compensation for families of victims of 1999 bombing /
ripagare le vittime civili dei bombardamenti nato in serbia?


=== ITALIANO ===

http://www.exju.org/comments/616_0_1_0_C/

[ex-nju] jugonews 19-26 gennaio '04

la jugonotizia in rilievo:

ripagare le vittime civili dei bombardamenti nato in serbia?

il ‘difensore civico’ per il kosovo marek novicky
[http://www.ombudspersonkosovo.org/%5d ha chiesto al segretario generale
della nato, jaap de hoop scheffer, in una lettera spedita il 22 gennaio
che alle famiglie delle vittime dei bombardamenti della nato in kosovo
nel 1999 venga assegnato un risarcimento per i danni morali, perché gli
attacchi sono avvenuti a danno di civili e non militari. nella lettera
viene menzionato l’attacco all’autobus vicino a podujevo
[http://www.sramota.com/nato/savine_vode/%5d e all’edificio della posta a
pristina in cui morirono 47 civili, rammentando che finora tutti i
tentativi dei familiari sono rimasti vani. in precedenza, novicki aveva
inviato la stessa richiesta anche all’ex segretario generale george
robertson, senza ricevere alcuna risposta. “in questo senso desidero
ricevere una risposta ora, perché la nato persiste a negare a queste
persone qualsiasi forma di aiuto” ha detto novicki nella sua lettera
inviata a scheffer.
erp.kim [http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo_jan04/erpkiminfo23jan04b.html%5d


=== ENGLISH ===

Kosovo ombudsman asks NATO alliance to consider possibility of
compensation for families of victims of 1999 bombing

http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo_jan04/erpkiminfo23jan04b.html

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ERP KiM Newsletter 23-01-04b

Kosovo ombudsman asks NATO alliance to consider
possibility of compensation for families of victims of
1999 bombing

In an open letter to new NATO secretary general of
NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Kosovo ombudsman Marek Antoni Nowicki
asks for consideration of the possibility of compensation
for families of victims of the 1999 bombing


ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, January 23, 2004

(Photo: Marek Antoni Nowicki in search of justice for
victims of NATO bombing)

In today's newsletter we include a letter sent on
January 22, 2004 by Kosovo ombudsman Marek Antoni Nowicki
(Poland) to the new NATO secretary general Jap de Hoop Scheffer
regarding several requests by families of victims killed
during the NATO bombing of Kosovo and Metohija in 1999
for monetary compensation and public acknowledgement,
providing moral satisfaction of responsibility for
attacks on objects that were civil, not military, in nature. The
letter cites especially the bombing of a passenger bus in
Luzani (near Podujevo) resulting in the deaths of 47
persons and the injury of many more, and the bombing
of the post office in central Pristina. Nowicki states
that so far all attempts by these persons to obtain compensation
or public acknowledgement from NATO for their losses have
been in vain, as they have met with absolute silence
on the part of NATO.

Nowicki sent the same request earlier to former
secretary general Lord Robertson but never even
received a response to his letter. Mr. Nowicki therefore
stresses in his new letter:

"In this context, I would respectfully ask you to
provide me with a response as to why NATO persists in
its unwillingness to provide these people with some
kind of relief. Such relief includes, but is not limited to
the possibility of compensation. I sincerely hope that you will
give this request more consideration than your
predecessor did."

Mr. Nowicki concludes his letter with the statement
that he considers it his moral duty as Kosovo
ombudsman not to allow the fate of these people to be
forgotten, emphasizing that he looks forward to a positive response
from NATO his letter.

We enclose the letter we received from the Office of the
Ombudsman Mr. Nowicki in its entirety.

---

Marek Antoni Nowicki
Ombudsperson

Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo
Institucioni i ombudspersonit në Kosovë
Institucija ombudspersona na Kosovu

Address: Agim Ramadani Str. (Ex "Kosovodrvo"
building), Pristina KOSOVO
Adresa: Rr. Agim Ramadani (Ish ndërtesa "Kosovodrvo"),
Prishtinë KOSOVA
Adresa: Ul. Agim Ramadani (Bivsa zgrada "Kosovodrvo"),
Pristina KOSOVO
Tel: ++381 (0) 38 501 401, 545 303, 540 447, 548 087,
Fax: ++381 (0) 38 545 302
e-mail: ombudspersonkosovo@...
web site: www.ombudspersonkosovo.org

22 January 2004

Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Secretary General
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Blvd. Leopold III
1110 Brussels
Belgium

E-mail: natodoc@...

Dear Mr. de Hoop Scheffer,

Over the years, following the establishment of the Ombudsperson
Institution in Kosovo in 2000, a great number of residents of
Kosovo have approached me regarding the loss of family
members during the NATO air strikes in 1999. Many of
these cases refer to incidents acknowledged by NATO to
having been mistakes – examples are the bombing of a
passenger bus on a bridge near the village of Lluzane, causing 47 dead
and injuring many more and the bombing of a post office
in central Prishtinë/ Priština.

So far, these persons’ attempts to obtain some sort of compensation or
public acknowledgement from NATO for their losses have
been in vain, as they have met with absolute silence
on the part of NATO. On 21 May 2001, I sent a letter
to your predecessor Lord George Robertson asking him for
some type of recognition in this matter, including the provision of
compensation. Copies of the letter were sent to the
Foreign Ministers of all NATO Member States and to
Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for the
Common Foreign and Security Policy. The letter to Lord Robertson
met with no response. I enclose it in copy for your
information and convenience.

Given the amount of grief caused by these incidents and the fact that
the families of the victims have been waiting for over
four years now to receive an official recognition of
the anguish suffered as a consequence of these tragic
incidents, I consider it important to address this issue
yet again.

In this context, I would respectfully ask you to provide me with a
response as to why NATO persists in its unwillingness to
provide these people with some kind of relief. Such
relief includes, but is not limited to the possibility
of compensation. I sincerely hope that you will give
this request more consideration than your predecessor did.

I am well aware of the fact that I have no formal jurisdiction over
NATO or any of its member states, but I still consider
it as my moral duty as Ombudsperson in Kosovo not to
let the fate of these people be forgotten. The
Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo is still prepared to serve as a
contact point between NATO and the families of the victims,
should this be requested by either side.

I hope for and would appreciate your attention in this matter and look
forward to a positive response, expected and hoped for
by these families and the people of Kosovo,

Yours sincerely,

Marek Antoni Nowicki
Ombudsperson


cc. Harri Holkeri, Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, UNMIK
Holger Kammerhof, KFOR Commander
Foreign Ministers of the NATO Member States

encl. Letter of 21 May 2001 to Lord Robertson,
former Secretary General of NATO

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Reference:

NATO bombing of Serbia, 1999
The White book: Documents, facts, photos
(the original link on the web-site of the former Yugoslav Foreign
Ministry was removed with all material referring to the bombing
campaign. However the materials have been preserved on some other links
and we are enclosing one of them)

Book1:
http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/yugoslavia/milosevic/bela/bela/
index.htm
Book2:
http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/yugoslavia/milosevic/bela/bela2/
NATO_agr.htm

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