before midnight, two NATO missiles
struck the hotel near the main entrance. One person was killed, and four
wounded. It was impossible to view the extensive destruction without
contemplating the mentality that could order missiles to be fired at a
hotel. As we stood before the Chinese embassy, only a few blocks away,
NATO's excuses seemed absurd. Architecturally distinctive, the embassy's
unique beauty could not possibly be mistaken for the nearby Federal
Directorate of Supply and Procurement, nor any other building in the
vicinity. Similarly difficult to swallow was the claim that the embassy
was bombed because the CIA had relied on an old map. The embassy building
was built during 1992-93, and an old map would have shown an empty field.
One would have to believe that NATO intended to bomb an empty field.
Certainly, the CIA would have closely monitored the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade, particularly as NATO prepared to wage war on Yugoslavia. Three
satellite-guided missiles struck the embassy, just twenty minutes after
the bombing of Hotel Yugoslavia. The missile that did the most damage
penetrated through the roof, burrowing down to the basement. Three people
were killed, and 20 wounded. Fire and smoke poured through the building.
The stairways were demolished, and people trapped on the top three floors
tied bedsheets together, hanging them out of windows as a means of escape.
We saw that one rope of bedsheets still hung from a fourth story window.
Two days before my departure for Yugoslavia, I obtained a copy of an
article from the July 2 issue of Kai Fang, published in Hong Kong. The
article's author, Su Lan, wrote that embassy personnel electronically
monitored NATO's military operations, and that NATO feared that the
downing of its F-117 Stealth fighter-bomber may have been a result of
information passed along by them to Yugoslav officials. The October 17
issue of The Observer and a follow-up story a few weeks later, confirmed
that the embassy was deliberately targeted. A NATO flight controller based
in Naples told The Observer, "The Chinese embassy had an electronic
profile, which NATO located and pinpointed." "The aim," said another NATO
officer, "was to send a clear message to Milosevic that he should not use
outside help in the shape of the Chinese."
Not far away stood the ruins of another beautiful building, the 23-story
Usce Business Center, the target of four missiles on April 21. Much of the
building's exterior was blackened by fire, and many windows were a mass of
twisted metal. I remembered seeing dramatic photographs of this building
engulfed in flames. NATO planners anticipated high "collateral damage."
Their plans anticipated that up to 100 government officials and 250
civilians residing in nearby apartments in the "expected blast radius"
would be killed in the attack. Unfazed at the prospect of murdering up to
350 people, President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave
their approval for the building's destruction. The Usce Business Center
housed offices of a variety of businesses and political organizations. The
rationale for the building's destruction was that some of the offices
belonged to the Serbian Socialist Party and the closely allied Yugoslav
United Left. Only prior evacuation of the building averted a tragedy and
no one perished in the attack.
NATO's bland assertions seemed obscene. Bombing the Chinese embassy was an
"accident," and therefore excusable. This carried with it the unspoken
assumption that bombing another building and killing Yugoslav civilians
would be acceptable. The destruction of Hotel Yugoslavia and the Usce
Business Center was also acceptable, because these somehow fell into the
all-inclusive category of "military targets." Many people in the West were
completely indifferent to the death and destruction carried out in their
names. All of NATO's claims were accepted without examination or
questioning. The United States, it is assumed, has an inherent right to
invade or bomb another country and to trample international law underfoot.
In this context, I found it poignant when we saw a billboard in Belgrade,
which read: "They believe in bombs. We believe in God."
That night, in the Moraca's home, delegation member Ken Freeland
interviewed Nenad Gudjic, a Serbian refugee from Kosovo. Gudjic said he
felt that "Albanians suppressed me, especially when I started to date my
present wife, who is Albanian." His wife also felt strong pressure from
Albanian extremists, prompting them to leave Kosovo. "Something very
interesting is happening now," Gudjic said. "I lived in Pristina for 33
years. Now, on the streets of Belgrade, I saw a few of my Albanian friends
who escaped, as I escaped, from Pristina. They are living now in Belgrade
without any problems. These are ethnic Albanians of my generation who
escaped that chaos."
Every Federal building in downtown Belgrade bore the scars of bombing.
Almost every day we passed these buildings, and each day the sight was as
painful as the day before. Late one night during the war, kept awake by an
air raid, Nikola was on his balcony talking to his neighbor across the
street on her balcony. The sound of flying missiles interrupted their
conversation. Nikola shouted at his neighbor, "Get down. This one will hit
us." His shoulders rose as a chill travelled down the back of his neck.
Two explosions roared. Only a few short blocks away, one missile smashed a
house on Maxim Gorky Street, also damaging an adjoining apartment building
and a restaurant. The other missile struck a street nearby. Four people
were injured; one of whom, 23-year old Sofija Jovanovic, died of her
wounds two days later. On my last day in Belgrade, I walked down to view
the site. Nothing remained but a mound of concrete, bricks, broken boards,
and upturned earth. As a sort of memorial, someone had scrawled graffiti
on the remnants of an adjacent building: "Bombed April 30." With
fatalistic humor, graffiti on another house read, "Sorry. You missed us."
Danka described life during the bombing. "We were bombed constantly for 78
days and nights, without any break or pause. We were without water or
electricity for days. We had to throw away everything from the
refrigerator, including all medicaments essential for our family, because
of the high temperatures in May. The bombing was awful, cruel and savage.
We were all afraid, staying in the dark lobby for hours, listening to the
scary sounds of the low-flying warplanes, detonations, children crying,
car alarms, and people screaming who simply couldn't stand it anymore."
Later in the war, "NATO changed its tactics, and by the end they were
bombing us every two hours. That was part of their psychological war, I
suppose." The effects of the bombardment were widespread. "There was no
bread. The bakeries couldn't produce bread without electricity. The smell
of spoiled food spread from nearby supermarkets. There was no milk for
children." Her children were upset, asking, "Why are those people bombing
us? Why do they hate us so much when we didn't do anything wrong to them?"
Danka revealed that every time she kissed her children goodnight "during
the bombing campaign, deep inside me I was praying for God to see them
healthy and alive the next morning. During those long bombing nights, they
were awakened so many times by strong nearby explosions, annoyed and
panicked."
The Belgrade 5 transformer station of the Serbian Electric Company is
located at Bezanijska Kosa in New Belgrade. It was bombed, as were many
other electrical power and transformer stations. Several Tomahawk missiles
struck here, as well as a new weapon, the CBU-94, a cluster bomb which
releases a web of carbon-graphite threads, resulting in electrical
short-circuits and burnt components. At one point, seventy percent of
Yugoslavia's power supply was knocked out, which also adversely affected
water supplies that depended on electrical pumps. About 50,000 hospital
patients, including those on dialysis and babies in incubators, also
suffered from the power outages. When workers proved adept at restoring
power rapidly, NATO then targeted the plants with cruise missiles and
conventional bombs. By the end of the war, one third of the electricity
transmission systems were damaged or destroyed. During our visit to
Belgrade 5, workers were busily repairing the damage. We talked with one
of the workers, who said that most of the Belgrade suburb of Zemun was
without electricity. He worried about the onset of winter, when people
would have to rely on alternative sources of heat, such as coal and small
heaters. He pointed out that the coolant for the plant's transformers
contained PCBs, and that consequently, "when the fuel burns, it is toxic,
so [NATO] poisoned nature around here also. It went into the ground, so it
will reach our water supplies." One of our delegation members, Jeff
Goldberg, asked him if this was the most expensive damage inflicted on
Yugoslavia, and the worker immediately responded, "The most expensive
damage is that they killed a lot of people." When asked about the length
of time required for repair, the worker answered. "We need equipment. We
need spare parts...without foreign aid we are dead. We have a factory that
makes spare parts, converters, but...they can make only one switch per
month. It's a low capacity factory."
The previous day, due to bomb damage, virtually all of Serbia's steam
power plants shut down, and much of the country was left without power. On
the day of our visit, a breakdown at the power line at the Djerdap-Bor
hydroelectric plant caused a chain-reaction of breakdowns in other power
lines, resulting in more blackouts. It was expected that hundreds of
thousands of people would freeze during winter, with sanctions blocking
the import of much-needed parts, but prospects improved due to a
remarkable program of reconstruction and improvisation. Electricity is
severely rationed, with frequent power cuts. But what seemed an inevitable
humanitarian disaster has been averted through the ingenuity and heroic
efforts of workers in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The
electrical worker we talked with summed up the war: "We were bombed
because we refuse to be slaves. We are a proud people and we don't want to
be enslaved. Rich people want slaves. They want obedient people."
Our meeting with the Belgrade-based Committee for Compiling Data on Crimes
against Humanity and International Law was of particular interest for me.
I had read several articles about the work of the committee as well as
interviews with its president, Dr. Zoran Stankovic, so I was familiar with
the meticulous and significant work they had done in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Croatia. All nine members of the committee work on a volunteer basis,
constrained by severely limited resources, outmoded personal computers and
only one copy machine. The committee was tasked to investigate NATO war
crimes, and that was the main focus of our discussion. A point of
frustration for the committee was that they had submitted eight files of
documentation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal, which treated their
reports with complete disinterest.
Albanian Refugees and Civil War: Behind the Media Screen
NATO officials accused the Yugoslav government of expelling its Albanian
population and committing genocide. The flood of refugees pouring into
Albania and Macedonia was trumpeted as justification for bombing
Yugoslavia. Few dwelled on the logical fallacy of NATO's claim that a
refugee crisis which occurred subsequent to bombing was itself the
motivation for that bombing. Western leaders presented a simple picture,
one easily grasped. Reality is seldom as simple as a Hollywood action
movie, though, and Western leaders intentionally distorted events for an
uncritical public.
Every nationality can be found in the membership of the Serbian Socialist
Party, including Albanian, and the party has long prided itself on a
commitment to a multiethnic society. This commitment is evident in its
program and in virtually every document and every speech. Toward the end
of 1998, during the period of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the Yugoslav
government set up 14 centers throughout Kosovo, where people could come
and take free lumber and building supplies for reconstruction of homes
damaged in the civil war. These supplies were open to every person of
every nationality. There were no restrictions. It was impossible for me to
believe that the Serbian Socialist Party metamorphosed overnight into a
racist organization, bent on national exclusivity. It did not fit, so I
dug into the matter, trying to ascertain the truth among a torrent of
lies. A more subtle picture emerged, still with suffering on a mass scale,
but this time with NATO as the central catalyst. According to an
intelligence report from the German Foreign Office, dated January 12,
1999, "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian
ethnicity is not verifiable...actions of the security forces [are] not
directed against the Kosovo Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but
against the military opponent and its actual or alleged supporters." A
civil war was raging in the province of Kosovo between the Albanian
secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav security forces.
This internal document presented a very different message than Western
leaders' public statements.
Concomitant with NATO's bombing campaign, hundreds of thousands of people
of all nationalities fled their homes. When the first bombs fell,
extremists became enraged and blamed Albanians for the bombing. Many of
these extremists formed paramilitary groups and criminal gangs, and vented
their rage on the local Albanian population. NATO's bombs created an
environment of anarchy and chaos that allowed thugs, paramilitary gangs,
and renegade police to operate freely. One Serbian official was reported
as saying, "It was a catastrophe. Podujevo was emptied in about three
hours. There were a lot of vile and angry people, maddened, who were out
of control." In Kosovo's capital city of Pristina, the first wave of
refugees departed when threatened by thugs during the week and a half
following NATO's first bombs on March 24. The second wave left when the
center of the city was bombed on April 6 and 7, and the third wave left
later, out of a panic that something may happen. Zoran Andjelkovic,
president of the then governing Provisional Executive Council for Kosovo,
pointed out that the first ten days or so of chaos included fierce clashes
among angry civilians. Criminal gangs ran wild, ordering people to leave
so that their homes could be robbed. Both Albanian and Serbian criminal
gangs roamed the region. Adrian Gillan, in an article in the London Review
of Books, talked with Ben Ward, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Ward
told him, "There doesn't appear to be anything to support allegations of
mass killings. It is generally paramilitaries who are responsible. It
doesn't seem organized. There appear to be individual acts of sadism
rather than anything else. There seems not to be any policy or
instruction, but that isn't to say that people have not been given the
latitude to kill. However, I don't think at this stage we have anything
that adds up to the systematic killing of civilians." Restoring order was
an extremely difficult task for the Yugoslav Army and security forces
because they were under constant NATO bombardment. Yet, by the third week
of the war they had succeeded in restoring order in much of the region,
and in the latter half of April, Yugoslav police began escorting refugees
back to their homes. By the time Yugoslav troops and security forces
withdrew from Kosovo in early June, they had arrested over 800 thugs and
paramilitaries for crimes against civilians.
At the beginning of the war, Yugoslav troops evacuated villages along the
border with Albania where KLA bunkers and arms depots where found. An
invasion by NATO troops was anticipated, and as one Yugoslav soldier
explained, "You can't be waiting for the American army and at the same
time have armed Albanians behind your back." In an interview for UPI
conducted during the war, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said, "Our
regular forces are highly disciplined. The paramilitary irregular forces
are a different story. Bad things happened, as they did with both sides
during the Vietnam war, or any other war for that matter. We have arrested
those irregular self-appointed leaders. Some have already been tried and
sentenced to 20 years in prison."
People fled for other reasons as well. There was a clear pattern of people
fleeing areas subjected to intensive bombardment. Some of the refugees Ben
Ward talked with said they had fled from NATO bombs. Other refugees fled
to escape being caught in battles between Yugoslav and KLA forces.
Thousands more fled to avoid forcible conscription into KLA ranks. Every
Albanian man KLA soldiers encountered was forced to enlist. Those who
refused were either savagely beaten or killed.
Refugee flight, though, was never as thorough as painted by NATO
propaganda, and hundreds of thousands of Albanians remained in Kosovo.
Paramilitary rage swept through portions of the western region, while much
of the remainder of the province was unscathed. Even during the period of
bombing, many thousands of Albanian refugees returned to their homes.
The web of lies spun by the NATO propaganda machine started to unravel
once KFOR entered the province. Claiming that there would be half a
million internally displaced people inside the province, KFOR instead
found only small isolated pockets of refugees. "We planned for what we
thought was a potential disaster...and we just haven't found it," admitted
Lt. General Mike McDuffie. Lurid tales of mass genocide fell apart, as
forensic specialists investigated suspected mass graves. Up to 700 bodies
were said to be hidden in the Trepca lead and zinc mines. Not one body was
found there. About 350 were buried in a mass grave in Ljubenic, the public
was told. A thorough examination of the site found only seven. The leader
of the Spanish forensic team, Emilio Perez Pujo, was told that his team
would go to the "worst zone of Kosovo," and to "prepare ourselves to
perform more than 2,000 autopsies." But, "the result is very different. We
only found 187 cadavers." "There were no mass graves" in his team's area,
he said. "For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been
painted." Faced with increasingly embarrassing questions about the lack of
evidence for NATO's justification for military aggression, The Hague war
crimes tribunal scrambled to release a statement asserting that they had
indeed found 2,108 bodies. Far short of genocide, but certainly more than
individual reports of excavations would indicate. Significantly, the
tribunal neglected to categorize these deaths. We are not told how many
bodies of each nationality were found, how many died from executions, how
many were KLA or Yugoslav soldiers killed in combat, how many died from
NATO bombs, and how many died from natural causes.
NATO claimed that its intervention was necessary to quell the civil war in
Kosovo, while neglecting to reveal its role in creating and escalating the
conflict. A September 24, 1998 report on the Monitor television program on
German ARD Television Network, revealed that the German Federal
Intelligence Service [BND] was engaged in "several illegal arms supplies"
to Albania, in cooperation with the Military Counter Intelligence Service
[MAD], and that "via these channels" military equipment was supplied to
the KLA. An ex-MAD official claimed that orders for the illegal arms
shipments were issued "from the very top." Several monitors from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) patrolling
Kosovo during 1998-99 were CIA officers, revealed The Times on March 12,
2000. Their function was to provide advice and training manuals to the
KLA. The same article reports that Shaban Shala, a KLA commander, met
British, American and Swiss intelligence agents in northern Albanian as
early as 1996. According to Belgrade's Politika Ekspres, "a leak from
well-informed circles in the [secessionist] Democratic League of Kosovo"
disclosed that during a meeting between US envoy Richard Holbrooke and KLA
officers at Junik on June 26, 1998, Holbrooke promised the KLA $10 million
for the purchase of U.S. arms. One week later, Albanian media reported
mysterious flights of U.S. C-130 cargo planes landing at Gjadar airport in
northern Albania, a region under the control of the KLA. None of the
flights were reported to Albanian air traffic controllers, causing alarm
over potential collisions. Paul Beaver, an editor at Jane's Defence Weekly
was told by a Pentagon source, "Even before the air strikes seemed
inevitable, a [Military Professional Resources - MPRI] team was there [in
Kosovo] giving basic military training in tactics to the KLA field
commanders." MPRI is an organization of ex-US military officers that is
contracted by the Pentagon to provide training to foreign armed forces
when it is politically awkward for the U.S. government to be seen as
directly involved. KLA bunkers captured by Yugoslav forces often turned up
sophisticated Western weapons and U.S. food tins and medical packs. The
Fate of the Roma (Gypsy) People in Kosovo
On August 6, we visited Zemun and met with Jovan Damjanovic, president of
the Federal Association of Roma (Gypsy) People in Yugoslavia. A passionate
man, Damjanovic described the horrors visited upon his community by the
KLA following the occupation of the province by KFOR. Once Yugoslav forces
withdrew, there was nothing to restrain the KLA from pursuing its policy
of murdering and driving out every non-Albanian ethnic group, and every
non-secessionist Albanian. Under the protective umbrella of KFOR, the KLA
went on a murderous rampage, killing or expelling virtually everyone who
opposed it and leaving in its wake a trail of burning homes.
Damjanovic told us that the European Union had issued a list of 300
Yugoslav citizens who it banned from travel outside of Yugoslavia. The
United States and several other nations also joined in imposing the travel
restrictions. Individuals whose names are on the list and who have
investments or accounts outside of Yugoslavia had those assets seized.
U.S. intelligence agents visited many of the people on the list, implying
that their names could be removed from the list if they cooperated with
Western attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of
Yugoslavia. There were also hints that uncooperative individuals would
face trumped-up war crimes charges. Right-wing opposition leader Vuk
Draskovic is not on the list, but he also was told he would face war
crimes charges if he did not join the U.S. effort to topple the
government, an assignment he readily accepted. Almost the entire
government of Yugoslavia is on the list, as well as many prominent people
in the society. On December 6, 1999, the list was expanded to 590 names,
and more than two months later, on February 28, an additional 180 names
were added. Looking over the list of names, I recognized several people we
had met, such as Commissioner for Refugees, Displaced Persons and
Humanitarian Aid Bratislava Morina and President of the Vojvodina Assembly
Zivorad Smiljanic. In Smiljanic's case, Western officials supposedly knew
enough about him to add him to the list, but not enough to spell his name
correctly. Only a complete reading of the list can bring a full
understanding of its vindictive nature. Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic's daughter-in-law is on the list. The Minister of Sport,
apparently, also bears guilt, as do the Minister of Tourism and the
Minister of Family Care. Also punished is the owner of a fashion-clothing
store, the owner of a watch company, bankers, family members of a banker,
and the Secretary of the Red Cross. In short, anyone of prominence who has
not lent him or herself to the Western project to impose a puppet
government is treated as a criminal.
On September 17, 1999, Damjanovic issued a statement condemning the KLA's
pogrom against non-Albanians in Kosovo. "This state of affairs calls into
question the justification for the foreign presence," the statement
declared, and "the exodus of Serbs, Montenegrins, and the Romanies
continues on the lines of the Nazi scenario of fifty years ago, while the
world looks on." It was a strong statement, but also a cry from the heart.
Damjanovic's organization faced the daunting task of providing housing and
aid for the mass exodus of the Romany people from Kosovo. His plea did not
go unnoticed in the West. On December 6, he too, was added to the EU's
travel ban list. Now the president of the Roma people in Yugoslavia, too,
is a criminal.
We were driven to a Roma settlement in Zemun Polje, on the outskirts of
Zemun. Romany residents here and in Zemun itself had taken into their
homes over 5,000 refugees. Coping with this influx placed a considerable
strain on the local population. Those who had little still opened their
arms to help their fellow human beings. It said much for the people, and I
was deeply impressed. This was a poor neighborhood, and several of the
homes demonstrated an ingenuity for improvised construction with found
materials that reminded me of a similar resourcefulness found among poor
residents of Bangkok. One home in particular fascinated me, with what
appeared to be a fur-covered roof, and a fur tail waving aloft from a pole
which protruded from the roof. The moment our cars pulled to a stop, a
crowd gathered. We interviewed several Roma and Egyptian refugees; people
who had lost everything. Krasnic Tefiq brought his family here from Obilic
after KLA soldiers came to his house and threatened to kill him and his
family. For two months they had nowhere to sleep until a family here took
them in, but life was still hard. "We have no food," he told us, "We are
starving. We are begging in the streets for food." Puco Rezeza's
experience was similar. His brother was killed by the KLA, and KLA
soldiers threatened to kill him and his family if they did not leave. He
too told us he was starving. We interviewed several more people, but when
emotions flared, Damjanovic decided to cut short the interviews. As our
cars departed, children ran excitedly behind us, enveloped in the dust
kicked up by our cars. We passed two boys standing by the side of the
road, who pumped their fists in the air, and chanted, "Yugoslavia!
Yugoslavia!"
We resumed our interviews in Zemun the next day. We were surrounded and
pressed on all sides by a crowd of refugees, all anxious to tell us their
stories and to hear what others had to say. The heat was sweltering, and
sweat poured down my back. Estrep Ramadanovic, vice president of the Roma
association, told us that 120,000 out of 150,000 Romany people had been
expelled from Kosovo. Ramadanovic himself had taken 20 refugees into his
home. "The KLA soldiers don't want any other ethnic group to be in
Kosovo," he told us, "Only Albanians." Bajrosha Dulaj was angry. "My
daughter, Anesi Akmeti, was raped by KLA soldiers. At night we were
sleeping in our house, and KLA soldiers broke in and dragged my daughter
out and raped her." Her family's only remaining possessions were the
clothes they wore on the day they were driven from Kosovo. "These are the
only clothes I have. I have no food, nowhere to sleep," she said. "Should
I sleep on the street?" The psychological effects of bombing persisted.
"The children awake at night, calling 'Mama, Mama,' and I have nothing to
give to them. They are afraid of airplanes. They can't sleep well. They
can't eat."
Adan Berisha survived KLA torture. He showed us his wife, who was also
tortured by KLA soldiers. It appeared as if acid had been poured on her
face and arm. The KLA killed their 12-year-old son, Idis, as well as
Adan's father and two of his uncles. "A KLA soldier gave us only three
hours to leave our home," Adan said, "or he would kill us." His voice was
filled with anguish as he concluded, "Sorrow. A world of sorrow."
"KLA soldiers took everything, all my furniture from my home," Rakmani
Elis told us, "and then they burned down my house." Rakmani expressed
himself with a passion that swept all before it. "I'm not against the
American people," he exclaimed, "but this decision they made strikes me as
lunatic. The rights of every people, the Serb, the Montenegrin and the
Gypsy, have been annulled. People are going out to kill, but you, as an
army," - referring to KFOR - "just sit there. Did you come here to help or
to watch this circus going on? Events now are making history. It is not
acceptable what the American people are doing to us. If they came to help,
let me see them help. But if they did not come here to help, then
everyone, Serbs and Gypsies, will be stamped out."
KLA solders had dragged Aysha Shatili and her children from her home, and
started removing her furniture. "I called three British KFOR soldiers for
help. They came, but did nothing," she said. Her son was stabbed in the
back when he attempted to stop the KLA soldiers from looting their home.
Her two houses were then burned down. Like most of the refugees, she too
owned only the clothes she wore on the day she was driven from her home.
Five KLA soldiers visited Hasim Berisha, looking for his brother. "They
told me I have just five minutes to produce my brother or they will kill
my entire family." He left immediately and went to his sister's house. His
sister reported the incident to British KFOR headquarters, where they told
her to go wherever she would like to go, just so she won't be killed.
Hasim checked on his house the following day, and saw that it had been
burned down. His brother was caught by the KLA and severely beaten, and he
too was forced to flee the province.
Abdullah Shefik was fleeing from Urosevac in his van when KLA soldiers
stopped him and ordered him to leave his van with them. "American KFOR
soldiers stood nearby when my van was hijacked," he said, "but they did
nothing." All of his belongings were in the van.
Becet Kotesi told us that when British and French KFOR troops entered
Gnjilane, KLA soldiers "attacked Serbian and Roma people. KFOR did nothing
because they were on the other side of town, but the town is not very big,
so they had to know what was happening." Kotesi was in a pharmacy when the
shooting began, and promptly left to ride his bicycle home. "Three hundred
meters behind me was another man riding a bicycle, and KLA soldiers threw
a grenade at him and killed him." Kotesi fled the province because "KLA
soldiers searched for my compatriots, to beat and kill them because many
fought against them as members of the Yugoslav Army."
A Humanist Scholar, Driven from his Home
The Provisional Executive Council, which governed Kosovo up until the
entry of NATO troops, represented every ethnic group in the province. On
August 8 we interviewed Bajram Haliti, one of the Council's members.
Haliti, a Roma, also serves as Secretary for Development of Information on
the Languages of National Minorities. Always well-dressed and dignified,
he was gentle and soft-spoken, and I took an immediate liking to this
scholarly man who described himself as a humanist. Two years before, he
published a book, "The Roma: a People's Terrible Destiny," concerning the
genocide against the Roma people during the Second World War, and he
kindly gave each of us a copy of his book. In his personal library were
over 500 books in several languages from many countries on the subject of
the Roma and the genocide against them. Both of his homes were burned down
by KLA soldiers, including the library that Haliti had spent a lifetime
collecting. "I can't set a price on that library," he told us. At the
beginning of May 1999, Haliti sent an open letter to President Clinton,
protesting the bombing of his country. In the letter, he wrote, "Everyone
who cares for peace supports Yugoslavia, its leadership and people, who
are fighting for freedom, independence and territorial integrity." Calling
for an end to the bombing, his letter pointed out that "only peaceful
means can lead to a just settlement for all national communities which
live in Kosovo and Metohija." The letter made an impression. Haliti was on
the first travel ban list.
Addressing the issue of the rights of the Albanian people in Kosovo,
Haliti mentioned that a Yugoslav delegation arranged 17 meetings with
secessionists prior to NATO's bombardment. "In those negotiations," he
said, "we wanted to offer the Albanian people maximum legal, cultural and
political autonomy," but the secessionist delegation refused to meet with
them. "Every ethnic group was guaranteed all political, cultural and legal
rights," but secessionist Albanians boycotted institutions. "People
outside of Yugoslavia did not know that Albanians refused to exercise
their rights. For example, Albanians boycotted schools in their own
language, and told the world that they can't receive an education in their
own language." There were 65 newspapers in the Albanian language in
Kosovo, he added. "Many of these newspapers advocated secession, to sever
ties. Not one newspaper was forbidden. In America, if a group put out a
newspaper advocating secession and terrorism, would that newspaper be
allowed to publish?"
"Why doesn't NATO challenge [KLA leader] Hasim Thaci? Why don't they bomb
Hasim Thaci," he asked, "as he carries out massive ethnic cleansing? In
Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] now, few Serbs remain, few Roma remain and few
Gorans remain.... The Roma people are in a very hard situation. It is the
same situation Jewish people faced in 1939. At that time, Hitler
persecuted every Jew in his territory. And now we have Hasim Thaci. Now
Roma houses are burned down. Roma are expelled by the KLA."
"The hostility toward Roma people is because we want a normal life
together with other ethnic groups, we oppose division of our country, and
we give our political support to the government."
One of our delegation members, Ken Freeland, a pacifist and anti-war
activist from Houston, was keenly interested in a journal edited by
Haliti, Ahimsa, the title of which was taken from Gandhi's term for
non-violence. "Roma people are a peaceful people," Haliti explained. "The
Roma are a cosmopolitan people. Roma do not have a country. The exodus of
the Roma people has brought them to every country, where they are loyal
citizens who live a normal life. The Roma people have earned the right to
give this name to the journal."
Haliti told us that in a few months "we will have our own radio and
television frequencies, and a station" called Romany National Television,
and that he would be the station's chief editor. I wondered in how many
other countries Romanies held government positions. How many other
countries had a Romany radio and television station, in the Romany
language? Were there any, besides Yugoslavia? NATO propaganda had turned
reality completely on its head, painting the most multiethnic society in
the Balkans, in which every nationality was represented in the Kosovo
government, as nationalist and racist.
Haliti and I shared a passion for music, and following our interview, we
had a very interesting discussion of Roma culture, and the contribution of
the Romany people to the world of music. Haliti told us that flamenco
music originated among Roma people, and also talked of several prominent
Roma musicians, such as jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and flamenco
musician Camaron De La Isla.
Twelve days later, Haliti was again interviewed, this time by Tanjug, the
Yugoslav news agency. "It is useless to talk about the position and the
rights of Romanies, as the UN peace mission is unable to protect any
inhabitants of the province, including ethnic Albanians who do not accept
the terror of their extremist fellows," he declared. KLA leaders "reject
the fundamental democratic and humane principles on which contemporary
civilization rests and without which there can be no peace or stability in
multiethnic communities." It will be a long time before Bajram Haliti's
name is removed from the travel ban "enemies list."
War on Belgrade
One of NATO's innovations was a rather novel form of censorship. On April
23, missiles slammed into Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in downtown
Belgrade, killing 16. The studio, NATO claimed, was a "legitimate military
target" because it broadcast "propaganda," meaning, of course, that it was
reporting the effects of NATO's bombing. RTS Belgrade was passing footage
of destruction to Western media, a practice that evidently had to be
stopped. CNN had a studio there, but was warned of the attack beforehand
and pulled out its equipment and personnel. CNN invited Serbian Minister
of Information Aleksandar Vucic to the studio for a live broadcast
interview. Vucic was asked to arrive for makeup at 2:00 AM sharp on April
23, for an interview scheduled to take place half an hour later. At 2:20,
RTS was no more. Shortly after the attack, RTS employee Sava Andjelkovic
described the scene. "A wall behind me virtually vanished, and then the
entire wing of the building. We heard screams of wounded people." Several
people were trapped in the rubble, and it was some time before all of the
survivors could be rescued. Vucic was more fortunate. His tardiness spared
his life, foiling the attempted assassination.
By the time of our visit, the rubble had been cleared, but the building
still stood with one wing sheared away, the multi-floor building standing
with each floor exposed. Nearby, missing railings and smashed windows at
the Dusko Radovic Children's Theater hinted at greater damage within.
RTS Belgrade was not alone. Radio and television stations and towers
throughout Yugoslavia were targeted. Our host Nikola demonstrated what was
on his television. Only static could be found on state channels. Untouched
were opposition channels, as well as music video and fashion channels, and
always there was access to Western cable. Western media stories about the
so-called "media dictatorship" in Yugoslavia, like all Western media
stories about Yugoslavia, are less believable for those who visit there.
We stopped at the Tanjug Press Center, housed in an aged and
unprepossessing building. As we climbed the stairs, delegation member
Michael Parenti pointed to several steps that were missing chunks of
concrete and quipped, "So this is the well-oiled Milosevic propaganda
machine we hear so much about." Not far away, an opposition-owned
television station, housed in a tall gleaming modern building, towered
above its surroundings. The U.S. and European Union have funnelled
millions of dollars to opposition media in Yugoslavia. One wonders what
the reaction would be in the United States were a hostile foreign
government to fund American media advocating the overthrow of the
government. In Yugoslavia, this media, bought and paid for, operated
freely. Newsstands were everywhere, and perusal revealed that a flood of
opposition newspapers and magazines vastly outnumbered pro-government
publications such as Politika, Borba, and Vecernje Novosti. It presented
an interesting study in semantics. A media dictatorship is where state
television cannot be viewed, but opposition television can; where there
are three pro-government papers and dozens of opposition papers. In the
United States, freedom of the press is lauded. One can pick up any
newspaper in any city with the confident expectation that it will have
essentially the same content as any other newspaper in any other city.
Alternative publications, often tepid and predictable, are marginalized
and often difficult to find, virtually to the point of irrelevance.
NATO's media war against Yugoslavia continues unabated. In place of bombs,
more subtle methods are implemented, outside the perception of the
American public. As state television returns to the air, transmitters
based in neighboring countries jam it. Such stations as Voice of America,
BBC, Radio Free Europe and USA Radio broadcast on Yugoslav state radio and
television frequencies. While we were in Yugoslavia, on August 11, RTS
issued a statement condemning this "media occupation," and pointing out
that these "frequencies were awarded to our country by international
conventions" and that this "violates all international standards in the
sphere of telecommunications." Appeals to international law fell on deaf
ears.
From RTS, a long trolley ride took us to the Belgrade suburb of Rakovica.
There we viewed the 21st of May Industrial Complex, which manufactured
automobile engines, and like many factories throughout Yugoslavia, it lay
in ruins. Now it was merely a mass of twisted wreckage; steel pipes,
girders and concrete jumbled together. The deliberate targeting of
factories was an extension of sanctions, an attempt at economic
strangulation. Over 600,000 people lost their jobs during the period of
bombing, raising the number of unemployed to over two million. About $100
billion damage was inflicted on Yugoslavia, president of the Trade Union
Association Radoslav Ilic announced during the war. "This aggression has
all the characteristics of a dirty war," he said, "in which workers are
the biggest sufferers. Workers and the products of their work have become
military targets, and the international progressive public is too slow in
awakening." Much of the Western progressive public still slumbers.
While in Rakovica, we met a refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina who had
earlier worked in Germany for seven years. He wanted to show us his
child's school, the France Presern elementary school, one of dozens of
schools targeted by NATO. Virtually every window was broken and several
window frames were damaged. The doors were locked, so we were unable to
view interior damage. He told us that the school year would begin in two
weeks, and wondered where his child would go to school.
Kosovo's Other Albanians
Later that afternoon we met with three Albanian refugees from Kosovo. All
three, Faik Jasari, Corin Ismali and Fatmir Seholi, were members of the
Kosovo Democratic Initiative, an Albanian political party that favored a
multiethnic Kosovo within Yugoslavia and opposed the KLA's policy of
secession and racial exclusion. Jasari is president of the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative, as well as a member of the Provisional Executive
Council, which governed Kosovo prior to NATO's occupation of the province.
Jasari said he was forced to flee from his home in Gnjilane on June 18th
because "members of the KLA were showing photos of my family and me to
people, trying to find us. I am now at the top of the list of people the
KLA is looking for." Jasari lost everything. "My wife and I worked for 34
years, and now we have nothing. Nothing." Barry asked him if he was afraid
for his life. "Yes. I am afraid.....If they find me, they will kill me."
He had good reason to be afraid. The KLA had already killed several
hundred pro-Yugoslav Albanians. Many more were beaten and tortured. In
all, Jasari said, the KLA had expelled over 150,000 Albanians from Kosovo,
both before and after the entry of KFOR. He could not stand idly by, and
sent a letter to UN Special Representative for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner,
asking "to visit with him and discuss the situation in Kosovo and with my
party." Predictably, his letter went unanswered. "Where is democracy and
pluralism in Kosovo? I can't go there," he told us. I can't take part in
the political process. Where is democracy?" All of NATO's pretty-sounding
phrases about democracy and human rights, aimed at the Western domestic
audience, rang hollow for him.
When asked about reports of Serbian oppression of Albanians, Jasari
responded firmly, "It is not true. It is not true. I am Albanian and I
have all the same rights as any Serbian."
Corin Ismali, Under-Secretary for National Social Questions in the
Provisional Executive Council, also attempted to meet with Kouchner, and
he too was rebuffed. Ismali was forced from his home by threats from KLA
soldiers, he explained, "because I supported Yugoslavia and I opposed
secession....We want to live with other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. We do
not want to live in a country that has only one ethnic group."
Fatmir Seholi worked in public relations for the Kosovo Democratic
Initiative, and was chief editor at Radio Television Pristina. "I must
point out," he said, "that the Albanian people had more media than did the
Serbian people" in Kosovo. "You could find only one newspaper in the
Serbian language, but you could find about 65 newspapers in the Albanian
language." That one Serbian newspaper was closed down shortly after the
arrival of KFOR in Kosovo. Seholi studied at Pristina University, and
pointed out that Albanian people were able to study in their own language.
"I think that America did not have the right information about Albanian
people in Kosovo, or did not want to get the correct information about the
rights of Albanian people in Kosovo."
The tragedy that befell Seholi's country had disillusioned him. "Until the
NATO bombing, I loved and<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
