Informazione
ZASTITE ZIVOT PREDSEDNIKA MILOSEVICA (8/11/2002)
2. APEL BEOGRADSKOG FORUMA ZA URGENTNO LE?ENJE SLOBODANA MILOSEVI?A
IZVAN ZATVORA (7/11/2002)
3. SUDJENJE SLOBODANU MILOSEVI?U: SAOPSTENJE ZA JAVNOST BEOGRADSKOG
FORUMA (4/11/2002)
=== 1 ===
Subject: SPS za zivot i slobodu predsednika Milosevica
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2002 14:25:29 +0100
From: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
SOCIJALISTICKA PARTIJA SRBIJE
ZAHTEVA OD DRZAVNIH ORGANA I MEDJUNARODNIH INSTITUCIJA
DA ZASTITE ZIVOT PREDSEDNIKA MILOSEVICA
Zivot predsednika Slobodana Milosevica je u opasnosti. To potvrdjuju i
lekari koji su ga pregledali. I sam Tribunal u Hagu priznaje da je
okoncanje procesa ovim dovedeno u pitanje.
Najadekvatniji nacin da se izbegne tragedija je da predsednik
Milosevic odmah zapocne lecenje i oporavak u svojoj zemlji, pod
nadzorom lekara koji dobro poznaju njegovo zdravstveno stanje.
Apelujemo na sve ljude dobre volje - u Srbiji, Jugoslaviji,
jugoslovenskoj dijaspori, Evropi, Americi, u citavom svetu - da daju
podrsku i pridruze se zahtevu za njegovo urgentno lecenje izvan
zatvora, kao i za dalju odbranu sa slobode.
Podsecamo na Rezoluciju Generalne skupstine UN broj 3794, od 18. 12.
1982. godine, koja nalaze doktorima medicine i drugom zdravstvenom
osoblju da licima koja su u pritvoru ili zatvoru "pruze lecenje istog
kvaliteta i u skladu sa istim normama kao i za lica koja nisu u
zatvoru ili pritvoru", kao i na cl. 6. Kodeksa ponasanja lica
odgovornih za primenu zakona koji je donela Generalna skupstina OUN
17. 12. 1979. godine, koji obavezuje sve sudove da vode racuna o
potpunoj zastiti zdravlja ljudi.
Jugoslovenskoj i svetskoj javosti je poznato da Slobodanu Milosevicu u
Seveningenu, nije pruzana zdravstvena zastita u skladu sa tim odlukama
UN, drugim medjunarodnim standardima, niti u Seveningenu postoje
uslovi za to. Naprotiv, uslovi pritvora i nacin rada samog tribunala,
glavni su razlog pogorsanja njegovog zdravstvenog stanja. Svima je
poznato da je predsednik Milosevic namerno zatrpan ogromnom kolicinom
pisanog i drugog materijala tuzilastva, cije citanje i pregled,
prevazilaze mogucnosti ljudskog bica.
To, kao i intenzitet sudjenja i drugih obaveza predsednika Milosevica
u vezi sa postupkom, narusavanje njegovih prava na svakodnevni odmor -
predstavljaju glavne uzroke ubrzanog narusavanja njegovog zdravlja.
"Tribunal" se oglusio o misljenje medicinskih strucnjaka, ostavio
predsednika Milosevica bez ikakvog lekarskog nadzora i cak povecao
trajanje i intenzitet dnevnih obaveza u takozvanom sudjenju.
Jugoslovenske vlasti nisu dosad nista preduzele da se predsedniku
Milosevicu obezbedi fer sudjenje, pomogne njegova odbrana i zastite
njegova ljudska prava, a pre svega pravo na zdravlje i odgovarajucu
lekarsku negu.
Podsecamo vlasti Jugoslavije i Srbije da imaju izricitu ustavnu
obavezu da svojim drzavljanima u inostranstvu pruze odgovarajucu
zastitu kao sto to cine druge drzave stiteci svoje drzavljane i
drzavno dostojanstvo. Pozivamo ih da tu svoju obavezu izvrse prema
Slobodanu Milosevicu, tako sto ce od Saveta bezbednosti u Njujorku,
Komisije za ljudska prava u Zenevi, i od "tribunala" u Hagu zvanicno
zatraziti prekid postupka radi lecenja i oporavka Slobodana Milosevica
u Jugoslaviji, pod nadzorom njegovih licnih lekara, do potpunog
izlecenja i dati odgovarajuce drzavne garancije.
Upucujemo apel Generalnoj skupstini, Savetu bezbednosti i nevladinim
organizacijama u sistemu Ujedinjenih nacija, kao i onima izvan tog
sistema, da podrze ovu humanitarnu inicijativu i na taj nacin
doprinesu zastiti zivota i osnovnih ljudskih prava Slobodana
Milosevica.
Pozivamo sve intelektualce, advokate, naucnike, politicare, umetnike,
javne licnosti i njihova udruzenje iz citavog sveta da podrze ove
humanitarne zahteve.
Dvojica pritvorenika su vec izgubili zivot u Hagu, a jos dvojica su
oslobodjeni prekasno, odnosno, tek kada im, po opstoj oceni, vise nije
bilo spasa. To vise ne sme da se ponovi. Mora se spreciti zlocin pod
okriljem UN.
Polazeci od ljudske i medicinske etike, kao i od osnovnih normi
medjunarodnog humanitarnog prava, Socijalisticka partija Srbije
zahteva od svih odgovornih u zemlji i svetu da ispune svoje obaveze,
zastite ljudski zivot i ne dozvole da budu saucesnici u zlocinu.
Usvajajuci ove stavove, Izvrsni odbor Glavnog odbora SPS usvojio
je i plan konkretnih aktivnosti poslanickih grupa, organa Partije na
svim nivoima i partijskog clanstva, koje, s obzirom na tezinu i
dramaticnost situacije, nece prestajati do konacnog ispunjenja
zahteva.
Beograd, 8. novembra 2002. g.
To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sps.org.yu/ (official SPS website)
http://www.belgrade-forum.org/ (forum for the world of equals)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
icdsm temporary address:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm
for your donations:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/donations.htm
=== 2 ===
www.artel.co.yu
office@...
Datum: 07 novembar 2002
APEL BEOGRADSKOG FORUMA
ZA URGENTNO LE?ENJE SLOBODANA MILOSEVI?A IZVAN ZATVORA
BEOGRADSKI FORUM ZA SVET RAVNOPRAVNIH
07. novembar 2002. godine
Zdravlje G-dina Slobodana Milosevi?a, bivseg jugoslovenskog
predsednika, pogorsalo se poslednjih sedmica do te mere da je njegov
?ivot u opasnosti. Apelujemo na sve ljude dobre volje ' u Srbiji,
Jugoslaviji, jugoslovenskoj dijaspori, Evropi, Americi, u ?itavom
svetu ' da daju podrsku i pridru?e se zahtevu za njegovo urgentno
le?enje izvan zatvora, kao i za odbranu sa slobode.
Zdravlje G-dina Milosevi?a neprekidno se pogorsavalo od njegovog
zatvaranja u pritvorsku jedinicu u Seveningenu, da bi poslednjih
sedmica, po priznanju samog sudijskog ve?a, postalo alarmantno.
Sedmodnevna pauza u sudjenju koja je u toku, ne mo?e resiti ovaj
problem i otkloniti opasnost po ?ivot G-dina MIlosevi?a, osim prekida
procesa i omogu?avanja le?enja izvan zatvora, do potpunog izle?enja.
Podse?amo na Rezoluciju skupstine UN broj 3794, od 18. 12. 1982.
godine, koja nala?e doktorima medicine i drugom zdravstvenom osoblju
da licima koja su u pritvoru ili zatvoru "pru?e le?enje istog
kvaliteta i u skladu sa istim normama kao i za lica koja nisu u
zatvoru ili pritvoru", kao i na ?l. 6 Kodeksa po9nasanja lica
odgovornih za primenu zakona koji je donela Generalna skupstina OUN
17. 12. 1979. godine, koji obavezuje sve sudove da vode ra?una o
potpunoj zastiti zdravlja ljudi.
Jugoslovenskoj i svetskoj javnosti je poznato da Slobodanu Milosevi?u
u Seveningenu nije pru?ana zdravstvena zastita u skladu sa tim
odlukama UN, drugim medjunarodnim standardima, niti u Seveningenu
postoje uslovi za to.
Takodje je poznato da je Milosevi? namerno zatrpan ogromnom koli?inom
pisanog i drugog materijala tu?ilastva, ?ije ?itanje i pregled
prevazilazi mogu?nosti ljudskog bi?a. To, kao i intenzitet sudjenja i
drugih obaveza gospodina Milosevi?a u vezi sa postupkom, narusavanje
njegovih prava na dnevni odmor - predstavljaju dopdatne uzroke
ubrzanog narusavanja njegovog zdravlja.
Zato se obra?amo predsedniku Tribunala G-dinu Klodu ?ordi i
predsedavaju?em sudiji Ri?ardu Meju da prekinu postupak i omogu?e
le?enje Slobodana Milosevi?a izvan zatvora, u skladu sa medjunarodnim
standardima, u odgovaraju?oj zdravstvenoj ustanovi u Jugoslaviji, uz
anga?ovanje njegovih li?nih lekara do potpunog izle?enja.
Jugoslovenske vlasti nisu dosad nista preduzele da se Slobodanu
Milosevi?u obezbedi fer sudjenje, ppomogne njegova odbrana i zastite
njegova ljudska prava, a pre svega pravo na zdravlje i odgovaraju?u
lekarsku negu.
Podse?amo vlasti Jugoslavije i Srbije da imaju izri?itu ustavnu
obavezu da svojim dr?avljanima u inostranstvu pru?e odgovaraju?u
zastitu kao sto to ?ine druge dr?ave stite?i svoje dr?avljane i
dr?avno dostaojanstvo. Pozivamo ih da tu svoju obavezu izvrse prema
Slobodanu Milosevi?u, tako sto ?e od Saveta bezbednosti u Njujorku,
Komisije za ljudska prava u ?enevi, i od Medjunarodnog haskog
tribunala zvani?no zatra?iti prekid postupka radi le?enja Slobodana
Milosevi?a u Jugoslaviji, od strane njegovih li?nih lekara, do
potpunog izle?enja i da ti odgovaraju?e dr?avne garancije.
Upu?ujemo apel Generalnoj skupstini , Savetu bezbednosti i nevladinim
organizacijama u sistemu Ujedinjenih nacija, kao i onima izvan tog
sistema, da podr?e ovu humanitarnu inicijativu i na taj na?in
doprinesu zastiti osnovnih ljudskih prava Slobodana Milosevi?a.
Pozivamo sve intelektualce, advokate, nau?nike, politi?are, umetnike,
javne li?nosti i njihova udru?enja iz ?itavog sveta da podr?e ove
humanitarne zahteve.
Bilo je dosta tragi?nih slu?ajeva Srba zatvorenih u Seveningenu da bi
se nebrigom odgovornih i ?utanjem ljudi dobre volje - dopustili novi,
pod znamenjem UN.
=== 3 ===
www.artel.co.yu
office@...
Datum: 06 novembar 2002
SUDJENJE SLOBODANU MILOSEVI?U: SAOPSTENJE ZA
JAVNOST BEOGRADSKOG FORUMA (4)
BEOGRADSKI FORUM ZA SVET RAVNOPRAVNIH
U Beogradu, 4. novembar 2002. godine
Beogradski forum za svet ravnopravnih (Forum)
izra?ava svoju najdublju zabrinutost zbog
prihvatanja svedo?enja iz druge ruke na sudjenju g.
Slobodanu Milosevi?u pred Medjunarodnim krivi?nim
tribunalom za bivsu Jugoslaviju (ICTY). Ovo pitanje
je ponovo isplivalo na povrsinu na po?etku procesa
za Hrvatsku i Bosnu, kada je Predsedavaju?i sudija
Mej objavio da ?e ovakva svedo?enja biti prihva?ena.
On je takodje naveo da su takva svedo?enja
"prihvatljiva u gradjansko-pravnim (kontinentalnim)
pravnim sistemima". Forum odlu?no protestuje protiv
ovakvih pravno neodr?ivih koncepcija i ose?a se
obaveznim da ospori ovakav stav sudije Meja.
U modernim kontinentalnim pravnim sistemima svedok
je definisan kao neko ko ima NEPOSREDNO opa?anje
dogadjaja koji je video ili na drugi na?in LI?NO
do?iveo. U jugoslovenskom krivi?nom procesnom pravu
ni jedan optu?eni ne mo?e biti osudjen za krivi?no
delo na osnovu svedo?enja svedoka koji bi izjavio da
je o tom delu ?uo iz medija ili od nekog drugog
lica. Ni jedan jugoslovenski krivi?ni sud ne bi
dozvolio tu?ilastvu da takvog svedoka izvede da
svedo?i, jer bi to bilo bespredmetno. Drugim re?ima,
jugoslovensko krivi?no procesno pravo ne poznaje
praksu po kojoj bi neko bio osudjen za, recimo,
krivi?no delo ubistva na osnovu svedo?enja svedoka
koji bi izjavio da je za to delo ?uo sa televizije,
od nekoga drugog ili da je o njemu ?itao u novinama.
Tvrdimo da takvu praksu ne poznaju ni ameri?ki ni
britanski precedentni pravni sistemi.
Ovo pitanje je ponovo zaostreno sa pojavom novinara
u ulozi svedoka koji su svedo?ili o svojim
intervjuima sa odredjenim licima (kao g.
Anastasijevi?, na primer). Osnovni problem ovde je:
na koji na?in g. Milosevi? mo?e tokom unakrsnog
ispitivanja utvrditi da li je novinar - svedok ta?no
preneo re?i onoga koga je intervjuisao? Odgovor je:
ni na koji na?in. Stoga Forum smatra da su ovakva
svedo?enja nista drugo do svedo?enja iz druge ruke
(rekla-kazala) najviseg ranga. Tokom svedo?enja g.
Erika Bakarda, eksperta za sudsku medicinu, sudija
Mej je prihvatio njegov stav da test parafinske
rukavice predstavlja zastarelu forenzi?ku tehniku
(?ak i u slu?aju kada 37 testiranih u?esnika istog
dogadjaja testira pozitivno). U skladu s tim, Forum
o?ekuje od sudije Meja i poziva Tribunal da takodje,
prihvati moderne standarde i u oblasti svedo?enja iz
druge ruke i ovakvu vrstu svedo?enja (rekla-kazala)
proglasi neprihvatljivom. Forum je takodje zabrinut
zbog do sada nedovoljno definisanog prava g.
Milosevi?a da ponovo ispituje svedoke nakon sto ih
je tu?ilastvo izlo?ilo dodatnom unakrsnom
ispitivanju. Do sada ovo pravo je sudija Mej g.
Milosevi?u dodeljivao arbitrarno. Ve?e kona?no mora
odrediti kada i do koje mere g. Milosevi? mo?e
koristiti ovo pravo.
Forum tako|e isti?e ?iwenicu da u ovoj novoj fazi
postupka Kancelarija tu?ilastva pose?e za totalno
neprihvatljivom praksom koja se sastoji od
podnosenja pisanih izjava svedoka koje se kasnije,
prilikom njihovog usmenog svedo?enja, poka?u kao -
neta?ne. Sada nije vise nista novo da svedoci pred
Ve?em izjave da uopste nisu izjavili ono sto stoji u
"njihovim" pisanim izjavama (svedoci Samard?i?,
Lazarevi? itd.). "Ovakva praksa tu?ilastva se
grani?i sa krivokletstvom", izjavila je gdja
Ljiljana Smajlovi?, dopisnik NIN-a iz Haga. Forum
isti?e da je odista za najdublju zabrinutost to sto
sudsko Ve?e do sada nije osetilo potrebu da opomene
ili ukori tu?ilastvo zbog ovog blatantnog krsewa
prava na posteno sudjenje g. Milosevi?a.
Forum takodje bele?i izjavu sudije Meja koja se ti?e
odgovornosti za razbijanje bivse Jugoslavije. "To je
pitanje o kome ?e Ve?e morati da odlu?i", saopstio
je sudija Mej za vreme svedo?enja Stjepana Mesi?a,
hrvatskog Predsednika. Forum smatra da je pitanje
odgovornosti za razbijanje SFRJ nesto o ?emu sudsko
Ve?e, niti Tribunal, nisu nadle?ni da odlu?uju. To
pitanje nije predmet sudjenja g. Milosevi?u. Ali ?ak
i da jeste, sudija Mej je dobio odgovor o
odgovornosti od samog g. Mesi?a i to 10. oktobra.
Prilikom optu?ivanja g. Milosevi?a za razbijanje
SFRJ prakti?no za sve, g. Mesi? je izjavio pred
Ve?em " da su on i g Ku?an bili za labavu
konfederaciju, dok je on, g. Milosevi?, bio za
?vrstu jugoslovensku federaciju. U takvoj situaciji,
mi (Hrvatska i Slovenija) smo odlu?ili da odemo, da
se odvojimo". Ova izjava g. Mesi?a je potpuno jasna.
Medjutim, ono sto Forumu nije jasno je slede?e: kako
neko ko je bio za ?vrstu jugoslovensku federaciju
istovremeno mo?e biti odgovoran za njen raspad!?
Pozivamo sudsko Ve?e da ponovo pro?ita zapisnik
sudjenja od 10. oktobra i najzad shvati istinu za
sebe.
Na kraju, Forum zapa?a izra?enu zabrinutostkoju je
Ve?e izrazilo 1. novembra povodom okon?anja
sudjenja, kao i za stanje zdravlja g. Milosevi?a.
Imaju?i u vidu da se on sam brani, da je prosto
zatrpan ogromnom koli?inom dokumenata kojima ga
zasipa tu?ilastvo, kao da je i stanje njegovog
zdravlja daleko od zadovoljavaju?eg, pozivamo sudsko
Ve?e da napravi presedan i po slu?benoj du?nosti
donese odluku o privremenom pustanju g Milosevi?a i
njegovoj odbrani sa slobode. Jedino takva odluka i
odbrana sa haske adrese mo?e sa?uvati zdravlje g.
Milosevi?a. Isto tako, jedino takvom odlukom se mo?e
obezbediti jednakost strana (tj.oru?ja) u postupku,
a ta ravnopravnost izmedju tu?ilastva i g.
Milosevi?a je trenutno - nepostoje?a. Briga o
bezbednosti g. Milosevi?a (spre?avanje eventualnih
napada na njegovu li?nost) koji bi se eventualnom
sudskom odlukom branio sa haske adrese ne mo?e imati
ve?u te?inu od brige za njegovo zdravlje. Ovo sudsko
ve?e mora imati u vidu.
BEOGRADSKI FORUM ZA SVET RAVNOPRAVNIH
11000 Beograd, Misarska 6/II, Jugoslavija
Tel./Fax: (++381 11) 3245601
E-Mail: info@...
www.belgrade-forum.org
environmental effects - with implications for Iraq, study says
[ In base ad uno studio, il bombardamento delle fabbriche jugoslave da
parte della NATO puo' avere effetti sulla salute e sull'ambiente. Le
implicazioni per l'Iraq ]
(Environmental News Network, 5/11/2002)
2. Yugoslavia Bombs May Harm Environment
[ Le bombe sulla Jugoslavia possono danneggiare l'ambiente ]
(AP 5/11/2002)
3. Ancora senza esito l'esposto della Uil Puglia sui militari italiani
impegnati nell'ex Jugoslavia
(Barisera 1 giugno 2002)
Altri articoli d'archivio sul DU sul sito dell' OSSERVATORIO MONOPOLI
4. Depleted Uranium: UN addresses issue
[ Uranio impoverito: l'ONU considera il problema ]
UNEP Team Terminates DU Inspection of Bosnia
[ Il team UNEP conclude le ispezioni sul D.U. in Bosnia ]
(PRAVDA.Ru 7/11/2002, 23/10/2002)
5. URAN-MUNITION GEFUNDEN
[ Trovate munizioni all'Uranio impoverito ]
(B92/SRNA 2/11/2002)
=== 1 ===
http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/11/11052002/ap_48881.asp
Environmental News Network
NATO bombing of Yugoslav factories may have health and
environmental effects - with implications for Iraq,
study says
Tuesday, November 05, 2002
By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS - The bombing of factories during the
1999 NATO air campaign in Yugoslavia may have
long-term environmental and health effects, a new
environmental report says, raising questions about
targets in possible future conflicts such as Iraq.
The report, obtained Monday by the Associated Press,
warns that precision bombing of industrial facilities
can lead to contamination that is very difficult to
clean up and may violate international humanitarian
law.
Civilians living near the targets may also be exposed
to greater health risks from contamination of the air,
water, and food products, said the report by the
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, a
nonprofit organization based near Washington that
investigates scientific issues.
"Precision targeting may be intended to minimize
civilian damage, but the choice of targets may still
violate the international laws of war, including the
Geneva Conventions," said Nicole Deller, a lawyer and
co-author of the study. "The deliberate targeting of
industrial facilities that hold little military value
yet can cause severe health and environmental damage
appear to violate these laws."
The study noted that "precision weapons have been used
in Afghanistan and are likely to be a major part of
the military strategy in any proposed war with Iraq if
it is carried out."
The institute expressed hope that legal, health, and
environmental issues raised by the study will be
applied to other armed conflicts. It said these issues
"should not be dismissed out of hand because countries
are ruled by ruthless dictators."
The institute studied the NATO bombings of the Zastava
car factory in Kragujevac, some 100 kilometers (60
miles) south of Belgrade, and a petrochemical plant, a
fertilizer plant, and an oil refinery in Pancevo,
about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of the
capital. The two sites were designated as
environmental "hot spots" by the U.N. Environment
Program Balkans Task Force as a result of the
bombings.
"There is no doubt that the bombings released large
quantities of contaminants such as mercury, but it is
impossible to precisely determine their effects
because of lack of data about pre-conflict pollution
levels," said Sriram Gopal, a scientist at the
institute who was the report's main author.
In Pancevo, the bombings resulted in major releases of
the toxic chemicals dichloroethane and mercury,
pollution created by bomb-related fires, and other
environmental damage, the report said. In Kragujevac,
bombed transformer stations at the car factory leaked
toxic PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls, which have
been linked to some cancers.
The institute said its investigation was hampered
because the U.S. Department of Defense rejected its
Freedom of Information Act request for the targeting
criteria used during the bombings, handing over 42
blank pages that were marked declassified. An analysis
of the Yugoslav bombing campaign carried out this year
by the U.S. General Accounting Office, the
investigative arm of Congress, also remains
classified, it said.
Despite these setbacks and the incomplete data, the
institute said the report shows the need to redefine
how targets are chosen and how collateral damage
caused by a bombing attack is evaluated. "Currently
collateral damage is measured in terms such as the
number of civilian casualties or the cost of replacing
property," Gopal said. "Long-term harm to the
environment can be much more difficult to quantify and
evaluate, despite its very significant costs."
In the case of the two Yugoslav sites, the study said,
the PCBs and mercury and some of the other pollutants
last for generations in the environment and can have
long-term effects on the health of civilians living
nearby.
"As modern warfare becomes more technologically
sophisticated and targeting more precise, it is
essential not to succumb to the idea that the damage
on the ground is also precise and limited," the
institute said. "As this study indicates, the health
and environmental consequences of precision bombing
can affect unborn generations far into the future,
even when the bombs are entirely successful in finding
their targets."
=== 2 ===
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021105/ap_on_re_eu/un_p=
recision_bombing_2
Yugoslavia Bombs May Harm Environment
Tue Nov 5, 5:18 PM ET
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The bombing of factories during the 1999 NATO
air campaign in Yugoslavia may have long-term effects on health,
raising questions about targets in possible future conflicts such as
Iraq, according to a new report by an environmental group.
Precision bombing of industrial plants can lead to contamination that
is difficult to remove and may violate international humanitarian law,
the report found.
Civilians living near the targets may also be exposed to greater
health risks from contamination of the air, water, and food, said the
report released this week by the Institute for Energy and
Environmental Research, a research organization based in Takoma Park,
Md.
Maj. Robert Ditchey, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command, said
Tuesday he could not comment on the report because the military had
not seen it. Ditchey referred questions to NATO, where a spokesman did
not return telephone messages Tuesday.
The study noted that "precision weapons have been used in Afghanistan
and are likely to be a major part of the military strategy in any
proposed war with Iraq."
It called on countries to consider the legal, health and environmental
issues raised by attacking industrial targets and the collateral
damage caused by bombing.
These issues "should not be dismissed out of hand because countries
are ruled by ruthless dictators," the study said.
"Currently collateral damage is measured in terms such as the number
of civilian casualties or the cost of replacing property," said Sriram
Gopal, the report's main author. "Long-term harm to the environment
can be much more difficult to quantify and evaluate, despite its very
significant costs."
Co-author Nicole Deller, a lawyer, said that "precision targeting may
be intended to minimize civilian damage, but the choice of targets may
still violate the international laws of war, including the Geneva
Conventions."
"The deliberate targeting of industrial facilities that hold little
military value yet can cause severe health and environmental damage
appear to violate these laws," she said.
The institute studied the NATO bombing of an industrial complex in
Pancevo which resulted in releases of the toxic chemicals
dichloroethane and mercury. It also studied the bombing of the Zastava
car factory in Kragujevac, 60 miles south of Belgrade, where a
transformer station leaked toxic PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls -
which have been linked to some cancers.
Gopal said it was impossible to precisely determine the effects of the
bombings because of a lack of data pollution in the area before the
conflict.
The institute said its investigation was hampered because the
Department of Defense rejected its Freedom of Information Act request
for targeting criteria used during the Yugoslav bombings. An analysis
of the Yugoslav bombing campaign by the General Accounting Office also
remains classified, it said.
=== 3 ===
http://www.osservatoriomonopoli.it/Curiosit%c3%a0/Curiosit%c3%a0_080602_uranio.htm
Ancora senza esito l'esposto della Uil Puglia sui militari italiani
impegnati nell'ex Jugoslavia
Uranio impoverito e dimenticato
Barisera 1 giugno 2002
La notizia secondo cui 200 militari italiani impegnati negli anni
scorsi in missioni nella ex Jugoslavia (e venuti a contatto con il
famigerato uranio impoverito contenuto negli ordigni Nato), siano
ammalati di tumore, riporta di attualità una vicenda che le autorità
istituzionali della Puglia hanno purtroppo sottovalutato.
Preoccupazione è stata espressa dalla Uil di Puglia che ha presentato
già a gennaio del 2000 un esposto alla Procura della Repubblica del
Tribunale di Bari, chiedendo che il Ministero della Difesa rispondesse
di lesioni personali e omicidio colposo in merito alla morte di alcuni
militari italiani che avevano prestato servizio per le missioni in
Bosnia ed in Kosovo e che sarebbero venuti a contatto con il micidiale
uranio impoverito.
"E' un esposto di cui ad oggi non si ha ancora alcuna risposta - dice
il segretario generale, Aldo Pugliese - eppure non soltanto si sono
registrate morti sospette tra i soldati di altri eserciti che hanno
prestato servizio nei Balcani, ma si registra anche la nascita di
sette bambini con malformazioni, figli di altrettanti militari
italiani di stanza in quella zona".
Nell'esposto è stata riportata la tesi del prof. Sandro Degetto,
dell'Istituto di Chimica e delle tecnologie inorganiche e dei
materiali avanzati, del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche di Padova,
secondo la quale "ci sono rischi per l'organismo umano, in particolare
per il rene, con effetti sui tessuti che possono provocare gravi casi
di insufficienza renale nonché la comparsa di proteine nelle urine".
Per la Uil, che ha dato incarico di procedere all'avv. Nicola
Putignano, esisteva, ed esiste, il pericolo che si aprissero scenari
delicatissimi per la salute pubblica e per la Puglia.
La Uil ha lanciato un appello alla Regione Puglia perché si attivi
sulla vicenda, anche in considerazione del fatto che durante la guerra
in Kosovo dalle basi pugliesi di Amendola e Gioia del Colle partivano
i jet della Nato su cui venivano caricate le bombe ad uranio
impoverito.
Non solo. "C'é la questione della bonifica del mare Adriatico -
puntualizza Pugliese - nel quale i velivoli hanno scaricato centinaia,
forse migliaia, di ordigni inesplosi che giacciono ancora sul fondo.
E' stata promessa una bonifica che non è mai stata attuata. L'erosione
del mare potrebbe provocare fuoriuscita di materiale che inquinerebbe
il mare stesso, con grave e conseguente danno per la salute di tutti,
visto che il pesce pescato in Adriatico è quello che finisce sulle
nostre tavole".
GLI ALTRI ARTICOLI SUL D.U. SUL SITO DELL'OSSERVATORIO MONOPOLI:
http://www.osservatoriomonopoli.it/Curiosit%c3%a0.htm
Il poligono della paura
In principio fu la sindrome del Golfo, con migliaia di veterani
statunitensi che rientravano dall'Iraq e si ammalavano. Poi vennero la
Somalia, la Bosnia, il Kosovo. E l'uranio impoverito cominciò a
spaventare anche i soldati italiani, inviati in missione di pace senza
sapere che il vero nemico poteva essere l'aria che respiravano. -
Panorama maggio 2002 - Francesca Folda
«Uranio, sono malati sette figli di soldati»
Denuncia a Rainews 24: i militari italiani erano stati in Bosnia e
Somalia Colpiti da leucemie e malformazioni neurologiche. Chiesto
l'intervento del ministro Martino - Corriere della sera 27 aprile
2002
Al sito: http://www.osservatoriomonopoli.it/Curiosit%c3%a0.htm
=== 4 ===
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/11/07/39269.html
PRAVDA (RUSSIA)
16:49 2002-11-07
Depleted Uranium: UN addresses issue
In a message to the international community on the occasion of the
International day for Preventing the Exp+loitation of the Environment
in War and Armed Conflict, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
specifically referred to Depleted Uranium yesterday, stating that it
was damaging to the environment.
It will be remembered that US military aircraft deployed tonnes of
weapons coated or tipped with depleted uranium in southern Iraq and in
Yugoslavia during conflicts in the 1990s. Systematic claims by the
Iraqi Health Authorities, published in Pravda.Ru, were scorned or
ignored and constant complaints by the Yugoslav authorities concerning
alarmingly high clusters of cancerous diseases among civilians living
near areas in which DU weaponry was deployed, were investigated - but
met with systematic denial by the Pentagon and by NATO.
In his speech, Kofi Annan stated that "While environmental damage is a
common consequence of war, it should never be a deliberate
aim.although international conventions govern nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons, new technologies, such as depleted uranium
ammunition, threaten the environment".
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/23/38596.html
20:06 2002-10-23
UNEP Team Terminates DU Inspection of Bosnia
UNEP terminates its inspection of sites suspected of being targeted by
Depleted uranium military ordnance during the conflict in
Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s, according to UNEP sources.
Samples of water, soil, vegetation and air have been taken from six
sites identified by NATO as possibly having been targeted with DU,
while six other sites denounced by local residents as being
radioactive have also been inspected.
WHO experts are analysing data on increased rates of cancer in cluster
areas around where DU ordnance was supposedly deployed, namely in
Sarajevo and Banya Luka.
Pekka Haavisto, Chairman of the Depleted Uranium Assessment Team of
UNEP, stated that the purpose of the visit was to assess whether or
not DU ordnance posed a health risk to the local population "either
now or in the future".
Previous studies conducted in Kosovo and Southern Serbia led to
recommendations by UNEP that local populations should take
precautionary action "to avoid contact with the substance", described
by WHO sources as having "significant chemical toxicity".
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
=== 5 ===
TROVATI ALMENO 150 PROIETTILI AL DU DURANTE RICERCHE NEI PRESSI DI
BUJANOVAC
Balkan-Telegramm, 02. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
+++ URAN-MUNITION GEFUNDEN
BUJANOVAC. Im Dorf Bratoselce, Landkreis Bujanovac im Süden
Serbiens, wurden von Experten des Instituts für Nuklearphysik mehr
als 150 Projektile mit angereichertem Uran, welche während der
NATO-Aggression auf die BR Jugoslawien von der NATO benutzt
wurden, gefunden. NATO-Angaben zufolge, haben die Bomber der
nordatlantischen Allianz im Frühjahr 1999 1200 solcher Projektile
abgeworfen. B92 / SRNA +++
Gli studenti della facolta' di legge di Belgrado hanno impedito per
alcune ore al ministro della pubblica istruzione Gaso Knezevic di
abbandonare l'edificio della facolta', allo scopo di ottenere da lui
la promessa di una riduzione delle tasse di iscrizione universitarie.
Queste ultime a partire dalla fine del 2000 - dopo l'insediamento del
nuovo regime iper-liberista - hanno raggiunto cifre inaudite,
dell'ordine delle centinaia di euro, assolutamente proibitive per le
famiglie serbe.
Il movimento degli studenti di Belgrado viene oggi ignorato dalla
"sinistra" italiana, che attraverso i suoi organi di stampa ha
appoggiato la "svolta" filo-occidentale dell'ottobre 2000 in Serbia ed
e' ora costretta a tacere omertosamente sulle attuali condizioni di
vita in quel paese.
(A cura di I.S., fonte: ANSA 08/11/2002 - http://www.ansa.it/balcani)
https://www.cnj.it/sh/inicijative.htm
ili
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/sh_16_11.html
Questo testo in FORMATO HTML:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/vola_16_11.html
Questo testo in FORMATO WORD (volantino):
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/vola_16_11.doc
--- CONVEGNO ---
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia
Italijanska Koordinacija za Jugoslaviju
Trieste 16 novembre 2002 ore 10.30
(Trattoria sociale di Contovello-Trieste, Contovello 152)
Convegno
Sulle macerie del Muro di Berlino parlavano di pace e di progresso.
In tutti questi anni abbiamo visto invece solamente un crescendo di
guerre e di miserie: dall'Iraq all'Afghanistan alla Palestina, per
ritornare di nuovo all'Iraq
... PASSANDO SEMPRE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA...
In Jugoslavia, al centro dell'Europa, l'aggressione e' stata
inininterrotta e la spoliazione procede oggi a gonfie vele. Quale e'
la vera situazione economica e sociale sul terreno, al di la' della
disinformazione o dell'omerta' dei mass-media? Come far procedere le
tante iniziative di solidarieta' verso la popolazione bombardata?
Interventi programmati:
* Igor Canciani (PRC Trieste): Introduzione al convegno
* Andrea Catone (CNJ / Most za Beograd, Bari): "Imperialismo e
guerre: l'aggressione alla RFJ"
* Gordana Pavlovic (Ass. Decja Istina, Belgrado): "La situazione
sociale nella RFJ due anni dopo il 5-10-2000"
* Vladimir Kapuralin (Partito Socialista Operaio, Pola): "La
situazione economica e sociale nelle repubbliche ex-jugoslave oggi. Il
caso croato"
* Lino Anelli (CGIL Lombardia): "Il caso Zastava"
* Fabio Sebastiani (Liberazione, Roma): "Le iniziative di
solidarieta'"
* Renato Kneipp (CGIL Trieste): "L'immigrazione jugoslava a Trieste"
* Ivan Pavicevac (CNJ / "Voce Jugoslava" su Radio Citta' Aperta,
Roma): "La disinformazione di guerra: il caso jugoslavo"
Presiede: Gilberto Vlaic (CNJ / ZASTAVA Trieste)
Organizzano:
Coordinamento Nazionale per Jugoslavia, Gruppo ZASTAVA Trieste
Partecipa:
PRC - Federazione di Trieste
L'iniziativa durera' tutta la giornata.
C'e' la possibilita' di pranzare in loco a prezzi modici (si prega di
prenotare al numero: 040-225168)
Per ulteriori informazioni:
338-9116688 - 339-6587490 - <jugocoord@l...>
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia - https://www.cnj.it/
Gruppo ZASTAVA Trieste - http://digilander.libero.it/zastavatrieste/
--- INFORMAZIONI LOGISTICHE ---
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia
Italijanska Koordinacija za Jugoslaviju
Trieste 16 novembre 2002 ore 10.30
(Trattoria sociale di Contovello-Trieste, Contovello 152)
Convegno: "... PASSANDO SEMPRE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA..."
INFORMAZIONI LOGISTICHE
Per chi arriva in macchina:
Dall'autostrada, passato il casello di Monfalcone, si percorrono altri
6-7 Km circa di superstrada verso Trieste. Si esce allo svincolo di
Sgonico.
Prendere a sinistra in direzione Trieste; dopo un chilometro circa si
entra a Prosecco; in centro paese girare a destra per Trieste e dopo
500 metri si e' a Contovello, di fronte alla Trattoria Sociale /
Drustvena Gostilna di Contovello / Kontovel. Chiunque sia del posto sa
indicarla.
Per chi viene da Fernetti: uscire a Prosecco e seguire le indicazioni
Prosecco/Contovello, poi come sopra.
Per chi arriva in treno:
Gli autobus urbani per arrivare a Contovello sono il 42 e il 44 con
capolinea in piazza Oberdan, a circa 300 metri dalla stazione
ferroviaria. Il tragitto dura circa 15 minuti. Chiedere all'autista di
scendere alla Trattoria Sociale di Contovello.
Partenze autobus n. 42 da Piazza Oberdan:
8.25 8.40 9.05 9.50 10.30 11.10 11.50
Partenze autobus n. 44 da Piazza Oberdan:
8.45 9.25 10.05 10.45 11.25
Per chi dovesse pernottare:
Di seguito riportiamo la lista delle pensioni economiche con qualche
disponibilita' di posti per la notte del 15 e/o per la notte del 16;
chi dovesse prenotare deve farlo con urgenza. Le pensioni sono tutte
vicinissime alla stazione e a Piazza Oberdan.
Nuovo Albergo Centro
Via Roma 11, tel. 040-3478790
(solo camere doppie: 42 euro senza bagno, 62 con bagno)
Rittmeyer
Via de Rittmeyer 2, tel. 040-762233
(24 euro singola senza bagno, 40 doppia senza bagno, 55 doppia con
bagno)
Affittacamere
Via Roma 13, tel. 040-636249
(26 euro singola senza bagno, 40 doppia senza bagno)
C'e' poi l'Ostello della Gioventu', a circa mezzora di autobus dalla
Stazione Centrale. Attenzione! L'Ostello chiude alle 23:30, l'ultimo
autobus che lo collega alla citta' termina il servizio attorno alle
21:00.
Ostello Tergeste
Viale Miramare 331, tel. 040-567722.
Costo 12 euro + 5.5 euro (tessera)
La creazione della nuova "Unione di Serbia e Montenegro", imposta dalla
politica secessionista di Djukanovic e dalle pressioni internazionali
che mirano a cancellare la "Jugoslavia" dalla cartine geografiche,
costera' subito alle casse dei due stati 845 milioni di euro.
E' quanto e' stato previsto dai ministri delle finanze di Belgrado e
Podgorica/Titograd, Bozidar Djelic e Miroslav Ivanisevic. I due
annunciano che solo 3.000 degli attuali 10.400 impiegati della
federazione manterranno il posto di lavoro: 4.000 verranno ricollocati
nelle "nuove" amministrazioni, gli altri saranno sbattuti immediatamente
per strada.
Considerato pero' che lo status di "Unione" sara' solo transitorio (tre
anni, dopodiche' Djukanovic sara' libero di spaccare definitivamente
cio' che resta del paese), anche le sorti dei 7000 "fortunati"
resteranno a dir poco incerte.
(Fonte ANSA, 8/11/2002:
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021108112232380071.html )
Fintantoche' non passa la nuova Costituzione - che sancisce la
cancellazione della "Jugoslavia" dalle cartine geografiche e prevede una
transitoria "Unione di Serbia e Montenegro" - il Consiglio d'Europa e le
altre istituzioni euro-atlantiche continueranno ad emarginare il paese.
Se viceversa la nuova Costituzione viene approvata, il Kosovo secede.
Il "governatore coloniale" UNMIK per il Kosovo, Michael Steiner, rincara
ambiguamente: "Lo status del Kosovo e' questione aperta" ("open
issue"),
ed ancora: "Confido nel fatto che I'Unione Europea condivida il punto di
vista per cui quello che e' scritto nel progetto [costituzionale - che
prevede che il Kosovo resti provincia della Serbia e dunque parte
integrante dello Stato -] non possa in alcun modo determinare il futuro
del Kosovo, che alla fine sara' deciso dal Consiglio di Sicurezza
dell'ONU."
2. UN Security Council: Progress in Kosovo 'slow-going' / Cutileiro
"dissatisfied"
Notizie e prese di posizione di fonte ONU sulla vergognosa situazione
nel Kosmet.
3. CILIEGINA: Ma intanto i debiti del Kosovo li paga sempre la
Jugoslavia...
=== 1 ===
KOSOVO: LA RF DI JUGOSLAVIA PRESA IN TRAPPOLA
Selezione di articoli
===
KOSOVO: PARLAMENTO CONTRO COSTITUZIONE SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 7 NOV - Il Parlamento del Kosovo si e' opposto oggi
apertamente al progetto costituzionale dell'Unione serbo-montenegrina
secondo il quale la provincia a maggioranza albanese resta parte della
Repubblica serba. ''L'assemblea dichiara che la definizione
costituzionale legata al Kosovo e' inaccettabile e non valida'', si
legge in una risoluzione approvata da tutti i deputati albanesi e delle
altre minoranze, tranne i rappresentanti serbi, che hanno abbandonato
l'aula. Nella stessa risoluzione si afferma che ''lo status finale del
Kosovo sara' determinato in un altro momento dalle istituzioni
democratiche e dal popolo del Kosovo, in collaborazione con il fattore
internazionale'' [sic]. Il Parlamento del Kosovo si e' rivolto al
Consiglio di Sicurezza dell'Onu e all'Unione europea perche' si
oppongano ''ai tentativi della Serbia e del Montenegro di condizionare
il futuro del Kosovo e la sua annessione, rischiando di compromettere la
pace e la stabilita' nella regione''.
Attualmente lo status del Kosovo viene regolato dalla risoluzione 1244
del Consiglio di Sicurezza dell'Onu, che prevede la presenza di
un'amministrazione civile internazionale e le unita' della Kfor (Forza
di pace a guida Nato) che garantiscono l'ordine e la sicurezza. La
stessa risoluzione continua a considerare il Kosovo come parte della
Federazione jugoslava che si trasformera' nell'unione
serbo-montenegrina.
L'amministratore Onu del Kosovo Michael Steiner aveva dichiarato ieri
che ''il progetto costituzionale tra Serbia e Montenegro non puo' essere
applicato in Kosovo, qualora dovesse essere approvata''. (ANSA). BLL
07/11/2002 18:16
===
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021105/ap_wo_en_po/eu_kosovo_3
Kosovo PM warns of independence drive if Serb constitution plan wins
international backing
Tue Nov 5, 5:18 PM ET
By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Kosovo's prime minister warned the province could
declare independence if the international community backs proposals to
include it as part of Serbia under the constitution of a new union of
Serbia and Montenegro.
Bajram Rexhepi was responding Tuesday to lawmakers and legal experts in
Serbia and Montenegro who are drawing up a draft constitution for the
new union and want to include a preamble stating that Kosovo remains
part of Serbia.
"We do believe the (European Union) will not accept this kind of
preamble," Rexhepi told a news conference. "If accepted ... probably we
will go to parliament to make a declaration about independence."
Kosovo's international administrators fear a sudden declaration of
independence by Kosovo could re-ignite tensions in the Balkans.
They have advised the EU and other international players not to accept
any clause in the constitution of the new Serbia-Montenegro entity that
includes Kosovo as part of Serbia.
"I'm confident the EU shares the view that whatever is written in the
draft (constitution) does not affect the future of Kosovo, which in the
end will be decided by the Security Council of the United Nations," said
Michael Steiner, the U.N. special representative.
Rexhepi and Steiner were at EU headquarters in Brussels for an
international donors conference where participants were told that Kosovo
needs another 500 million euro (dlrs 499 million) to help public
investment and budget shortfalls up to 2005.
The EU is supporting a plan to form a new country that turns Serbia and
its junior partner in Yugoslavia, the republic of Montenegro, into a
loose union.
Serbia and Montenegro would share a common defense and foreign policy.
They would also have a joint seat at the United Nations, but each would
maintain a separate economy, currency and customs service.
After three years, each republic could vote to secede.
Kosovo has effectively been run as an international protectorate since
NATO intervened to stop a 1999 war between Yugoslav forces and ethnic
Albanian rebels seeking to cut ties with Serbia. NATO-led peacekeeping
troops and U.N. administrators back an interim government formed largely
from the ethnic Albanians who make up some 90 percent of the population.
Under the U.N. resolution that governs Kosovo, Yugoslavia retains
territorial integrity over the province but the issue of its permanent
status remains to be resolved.
The U.N. administration has sought to delay a decision on the
territory's final status while efforts continue to stabilize the region
and build up its moribund economy.
===
KOSOVO PREMIER: IF PREAMBLE IS ADOPTED, WE WILL DECLARE INDEPENDENCE
PRISTINA,Nov5 (Beta)-Kosovo Premier Bajram Rexhepi said on Nov. 5 that
if the international community should recognize the Constitutional
Charter of Serbia and Montenegro with a preamble stating that Kosovo and
Vojvodina are parts of Serbia, the Kosovo Assembly will declare
independence of Kosovo.
At the final news conference in Brussels following the end of a
coordinating donors' conference, Rexhepi said he is certain the clause
of U.N. Security Council resolution 1244, which says that the status of
Kosovo is to be discussed in two or three years, will be respected.
The head of the UNMIK administration, Michael Steiner, told reporters
that he has received assurances from European Union officials that
Resolution 1244 has greater internationallegal weight than any national
law.
The three leading Kosovo Albanian parties submitted a proposal to the
Kosovo Assembly on Nov. 5 that the draft of a resolution declaring the
preamble invalid should be discussed under urgent procedure at the
Assembly's session on Nov. 7.
===
KOSOVO ASSEMBLY ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER PREAMBLE
PRISTINA,Nov7 (Beta)The Kosovo Assembly on Nov. 7 adopted a resolution
declaring the provision in the draft Constitutional Charter of Serbia
and Montenegro that describes Kosovo as a part of Serbia, as
"unacceptable and invalid."
Sixtyfour deputies voted in favor of the resolution and one abstained.
There are 110 deputies in the Kosovo Assembly.
Twentytwo deputies of the Serbian Return coalition left the session
during the agenda debate because their proposal that the parliament
declare its stand on observing and implementing UN Security Council
Resolution 1244 had been rejected.
The resolution, adopted at the request of the deputies of the three
strongest Kosovo Albanian parties, emphasizes that the final status of
Kosovo will be determined later "by democratic institutions and the
people of Kosovo in cooperation with international factors."
===
UNMIK CHIEF DECLARES ALBANIAN DEPUTIES RESOLUTION NULL AND VOID
PRISTINA,Nov7 (Beta)UNMIK chief Michael Steiner on Nov. 7 declared the
Resolution the Albanian Kosovo Assembly deputies had adopted null and
void.
The Resolution declares the preamble of the Constitutional Charter of
Serbia and Montenegro invalid in the part which refers to Kosovo as a
constituent part of Serbia.
In the press release submitted to BETA, Steiner said that "Kosovo is
under the jurisdiction of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244.
Accordingly, neither Belgrade nor Pristina have the right to anticipate
or decide on the future status of Kosovo."
"The future status of Kosovo is an open issue to be decided upon in the
U.N. Security Council, and thus any unilateral declaration which does
not have the UN SC approval has no legal effect on the future status of
Kosovo," said Steiner.
===
SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
INFORMATION SERVICE
ERP KIM Info - Service
SERB DELEGATION WALKS OUT OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA PARLIAMENT
Dr. Rada Trajkovic: We will not return to the Parliament as long as
institutional discrimination by Albanian deputies remains in effect
Gracanica
November 7, 2002
The Serb delegation in the Kosovo and Metohija parliament
demonstratively walked out of a parliamentary session today after the
Albanian majority refused to accept a vote on UN Security Council
Resolution 1244. At the beginning of the session a majority of Albanian
deputies adopted the proposal to discuss the Preamble to the
Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro in which Kosovo and
Metohija is mentioned as an integral part of the Republic of Serbia.
This proposal
by Albanian deputies appeared after a series of blunt public statements
by leading Albanian politicians, especially prime minister Rexhepi, who
warned the public that the parliament would proclaim the independence of
Kosovo if the name of the Province was included in the Preamble to the
Charter.
Dr. Rada Trajkovic attempted to explain from the parliamentary podium
that according to Resolution 1244 Kosovo and Metohija is an integral
part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and therefore of the future
joint state of Serbia and Montenegro, and that according to the
Constitution it represents a constitutive part of the Republic of
Serbia. "Resolution 1244 clearly upholds the sovereignty of FRY although
many of its provisions with regard to sovereignty have not yet been
implemented in
practice," said Dr. Trajkovic. In the ensuing heated debate, Dr.
Trajkovic, who is the head of the Povratak (Return) Coalition caucus,
demanded that the Kosovo and Metohija parliament urgently vote on
whether it upheld Resolution 1244 or not in order to determine whether
there was any point in continuing the discussion.
However, the Albanian deputies not only refused to support this proposal
but what is more, according to Trajkovic, the parliamentary speaker
launched an avalanche of insults after which the Serb deputies
demonstratively walked out of the parliament building and subsequently
left Pristina with a police escort.
"We have firmly resolved that under these conditions we cannot continue
to work in the parliament and as long as institutional discrimination is
in effect Serb deputies will not attend parliamentary sessions," Dr.
Trajkovic announced for the ERP KIM Info Service. "Serb deputies can
work in Kosovo and Metohija institutions only if these institutions
respect the mandate of UN Security Council Resolution 1244; otherwise,
these institutions are working against the mandate of the
international community and as such have no legitimacy," said Dr.
Trajkovic.
The ERP KIM Info Service has learned that UNMIK head Michael Steiner has
called for an urgent meeting with the Serb parliamentary deputies in
order to resolve existing problems.
===
EUROPARAT: OHNE VERFASSUNG KEINE AUFNAHME
STRASSBURG. Das ausführende Komitee des Europarates lehnte
gestern die Aufnahme Jugoslawiens in den Europarat zum
gegebenen Zeitpunkt ab, und appellierte an die Regierungen der BR
Jugoslawien und der Republiken Serbien und Montenegro die unter
Javier Solana´s Vermittlung ausgearbeitete Verfassungsvorlage
umzusetzen. Dies wurde ausdrücklich als Bedingung für eine
Aufnahme in den Europarat genannt. TANJUG+++
Balkan-Telegramm, 8. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
ALBANER LEHNEN NEUE VERFASSUNG AB
PRISTINA. Das Regionalparlament von Kosovo und Metochien stimmte
gestern mit 64 Stimmen dafür und einer Enthaltung für eine
Deklaration mit welcher die neue Bundesverfassung Jugoslawiens vorab
als für das Territorium Kosovo und Metochiens ungültig erklärt wird.
In der neuen Verfassung Jugoslawiens bzw. Serbien-Montenegros wird
präzisiert sein, daß Kosovo und Metochien ein integraler Teil Serbiens
sind.
Der Text der Deklaration wurde von einer Kommission erstellt, in der
sich ausschließlich Abgeordnete der drei größten albanischen Parteien
befanden.
Die serbischen Abgeordneten im Regionalparlament verließen bereits vor
der Sitzung den Parlamentssaal - aus Protest gegenüber der ständigen
albanischen Majorisierung und Intoleranz und der Mißachtung der
Menschenrechte anderer Volksgruppen im Regionalparlament und in Kosovo
und Metochien an sich. TANJUG+++
Balkan-Telegramm, 8. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
=== 2 ===
UN Security Council
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/abcc9e08d88fbb91
85256c690079246c?OpenDocument
RELIEF WEB
Source: UN News Service
Date: 6 Nov 2002
Progress in Kosovo 'slow-going,' Security Council told
===
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/8a591cfa4169e521
49256c6a001e89ca?OpenDocument
RELIEF WEB
Source: UN Security Council
Date: 6 Nov 2002
Security Council focuses on Kosovo municipal elections, security of
minorities
SC/7563
4643rd Meeting (PM)
===
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/0dbc20505a13737f
c1256c6a0053e092?OpenDocument
RELIEF WEB
Source: European Union
Date: 6 Nov 2002
Security Council: The situation in Kosovo
Statement by
H.E. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj
Permanent Representative of Denmark to the UN
on behalf of the European Union at the open meeting of the Security
Council
NEW YORK
November 6, 2002
Check against delivery
===
Politika, Belgrade
UN envoy in Kosmet (Kosovo and Metohija)
CUTILIERO DISSATISFIED
UN official emphasizes poor return of Serbs and endangerment of their
rights
November 4, 2002
Kosovska Mitrovica, November 3 (Tanjug) - The UN special representative
for human rights Jose Cutiliero stated today that the human rights
situation in Kosovo and Metohija has not improved in the past year and
that he is especially dissatisfied with the poor return of Serbs.
"Since February of last year when I last visited Kosovo, nothing has
changed with regard to an improvement of the status of human rights,"
Cutiliero told reporters in Kosovska Mitrovica after talking with
Kosovo parliamentary presidency member Oliver Ivanovic.
He emphasized that he was especially dissatisfied with the fact that the
process of Serb returns to Kosovo and Metohija is poor and as yet
unsustainable.
During talks with Cutliero, Oliver Ivanovic emphasized dissatisfaction
with the fact that the fate of 1,300 kidnapped and missing Serbs
remains unknown, as well as because none of the Albanian terrorists who
were members of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army during the war
have been indicted by The Hague.
"I expect that Mr. Cutiliero upon returning to New York will write a
report regarding the real situation in Kosovo and Metohija, like the
Council of Europe or Kosovo ombudsman Marek Antony Nowitzky," said
Ivanovic. He added that some reports from Kosovo are outright
fabrications and do not accurately reflect the situation on the ground,
especially the unenviable position of the Serbs.
===
Human rights situation in Kosovo "far from good": UN representative
BELGRADE, Nov 7 (AFP) - The human rights situation in Kosovo,
particularly of Serbs and other non-Albanians, is "far from good," UN
Commission for Human Rights' special representative Jose Cutileiro said
Thursday.
"The situation in most parts of Kosovo is far from good," Cutileiro, the
commission's special representative for Bosnia and Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, told reporters at the end of his visit to Serbia and its
mainly ethnic Albanian-populated province of Kosovo.
"The return of the bulk of internally displaced people is still poor.
There is restricted movement for non-Albanians," he added.
More than 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since the end of war in 1999,
taking shelter in the rest of Serbia and Montenegro, its smaller partner
in the Yugoslav federation.
Some 80,000 Kosovo Serbs remain in the province, living in enclaves
protected by NATO-led peacekeeping troops (KFOR).
"Everything possible should be done to help internally displaced people
go back to their homes and all efforts should be made to ensure that
they have a decent life before going home," Cutileiro said.
However, the UN representative noticed an improvement in the situation
in Kosovo,
particularly after Serbs there had taken part in last year's general
elections and local polls last month.
He also praised progress regarding human rights in central Serbia, but
warned of a difficult economic climate and "perilous situation for
internally displaced persons and Romas" in the region.
Cutileiro was to travel to Sarajevo for a one-week visit to Bosnia.
===
CUTILIERO: DESPITE PROGRESS, HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION UNSATISFACTORY
BELGRADE,Nov7 (Beta)The U.N. Human Rights Special Envoy in the former
Yugoslavia, Jose Cutiliero, said on Nov. 7, that despite progress,
there are still numerous problems regarding respect for human rights in
Yugoslavia.
"Certain aspects are not even close to being settled. A general
evaluation of all the places I have toured is the poor economic
situation, and progress in the human rights field requires a
satisfactory economic situation," Cutiliero told the press in Belgrade.
He also said it was necessary to "do everything to enable those who
wish to return to Kosovo to do so, but also to create the appropriate
conditions for them in their current places of residence."
During his third tour of the region, Cutiliero visited Belgrade, Novi
Sad, Pristina, Novi Pazar, and Podgorica, and will depart for
BosniaHerzegovina on Nov. 7.
Cutiliero is to submit a report on the human rights situation in the
former Yugoslavia at the session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission,
to be held in Geneva next spring.
=== 3 ===
KOSOVO: JUGOSLAVIA ACCETTA PAGARE PARTE DEBITO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 8 NOV - La Jugoslavia ha accettato di ripagare parte
dei crediti concessi dalla Banca mondiale al Kosovo, ha detto il
vicedirettore dell'istituto finanziario internazionale Christian
Portman. La Banca mondiale, ha aggiunto Portman, ha garantito a Belgrado
crediti per 550 milioni di dollari anche per questa disponibilita',
oltre che per la ''buona impressione suscitata dalla velocita' e dalla
profondita' delle riforme portate avanti nel paese''. (ANSA). OT
08/11/2002 11:12
YUGOSLAVIA AGREES TO REPAY KOSOVO'S DEBTS
PRISTINA,Nov7 (Beta)The vice president of the World Bank (WB)
department for southeastern Europe, Christian Poortmann, said on Nov.
7, that Yugoslavia has agreed to repay the bank loan that had been used
in Kosovo.
"Yugoslavia has decided to repay a part of the WB loan used in Kosovo
at the time of the country's reintegration into the bank, and then
Yugoslavia took on the obligation to repay a part of the loan allocated
to Kosovo," Poortmann told the press.
He added that the WB has approved Yugoslavia loans worth $US550
million, with a 0.75 interest rate, which, as he put it, is almost a
gift.
Poortmann underlined that the WB has already indicated its stand that
it is impressed with the swiftness and quality of the reforms in
Yugoslavia.
interessante intervista al professor Emil Vlajki.
Originario di Dubrovnik, di famiglia croata ed ebrea, Vlajki era un
tempo docente di scienze politiche a Sarajevo, poi ha insegnato ad
Ottawa (Canada). Sullo squartamento della RFS di Jugoslavia ha scritto
tra l'altro il libro "DEMONIZATION OF SERBS - WESTERN IMPERIALISM AND
MEDIA WAR CRIMINALS" (Ed. REVOLT, Ottawa), di cui si puo' trovare un
sunto in lungua inglese alla URL:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/859
Su questa lista ne abbiamo ospitato anche altri testi, tra cui:
U POTRAZI ZA NOVIM OKTOBROM
(kako od ' Banana- Republike' doæi do suverene drzave)
> http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1332
ed un commento sulla secessione del Montenegro
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/316
(Olga e Andrea)
=== * ===
PROF. DR EMIL VLAJKI O DALJEM RAZBIJANJU JUGOSLAVIJE I SRBIJE
SRBIMA GOLGOTA TEK PREDSTOJI
06.11.2002.
Tvorci tzv. novog svetskog totalitarnog poretka, pre svega Sjedinjene
Americke Dr¾ave, jo¹ nisu zavr¹ili posao na Balkanu. Da bi se ometao
dalji integracioni proces Evropske unije, SAD nameravaju da nastave sa
rastakanjem teritorija biv¹e Jugoslavije - dr¾ave koja se u krvi
raspala pre 10 godina, a cije je ru¹enje planski izazvano spolja, pre
svega od SAD uz asistenciju Austrije, Nemacke i Vatikana. Sada je na
redu dezintegracija Srbije, tako da kalvarija (golgota) srpskog naroda
tek pocinje, ocenio je u razgovoru za "Vesti" prof. dr Emil Vlajki iz
Pariza.
- Ja bih voleo da nisam u pravu i da se moje procene ne obistine, ali
niz cinjenica, na ¾alost, idu u prilog ovom stavu. Naime, nakon
propasti Sovjetskog Saveza i socijalistickog bloka u Evropi, SAD su
ostale jedina svetska velesila, a najveci konkurent je ujedinjena
Evropa. SAD smatraju da se ne sme nikom dozvoliti, pa ni Evropskoj
uniji, da Americi preotme vodstvo u dominaciji nad svetom. O tome
govore i pentagonski dokument iz 1992. godine, kao i B¾e¾inski, glavni
geostrateg SAD.
On u svojoj knjizi "Velika ¹ahovnica", izdatoj 1996. godine, ka¾e da
se dr¾ave u Evropi smatraju vazalima SAD i treba da slu¾e interesima
SAD. Glavni cilj Amerike je ovladavanje teritorije koju B¾e¾inski
naziva Evroazijom. On ka¾e: "Ko vlada Evroazijom, taj vlada svetom", i
sve vreme u knjizi poredi SAD sa Rimskim carstvom. Pored toga smatra,
i ne samo on, da su SAD novi Jerusalim, da treba da postanu centar
sveta odakle ce se ¹iriti istina - veli na¹ sagovornik.
Povratak islama
Da bi sprecila istinsko ujedinjenje Evrope po De Golovoj zamisli, od
Atlantika do Urala, Amerika prvo izaziva seriju balkanskih ratova i
tako ranjava Evropu i njeno ujedinjenje, a istovremeno preko NATO
kontroli¹e dobar deo evropskih integracionih procesa.
Drugo ¹to cini je stvaranje niza muslimanskih entiteta na Balkanu cime
prakticno vracaju islam u Evropu, protiv cega se Evropa borila 13
vekova. Treca stvar je obnavljanje hladnog rata protiv Rusije. Sve to,
po oceni dr Vlajkija, spada u americku strategiju za sprecavanje
istinskog ujedinjenja Evrope, zbog cega ce se i produ¾iti razbijanje
sada¹nje Jugoslavije i Srbije.
- Oni ce nastaviti sa Vojvodinom, Ra¹kom, odnosno Sand¾akom i ju¾nim
delom centralne Srbije: u Bujanovcu, Medvedi i Pre¹evu. Ja mislim da u
Vojvodini i Sand¾aku samo cekaju mig velikog americkog brata sa
akcijama, slicnim onima u Bosni. Da se pocne sa optu¾ivanjem kako su
Srbi genocidan narod, da pljackaju, da siluju muslimanske ¾ene u
Sand¾aku, odnosno madarske u Vojvodini. To nije problem iscenirati i
propagirati po¹to SAD kontroli¹u vi¹e od 90 posto svetskih medija
direktno ili indirektno. Takode, iz najnovije istorije nije nepoznato
kad god je neko tra¾io autonomiju na ovim na¹im prostorima, to se
zavr¹avalo ratom - opominje dr Vlajki.
Osim toga, podseca on, jo¹ pre dve godine je u americkom Senatu
izglasana Rezolucija koja govori o navodnom genocidnom nastupu Srba
prema vojvodanskim Madarima, da oni moraju napu¹tati svoja ognji¹ta u
Vojvodini zbog srpske represije, isto kao ¹to su to morali i Albanci
na Kosovu, te da se Srbi po svaku cenu moraju spreciti u tom
etnocidnom pohodu, pa se preporucuje predsedniku SAD da sve ucini kako
bi se sprecio dalji genocid koji vr¹e Srbi nad ostalim narodima.
- Ne treba zaboraviti ni cinjenicu da je 1999. godine na redovnoj
godi¹njoj konferenciji ministara inostranih poslova islamskih zemalja
sveta, uz Hrvatsku i Sloveniju, u svojstvu gosta bio prisutan i
Sand¾ak koji je pozvan kao nezavisna dr¾ava. ©to se Vojvodine
tice, mislim da ce doci do njene potpune dezintegracije. Hrvati imaju
aspiracije prema jednom delu, Madari ka drugom, pa bi se ti krajevi
mogli pripojiti pomenutim dr¾avama, a s druge strane ovim autonoma¹ima
je samo stalo da budu predsednici ne znam cega - opominje na¹
sagovornik.
Velika Albanija
Na jugu centralnog dela Srbije, ukazuje on, vec postoji paralelni
albanski sistem vlasti koji, po americkom nalogu, toleri¹e aktuelni
re¾im Srbije. Tamo se vec vijori i dr¾avna zastava Albanije, kao i na
Kosovu i u delovima Crne Gore i Makedonije. - Kada je o Kosovu rec, tu
vi¹e nema Srba, Crnogoraca, Jevreja, Hrvata. Sve su ih isterali, ali
sada ima Nemaca, Engleza, Amerikanaca, itd. I multietnicitet je, da
zlobno primetim, zaista osiguran - ka¾e dr Emil Vlajki. - Kosovo ce po
nalogu iz Amerike dobiti samostalnost nakon razdvajanja Srbije i Crne
Gore. Po Rezoluciji UN 1244 ova pokrajina je u sastavu SRJ, te kad nje
vi¹e ne bude u SAD ce se protumaciti da je Kosovo automatski
nezavisno. A i zahtevi za nezavisno¹cu ove pokrajine ucestalo se
pojavljuju u americkoj administraciji.
Po oceni na¹eg sagovornika, fakticki vec postoji velika Albanija, iako
ne zvanicno, i pitanje je vremena kada ce se balkanske teritorije koje
naseljavaju Albanci politicki i dr¾avnoujediniti sa Albanijom. Ta
mogucnost, po proceni dr Vlajkija, ukazace se vec nakon tri godine
UNMIK uprave na Kosovu i Metohiji, kao i trogodi¹njeg prelaznog
perioda unije Srbije i Crne Gore, posle cega ce se one razdvojiti.
Profesor Vlajki smatra da ni buduca Ustavna povelja o redefinisanim
odnosima Srbije i Crne Gore nece sacuvati zajednicku dr¾avu ove dve
republike.
- To je jedna ve¹tacka tvorevina koja ne funkcioni¹e i nema niceg
zajednickog, te je samo u pitanju odlaganje onoga ¹to, po meni, tek
ocekuje SRJ i posebno Srbiju.
Prakticno Jugoslavije vi¹e nema, a ova tzv. unija Srbije i Crne Gore
za one koji upravljaju novim svetskim poretkom samo je dobijanje
vremena dok ne odluce kako nastaviti dalje razbijanje Srbije, i dok ne
zavr¹e sa svojom serijom malih ratova u Avganistanu, Iraku ili
Somaliji. Tako da se trenutno cini kao da Evropska unija ¾eli da
se proces dezintegracije Srbije i SRJ zaustavi, ali ja mislim da time
i dalje diriguju Amerikanci, jer su patolo¹ko megalomanski
raspolo¾eni, i jednaki su fanatici kao i islamski fundamentalisti.
Nikakve razlike medu njima nema. Osim toga SAD su nedavno dobile
pravo od UN da mogu samostalno napasti bilo koju zemlju u svetu
ukoliko procene da otud preti terorizam - ukazuje dr Vlajki.
Rastakanje Srbije, nastavlja on, trebalo bi da se dogada etapno po vec
videnom scenariju od pre 10 godina.
- Da je Milo¹evic ostao na vlasti iz Amerike bi bio dirigovan
gradanski rat u Crnoj Gori i njeno otcepljenje. Ovako, su za izvesno
vreme zaustavili Mila Ðukanovica, koji je inace njihova marioneta i
kojeg dr¾e pod pretnjom Ha¹kog tribunala po¹to je bio crnogorski
premijer u vreme rata u Hrvatskoj, kao i pod pretnjom zatvora zbog
¹verca koji su mu prethodno dozvolili - smatra na¹ sagovornik.
Nacionalni interes
Upitan kad i gde bi se, po njegovoj proceni, mogao zaustaviti raspad
Srbije, profesor Vlajki ka¾e: "Ko ce to znati. Sve to mo¾e potrajati
jo¹ 10 godina. Moguce je i da ovih 100.000 Albanaca u Beogradu jednog
dana proglase autonomiju. Kad dode do rastakanja teritorije zavlada
neko ludilo, ne¹to iracionalno, svi pocinju bivati separatisti,
nastaje rat svih protiv svih". Zato bi, porucuje na¹ sagovornik,
prevashodno trebalo da se misli o integritetu Srbije, da to bude u
prvom planu svakoj ekipi koja je na vlasti:
- Raspad koji se vec 10 godina dogada na Balkanu tra¾i u Srbiji snagu
jedne politicke partije koja ce imati jasnu dugorocnu viziju
predvidljive buducnosti i koja ce voditi racuna o dr¾avnom i
nacionalnom interesu. Potreban je voda koji ce ocuvati srpski narod i
teritoriju, koji ce umeti da se postavi prema silama koje vladaju
svetom, kao i prema satelitima koji sprovode naloge tih sila. Takvog
vodu ovo podrucje nema. Nema ni politickog programa ni politicke snage
za taj program i to je jo¹ jedan od razloga daljih dezintegracija
Srbije - opominje prof. dr Emil Vlajki.
Ekonomski interesi SAD
- Pored ¾elje za svetskom moci i dominacijom nad celim svetom, interes
SAD u Evroaziji je i ekonomski. Oni u ovom casu, kao jedina velesila,
znaju da ce se u dogledno vreme pojaviti i nove sile: Kina, Rusija i
Indija, te nastoje da u¹icare ¹to vi¹e, osiguraju najva¾nije
geostrate¹ke tacke i velike resurse nafte iz biv¹ih sovjetskih
republika stave pod svoju kontrolu. Zbog toga je takode izvr¹ena
okupacija Makedonije i Kosova. Da se osigura americki naftovod kojim
bi tekla nafta iz Crnog mora preko Bugarske, Makedonije, Kosova i
Albanije do luke Flora. Naftovod bi donosio milijarde dolara profita
godi¹nje, a u taj poduhvat SAD su vec ulo¾ile tri milijarde -
poja¹njava prof. dr Vlajki.
Nadam se da gre¹im
- U naucnim krugovima postoji teorija koja ka¾e da ce Amerika sada
ostaviti Srbiju na miru, po¹to je na vlast postavila ekipu koja ce
slu¾iti njenim interesima, te da je ona sad zadovoljna i da se
kalvarija Srbije i srpskog naroda nece nastaviti. Mislim da postoje
odredene ¹anse da i ta teorija bude tacna, mada moj stav i cinjenice o
kojima sam govorio idu u pravcu daljeg rastakanja - ka¾e prof. dr Emil
Vlajki, napominjuci da bi on veoma voleo da nije u pravu i da ne dode
do razbijanja Srbije.
R. Koncar
www.tenc.net * [Emperor's Clothes]
=======================================
Expert on psychology of ethnic conflict
changes his mind about Yugoslavia -
Media Misrepresentation Of
Milosevic's Words: A Review
Of The Evidence
by Professor Francisco Gil-White
[posted February 9, 2002]
=======================================
Note from Emperor's Clothes: The following article was sent to us by
Francisco Gil-White. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the
University of Pennsylvania and a Fellow at the Solomon Asch Center for
Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict.
Professor Gil-White informs us that:
"I study and write about the psychology that makes racism and
ethnic hatred possible, and which exacerbates ethnic conflicts when
compared to other sorts of conflicts."
The following views are those of Professor Gil-White and not
necessarily the University of Pennsylvania or the Solomon Asch Center.
-- Jared Israel
Media Misrepresentation of Milosevic's Words
by Francisco Gil-White
A couple of months ago I chanced upon the Emperor's Clothes Website
because of their coverage of 9-11.
I noticed their startling claim that we have been systematically
lied to about Yugoslavia, including Slobodan Milosevic. As they told
it, he was an honorable leader; perhaps a great one.
Since their views sharply contradicted my own, I started
systematically checking their references by obtaining the relevant
original documents. I have yet to find a single claim in error.
This was particularly surprising regarding the famous speech that
Slobodan Milosevic delivered at Kosovo Field in 1989 at the 600th
anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. According to what I had read,
this was an ultranationalist diatribe in which Milosevic manipulated
memories of a famous defeat to stir mob hatred of Muslims, especially
Albanians.
Emperor's Clothes posted what they claimed was the official U.S.
government translation of that speech (done by the National Technical
Information Service, a dependency of the Commerce Department) at
http://emperors-clothes.com/milo/milosaid.html
The posted speech was certainly not hateful.
But was this the real speech? The text contradicted everything I had
been led to expect from Slobodan Milosevic and everything I had read
about this speech.
I obtained, through my university library, a copy of the microfilm
of the BBC's translation. I compared this text to the one posted at
Emperors Clothes.
They matched almost exactly.
The speech is not devoid of a certain poetry and - amazingly - it is
*explicitly tolerant*.
But if the reports that this speech was viciously hateful were
false, what about the rest of my information about Yugoslavia? After
all, it came from the same sources. I began to read voraciously, to
see how academics, politicians and the media had reported what
happened in Yugoslavia.
I have found an enormous amount of misinformation, and it is hard to
dispel the impression that much of this is *deliberate*. This is quite
important for my field because students of ethnic conflict, like
myself, need to know what it is that we are supposed to explain. Our
case data comes from historians and journalists who describe ethnic
conflicts for us. Until recently, I was assuming that those who wrote
about Yugoslavia could at least be trusted to try to report things
accurately.
I have changed my mind. What I now know suggests that the problem is
not merely that reporters and academics are misinformed. I have
observed that a source may report the facts accurately and then, in
another place, usually later, report them completely inaccurately. How
can one explain this as a result of ignorance? It suggests a conscious
effort to misinform.
Furthermore, it appears that these inaccuracies are calculated to
exploit the human tendency to essentialize [basically, to stereotype -
ed.] racial, national, and ethnic groups. in order to solidify the
prejudice that Serbs are virulent nationalists. This prejudice then
frames the conflict in Yugoslavia so as to serve the interests of the
powers which dismembered Yugoslavia.
As an example of what is done, I have assembled excerpts from
various sources regarding Milosevic?s famous speech at Gazimestan (the
location is often referred to as Kosovo Polje or Kosovo Field) in
1989.
I have provided Emperor's Clothes with a pdf version of the
microfilm of the BBC translation so that they may post it, allowing
readers to compare the US government and the BBC versions for
themselves. The BBC microfilm can be obtained from some university
libraries. If you are an academic, you can get it at your library or
through an inter-library loan, in the same way that I did.
[[ Note from Emperor's Clothes: You may read the pdf of the BBC
translation at
http://www.icdsm.org/milosevic/milosevic1.pdf
http://www.icdsm.org/milosevic/milosevic2.pdf
and
http://www.icdsm.org/milosevic/milosevic3.pdf
To help you compare, U.S. government translation can be read at
http://emperors-clothes.com/milo/milosaid.html
END Note from Emperor's Clothes
For those with access to university libraries, the text of
Milosevic's speech is also here:
Krieger, Heike, ed. 2001. The Kosovo conflict and international
law: An analytical documentation 1974-1999, Cambridge International
Documents Series, Volume II. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.(p.10) ]]
What follows below is a compilation (certainly not complete) of
misquotations, misrepresentations, misattributions, and
mischaracterizations of Milosevic?s 1989 speech in the media and by
academics along with some excerpts from the speech and my comments.
It is important to keep the following in mind: this speech is the
media's favorite piece of evidence that Milosevic is an
ultra-nationalist racist. It is said over and over in the media that
Milosevic used this speech to incite the Serbs to nationalistic
hatred.
It should be obvious that incitement is a public behavior. If
Milosevic was going to become an ultra-nationalist populist
politician, then he had to make ultra-nationalist speeches, for one
can hardly incite the masses in secret. It is thus noteworthy that
this speech-supposedly the best example of Milosevic virulently
inciting people-is explicitly tolerant, and that in order to suggest
otherwise all sorts of fabrications that in fact appear nowhere in the
speech have been necessary. If there was something better to quote or
cite as evidence of Milosevic?s ultra-nationalistic demagoguery,
surely the media would have used it long ago. Why fabricate if
evidence is on hand?
Below are examples that reveal either willful misinformation or
pathologically low journalistic standards in the media. Following
that, in the second part of my analysis, I quote newspaper reports
made on or immediately after June 28, 1989, the day Milosevic spoke.
These accounts, published immediately after his speech, were accurate,
and this demonstrates that the truth was easily available if someone
had wanted to report it later on.
[The Excerpt from Balkan Report Starts Here]
Views on Vidovdan (St Vitus day - June 28th)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL's Albanian-language
broadcasters included in their 28 June programming reflections by
several prominent individuals on Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic's speech at Gazimestan. He gave that address ten years ago
to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Polje.
Azem Vllasi, who is a former ethnic Albanian SKJ chief in
Kosova, was in the infamous Mitrovica prison on Vidovdan 1989: In
effect the war against the Albanians in Kosova had started 1988. In
Gazimestan, Milosevic announced that he would also launch a war
against the other peoples of Yugoslavia. The Serbs had great hopes
that they could turn the war that they lost 600 years ago into a
victory. Milosevic misused the Serbian myth about Kosova to create
victims and cause pain to peoples other than we Albanians, but after
ten years he turned it into a great loss for the Serbs themselves."
Reprinted from Balkan Report, 2 July 1999, Volume 3, Number 26
(Translated by Fabian Schmidt, notes by Patrick Moore)
http://www.rferl.org/balkan-report/1999/07/26-020799.html
[The Excerpt from Balkan Report Ends Here]
COMMENT: Slobodan Milosevic did not say that. But here is something
that he did say:
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Starts Here]
Equal and harmonious relations among Yugoslav peoples are a
necessary condition for the existence of Yugoslavia and for it to find
its way out of the crisis and, in particular, they are a necessary
condition for its economic and social prosperity. In this respect
Yugoslavia does not stand out from the social milieu of the
contemporary, particularly the developed, world. This world is more
and more marked by national tolerance, national cooperation, and even
national equality. The modern economic and technological, as well as
political and cultural development, has guided various peoples toward
each other, has made them interdependent and increasingly has made
them equal as well [medjusobno ravnopravni]. Equal and united people
can above all become a part of the civilization toward which mankind
is moving. If we cannot be at the head of the column leading to such a
civilization, there is certainly no need for us to be at is tail.
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Ends Here]
* * *
[The Excerpt from Vladimir Zerjavic Starts Here]
"...when the 600th Anniversary of the Kosovo Battle with the
Turks was held at Gazimestan in 1989, Slobodan Milosevic stated that
he will "unite all Serbs into one state, either with institutional or
non-institutional measures, even with weapons if necessary", what was
done in 1991."
Written by Vladimir Zerjavic, retiree of UN
Zagreb, July 1997, revised in December 1997.
http://www.hr/darko/etf/bul.html
[The Excerpt from Vladimir Zerjavic Ends Here]
COMMENT: Mr. Zerjavic (a Croat) puts actual quotation marks around
words that never appear in the text of Milosevic?s speech. That is
bold. As bold, perhaps, as the claims by the same Mr. Zerjavic, in his
book Population Losses of Yugoslavia in the World War II, to the
effect that the number of Yugoslavs (especially Serbs) who lost their
lives in the Ustashe (Croatian Nazi) death camps has been wildly
exaggerated.
* * *
[The Excerpt from London Independent Starts Here]
June 1989
On the stump at Kosovo Polje
Serbia's leader sets out his agenda at a rally of more than a
million Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo 600th anniversary celebrations,
as he openly threatens force to hold the six-republic federation
together.
-- From an alleged chronology of events in "Milosevic on Trial:
Fall of a Pariah"; Newspaper Publishing PLC, Independent on Sunday
(London); July 1, 2001, Sunday, SECTION: FOREIGN NEWS; Pg. 21
[The Excerpt from London Independent Ends Here]
COMMENT: No such threat appears in the text of the speech. This
allusion to an "open threat" sounds like the Independent is probably
using Dr. Vladimir Zerjavic as source. They certainly have not seen
the text of the speech.
* * *
[The Excerpt from Irish Times Starts Here]
It was at Kosovo Polje in 1389 that Serbs fought their most
historic battle, losing to a Turkish army and later enduring 500 years
of Ottoman rule. From here they fled again nearly three centuries
later, led by their Orthodox patriarch, after a failed rebellion. And
here, 10 years ago this month, the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan
Milosevic, made his name telling a crowd of 500,000 Serbs, "Serbia
will never abandon Kosovo".
from "Serbs make ragged retreat from their historic cradle"; The
Irish Times; June 16, 1999, CITY EDITION; SECTION: WORLD NEWS; CRISIS
IN THE BALKANS; Pg. 13
[The Excerpt from Irish Times Ends Here]
COMMENT: The Irish Times does not borrow the quote from Dr. Vladimir
Zerjavic, but they do borrow the boldness. They have put quotation
marks around a phrase that appears nowhere in the text.
* * *
[The Excerpt from Croatian Student Online Starts Here]
The now infamous speech by Milosevic at Gazimestan in Kosovo in
1989 was aimed at this very mentality - at the superiority complex,
and the feelings of cultural insecurity which are common among lower
and middle-class Serbs. It also created an "us versus them" atmosphere
- the "them" factor seen as almost a non-entity. This sociopolitical
dualism did hold some truth, although another way of looking at it is
as racist fatalism in a late 20th century context. But, in itself, it
was only a component of Greater Serbianism. And that imperialistic and
aggressive heresy is, after all, the reason why Croats and Bosnians
die while the Serbs make up excuses and lie to the world.
- - from The Croatian Student Online
"Causes of Serbian Aggression" by Branko Mletic
posted at: http://www.algonet.se/~bevanda/aggression3.htm
[The Excerpt from Croatian Student Online Ends Here]
COMMENT: Notice how casually the Croatian Student evokes "the
superiority complex, and the feelings of cultural insecurity which are
common among lower and middle-class Serbs." This reads like an ethnic
slur, although Serbs have been so thoroughly demonized in the media
that most readers will hardly notice it, or else will consider it a
probably just appraisal.
Below is another excerpt from Milosevic?s speech. How does one
create an "us versus them" atmosphere with these words? (They do seem
ineptly chosen for this purpose):
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Starts Here]
?unity in Serbia will bring prosperity to the Serbian people in
Serbia and each one of its citizens, irrespective of his national or
religious affiliation.
(?)
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. National composition of almost all countries in
the world today, particularly developed ones, has also been changing
in this direction. Citizens of different nationalities, religions, and
races have been living together more and more frequently and more and
more successfully.
(?)
The only differences one can and should allow in socialism are
between hard working people and idlers and between honest people and
dishonest people. Therefore, all people in Serbia who live from their
own work, honestly, respecting other people and other nations, are in
their own republic.
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Ends Here]
* * *
[The Excerpt from Balkans Paces Starts Here]
For the first time a documentary (produced in Montenegro 2 weeks
ago) about war crimes committed in the name of Greater Serbia was
shown on the Serbian TV - "Called From Gazimestan" - a reference to
the 'historic' speech of Slobodan Milosevic at the location where
Serbs lost to Ottoman Turks in 1389 - when he outlined the plan to
conquer Yugoslavia.
-- From Balkans Paces
http://www.igc.org/balkans/conclusion-slobo.html
[The Excerpt from Balkans Paces Ends Here]
COMMENT: No such "plan" was "outlined". Note that the writer speaks
of "the plan" not "a plan" thus suggesting that the existence of said
plan is common knowledge?
* * *
[The Excerpt from OPPRESSION Starts Here]
The culmination of this fanaticism was reached when the 'Nero'
of the Balkans, Milosevic - then still a communist leader - delivered
a certain speech in Gazimestan on the 600th memorial of the
Serbian-Ottoman War of Kosovo in 1989. Milosevic, who in this speech
also opened the way to the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegowina, for the
first time used slogans like, "Serbia is a whole and Kosovo is an
inseperable part of Serbia; We rather give our lives than deliver
Kosovo; This territory is a fortress of Christian Europe against
Islam", demonstrating thereby clearly the extent of the abominable
Serbian nationalism.
from Oppression.org (1999)
http://www.oppression.org/europe/kosovo_in_the_circle_of_fire.html
[The Excerpt from OPPRESSION Ends Here]
COMMENT: Oppression.org gets high marks for boldness. Others merely
put quotation marks around a fabricated sentence. They have put
quotations around an entirely fabricated paragraph.
* * *
[The Excerpt from The Economist Starts Here]
But it is primitive nationalism, egged on by the self-deluding
myth of Serbs as perennial victims, that has become both Mr
Milosevic?s rescuer (when communism collapsed with the Soviet Union)
and his nemesis. It was a stirringly virulent nationalist speech he
made in Kosovo, in 1989, harking back to the Serb Prince Lazar?s
suicidally brave battle against the Turks a mere six centuries ago,
that saved his leadership when the Serbian old guard looked in danger
of ejection. Now he may have become a victim of his own propaganda.
-- From The Economist, " What next for Slobodan Milosevic?" June 5,
1999
[The Excerpt from The Economist Ends Here]
COMMENT: The passages from Milosevic?s speech quoted above already
make it clear that this was not a "stirringly virulent nationalist
speech." The Economist would have you believe that Milosevic was
literally foaming at the mouth, and wanted to use the memories of
Prince Lazar and the defeat at Kosovo Polje as a catalyst for arousing
ultra-nationalistic feelings. This is how Milosevic actually
introduced his remarks about that historical event:
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Starts Here]
Today, it is difficult to say what is the historical truth about
the Battle of Kosovo and what is legend. Today this is no longer
important. Oppressed by pain and filled with hope, the people used to
remember and to forget, as, after all, all people in the world do, and
it was ashamed of treachery and glorified heroism. Therefore it is
difficult to say today whether the Battle of Kosovo was a defeat or a
victory for the Serbian people, whether thanks to it we fell into
slavery or we survived in this slavery. The answers to those questions
will be constantly sought by science and the people. What has been
certain through all the centuries until our time today is that
disharmony struck Kosovo 600 years ago. If we lost the battle, then
this was not only the result of social superiority and the armed
advantage of the Ottoman Empire but also of the tragic disunity in the
leadership of the Serbian state at that time. In that distant 1389,
the Ottoman Empire was not only stronger than that of the Serbs but it
was also more fortunate than the Serbian kingdom.
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Ends Here]
COMMENT: Is this a virulent nationalist speaking? Milosevic sounds
positively professorial. He sounds like an academic, showing a
grandfatherly understanding for the human frailties that lead people
to conveniently forget things in order to make legends out of history
in a romantic and nationalistic manner. And he is talking about the
famous battle at Kosovo Polje, in the very place where that battle was
fought. The truth of what happened, he says, is for scientists to
establish! Is this a nationalist using a myth of the people to rouse
their passions? Does he sound ?injured? and ?insecure??
TIME Magazine had a similar slant:
[The Excerpt from TIME Magzaine Starts Here]
It was St. Vitus' Day, a date steeped in Serbian history, myth
and eerie coincidence: on June 28, 1389, Ottoman invaders defeated the
Serbs at the battle of Kosovo; 525 years later, a young Serbian
nationalist assassinated Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
lighting the fuse for World War I. And it was on St. Vitus' Day, 1989,
that Milosevic whipped a million Serbs into a nationalist frenzy in
the speech that capped his ascent to power.
Time International, July 9, 2001 v158 i1 p18+
[The Excerpt from TIME Magzaine Ends Here]
And so did the New York Times:
[The Excerpt from NEW YORK TIMES Starts Here]
In 1989 the Serbian strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, swooped down
in a helicopter onto the field where 600 years earlier the Turks had
defeated the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo. In a fervent speech before
a million Serbs, he galvanized the nationalist passions that two years
later fueled the Balkan conflict.
The New York Times, July 28, 1996, Sunday, Late Edition -
Final, Section 1; Page 10; Column 1; Foreign Desk, 1384 words,
Serbs in Pragmatic Pullout from Albanian Region, By JANE PERLEZ,
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 22
[The Excerpt from NEW YORK TIMES Ends Here]
And the Washington Post:
[The Excerpt from WASHINGTON POST Starts Here]
A military band and a dozen chanting monks from the Serbian
Orthodox Church struggled unsuccessfully this morning to lift the dour
mood hanging over a small crowd of Serbs marking the 609th anniversary
of the Battle of Kosovo here at the most revered site in Serbia's
nationalist mythology.
(?)
Nine years ago today, Milosevic's fiery speech here to a million
angry Serbs was a rallying cry for nationalism and boosted his
popularity enough to make him the country's uncontested leader.
The Washington Post, June 29, 1998, Monday, Final Edition, A
SECTION; Pg. A10, 354 words, Bitter Serbs Blame Leader for Risking
Beloved Kosovo, R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post Foreign Service,
KOSOVO POLJE, Yugoslavia, June 28
[The Excerpt from WASHINGTON POST Ends Here]
But does Milosevic sound like his purpose is "whipping a million
Serbs into a nationalist frenzy" with his remembrance of the events of
1389? Is this a "fervent speech" meant to "galvanize the nationalist
passions"? Is it a "rallying cry for nationalism"?
The following excerpt is relatively long but it is worth reading
because of the juxtaposition of Milosevic with Tudjman and
Izetbegovic. (If you wish to skip forward to the Comment on T.W.
Carr's article, click here.)
[The Excerpt from T.W. CARR'S ARTICLE Starts Here]
Three leaders emerged within the collapsing Federal
Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. Each used the emotive
appeal of patriotism (nationalism), history and religious
heritage in their bid for political control of one of the
three nation "nation states", Orthodox Christian Serbia,
Roman Catholic Christian Croatia and Islamic
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
On June 28, 1989, Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic marked
the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo against the
"Ottoman Islamist Empire" at Gazimestan by addressing more
than one million Serbs, recounting the heroism of the
Serbian nation and their Christian Orthodox faith in
resisting the spread of Islam into Europe. He reassured his
audience, that the Autonomous Province of Kosovo would
remain an integral part of Serbia and Yugoslavia, despite
the then current and often violent, problems of separatism
demanded by the Muslim Albanian majority living in Kosovo.
In the Serbian presidential election of November 12, 1989,
Mr. Milosevic won 65.3 percent of the vote, his nearest
rival, Mr. Vuk Draskovic, polled only 16.4 of the votes
cast.
ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC
At the same time, Alija Izetbegovic, who had been released
early from jail in 1988 (serving only six years of a 14 year
sentence for pro-Islamic anti-state activities), visited
Islamic fundamentalist states in the Middle East, returning
to Bosnia-Herzegovina to found the SDA (Muslim Party of
Democratic Action). His 1970 manifesto, "Islamic
Declaration", advocating the spread of radical
pan-Islamism-politicised Islam-throughout the world, by
force if necessary, was reissued in Sarajevo at this time.
His Islamic Declaration is imbued with intolerance towards
Western religion, culture and economic systems. This is also
the theme projected in his book, Islam between East and
West, first published in the US in 1984, and in Serbo-Croat
in 1988, shortly after he was released from prison in the
former Yugoslavia. In his writings he states that Islam
cannot co-exist with other religions in the same nation
other than a short-term expediency measure. In the longer
term, as and when Muslims become strong enough in any
country, then they must seize power and form a truly Islamic
state.
In the multy-party elections held in Bosnia-Herzegovina on
November 18, 1990, the population voted almost exclusively
along communal lines. The Muslim Democratic Action Party
secured 86 seats, the Serbian Democratic Party 72, and the
Croatian Democratic Union (ie: union with Croatia) Party 44
seats. As the leader of the largest political party, Mr.
Izetbegovic, became the first President of Bosnia-
Herzegovina, albeit for just one year, for under the new
constitution of B-H, the presidency was to revolve each year
between the three parties, each of which represented one
ethnic community.
Under constitutional law, in January 1992, Mr. Izetbegovic
should have handed over the Presidency to Mr. Radovan
Karadzic, the Serbian Democratic leader. He failed to honor
the constitution and being true to his writings, he seized
power, acting undemocratically and illegally. Therefore, at
no time since January 1992 should Mr. Izetbegovic have been
acknowledged by the international community as the legal
President of B-H.
FRANJO TUDJMAN
Towards the end of World War II, while still a young man,
Franjo Tudjman took the pragmatic option and joined the
communist Partisans. He had probably realized that Germany
could not win the war and that Tito and his Partisans would
gain control of Yugoslavia, with the full support of both
Soviets and the British Prime Minister Sir Winston
Churchill.
Some time after the end of World War II, Tudjman joined the
communist Yugoslav Army as a regular officer and rose to the
rank of Major-General during the early part of President
Tito´s period in office.
During the late 1960´s and in 1979, ultra right fascism
began to re-surface in Croatia, showing the same World War
II fascist face of nationalism and the requirement that a
nation state must be racially pure. This was the first
attempt anywhere in Europe to resurrect German National
Socialism following the fall of the Third Reich in 1944.
Hitler created Croatia when his forces over-ran Yugoslavia
in 1941, installing as Fuher, Ante Pavelic, leader of the
fascist Croatian Ustashi movement. Pavelic had spent the
previous 10 years in exile in Italy as head of a Croatian
terrorist group, shielded by the Vatican and the Italian
Fascist party.
Mr. Tudjman was deeply involved in the attempted revival of
fascism, allowing his national socialism ethos to come to
the fore with the publication of his treatise, The
Wastelands. In it he attempted to re-write major sections of
the history of World War II, downplaying the Holocaust, and
with it , the more than one-million Jews, Serbs and Gypsies
murdered by the Croatian ultra-nationalist Ustashi, which
included priests of the Holy Roman Church, at the Croatian
Ustashi concentration camp of Jasenovac and other locations
within Yugoslavia.
For his nationalistic, anti-state activities at this time,
Mr. Tudjman went to jail for three years. After being
released from jail, Mr. Tudjman went politically low key for
a few years, but re-emerged on the scene when President Tito
died in 1980, gradually building a power base among the
Croatian right wing and creating the HDZ Party.
In the multy-party elections held in Croatia in May 1990,
Mr. Tudjman´s HDZ Party won control of the Sabor (Croatian
Parliament) and Mr. Tudjman became President of Croatia when
it was still part of the Yugoslav Federation.
from "A CAREFUL COINCIDENCE OF NATIONAL POLICIES?"
by T.W. Carr (Ass. Publisher, Defense & Foreign Affairs
Publications. London)
http://www.aikor.de/InterTribunal/doku/twcarr1.htm
[The Excerpt from T.W. CARR'S ARTICLE Ends Here]
COMMENT: Contrary to Carr?s claim, Milosevic did not speak about the
status of Kosovo in the 1989 speech.
It is known from other sources, of course, that he certainly did not
want Kosovo to be split from Yugoslavia (for good reasons having to do
with the security of Serbs, Roma, Slavic Muslims, Jews, Albanians and
everyone else in Kosovo and his conviction that Kosovo was
legitimately part of the country he was after all helping lead. How
many leaders want their countries broken up?) But that does not mean
that in this speech he said, "that the Autonomous Province of Kosovo
would remain an integral part of Serbia and Yugoslavia, despite the
then current and often violent, problems of separatism demanded by the
Muslim Albanian majority living in Kosovo." So this is false.
Moreover, Milosevic never referred to the Ottoman Empire as
"Islamist." On the contrary, Milosevic?s remarks on the Ottoman Empire
showed no real animosity. He even acknowledged certain strengths:
"In that distant 1389, the Ottoman Empire was not only stronger
than that of the Serbs but it was also more fortunate than the Serbian
kingdom." (Milosevic, Speech at Kosovo Field)
More importantly, however, notice that Carr pairs the three leaders,
Milosevic, Izetbegovic, and Tudjman, and prefaces his remarks by
saying all three rose to prominence by manipulating nationalism. But
does Milosevic belong in this company? Whereas a good and effortless
case can be made for Izetbegovic and Tudjman being ultra-nationalists
(see above), all we get as evidence for Milosevic?s
"ultra-nationalism" is a false allusion to a declaration he never made
in the Kosovo Polje speech about the fact that he did not want Serbia
to be partitioned, which in itself would not even be evidence of
intolerant ultra-nationalism anyway. Moreover, the speech Carr refers
us to is the antithesis of an ultra-nationalistic speech.
Milosevic at his alleged worst, in other words, is not unlike Ghandi
or Martin Luther King.
Finally, I must observe that Carr is arguing that the US and Germany
are carving zones of interest in Europe and that this is the central
reason for the troubles in Yugoslavia.
In other words, he is not sympathetic to the official propaganda
about the causes of the wars in Yugoslavia.
Yet even he seems blithely to assume that Milosevic is a virulent
nationalist, even though he provides no evidence. (Izetbegovic and
Tudjman, both US allies, certainly do sound like bad guys, on the
other hand). The propaganda against Milosevic has been so successful
that even a critic like Carr believes it, though he can only give us
one short paragraph to support his belief, and that paragraph refers
to a consummately tolerant speech.
Is this the worst one can say about Milosevic?
* * *
[The Excerpt from International Crisis Group Article Starts Here]
On this date in 1948, Tito?s Yugoslavia was expelled at Stalin?s
behest from the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform). It was also
on this day in 1989 that Slobodan Milosevic addressed up to one
million Serbs at Gazimestan in Kosovo to commemorate the sixhundredth
anniversary of the Kosovo Battle. That speech contained the first open
threat of violent conflict by a Socialist Yugoslav leader:"Six
centuries later, again, we are in battles and quarrels. They are not
armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded".
BALKANS Briefing, Belgrade/Brussels, 6 July 2001
International Crisis Group
http://www.intl-crisis-group.org/projects/balkans/
serbia/reports/A400345_06072001.pdf
[The Excerpt from International Crisis Group Article Ends Here]
COMMENT: This quote does appear in the speech.
Any observer of Yugoslavia at this time knew that it was possible
that armed battles could break out. Why should the observation of such
an obvious fact be interpreted as a threat?
One could just as well interpret it as a worry.
Any state trying to contain irredentist terrorists may find itself
in the position of having to deploy its army to protect its
citizens-Milosevic was just stating the obvious. It is really
necessary to omit any reference to any other part of the speech, and
to ignore the facts of Yugoslavia at this time, for the
quote-completely out of context-to appear as a threat. Even then it
does not look very threatening (you have to be told that it is a
threat, for otherwise how could you reliably infer it?). But it pays
to see this quote in its minimal context: the paragraph in which it
appears:
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Starts Here]
Six centuries later, now, we are being again engaged in battles
and are facing battles. They are not armed battles, although such
things cannot be excluded yet. However, regardless of what kind of
battles they are, they cannot be won without resolve, bravery, and
sacrifice, without the noble qualities that were present here in the
field of Kosovo in the days past. Our chief battle now concerns
implementing the economic, political, cultural, and general social
prosperity, finding a quicker and more successful approach to a
civilization in which people will live in the 21st century. For this
battle, we certainly need heroism, of course of a somewhat different
kind, but that courage without which nothing serious and great can be
achieved remains unchanged and remains urgently necessary.
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Ends Here]
COMMENT: This minimal context is already quite informative. The
"chief battle" has nothing to do with armed conflict. And it requires
"heroism, of course of a somewhat different kind." If one further puts
this paragraph into the larger context of the speech it is obvious
that Milosevic is hardly making threats. For example, elsewhere in the
speech Milosevic says:
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Starts Here]
For as long as multinational communities have existed, their
weak point has always been the relations between different nations.
The threat is that the question of one nation being endangered by the
others can be posed one day -- and this can then start a wave of
suspicions, accusations, and intolerance, a wave that invariably grows
and is difficult to stop. This threat has been hanging like a sword
over our heads all the time. Internal and external enemies of
multi-national communities are aware of this and therefore they
organize their activity against multinational societies mostly by
fomenting national conflicts. At this moment, we in Yugoslavia are
behaving as if we have never had such an experience and as if in our
recent and distant past we have never experienced the worst tragedy of
national conflicts that a society can experience and still survive.
[The Excerpt from Milosevic's 1989 Speech Ends Here]
COMMENT: Milosevic was warning that nationalism was being used by
"internal and external enemies of multi-national communities" to
destroy Yugoslavia. He was chiding his fellow Yugoslavs for failing to
remember World War II and other catastrophes during which the Balkans
"experienced the worst tragedy of national conflicts that a society
can experience and still survive." Does this sound like a man whipping
up the population to go to war against other ethnic groups?
* * *
[The Excerpt from LONDON TIMES Starts Here]
Vidovdan, the feast of St Vitus, is one of the most sacred in
the Orthodox church, but it is also the day on which Mr Milosevic
began his political career. Twelve years before, in a dusty and
sweltering field at Kosovo Polje, he had whipped up Serb nationalism
among a ferocious and frustrated crowd. "No one will ever beat you!"
he had shouted, commemorating the defeat of the Serbs by the Turks at
Kosovo Polje in 1389. Yesterday Mr Milosevic was a beaten man on
suicide watch in Scheveningen prison in The Netherlands. Prison
officials, who will interview the former Yugoslav President to check
that he is not worried about being threatened by other inmates, are
also believed to be paying particular attention to the threat he made
earlier this year, to shoot himself rather than submit to
international justice.
from "Milosevic on suicide watch in Dutch prison"; Times
Newspapers Limited; The Times (London); June 30, 2001, Saturday
[The Excerpt from LONDON TIMES Ends Here]
COMMENT: This one comically gets it wrong. Milosevic probably never
said, "No one will ever beat you!" He more likely said something like
"No one will be allowed to beat you like that!" In any event, he did
not say it at the commemoration of the battle at Kosovo Polje (the
speech we have been discussing here). Those words were uttered at
Kosovo Polje but two years earlier, in 1987. At that time, Milosevic
met with Serbs and Montenegrins, mostly peasants, who had serious
grievances: they said they were being mistreated by prejudiced
Albanian authorities in Kosovo and violently harassed by radical
Albanian terrorists. They wanted to speak directly with Milosevic but
he was only meeting with a relatively small group in the hall.
Here is an account of this:
[The Excerpt from SERPENT Starts Here]
When members of the throng outside the hall again tried to break
through police lines and into the building, they were brutally clubbed
and beaten back by the police (composed mainly of Albanian officers,
but including some Serbs). Informed of what was taking place outside,
Milosevic exited the building and approached the still highly volatile
crowd. According to eyewitness reports at the time, the Serbian leader
was visibly upset, physically shaken, and trembling. When a dialogue
ensued between the demonstrators and Milosevic, they implored him to
protect them from the police violence. Acting on a journalist?s
suggestion, Milosevic re-entered the hall, and proceeded to a second
floor window. From that vantage point he nervously addressed the
frenzied demonstrators, and uttered his soon-to-be legendary remarks:
"No one will be allowed to beat you! No one will be allowed to beat
you!" Milosevic also invited the demonstrators to send a delegation
into the hall to discuss their grievances.- Cohen, L. J. 2001. Serpent
in the bosom: The rise and fall of Slobodan Milosevic. Boulder,
Colorado: Westview.
[The Excerpt from SERPENT Ends Here]
Milosevic said, "No one will be allowed to beat you!"
Is this nationalistic incitement?
Or is he reassuring a nervous crowd that their civil rights will be
respected? After all, he is an official with responsibilities to
citizens who were being beaten by police before his eyes.
But in the London Times article the context of the peasant Serbs
getting beaten is no longer evident. The utterance has been
transformed into, "No one will ever beat you" which has an eternal,
mythical overtone, and which therefore fits well with the new and
excellent location that the Times has found for this utterance: the
speech to commemorate the battle of Kosovo Polje.
Two different events have been fused into one, and Serbian mythology
has been joined to an injured cry, providing a total impression of a
syndrome of victimization that lashes out as a reborn and vicious
nationalism. "No one will be allowed to beat you" is supposed to mean,
"We will beat them."
I want to emphasize that Cohen?s book Serpent in the bosom, which I
quoted above, is an attack on Milosevic. If Cohen?s description has a
bias it is to suggest that Milosevic is a virulent nationalist. For
example, although he has Albanian policemen beating peasant Serbs
brutally, this is not described as ethnic animosity (the remark that
some of these policemen are Serbs seems to have been inserted in order
to dispel any such impression). But Milosevic?s attempt to reassure a
crowd whose basic human rights are being trampled right in front of
his eyes-that is nationalism, as Cohen goes on to explain in what
remains of the chapter.
Everybody else has done the same. The 1987 events are supposed to
mark a turning point on Milosevic?s road to becoming a virulent
nationalist (Cohen calls it "the epiphanal moment").
However, notice that despite these attempts, it is difficult not to
see Milosevic?s behavior as perfectly natural, indeed laudable.
Why not reassure a crowd of your constituents, who are being
bludgeoned by policemen, that this will not be allowed to happen? What
else should he have morally done? By what stretch of the imagination
is this utterance transformed into a nationalistic call to arms? Well,
it helps to omit the context in which the utterance was made, and it
also helps to insert it into a speech commemorating the defeat of the
Serbs at Kosovo Polje, as the Times has done.
* * *
[The Excerpt from NEWSDAY Starts Here]
Picture this: Milosevic (pronounced mee-LOH-sheh-vitch) was sent
to Kosovo Polje, the small village near the sacred site of the Serbs
defeat by the Turks in 1389. His orders were to speak to disgruntled
Serbian and Montenegrin activists who claimed they were being badly
mistreated by the majority ethnic Albanians who lived there.
Serbs: A Frightened Minority
While Milosevic was speaking in the town's cultural center, a
huge crowd of angry Serbs gathered outside the building, chanting in
support of the party activists inside. They were attacked by local
police, most of them Albanians, who began beating the Serbs with their
clubs.
Breaking off his meeting, Milosevic hurried out onto a balcony.
With national television cameras recording everything, he invoked the
memory of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo at the nearby Field of Blackbirds.
"No one should dare to beat you!" Milosevic shouted, and the
crowd went into a frenzy, beginning to chant, "Slo-bo! Slo-bo!
Slo-bo!" The Serbian masses had found a hero, and Milosevic had found
a nickname.
"With a skill which he had never displayed before, Milosevic
made an eloquent extempore speech in defense of the sacred rights of
the Serbs," wrote Noel Malcolm in his recent book, "Kosovo: A Short
History." "From that day, his nature as a politician changed; it was
as if a powerful new drug had entered his veins."
from "Student Briefing Page On The News"; Newsday, Inc.; Newsday
(New York, NY); April 16, 1999, Friday, ALL EDITIONS; SECTION: NEWS;
Page A48
[The Excerpt from NEWSDAY Ends Here]
COMMENT: Notice what has happened here. First, for Newsday,
apparently, it is enough that Noel Malcolm said something. The same
can probably also be said for The Times of London, which paper, as we
saw above, parroted a similar line to the one we see here: utterances
to the effect that "nobody will beat you" are supposed to allude to
the defeat of the Serbs at Kosovo Polje in 1389.
This is a fusion of the events of 1987 and 1989 and, since this
connection does not seem to appear prior to 1999 (which is the year
Noel Malcolm?s book appeared), it is at least a reasonable guess that:
a) Malcolm is the originator of this confusion and
b) ever since, newspapers like The Times of London and Newsday have
been fusing remarks that Milosevic made in two different years and in
two very different contexts (neither of them even remotely damning).
This is worth a pause and a reflection.
Academics typically get their facts about what happened in a
particular time and place from journalists. But here we have
newspapers getting their facts from an academic. It would be fine for
the newspaper to report the interpretation or theory of an academic,
but isn?t the world turned upside down when a newspaper gets the basic
facts of what happened from some bookish professor who wasn?t there?
The second observation is that what Milosevic actually said, "no one
will be allowed to beat you!" has been changed to "no one should dare
to beat you!" With this change the utterance dovetails nicely with
Malcolm?s reference to Milosevic?s supposed lyricism concerning the
"sacred rights of the Serbs". So not only is this fusing of the events
of 1987 and 1989 apparently an innovation of Malcolm?s, it is one he
seems to work hard at, modifying other facts as well, to give the
fusion plausibility.
In any case, it should be obvious that it is quite a stretch of
interpretation to say that one is invoking a moment in history by
making assurances to peasant Serbs that no one should beat them, when
those peasant Serbs are at that very moment being "attacked by local
police, most of them Albanians." How about the hypothesis that rather
than making "an eloquent extempore speech in defense of the sacred
rights of the Serbs", Milosevic was saying that the Albanian policemen
right below him should not be beating the peasant Serbs?
* * *
[The Excerpt from CIGAR Starts Here]
?in an emotionally charged speech at Gazimestan on June 28,
1989, on the sixth hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo,
Milosevic had signaled his government?s intention to extend the
nationalist agenda beyond Serbia?s borders. When coupled with active
measures being undertaken in neighboring republics, his emphasis that
the "Serbs have always liberated themselves and, when they had a
chance, also helped others to liberate themselves" seemed to commit
Serbia to a forcible redrawing of Yugoslavia?s long-established
internal borders in pursuit of "liberating" the Serbs outside of
Serbia?
Cigar, Norman 1995. Genocide in Bosnia. College Station, Texas:
Texas A&M University Press. (p.34)
[The Excerpt from CIGAR Ends Here]
COMMENT: The quote from Milosevic's speech is accurate, but it is
difficult to do justice to the distortions in this paragraph with the
appropriate superlatives. Cigar is, in second-order Orwellian fashion,
claiming that Milosevic?s speech is Orwellian. When Milosevic
contrasts Serbs to "others", this means (according to Cigar) other
Serbs! That is a very interesting code. And when Milosevic talks about
liberation, he really means that Serbs should oppress non-Serbs.
But just a tiny little bit of history suggests a different
hypothesis.
In World War I, the Serbs were the only Balkan people to side with
the allies. This means they simultaneously fought for their
independence against two empires (Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian), while
the Croats, Muslims, Albanians, etc. fought on the side of the
empires. The Serbs won, but instead of creating a ?Greater Serbia?, as
many a victor might have, they spearheaded the creation of a joint
kingdom, and they even shared the name (the Kingdom of Serbia,
Croatia, and Slovenia, which later got an even more inclusive name
when it was renamed Yugoslavia - land of the Southern Slavs).
Thus, they had liberated these other peoples from the clutches of
the empires, and did not create an empire themselves.
Contrast this with the treatment that Germany got from the
victorious allies.
Then, in World War II, the Croats, Slovenes, Yugoslav Muslims, and
the Albanians for the most part betrayed Yugoslavia and allied
themselves with the invading Nazis. The Hungarians, Bulgarians, and
Romanians also either allied themselves outright or reached an
understanding with the Nazis. The Serbs were surrounded but fought the
invaders anyway, and they were practically alone. Tito?s ethnically
dogmatically tolerant Partisans, who won the war in Yugoslavia, were
mostly Serbs. Once again, the result was not a ?Greater Serbia?, but a
magnanimous recreation of Yugoslavia (and this, despite the fact that
Serbs had suffered a Holocaust during the war very much like that of
the Jews).
Could it be that when Milosevic said that the Serbs had always
fought for their liberation, and that of others when possible, he was
merely saying what he meant?
The examples of how this speech has been maligned could be
multiplied. But we gain a valuable perspective by taking a look at how
the speech was reported the very moment it happened:
[The Excerpt from BBC Starts Here]
Copyright 1989 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
June 29, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: Part 2 Eastern Europe; 2. EASTERN EUROPE; EE/0495/ i;
LENGTH: 249 words; HEADLINE: The anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo
Polje
BODY:
The events in Kosovo to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the
battle on 28th June were relayed live by Belgrade radio. At the
Gracanica monastery over 100,000 people attended a liturgical service
conducted by Patriarch German, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church,
and at Gazimestan around 1,500,000 people gathered at a central
ceremony in the presence of SFRY President Janez Drnovsek and Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic. The radio noted that more people were
expected to arrive at Gazimestan. Addressing the crowd, Milosevic said
that whenever they were able to the Serbs had helped others to
liberate themselves, and they had never used the advantage of their
being a large nation against others or for themselves, Tanjug
reported. He added that Yugoslavia was a multi-national community
which could survive providing there was full equality for all the
nations living in it. Speaking with reporters at the beginning of the
Gazimestan celebrations, Kosovo LC President Rahman Morina said that
no innocent people were being placed in isolation in Kosovo, and had
isolation not been implemented much more severe measures would have
been needed today, Tanjug reported. He also said that former ethnic
Albanian leader Azem Vlasi would deserve everything that happened to
him. Reporting on the security situation in Kosovo on the 28th, the
agency noted that there were no major problems apart from those caused
by the large number of vehicles travelling to the celebrations.
[The Excerpt from the BBC Ends Here]
COMMENT: It does not appear that the BBC reporter had the impression
Milosevic's speech produced a nationalist incitement. On the contrary,
the reporter has explicitly highlighted the tolerance of the speech.
The London Independent, which had reporters covering the speech, had
a similar impression:
[The Excerpt from THE INDEPENDENT Starts Here]
ON the poppy-flecked Kosovo Polje, the Field of Blackbirds,
looking out over a sea of a million people, Slobodan Milosevic
yesterday assumed the mantle of a statesman and Yugoslavia's natural
leader.
The climax of the two years of Serbian national awakening he has
led - the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Polje - brought an
unexpectedly conciliatory the Serbian President made not one
aggressive reference to 'Albanian counter-revolutionaries' in Kosovo
province. Instead, he talked of mutual tolerance, 'building a rich and
democratic society' and ending the discord which had, he said, led to
Serbia's defeat here by the Turks six centuries ago.
'There is no more appropriate place than this field of Kosovo to
say that accord and harmony in Serbia are vital to the prosperity of
the Serbs and of all other citizens living in Serbia, regardless of
their nationality or religion,' he said. Mutual tolerance and co-
operation were also sine qua non for Yugoslavia: 'Harmony and
relations on the basis of equality among Yugoslavia's people are a
precondition for its existence, for overcoming the crisis.' The cries
of 'Slobo, Slobo' which greeted his arrival on the vast monument to
the heroes of 1389 soon gave way to a numb silence. 'I think people
were a little disappointed, it became very quiet after the beginning,'
an educated-looking woman from Belgrade said. But most others, in a
straw poll, insisted the occasion did not merit the raucous chanting
characteristic of the heady protest rallies of last year. 'People were
satisfied, after all it wasn't a protest rally,' said another pilgrim.
Everyone seemed a little stunned.
The Independent, June 29 1989, Thursday, Foreign News ; Pg.
10, 654 words, Milosevic carries off the battle honours, From EDWARD
STEEN and MARCUS TANNER in Kosovo Polje
[The Excerpt from THE INDEPENDENT Ends Here]
COMMENT: The quotes from Milosevic are accurate.
This account, a day after the event, suggests that the speech was
not "emotionally charged," as Cigar claims, and neither was it a
speech designed to whip up "a million Serbs into a nationalist
frenzy"-as Time Magazine untruthfully alleges.
It is clear that there was no "ferocious and frustrated crowd," as
the Times of London would have it. It was not a "fervent speech
?[that]? galvanized the nationalist passions" as The New York Times
stated.
Finally, for good measure, it was not a "fiery speech?to a million
angry Serbs [and] a rallying cry for nationalism," as the Washington
Post reported.
From the story above we even learn that one observer thought people
had been disappointed, although this impression is belied by the
opinion of the locals who said this was not a protest rally.
Indeed, it didn?t sound like one, if one reads the speech. The
framing of the events is that Milosevic was conciliatory.
How should we describe the fact that The Independent, which paper
had reporters on the ground, and which had accurately reported this
speech when it was given, later said that this was Milosevic setting
his agenda "as he openly threatens force to hold the six-republic
federation together" (see above)?
Scandalous?
Or perhaps we should show sympathy for the harried journalists at
The Independent, who apparently cannot find the time to read their own
paper!
And what about the other, 1987, speech? This is how it was reported
by the New York Times, immediately after it happened:
[The Excerpt from NEW YORK TIMES Starts Here]
The police clashed briefly today with a crowd of about 10,000 in
the ethnically tense province of Kosovo, Yugoslav news organizations
said.
The incident occurred when thousands gathered outside the Hall
of Culture in the city of Kosovo Polje.
The Communist Party chief of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, was on
hand to listen to complaints that minorities had been harassed by the
ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo, the Yugoslav television reported.
Witnesses said about 300 delegates from the crowd of Serbs and
Montenegrins were admitted to the hall to talk to Mr. Milosevic, but
10,000 to 15,000 people waiting outside also wanted to be at the
talks.
Police Used Truncheons
The clash started at about 6:30 P.M., half an hour after Mr.
Milosevic began to listen to the complaints, when police officers
trying to control the crowd pushed people away from the entrance and
across the street, witnesses said.
The national press agency, Tanyug, said ''a number of citizens
threw stones at police.'' Witnesses said policemen used truncheons
during the clash, which lasted about 10 minutes. [According to
Reuters, Tanyug reported that several people were lightly injured.]
Tanyug said Mr. Milosevic emerged at 7 P.M. and ''was greeted with
applause, shouts and chanting.'' Witnesses quoted him as telling the
crowd that the police had no right to use truncheons so
indiscriminately.
The New York Times, April 25, 1987, Saturday, Late City Final
Edition, Section 1; Page 5, Column 1; Foreign Desk, 356 words,
YUGOSLAVIA POLICE AND 10,000 CLASH DURING A PROTEST OVER ETHNIC BIAS,
AP, BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, April 24
[The Excerpt from NEW YORK TIMES Ends Here]
COMMENT: It is clear from how that speech was reported at the time
that Milosevic had simply meant to reassure the assembled Serb
peasants that the police certainly did not have the right to beat them
like that. It was not a nationalistic call to arms nor was it supposed
to have overtones to the battle of Kosovo Polje. Why should it? What
was happening in front of his eyes was not metaphorical. Policemen
were beating peasants.
Final Remarks
This is how a myth is constructed: we hear the same story
everywhere. The repetition of the story convinces us that the story
has been confirmed. But, of course, repetition is hardly confirmation.
If it were, every urban legend would be true.
It is important to pause and reflect on what this means. If the
media can lie so blatantly about what Milosevic had said in 1989, and
if they do it consistently and across the board, something is wrong.
The question is: how wrong?
The US government obviously has an interest in demonizing the people
it bombed. Although its own translation of the speech is a rebuke to
how the speech has been portrayed, we should not expect the US
government to criticize the misinformation. This is unjustifiable, and
corrupt, but understandable.
Explaining the behavior of the BBC, on the other hand, is not so
easy. The BBC is not the US government. Its role is supposedly to give
us the truth, as best it can. Moreover, the BBC is supposed to be in
competition with other media outlets. Since the BBC translated the
speech, they were in a position to lay bare that what was being
written about the speech was misinformation. They have not done it,
and this is a very serious sin of journalistic omission.
If only this was their biggest sin!
On April 1, 2001, the BBC wrote the following:
[The Excerpt from the BBC Starts Here]
In 1989, on the 600-year anniversary of the battle of Kosovo
Polje, he [Milosevic] gathered a million Serbs at the site of the
battle to tell them to prepare for a new struggle.
He then began to arm and support Serb separatists in Croatia and
Bosnia. Other nationalists were coming to power throughout the
republics of the old federation.
Yugoslavia's long nightmare of civil war was beginning.
("The downfall of Milosevic ", Sunday, 1 April, 2001, 07:17 GMT 08:17
UK; http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/
europe/newsid_1204000/1204857.stm):
[The Excerpt from the BBC Ends Here]
The BBC here makes it seem as though Milosevic was indeed talking
about preparing the Serbs for aggression against other people.
But the BBC translated the live relay of the speech!
They know Milosevic did no such thing in 1989 at Kosovo Polje. The
BBC piece continues:
[The Excerpt from the BBC Starts Here]
Darker motives
Mr Milosevic was never really a nationalist, never a true
believer. He skillfully exploited the myth of Kosovo Polje - where the
Serbs refused to surrender even though that brought defeat and
subjugation - but he was always a pragmatist.
(BBC, "The downfall of Milosevic "
[The Excerpt from the BBC Ends Here]
Again: the BBC translated the speech. They know that he spoke in
skeptical and professorial tones about the famous battle at Kosovo
Polje, rather than manipulating it for ultra-nationalist ends.
This is not an isolated instance. Here is the BBC again, in a
different piece:
[The Excerpt from the BBC Starts Here]
Serbs to remember Historic battle
Religious ceremonies are being held today in Kosovo to
commemorate the anniversary of a fourteenth century battle in which
the Ottoman Turks crushed the Serbian army.
A BBC correspondent in Kosovo says most Serbs will mark the
anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Polje hesitantly, if at all.
He says some believe the security situation is still too fragile
for any large gathering; others feel too threatened to risk travelling
on the roads.
Ten years ago, more than one-million Serbs turned out to
celebrate the battle's six-hundreth anniversary, when President
Slobodan Milosevic vowed Serbia would never again lose control of
Kosovo.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service * Monday, June 28,
1999 Published at 09:21 GMT 10:21 UK * World: Europe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_379000/379847.stm
[The Excerpt from the BBC Ends Here]
But?but?the BBC knows that what it is reporting here is not true.
They translated the speech. Milosevic did not vow any such thing in
1989 at the Kosovo Polje commemoration. He may have vowed it elsewhere
(and the vow in and of itself is perfectly consistent with his desire
to keep Yugoslavia whole, and does not indict him of anything). But he
certainly made no such vow in the 1989 speech.
Why is the BBC not reporting what it knows to be true?
Since this is possible, I am forced to wonder what else is possible.
What can we believe about what has been written about Milosevic in
particular, and Yugoslavia more generally? After all, the demonization
of Milosevic, and the Serbs more generally, perfectly fits with the
propaganda aims of the NATO powers that went to war against
Yugoslavia, including the US and Britain. Here we have seen that the
media establishment in these two countries has produced stories about
Milosevic?s speech that are consistent with such a deliberate
propaganda campaign.
-- Slobodan Milosevic's speech at Kosovo Field can be read at
http://emperors-clothes.com/milo/milosaid.html
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[Emperor's Clothes]
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http://globalresistance.com
Si sono fatte sempre più forti, nelle ultime settimane, le voci che
hanno dato per certa la grazia ad Adriano Sofri subito dopo che la
Legge Cirami fosse passata in Parlamento.
Detto-fatto: appena passata la Legge Cirami, e' sceso in campo
nientepopodimeno che il Presidente del Consiglio, quell'onest'uomo di
Silvio Berlusconi, promettendo che il bravo intellettuale italiota
otterra' la grazia.
La otterra' "anche alla luce dei suoi scritti": e per capire meglio a
quali scritti si riferisca Berlusconi invitiamo a leggere piu' avanti
l'"Elogio dello sceriffo globale". A cotanto intellettuale il Palazzo
dovra' certo assegnare il dicastero della "Pubblica Disinformazione"
per meriti acquisiti.
(a cura di Luca, Claudio e Andrea)
===
Roma, 11:07
Sofri, Berlusconi: matura decisione favorevole a grazia
Il presidente del Consiglio Silvio Berlusconi ritiene che "sia matura
una decisione favorevole alla grazia" per Adriano Sofri, condannato a
22 anni di carcere per l'omicidio del commissario Calabresi. Una
posizione nata dalla convinzione che proprio per il comportamento
tenuto in questi anni dall'ex leader di Lotta Continua ("entrato in
carcere per due volte con le sue gambe, pur considerando oltraggiosa
l'accusa formulata contro di lui e dichiarandosi non colpevole") e
anche alla luce dei "suoi scritti", "la societ non pu attendersi dalla
sua detenzione un qualunque beneficio in termini di rieducazione" e
"la pena rischia di risultare soltanto afflittiva".
Il premier ha affidato il suo pensiero ad una lettera pubblicata oggi
da il Foglio. (red)
===
Ecco cosa Sofri scriveva su "Panorama" in edicola a fine ottobre:
===
ELOGIO DELLO SCERIFFO GLOBALE
Con il dilagare dei crimini contro l'umanità, è urgente che alla
nozione e all'azione di guerra subentri quella di polizia
internazionale. Per tutelare, almeno, l¹incolumità di chi non c'entra.
di ADRIANO SOFRI
La discussione sul pacifismo e le condizioni del ricorso alla forza è
resa ogni giorno più attuale dalla triste inflazione di violenza che
attrversa la Terra. È un peccato che la discussione sembri
ricominciare ogni volta daccapo, tenersi a opposte e universali
dichiarazioni di principio (trasformate presto in slogan), e
specialmente a una contrapposizione fra pace e guerra per un verso
sacra e ovvia, fino al tabù, per l'altro inadeguata al problema reale.
Il problema reale è quello di un mondo così ravvicinato che persone,
merci, informazioni, culture e violenze lo percorrono in lungo e in
largo senza lasciarsi arrestare dalle frontiere degli stati sovrani.
Doppia è la ragione che ha spinto al diritto sovrannazionale di
ingerenza negli affari interni dei diversi paesi. La prima è nella
definizione di crimini contro l'umanità che eccedono l'ambito
esclusivo delle legislazioni nazionali. Molto spesso sono gli stati a
commettere quei crimini contro i loro stessi cittadini. Un'altra
ragione, sempre più urgente, sta nella sfida mossa alla sicurezza e
alla libertà civile da bande internazionali, diffuse in paesi e
continenti diversi e impegnate a colpire in paesi e continenti
diversi. Nei confronti dei crirnini contro l'umanità (fino al
genocidio, contro il quale la legge internazionale prevede un obbligo
di intervento, eluso di fatto dalla viltà o dall'ipocrisia delle
potenze, anche nei casi più tragicamente limpidi, come in Ruanda) come
nella lotta contro il terrorismo internazionale, la legislazione
intemazionale arranca, e l'intervento pratico anche. Quando, sempre in
extremis, dopo aver ignorato la prevenzione di malattie divenute così
incurabili, la comunità internazionale si risolve a intervenire con la
propria forza, non riesce a immaginare altro modo di farlo se non
nella forma (e col nome) della guerra.
La "guerra" del Kosovo, per esempio.
Di fatto, benché il ricorso alla forza militare sia quello tipico
della guerra, si tratta in genere di una sua contraffazione, per la
(benedetta) schiacciante sproporzione delle forze. È stato così nel
Golfo, poi nella Serbia, poi nello stesso Afghanistan. Benché a volte
ricorra all'espressione di "polizia internazionale", la comunità
internazionale e i suoi padroni (primi gli Stati Uniti, per distacco)
non sanno pensare il soccorso e la tutela della legalità
internazionale se non col titolo e con la pratica della guerra. E
dunque la contrapposizione dei suoi cittadini fra fautori della pace e
della guerra. Col risultato, oltretutto, di far passare i fautori
della pace per rassegnati all'omissione di soccorso e all'impunità
dei tiranni. E, reciprocamente, i fautori di un intervento
internazionale in soccorso di vittime inermi e a tutela del diritto,
per guerrafondai.
C'è una criminalità "comune", ammesso che si possa ancora chiamarla
così, che ha anch'essa, anzi spesso in anticipo sugli altri, fatto
tesoro del villaggio globale per infrangere le frontiere ed estendere
la sua presa attraverso i continenti fino a confiscare interi stati e
govemi. Il traffico di armi, di droga, di corpi umani, assecondato
dall'ottusità di proibizionismi gridati e impotenti, ingrassa le
multinazionali criminali. A esse si oppongono polizie internazionali,
incomparabilmente deboli di fronte alla potenza di mezzi e uomini e
brutalità della grande crirninalità. Benché sempre più spesso adotti
strumenti e modalità militari e guerresche, in Colombia per esempio,
questa azione intemazionale conserva, in omaggio alla sua origine
dalla lotta alla criminalità "comune", il nome di polizia; mentre
l'altra, indirizzata contro i crin?ini degli stati o delle
organizzazioni terroristiche, non sa liberarsi del nome di guerra.
Ora, non è solo l'intreccio sempre più stretto fra le due (pensate
alla questione dell'oppio in Afghanistan) a consigliare una
riflessione radicale sulla questione della polizia internazionale.
Solo un'abitudine tenace e pigra alla sovranità statale come limite
insuperabile della legge e della sua fonte impedisce di vedere
l'affinità crescente (non dico l'identità) fra la necessità di una
polizia locale, nazionale, federale, dove ci sia un'unità
sovrannazionale (per esempio nell'Europa dopo Schengen), e la
necessità di una polizia (e una legge, un codice, un tribunale)
internazionale. La prima è un'ovvietà per chiunque, anche per un bravo
anarchico. La seconda è ancora uno scandalo o una bizzarria per i più.
Nessuno esiterebbe a chiamare la polizia di fronte all'aggressione a
un inerme a un angolo di strada. Molti esitano, e parecchi anzi si
oppongono, all'appello a una polizia che faccia finire il massacro
di Sarajevo, impedisca e punisca lo sterminio di Srebrenica,
interrompa il genocidio ruandese.
È difficile liberarsi delle proprie convinzioni consolidate, e
diventate pregiudizi. La diffidenza nei confronti delle violazioni
aggressive all'indipendenza nazionale è così recente che non ci si
vuol staccare da quella trincea. Purtroppo questa resistenza facilita
la confusione fra guerra e azione di polizia internazionale: sicché
quando un'azione di forza internazionale diventa inevitabile, né la
sua legalità, né il suo esercizio proporzionato diventano l'impegno di
chi ama la pace secondo giustizia. A quel punto, semplicemente, la
mano passa dai governanti ai generali. Le polizie locali e nazionali,
sebbene debbano sempre guardarsi dalla tentazione all'abuso
connaturata ai corpi separati e armati (e troppo spesso a quella
tentazione cedano) hanno un obbligo statutario e un costume più o
meno consolidato, più in Gran Bretagna meno in California, a
commisurare l'impiego della forza al compito da realizzare, e alla
tutela dell'incolumità delle persone estranee che potrebbero esserne
coinvolte. Una analoga proporzione, una analoga cura per l'incolumità
dei terzi, è oggi assente dagli impieghi della forza in quelle che
dovrebbero essere azioni di polizia internazionale, e continuano a
essere guerre.
2. Dringender Aufruf, von W.Mueller (Internationale Jugoslawien
Solidarität), mit Anhang:
Ralph Hartmann: "Zweiter Akt in Den Haag" (Aus: "Ossietzky" Nr.21,
Oktober 2002)
3. Klaus Hartmann: "Wegschauprozeß geht weiter" (Ende September 2002)
===
LINKS:
*** zur Internet Seite der Deutschen Sektion des
INTERNATIONALEN KOMITEES FÜR DIE VERTEIDIGUNG VON SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC:
> http://www.free-slobo.de/
*** zum Artikel
"Die NATO benützte den gleichen alten Trick, als sie Milosevic ein
Angebot machte, das er nur ablehnen konnte"
(Robert Fisk zur vorgelegten Irak-UN-Resolution der USA und
Grossbritanniens)
in: The Independent, 04.10.2002
> http://www.imi-online.de/2002.php3?id=252
===
Balkan-Telegramm, 02. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
+++ MILOSEVICS GESUNDHEITSZUSTAND STELLT URTEIL IN FRAGE
DEN HAAG. Eine erneute Verschlechterung des Gesundheitszustands
von Slobodan Milosevic hat in Den Haag Sorgen um den Fortgang des
Kriegsverbrecherprozesses gegen den jugoslawischen Ex-Präsidenten
aufkommen lassen. Milosevic erschien "wegen extremer Müdigkeit und
Erschöpfung" nicht zu einem Verhandlungstermin vor dem Tribunal, wie
der Vorsitzende Richter Richard May mitteilte. Er habe die
Staatsanwaltschaft und die beteiligten Anwälte gebeten, innerhalb von
sieben Tagen ihre Vorschläge vorzulegen, wie und ob der Prozess am
besten fortgesetzt werden könne, erklärte May.
"In Anbetracht des Gesundheitszustandes des Angeklagten sowie der
Länge und der Komplexität des Falls bemüht sich das Gericht um den
besten Weg, wie der Abschluss des Prozesses gewährleistet werden
kann", sagte der Richter.
Seit Beginn der Verhandlungen am 12. Februar hatte sich Milosevic
bereits drei Mal krank gemeldet. Bei einer Untersuchung des
61-Jährigen stellten Ärzte im August ein "erhöhtes Herzinfarktrisiko"
fest und begrenzten die Verhandlungsdauer auf vier aufeinanderfolgende
Tage alle zwei Wochen. INET-NEWS +++
=== 1 ===
Subject: In Sorge um Gesundheit und Leben von Slobodan Milosevic
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 21:30:03 +0100
From: "Klaus von Raussendorff" <redaktion@...>
Appell von Ärzten und Therapeuten aus Deutschland
an das ICTY, Den Haag
Mr. Claude Jorda
Mr. Richard May
Mr. Steven Kay
Mr. Branislav Tapuskovic
Sorge um Leben und Gesundheit von Slobodan Milosevic
Sehr geehrte Herren!
Nach den Meldungen von Nachrichtenagenturen mussten die Verhandlungen
im ?Milosevic-Fall? zum wiederholten Male aus gesundheitlichen Gründen
unterbrochen werden. Nach diesen Meldungen wurde seitens des Gerichts
die Frage aufgeworfen, ob der Prozess zum Ende geführt werden kann,
und die Beteiligten gebeten, diesbezügliche Vorschläge zu machen.
Nach unseren Informationen hat der Gesundheitszustand von Slobodan
Milosevic bereits im Sommer Anlass gegeben, eine gründliche ärztliche
Begutachtung vorzunehmen, die zu Berichten und Verfahrensvorschlägen
führten, die die 3. Kammer in ihren Verhandlungen am 25.07. 2002 ff.
beraten hat.
Es verwundert, dass die damaligen ärztlichen Vorschläge nicht oder nur
teilweise bei der weiteren Prozessführung umgesetzt wurden. Die
empfohlenen Ruhezeiten wurden stark verkürzt, und es fand sogar eine
Rückkehr zu ganztägigen Verhandlungen statt, von denen gänzlich
abgeraten wurde. Die aktuelle Verschlechterung des
Gesundheitszustandes von Slobodan Milosevic erscheint als direkte
Konsequenz der Nichtbeachtung der ärztlicherseits für geboten
erachteten Maßnahmen.
Es ist darüber hinaus nicht nur unverständlich, sondern geradezu
empörend, dass Herr Milosevic weder unter ständiger ärztlicher
Beobachtung und Kontrolle steht, geschweige denn die gebotene adäquate
Therapie erhält.
Dieser nur als unverantwortlich zu bezeichnende Umgang mit einem
Menschen, dessen Gesundheit und Leben Ihnen mit allen Konsequenzen
anvertraut ist, wirft ernsthafte Fragen nach den Gründen auf. Er steht
zumindest in diametralem Widerspruch zu verschiedenen Dokumenten und
Resolutionen der UN über die Behandlung von Inhaftierten, für deren
Gewährleistung doch zumindest Verantwortliche, die sich für Vertreter
einer UN-Institution halten, in vollem Umfang verantwortlich sein
sollten.
Nach der eingetretenen und vom ICTY voll zu verantwortenden Situation
bleibt als die ultimative Konsequenz, Slobodan Milosevic umgehend aus
dieser gesundheits- und lebensbedrohenden Situation zu befreien, ihn
auf freien Fuß zu setzen, damit er sich in Belgrad der längst
überfälligen Therapie durch ihn langjährig behandelnde Ärzte
unterziehen kann.
Hochachtungsvoll
gez.
Matthias Jochheim, Frankfurt/Main
Arzt und Psychotherapeut, Vorstandsmitglied der Deutschen Sektion der
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW -
Nobel Peace Prize 1985)
gez.
Dr. med. Uta Mader, Köln
Ärztin, Mitglied der IPPNW - Deutsche Sektion, und der VDÄÄ - Verein
der demokratischen Ärztinnen und Ärzte
gez.
Prof. Dr. med. habil. Ilse Eisen-Hagemann, Berlin
Ärztin
gez.
Hans-Peter Brenner, Bonn
Psychotherapeut, Vorstandsmitglied der Kassenärztlichen Vereinigung
Koblenz
gez.
Prof. Dr. med. habil. Ingeborg Rapoport, Berlin
Ärztin
gez.
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Dr. hc. mult. Samuel Mitja Rapoport, Berlin
Arzt
=== 2 ===
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 18:00:59 +0100 (CET)
From: wolfgang mueller <karovier@...>
DRINGENDER AUFRUF!!!
Das Leben von Slobodan Milosevic befindet sich in ernster Gefahr.
Seit einigen Tagen ist der "Prozeß gegen Söobodan Milosevic", wie das
absurde Polit-Spektakel, das vor mehreren Monaten zur Rechtfertigung
der NATO-Aggression gegen Jugoslawien mit lautem Getöse eröffnet wurde
und mittlerweile einer totalen Nachrichtensperre unterliegt, weil die
Wahrheit schließlich schwerer wiegt als lautes Propagandageschrei,
unterbrochen.
Der Grund dafür ist die Verhandlungsunfähigkeit von Slobodan
Milosevic, der an lebensbedrohlichen Herzrythmusstörungen und
Bluthochdruck leidet.
Ursächlich dafür müssen die extremen Haftbedingungen gesehen werden,
denen er seit Juni 2001 ausgesetzt ist, sowie die Belastungen, die der
Marathonprozeß in Den Haag mit sich bringt, in dem er sich bislang in
heldenhafter Weise als einzelner einer gigantischen
Propagandamaschinerie der großen westlichen Medienkonzerne,
regierungsamtlicher Lügner vom Schlage Scharping, Clinton oder Blair
und ihrer Justizangestellten, wie Carla Del Ponte entgegenstemmte und
eine Lanze für die Wahrheit und die Ehre und Würde Jugoslawiens und
insbesondere des serbischen Volkes brach, das eben keine Bande von
ruchlosen, marodierenden Schlächtern ist, sondern sich in seiner
gesamten Geschichte als freiheits- und gerechtigkeitsliebendes Volk,
insbesondere im heroischen Partisanenkampf gegen den deutschen
Faschismus, sowie die Erpressungsmanöver und Aggression der NATO,
bleibende Verdienste erwarb.
Am gestrigen Dienstag, dem 5. November kam es in Belgrad zu einem
Treffen zwischen dem amtierenden Präsidenten der Sozialistischen
Partei Serbiens (SPS) und Vorsitzendem der
SLOBODA(Freiheit)-Gesellschaft Bogoljub Bjelica mit dem jugoslawischen
Präsidenten Vojislav Kostunica, um die in Den Haag entstandene
dramatische Zuspitzung der Situation zu diskutieren.
Der Hauptinhalt ihres Gesprächs war, wie das Leben und die Gesundheit
von Slobodan Milosevic geschützt werden können. Medizinische Gutachter
warnten, dass das seit neun Monaten laufende Verfahren, mit seinem
in der Rechtsgeschichte beispiellosen Rythmus, das Leben von
Milosevic aufs Spiel setzt. Er steht unter dem ständigen Risiko, einen
akuten Herzanfall zu erleiden.
Unterstützer von Slobodan Milosevic befürchten, dass auf diese Weise
an Milosevic ein schleichender Mord verübt werden soll. Deswegen
fordert sie die sofortige Rückführung von Slobodan Milosevic nach
Belgrad, um ihm dort die notwendige medizinische Fürsorge
zukommen zu lassen.
Wir rufen zur Unterstützung dieser Forderungen auf.
Proleteri svih zemalja, ujedinite se!
W.Mueller (Internationale Jugoslawien Solidarität)
P.S.: Im Anhang versende ich einen Text des ehemaligen Botschafters
der DDR in Jugoslawien, Ralph Hartmann der in der Oktoberausgabe der
Zeitschrift Ossietzky (Nr.21) erschienen ist.
Der Text kann auch auf der Internetseite der deutschen Sektion des
INTERNATIONALEN KOMITEES FÜR DIE VERTEIDIGUNG VON SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
gelesen werden:
http://www.free-slobo.de/
Darüberhinaus empfehle ich den Artikel von Jared Israel und Vladimir
Krsljanin: "Hague Tries to Quietly Murder Milosevic" unter:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/tries.htm
Anhang:
-------
Ralph Hartmann
Zweiter Akt in Den Haag
Auf der Bühne des Jugoslawien-Tribunals am
Churchillplatz 1 in Den Haag hat sich der Vorhang zum
2. Akt des absurden Spektakels mit dem Titel "Prozeß
gegen Slobodan Milosevic" gehoben, in dem der
Aggressor
über den Angegriffenen zu Gericht sitzt. Der von der
NATO initiierte, unter Verletzung der UN-Charta
geschaffene Gerichtshof verhandelt jetzt über die
sogenannte Kroatien- und Bosnien-Klage, die dem
ehemaligen jugoslawischen Präsidenten Verbrechen gegen
die Menschlichkeit und im bosnisch-herzegowinischen
Falle gar Völkermord vorwirft.
Der 1. Akt, genannt Kosovo-Verfahren, auf den hier
zunächst zurückgeblickt werden soll, entwickelte sich
zu einer einzigen Niederlage der Chefanklägerin und
ihrer Auftraggeber, obwohl es Carla del Ponte an
nichts gefehlt hatte: nicht an geheimdienstlicher
Beihilfe und Wohlwollen der Richter, an politischem
Beistand der meisten NATO-Staaten und willfähriger
Unterstützung der Belgrader Djindjic-Regierung, an
Personal und an Geld - bisher verschlang der
Gerichtshof über eine Milliarde Dollar. Alles mißlang
ihr. Rund 100 Zeugen ließ sie im Gerichtssaal
aufmarschieren, keiner von ihnen bestand die vom
Angeklagten geführten Kreuzverhöre.
Sorgfältig ausgesuchte und präparierte Zeugen aus
Kosovo verhedderten sich allesamt in Widersprüchen.
Sogenannte geschützte Zeugen, deren Identität der
Öffentlichkeit durch allerlei Maskeraden verborgen
blieb, wurden der Lüge überführt oder verweigerten
trotz intensivster Bearbeitung seitens der
Staatsanwaltschaft im letzten Moment die Aussage, so
zum Beispiel der serbische Zeuge K12, dem deshalb
Mißachtung des Gerichtes vorgeworfen und eine
Höchststrafe von 100000 Euro angedroht wurde. Selbst
General a. D. Klaus Naumann, zum Zeitpunkt des
Überfalls auf Jugoslawien Vorsitzender des NATO-
Militärausschusses und von einem der Staatsanwälte als
"bisher bester Zeuge" gerühmt, lieferte der Anklage
keine Pluspunkte. Zwar sagte er zu deren anfänglicher
Freude aus, Milosevic habe ihm indirekt
angekündigt, zur Herstellung eines ethnischen
Gleichgewichtes in Kosovo die Albaner
zusammenzutreiben und erschießen zu wollen. Die Frage,
weshalb er diese schreckliche Ankündigung sogar
gegenüber der NATO, die händeringend nach einer
Kriegsrechtfertigung suchte, jahrelang verschwiegen
habe und weshalb der Belgrader Unhold gerade ihm, dem
mit einem Ultimatum in die jugoslawische Hauptstadt
angereisten NATO-Führer, diese Absicht anvertraut
habe, konnte er leider nicht beantworten. Dafür mußte
er gerichtsnotorisch eingestehen, daß der Krieg gegen
Jugoslawien ohne Mandat des Weltsicherheitsrates,
folglich unter offenem Bruch der UN-Charta, geführt
worden war, zudem mit international geächteten Waffen,
u. a. mit Streubomben und Uran-Munition. Wahrlich ein
glänzender, eben der "beste Zeuge" für den Nachweis
von Kriegsverbrechen!
Schließlich ließ auch der ehemalige Chef des
jugoslawischen Staatssicherheitsdienstes, Rade
Markovic, der als "Insider" gegen Milosevic aussagen
sollte, bei del Ponte wenig Freude aufkommen. Direkt
aus einem Belgrader Gefängnis nach Haag verbracht,
wurde der angekündigte Hauptzeuge der Anklage zu einem
wichtigen Entlastungszeugen für den Angeklagten.
Markovic offenbarte vor Gericht, daß ihm Djindjics
Innenminister Mihajlovic während eines guten
Abendessens außerhalb der Gefängnismauern
Straffreiheit, eine neue Identität, die Ausreise in
ein anderes Land und lebenslange finanzielle
Unterstützung für sich und seine Familie angeboten
hatte, wenn er Milosevic im gewünschten Sinne belaste.
Statt sich dieser Erpressung zu beugen, bestätigte der
Ex-Sicherheitschef, daß Belgrad, also letztlich
Milosevic während des gesamten Kosovo-Konfliktes
strikt befohlen hätten, die Zivilbevölkerung ohne
Unterschied der Nationalität zu schützen und
Kriegsverbrechen, die von Angehörigen der
jugoslawischen Polizei oder Armee begangen worden
waren, zu ahnden. An diesem Punkt des Kreuzverhörs
schaltete der ehrenwerte britische Richter May, nicht
zum ersten Mal, dem Angeklagten das Mikrofon ab.
Nun also, nach der Sommerpause, geht es um die
Verantwortlichkeiten während der Bürgerkriege in
Kroatien sowie in Bosnien-Herzegowina. Und wieder
steht der falsche Mann vor Gericht. Denn Milosevic
unterstützte im Verlauf der bewaffneten
Auseinandersetzungen die fünf aufeinanderfolgenden
internationalen Friedenspläne und erwarb sich um
das Zustandekommen des Friedensvertrages von Dayton
unbestrittene Verdienste, die seinerzeit auch in
NATO-Kreisen gewürdigt wurden.
Die eigentlichen Verantwortlichen an der Tragödie, die
zielstrebig mitwirkten, die jugoslawische Föderation
zu zerschlagen, bleiben ungeschoren. Einer von ihnen
ist bekanntlich Hans-Dietrich Genscher, damaliger
deutscher Außenminister, der den innerjugoslawischen
Konflikt schürte und als erster der jugoslawischen
Teilrepublik Kroatien die Unabhängigkeit in Aussicht
stellte, wenn nur die militärischen
Auseinandersetzungen weitergingen. Seine Mitschuld am
apokalyptischen Untergang Tito-Jugoslawiens liegt
offen zu Tage.
Selbst seine NATO-Amtskollegen, der US-Amerikaner
Warren Christopher und der Franzose Roland Dumas,
haben freimütig erklärt, daß mit der "voreiligen und
überstürzten Anerkennung" Sloweniens und Kroatiens die
"Möglichkeiten für eine Verhandlungsregelung vertan
wurden" und die "Verantwortlichkeiten Deutschlands und
des Vatikans ... offenkundig enorm waren". Henry A.
Kissinger stellte ohne größere Umschweife fest, daß
die ebenfalls von Genscher vorangetriebene Anerkennung
eines unabhängigen bosnischen Staates durch die NATO
"nicht die Geburt eines Landes, sondern einen
Bürgerkrieg bewirkte".
Doch Genscher ist ein Ehrenmann, und Milosevic, das
Balkanmonster, steht vor Gericht. Für den 2. Akt des
Spektakels hat Carla del Ponte bisher 177 Zeugen
angekündigt, die der sich weiterhin selbst
verteidigende Milosevic ins Kreuzverhör nehmen muß und
wird. Während der kurzen Sommerpause hatte er hinter
den schattigen Mauern des Gefängnisses in Scheveningen
ausreichend Muße, sich darauf vorzubereiten. Großzügig
hatte ihm das Gericht dafür 97 000 Seiten Text und
mehrere Hundert Ton- und Videobänder übergeben...
In seinem Eingangsplädoyer machte Milosevic darauf
aufmerksam, daß es weder in Bosnien noch in Kroatien
eine Aggression, sondern einen Bürgerkrieg gab, in dem
sich die Serben gegen die Sezession und deren
Folgen verteidigten. Er wolle, so der Angeklagte,
keineswegs bestreiten, daß im Verlauf dieser
Auseinandersetzungen Kriegsverbrechen verübt wurden,
deren "Opfer alle drei Völker waren". Im Bürgerkrieg
hätten "die Serben den Serben geholfen, was hier zum
Verbrechen erklärt wird. Aber weshalb", so fragte er,
"ist es dann kein Verbrechen, daß der Vatikan Geld für
die Beschaffung von Waffen für Kroatien gab? Weshalb
sind die Serben Verbrecher, aber der Papst
ist der ´Heilige Vater´?"
Verständlicherweise blieb die Staatsanwaltschaft die
Antwort schuldig. Statt dessen erklärte del Pontes
Stellvertreter Geoffrey Nice in düsterer Vorahnung
neuer Niederlagen: "Milosevic handelte aus einer
leeren Kanzlei, und wie alle Verbrecher und
Kriminellen hat er keine Spuren und schriftliche
Beweise hinterlassen. Mit Personen hat er sich nur
persönlich getroffen. Hieraus resultiert auch das
Problem mit den Zeugen, besonders aus der Kategorie
seiner nächsten Mitarbeiter, die in Versuchung geraten
könnten, nicht die Wahrheit zu sagen!"
Offensichtlich befürchtet die NATO, daß die von ihr
engagierten Hauptdarsteller und Komparsen auch im 2.
Akt der ihnen übertragenen Rolle nicht gerecht werden
könnten. Deshalb behandeln die NATO-konformen Medien,
also fast alle, den geplanten sensationellen Schau-
vorerst weiterhin als Geheimprozeß. Er eignet sich
eben ganz und gar nicht dazu, die NATO-Aggression
gegen Jugoslawien im nachhinein zu rechtfertigen. Aber
ganz gleich, was die Beweisaufnahme erbringt, Richter
May, der Herr der Mikrofone, wird sich schwerlich
davon
abbringen lassen, am Ende ein Urteil nach den Wünschen
Washingtons, Londons, Berlins und der kläglichen
Chefanklägerin zu sprechen.
aus der Zweiwochenschrift Ossietzky (Nr. 21)
=== 3 ===
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 17:58:04 +0200
From: <w.schulz@...>
Klaus Hartmann
Wegschauprozeß geht weiter
Verfahren gegen Slobodan Milosevic wird mit Komplex Kroatien/Bosnien
fortgesetzt
Am heutigen Donnerstag beginnt beim sogenannten Haager Tribunal die
»zweite Runde« gegen den früheren jugoslawischen Präsidenten Slobodan
Milosevic.
Nach vier Wochen Sommerferien gab es Ende August bis zum 11.09.2002
erstnoch 14 Tage »Nachsitzen« zum Thema Kosovo, und nach weiteren
vierzehn Tagen Pause will nun »Chefanklägerin« Carla del Ponte mit den
nachgelegten Anlagen zu Kroatien und Bosnien versuchen, ihr
Kosovo-Debakel wieder wett zu machen.
Nur – wer weiß von dem Debakel? Die Öffentlichkeit hat seit
Monaten kaum etwas vom Verlauf des Prozesses vernommen, da die
übergroße Mehrheit aller Medien auf jede Berichterstattung über den
Haager Schauprozeß ebenso verzichtete wie auf irgendeine Kommentierung
der Zwischenbilanz.
Dieses Schweigen ist beredt, nichts beweist besser, daß das Verfahren
die Erwartungen der Förderer des Tribunals in Den Haag maßlos
enttäuscht hat.
Was als Schauprozeß gedacht war, ist für die Mehrzahl der Medien zum
Wegschau-Prozeß geworden. Daraus spricht die pure Enttäuschung
darüber, daß die erwartete Überführung des allenthalben als
»Schlächter vom alkan« vorverurteilten Delinquenten nicht gelang und
in den Augen der rapide abnehmenden Zahl von Prozeßbeobachtern auch
immer unwahrscheinlicher wird.
Daß del Ponte das Blatt zu ihren Gunsten wenden könnte, wird
überwiegend bezweifelt, wie an den wenigen vereinzelten Berichten
dieses Sommers zu erkennen ist: »Zweifel sind angebracht, ob das
Tribunal seine Aufgaben tatsächlich in der vorgesehenen Frist erfüllen
kann«, meldete das Neue Deutschland am 22. Juni: »Denn es knirscht
merklich im Getriebe des Internationalen Gerichtshofes, dessen
Tätigkeit immer weniger Aufmerksamkeit findet.« Und in seiner Ausgabe
vom 5. August sieht das gleiche Blatt die Sommerpause als Erholung für
eine genervte Mannschaft dringend geboten:
»Der Haager Strafgerichtshof für das ehemalige Jugoslawien (ICTY)
macht Urlaub. Die Damen und Herren scheinen es nötig zu haben, denn
die Stimmung in den Büros ist denkbar schlecht. Der alles andere als
günstig verlaufende Prozeß gegen Slobodan Milosevic« habe »Carla del
Ponte nervlich offenbar ziemlich belastet«.
Die Neue Zürcher Zeitung attestierte am 20. Juni, daß der »Angeklagte«
die »Kreuzverhöre in den vergangenen vier Monaten zum Teil überzeugend
geführt hat. Gelegentlich sogar dermaßen gut, daß sich der Beobachter
im Gerichtssaal die Frage stellte, wer denn eigentlich in diesem
Prozeß angeklagt.«
Nachdem die Zeugen der Anklage sich regelmäßig als Zweite-Hand-Zeugen
erwiesen, die nur vom Hörensagen berichten konnten oder sich
hoffnungslos in Widersprüche verstrickten bzw. früher gemachte
Aussagen widerriefen oder ganz einfach als gekaufte Mitarbeiter
westlicher Geheimdienste entlarvt wurden, setzte Frau del Ponte auf
eine zweite Kategorie von Zeugen. Auf NATO- oder CIA-Angehörige oder
Politiker, die ihren seit Jahren notorischen Serbenhaß auch in Den
Haag »bezeugten«. Sie bewiesen in erster Linie ihre verbohrt
ideologische Sichtweise, worin sie freilich mit qualifizierten
Tribunal-Personal übereinstimmten.
Allerdings war diesen Hochkarätern, u. a. William Walker, der
»Massaker«-Entdecker, NATO-General Klaus Naumann, Kolonialgouverneur
Lord Ashdown und Rambouillet-Erpresser Wolfgang Petritsch, noch eine
besondere Funktion in der Beweisführung zugedacht. Um zu einem
Schuldspruch zu kommen, muß nach den selbstverfaßten Regeln dieses
Tribunals nicht bewiesen werden, daß Slobodan Milosevic Verbrechen
geplant oder befohlen hat. Schon wenn er von ihnen erfahren und sie
nicht verhindert habe, ist er schuldig.
Doch selbst grundsätzliche Anhänger des Tribunals äußern Zweifel, daß
dies del Ponte gelungen ist.
Klaus Bachmann ist einer der wenigen Journalisten, die zumindest alle
paar Wochen aus Den Haag berichten, mal mehr, mal weniger objektiv. In
der Frankfurter Rundschau vom 7. August schrieb er unter der
bemerkenswerten Überschrift »Im Haager Tribunal gegen Slobodan
Milosevic regiert der Zufall, die Wahrheit über Jugoslawien wird dabei
nicht herauskommen«: »Belasten einzelne Zeugen den Angeklagten, weil
sie gegen ihn oder sein Land voreingenommen sind? NATO-General Klaus
Naumann hat Milosevic schwer belastet mit seiner Aussage, dieser habe
Schnaps trinkend Massaker an Albanern angekündigt und sei von ihm über
das Massaker in Racak informiert worden. Das würde nach dem Statut des
Tribunals für eine Verurteilung genügen – wenn Milosevic
seinerseits damals Anlaß hatte, Naumann zu glauben. Wie glaubwürdig
waren für Milosevic Naumanns Worte, wußte er doch, daß alle
Informationen von dem US-Diplomaten William Walker
stammten? Welchen Einfluß Walkers proalbanische Haltung auf seine
Haltung gegenüber Milosevic damals und auf seine Aussage vor dem
Tribunal hatte, wurde nie ausgelotet, bedauerte das NRC Handelsblatt
am Tag nach Walkers Auftritt in den g.«
Am 26. Juli 2002, dem letzten Verhandlungstag vor der Sommerpause,
sollte nach vielen Flops endlich ein ernsthafter Schlag gegen den
Angeklagten geführt werden. Die Anklage hatte einen »Insider«, einen
Kronzeugen, geladen, den früheren Chef der jugoslawischen
Staatssicherheit, Rade Markovic. Der war allerdings zuvor von den
Belgrader NATO-Statthaltern um Djindjic & Co. inhaftiert und für den
Prozeß präpariert worden, so daß eine schriftliche Aussage Markovics
vorlag, die den früheren jugoslawischen Präsidenten beschuldigte, die
planmäßige Vertreibung der Kosovo-Albaner angeordnet zu haben.
Entsprechend gut gelaunt und erwartungsfroh waren del Ponte und ihr
Anhang. Doch in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung vom 27. Juli mußte
man lesen: »Einer der wichtigeren Zeugen im Haager Prozeß gegen den
früheren jugoslawischen Präsidenten Milosevic zu Kosovo, der frühere
serbische Geheimdienstchef Rade Markovic, hat sich am Freitag vor dem
UNO-Kriegsverbrechertribunal von einer schriftlichen Erklärung
distanziert, die er früher in Belgrad unterzeichnet hatte. Markovic,
der zur Befragung aus seiner Untersuchungshaft in Belgrad nach Den
Haag überstellt wurde, erklärte, er habe das Papier zwar
unterschrieben, den Inhalt jedoch nicht gelesen. Ihm sei der Vorschlag
unterbreitet worden, eine neue Identität anzunehmen und sich ins
Ausland abzusetzen. Als Gegenleistung sei von ihm verlangt worden,
Milosevic zu belasten; andernfalls müsse er mit ernsthaften
Konsequenzen rechnen.«
Das Internationale Komitee für die Verteidigung von Slobodan Milosevic
zieht aus dem Fiasko von del Pontes »Kosovo-Anklage« den zwingenden
Schluß, daß die unverzügliche Freilassung des Angeklagten überfällig
ist. Zumal der jetzt beginnende Schauprozeßteil über Kroatien und
Bosnien nur noch weniger Verwertbares zutage fördern kann: Slobodan
Milosevic wird als ehemaliger Präsident Serbiens angeklagt, für
Ereignisse, die in anderen Ländern stattfanden, an denen andere Armeen
beteiligt waren, die unter anderem Befehl gestanden haben.
* Klaus Hartmann ist Vizepräsident des Internationalen Komitees für
die Verteidigung von Slobodan Milosevic und Sprecher der Deutschen
Sektion
Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2002 09:35:59 +0100
From: Alessandro Di Meo <alessandro.di.meo@...>
To: "Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia"
<jugocoord@...>
Noi dell'associazione Un Ponte per... a fine Luglio eravamo a
Kraljevo, Jugoslavia per consegnare una rata dei sostegni a distanza,
per andare a trovare le famiglie di profughi dal Kosovo sostenute e
quelle che ci avevano mandato dei bambini in vacanza presso famiglie
dell'università di Tor Vergata. Ma arriva una mamma. Non è profuga, è
solo disperata. Suo figlio, Marko, affetto da Anemia Aplastica,
terribile malattia del midollo, sta sempre peggio e i medici di
Belgrado che lo hanno avuto in cura non hanno possibilità di curarlo.
Per via di soldi che non ci sono, per via dei medicinali introvabili e
costosi, per via di mille altre cose che un decennio di guerre, state
certi, provocherebbe dovunque. Anche in Italia.
Anche ai nostri figli.
Un Ponte per... ha il senso delle proporzioni. Un Ponte per... non fa
ospedalizzazioni perché è un'associazione piccola, di quelle per le
quali, per chi ha visto la puntata di Report sull'argomento, ci si
onora di spendere tempo. Però, Un Ponte per... incontra molti occhi di
disperati nelle sue missioni. Disperati particolari, che le guerre
hanno reso tali. Che senza le guerre avrebbero ancora una speranza in
cui credere, una dignità.
E pure una casa, un lavoro, un film da vedere, un viaggio da fare. Al
ritorno, quella mamma non può essere dimenticata. E ci si muove, anche
su terreni sconosciuti. Si arriva, dopo vari tentativi, al Gemelli,
Oncologia Pediatrica. La struttura rientra in un progetto della
Regione Lazio sulle ospedalizzazioni di stranieri. Sono disponibili.
Lo cureranno, forse, lo salveranno.
Anemia Aplastica... Marko non è profugo, ma a Kraljevo hanno
bombardato molto. La malattia può insorgere anche per radiazioni
particolari alle quali si è sottoposti, nostro malgrado. Non esistono
nessi, ma questi casi prima erano rari, ora stanno aumentando. Io non
lo so se riusciremo a salvarlo. Marko è solo uno dei tanti, ma è vivo
e vorrebbe continuare a vivere. A giocare a pallone, magari con la
maglietta di Stankovic, ad andare a scuola, a fare passeggiate coi
suoi amici. E coi suoi genitori.
Compagni, amici, dateci una mano ad affrontare le spese che,
necessariamente, andranno affrontate. E, magari, a portare altri come
Marko che non sono riusciti ad incontrare nessuno che si desse da fare
per aiutarli. Non è mettere toppe alle infamie di guerre infami. E'
per contrastarle. E' possibile, anche così.
I riferimenti sono quelli di Un Ponte per...: C/C Postale n° 59927004
oppure, per un bonifico:
C/C Bancario n° 100790 Banca Popolare Etica, ABI 5018, CAB 12100
La causale, non scordatevela, è semplice semplice: MARKO VIVRA'!
Alessandro Di Meo - alessandro.di.meo@...
A P P E A L
TO THE DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
REGARDING AMERICAN THREATS TO IRAQ
In Belgrade October 28, 2002
The Belgrade Forum for the World of Equals, whose design is to
promote and advance the ideas of peace, understanding, equality in
international relations, democratic standards and human rights of
people, is expressing tremendous concern for the increase of
direct and unjustified threats of war against Iraq by the United
States of America. By this Appeal to the domestic and
international community, the Belgrade Forum would like to expose
the motives and far reaching consequences of such a potential
aggression.
Threats of attack on Iraq are justified by the American
Administration, as Iraq ostensibly either produces or possesses
weapons of mass destruction which represent a threat to its
security. Reacting to these threats, the Iraqi Government has
recently decided to accept the unconditional return of United
Nations inspectors, who have been permitted, without any
limitations in the discharge of their duties, to personally
convince themselves on the justification or iniquity of such
American assertions. This, however, has not dissuaded the American
Administration, which is thriving forward with ever greater
pressures and preparations for an armed aggression against Iraq,
the same being devoid of consent by the Security Council of the
United Nations whose member states, for the most part, are
endeavouring for a peaceful settlement of the dispute with Iraq in
the spirit of the Charter of the UN.
Such behaviour factually proves that the American Administration
is not interested in the ascertainment of truth in allegations of
manufacture or possession of weapons for mass destruction, since
the same is not the prime aim of its foreign policy and overall
strategy. It is, in fact, only searching for an excuse for an
armed aggression against Iraq, led entirely by wider interests and
aims of America as the sole global power. We are speaking of
Americas desire to apply force in the liquidation of the current
Iraqi regime, which is judged to be "disobedient". She is, as in
the former aggression against Yugoslavia, in the want to
demonstrate that an identical or similar fate awaits every country
which, by her standards, is placed in the category of "renegade"
states, ones who do not accept the American concept of the New
World Order, ie, her domination of the same.
In fact, behind such warlike policies of America towards Iraq,
stand her interests and aspirations in the attestation of her
status as the sole remaining superpower, to distinctly and ever
more solidify her position in this strategically important region
of the Near and Middle East, and more important still, to place
under control the enormous reserves of Iraqi oil. By such actions
America is aspiring to secure the further strengthening of her
position in all strategically important regions of the world, to
impose marionette regimes in the same, and to place under control
the most important sources of raw materials and energy, as well as
strategic lines of communication. All this represents the basis of
a new, recently completed, American security doctrine, with
aspirations towards hegemony and domination.
Encouragement is to be found that in certain countries, including
the United States, a rise in voices can be heard against American
war plans and threats against Iraq. These plans, objectively,
expose a policy which today represents one of the greatest dangers
against peace, security and stability of the international
community. Comprehension is daily transcending that aggression
against Iraq would, besides large numbers of human casualties,
destruction and enormous sufferings of the Iraqi people,
undoubtably represent a severe setback in international relations,
peace and stability in the world. It would severely inflame the
already complex relations between the West and the Muslim world,
additionally destabilize the conditions in the Middle East,
worsening the already tragic position of the Palestinian people.
The aggression would also pave the way for further acts of
lawlessness and despotism of world powers in the broad
international arena, with a real risk of provoking wider
international conflicts with unforeseeable consequences on
humanity. Such a war would further provoke deep disarrangement and
instability in international economic and financial relations,
whose negative consequences would additionally worsen the
position, above all, of developing countries, as well as other
less developed ones.
We, however, wish to believe that common sense is at last
prevailing, and that the aggression against Iraq will be averted.
On the basis of the above said, the Belgrade Forum is herewith
inviting the domestic and international community, in the spirit
of anti-war actions organized in certain parts of Europe and
America, to firmly raise its voice against American war plans
against Iraq and against the policy of force in international
relations. It would analogously necessitate the engagement of all
peaceful and democratic forces of the world in the rehabilitation
and full affirmation of an independent and impartial role of the
United Nations as guardian of world peace and security. That would
be an important supposition for the curtailment of any attempts in
the application of force in international relations, contrary to
the letter and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, for
the strict respect of the basic principles of international law,
especially principles of sovereignty, independence and non
interference in the domestic policies of countries. The removal of
threats of war against Iraq and peace in the world would make a
tremendous contribution to Iraq its self and its consistent
respect of relevant resolutions of the Security Council pertaining
to the discharge of the mandate of international inspectors for
control of weapons of mass destruction.
Taking into consideration the tragic consequences which the people
of Yugoslavia experienced in unjustified sanctions and brutal
aggression, the Belgrade Forum is expressing its support and
solidarity with the Iraqi people who have also been exposed to
long term sanctions, whose victims have been civilians, especially
children and elderly people. For these reasons the Belgrade Forum
is calling upon the domestic and international community to
consistently engage themselves towards the Security Council and
for the imminent termination of unjustified sanctions against the
Iraqi people, as well as for the termination of the illegal and
completely unjustified permanent bombing of Iraq. From the
international community, and especially the United Nations, we
expect provisions for the Iraqi people in the strict application
of its right to solely decide its fate and to live in peace and
freedom, like any other people.