1. Hague Tries Quietly to Murder Milosevic; His Defense in Financial
Crisis (PRAVDA.RU)
2. Murder At The Hague? - An Investigation Into The Alleged Suicide
Of Slavko Dokmanovic (F. J. Gil-White)


A USEFUL LINK:
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org


=== 1 ===


http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/11/01/39019.html

20:51 2002-11-01

Hague Tries Quietly to Murder Milosevic; His Defense in Financial
Crisis

The Hague "Tribunal" show trial has disastrously backfired. Slobodan
Milosevic has so thoroughly defeated this NATO "court" that the
pro-NATO media has eliminated virtually all TV and newspaper coverage.
Since, because Milosevic is brilliant and because they are lying, the
Hague cannot "show" their trial, they are trying to defeat Mr.
Milosevic the way they find most natural: by murdering him. Meanwhile,
his support Committees have been hindered by a drastic lack of funds.

Last night Slobodan Milosevic suffered an attack of ultra-high blood
pressure, typical of his malignant hypertension. This condition,
requiring that a cardiologist monitor Mr. Milosevic, can easily cause
heart attack or stroke. His heart is already damaged.

On July 26, Richard May, the so-called judge at The Hague proceeding
against Slobodan Milosevic, made the following statement in "court":

"We have received a doctors' report which in its conclusion states
that the accused is a man exposed to a serious cardiovascular risk
which requires careful health monitoring in the future. The authors of
the report advise a reduction in the workload of this trial and advise
further treatment by a cardiologist."

Despite warnings from Yugoslav cardiologists and our committees, this
was the first time The Hague permitted even non-specialists to examine
President Milosevic. And despite their doctors' recommendation of
"careful health monitoring in the future.. a reduction in the workload
of this trial and. further treatment by a cardiologist," The Hague
has, illegally, done the opposite:

-His "trial" day used to end at 2 PM. Now it ends at 5 PM. He is
subjected to a long, tiring, absurd and humiliating security procedure
going to and from the "court" room. He gets back to jail so late that
he must choose: a short walk for some fresh air, or dinner.

-His cell is in an old Nazi prison. The windows are hermetically
sealed. The air is so dirty his wife reports her shoes are covered
with white dust after a two-hour visit.

-He is given poor quality, greasy foods instead of the
vegetable-centered diet required for a heart patient.

Under international humanitarian law it is illegal to deny a prisoner
necessary medical treatment. Given the requirements stated in the
doctors' report, it is clear that this worsening of Milosevic's living
conditions is an attempt to give him a stroke or heart attack and thus
"solve" the problem that he is defeating NATO.

What We Can Do

We urge everyone to publicize and protest this international crime.
You can protest directly by calling The Hague
at 3170 416 5000 or 3170 512 5334

Mr. Milosevic's support committees, the Freedom Foundation in Belgrade
and the ICDSM (International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic)
are in financial crisis. The Websites of the ICDSM and Milosevic's own
party, the SPS, are shut down for lack of money. The ICDSM's temporary
address is
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm

We need to bring the Quebec attorney, Tiphaine Dickson, to The Hague
for consultations with Mr. Milosevic. Presently we do not have the
funds even for her plane fare.

The kidnapping and "trial" of Mr. Milosevic is an attack on all of us
- on Russia, for this attack is part of NATO's drive to the East; on
the rule of law, for the Hague "tribunal" is modeled on the
Inquisition; and on the United Nations, because this "tribunal" is run
by NATO, that is, by the war criminals who attacked Yugoslavia. It
criminalizes the UN.

It is thus of great importance that we not be silenced. If you have
not contributed to Mr. Milosevic's defense - to our *common* defense -
please consider doing so. Those of us who are directly involved have
exhausted our financial resources. We cannot continue without you.

You can make a donation in several ways. Please consult our Donations
page, which can be found at this time at
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/donations.htm

Thank you.

Jared Israel, Spokesperson, International Committee to Defend Slobodan
Milosevic, USA
Vladimir Krsljanin, Spokesperson, Freedom Foundation, Yugoslavia

Jared Israel contributed this article to PRAVDA.Ru


=== 2 ===


Subject: Murder At The Hague?
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 10:33:44 +0100
From: "Vladimir Krsljanin" <vlada@...>


President Milosevic has not been able to appear this morning as well.
Those who are still in doubt whether to react or not, should read the
following analysis:


http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/gilwhite/dokmanovic.htm



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

---

Is the Hague Tribunal (ICTY) murdering its prisoners?

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==================================================
Murder At The Hague?

An Investigation Into The Alleged Suicide
Of Slavko Dokmanovic

by Francisco J. Gil-White
fjgil@...
http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~fjgil/
[4 November 2002]
==================================================


** Preface: Is Milosevic In Danger? **

Recently, trial proceedings at The Hague were interrupted
because of Slobodan Milosevic?s health problems. As reported in
the Ottawa Citizen:[1]


[Start Ottawa Citizen Quote]

The war crimes trial of former Serbian leader
Slobodan Milosevic was adjourned yesterday after he
complained of exhaustion, prompting fears that the
case may not be finished on time. Mr. Milosevic?has
been plagued by heart and high-blood pressure
problems, and suffered several bouts of influenza.

[End Ottawa Citizen Quote]


Supporters of Milosevic believe the Hague Tribunal is
deliberately trying to strain Milosevic in the hopes that he will
die of a heart attack or stroke.

They have reason to worry.

This past July, The Hague finally permitted doctors to examine
Slobodan Milosevic. Commenting on the doctor's findings, judge
Richard May said:[&]


[Start Quote From Hague Transcript]

JUDGE MAY: ??We have received a report, a medical report,
which in its conclusion describes the accused as a man with
severe cardiovascular risk which demands careful future
monitoring. The authors recommend that his workload be
reduced??

[End Quote From Hague Transcript]


However, subsequent to this report, Milosevic's conditions have
deteriorated and his workload has been increased.

Several prisoners at The Hague have died already in suspicious
circumstances. In this piece I consider the details surrounding
the dramatic case of Slavko Dokmanovic, whose death was
alleged by the tribunal to be a suicide. After looking at the
evidence, it is almost impossible not to conclude that
Dokmanovic was murdered at The Hague, while in detention,
and that the court authorities are covering it up. This precedent
establishes ample cause for worry about Milosevic?s fate.



** Did Dokmanovic Really Commit
Suicide? **


It was announced on June 29th, 1998, that Slavko Dokmanovic
had committed suicide in his cell, just one week before the
tribunal was to pass a verdict on the charges against him. The
Yugoslav government reacted to Dokmanovic?s death as
follows:[2]


[Start BBC Quote]

?Bearing in mind the circumstances accompanying
the Dokamovic case, including his arrest, trial,
medical treatment and attitude of the prison
authorities towards his health problems, the
[Yugoslav] Justice Ministry considers the tribunal
responsible for the death of Dokmanovic.

The ministry expresses its concern for the health of
the other war crimes indictees, and demands that the
tribunal undertake necessary steps to guarantee safety
and treatment in keeping with international
standards.

In regard with the above, the ministry has lodged a
protest by Justice Minister Zoran Knezevic to the
president of the tribunal, Louise Arbour.?

[End BBC Quote]


As this analysis will show, the Yugoslav government could, and
should have, leveled charges more serious than these. Had it
known the facts, certainly, it would have.

Consider first that, on the day that Dokmanovic?s death was
announced, the Associated Press wrote the following (the
emphases are mine):[3]


[Start Associated Press Quote]

??Dokmanovic had complained through his lawyers of
feeling depressed and had been visited regularly by a
psychiatrist, but he never hinted he was suicidal. In
fact, he was seen as having a good chance at
acquittal?"

[End Associated Press Quote]

A man accused of war crimes (especially if he is innocent!) may
naturally feel distraught and require psychiatric help. Feelings of
apprehension may rise immediately prior to the verdict. But
would a man expecting an acquittal commit suicide?

Every alleged suicide is a possible murder, so if a man with good
reason to live appears to have killed himself, the responsible
authorities are supposed to investigate with zeal-especially if
there are suspicious circumstances, as was the case for
Dokmanovic. About those circumstances, the same Associated
Press wire wrote:


[Back to the Associated Press]

?The body of Slavko Dokmanovic, 48, was found
hanging on the hinge of the door to his cell in the
U.N. court's detention unit in The Hague shortly after
midnight, tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said.

?Chartier said Dokmanovic had complained to guards
Sunday afternoon that he was not feeling well, and he
was placed on a suicide watch. The guards checked on
him every half-hour and last saw him alive at 11:30
p.m. Sunday, he said.
The lights were on in his cell at that time, but shortly
thereafter, Dokmanovic managed to short-circuit the
electricity in his cell using an electric razor, and the
lights went out, Chartier said.

When a guard next passed by his cell just after
midnight, the body was found dangling in the
darkened cell.?

[End Associated Press Quote]


It is difficult to find anything here that makes sense.

First, if the guards last saw him alive at 11:30pm, and didn?t
check on him again until midnight, when the body was
supposedly found, then how can Chartier know that
Dokmanovic shorted the light in his cell *shortly after 11:30*?

Is he psychic?

Second, if Dokmanovic never even hinted at having suicidal
thoughts, why place him on suicide watch when he merely
complains about not ?feeling well?? But if he was placed on
suicide watch, why could he still hang himself?

A later wire, from Inter-Press Service, would have us believe
that this was in fact relatively *easy* because Dokmanovic?s
keepers obliged his supposedly suicidal intentions by leaving him
his tie![4]


[Start Inter-Press Service Quote]

??Slavko Dokmanovic, a 49-year-old Croatian Serb,
hung himself with a tie ?[at the] ? detention center in
Scheveningen, in the Netherlands, run by the
International Criminal Tribunal for Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY)

.?Dokmanovic's death was pronounced ?unfortunate?
by the ICTY, although it was never explained how a
man who tried to commit suicide twice while in
detention was left with a tie or an electric razor.?

[End Inter-Press Service Quote]

Notice that this is in direct contradiction to what we saw earlier:
a man first described as never even hinting that he was suicidal
is now alleged to have tried to kill himself twice before! Shall we
pick our favorite version? And if Dokmanovic was placed on
suicide watch, then it is not merely strange but downright
incomprehensible that they should have left him his tie or razor.

I contacted the 18th District Philadelphia Police Department to
obtain details about their policies in a suicide watch, and I
learned the following:

1) The prisoner is placed in a separate, Plexiglas cell.

2) Anything that could be used as a weapon, or used by
the prisoner to hang him/herself is removed. Ties, belts,
shoe-laces, etc.-all must go. Only a safety razor would
be provided (certainly not a real razor, or an electric
razor which the prisoner could use to electrocute
himself). The prisoner will be watched at all times
while operating the safety razor.

3) In Philadelphia, even the prisoner?s clothes are
removed and s/he is given a special jumpsuit made of
paper that cannot be used for hanging.

4) The prisoner is checked every *15 minutes*.

My informant, one Sergeant Walsh, was not sure why the
regulation time between checks is exactly 15 minutes, but he
agreed with me that this is probably so that especially crafty
prisoners will not find time enough to suffocate. Asked how he
felt about a 30 minute interval, he reacted with surprise-no, that
was *much* too long. We?ve been told, however, that Slavko
Dokmanovic was checked only every 30 minutes.

Sergeant Walsh also impressed upon me that suicide-watch
regulations are not flexible in the least, as failure to follow
them to the letter will result in suspension without pay. And when
asked what the procedure would be in case a prisoner placed on
suicide watch died, he said: ?To give you an idea of how serious
this would be, any time there is a cell block incident it is
investigated by a homicide unit.?

Now compare this to what the tribunal spokesman, Christian
Chartier, said to the press and see if you can find anything that
looks plausible. One version has Slavko Dokmanovic on suicide
watch even though he never hinted he was suicidal and merely
complained of not feeling well. The other version has him trying
to commit suicide twice before, but he is nevertheless given long,
30-minute intervals between checks, his clothes are not
removed, and-most scandalously-his tie and electric razor are
left in his cell! Why? To give him a better chance on his third
try?

We have nothing but suspicious stories here, and all the worse
for not being mutually consistent. But, troubling as these
questions may seem, they pale compared to those raised by
glaring inconsistencies in other reports of the discovery of
Dokmanovic?s body.

This, for example, is from Deutsche Presse-Agentur:[5]


[Start DPA Quote]

?On Sunday evening, Dokmanovic had again
complained about feeling unwell and was examined
by a doctor. He was immediately placed under
surveillance and a guard had checked on his condition
every half hour.

At 11.30 pm, everything had been normal, Chartier
said. But at midnight the accused had been found
dead.

Chartier was quoted by the British BBC as saying:
?Dokmanovic used an electric shaver to short-circuit
the light in his cell. When the prison guard went to
check on him he could not see in, so he opened the
door. That was when he discovered the body.??

[Start DPA Quote]


Notice what a different picture we get here. So casual. The
guard opened the door because...he could not see in! There was
no particular alarm about the light being out.

That is consistent with Dokmanovic complaining about not
feeling well and getting checked by ?a doctor,? not by a
psychiatrist. Very casual. Health problems: routine.

But this contradicts the Associated Press wire cited earlier,
which said that Dokmanovic was seen by a *psychiatrist* and
placed on *suicide watch*. And yet, both reports are from the
same day, and both cite the same Christian Chartier as their
source!

The report below, which appeared the next day in The
Scotsman, is also inconsistent:[6]


[Start Scotsman Quote]

?The judges were expected to deliver their verdict on 7
July. After a visit the next day, his lawyer, Domo Fila,
was so disturbed by Dokmanovic's mental condition
that he asked for his client's medication to be
increased and for a warder to check his condition
every 30 minutes.

According to Zoran Jovanovic, a legal colleague in
Belgrade, Mr Fila had been confident of securing
Dokmanovic's release. ?But he was not at all well
during that time,? said Zoran Jovanovic from
Belgrade.?

[End Scotsman Quote]


This account has Dokmanovic?s lawyer (Toma Fila, not as
written above) worrying about the supposedly suicidal
Dokmanovic, and requesting medication and checks every 30
minutes. The Scotsman?s information supposedly comes from
Jovanovic, a colleague of Fila?s, not from Chartier.

What are we supposed to believe? Concern about Dokmanovic
was raised either by a psychiatrist, a doctor, Dokmanovic
complaining to his guards, or by his lawyer. Subsequently, either
the prison guards, or his lawyer, decided to either put him on
suicide watch or on informal monitoring. The reason for this
was either because of depression or a health concern, and he was
either given medication or not (but either way they left him his
tie and razor even though in one of these universes he had
already attempted to commit suicide twice!). The source for all
of this is mostly one Christian Chartier, who is reported to have
said in one account that Dokmanovic was placed on suicide
watch, but in another (see below), that he was not placed on
suicide watch! If people are straightforwardly reporting the facts
from mostly *one source*-one man, Christian Chartier-is it
possible to get this many different stories in two days?



** The Washington Post Weighs In **


The following report in the Washington Post, on June 30th, rises
to new heights of creativity, providing yet a new story with a
more extended narrative (the emphases are mine):[7]


[Start Washington Post Quote]

?Officials at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The
Hague concluded that the death of Slavko
Dokmanovic, 48, was a suicide. He had complained of
depression, they said, and on a doctor's
recommendation Sunday night had been put under
medication and subjected to stepped-up monitoring
with his cell lights permanently switched on.
Dokmanovic's 13-square-yard cell was lighted when
a guard passed on a half-hourly round at 11:30 p.m.,
tribunal sources said. But at the midnight check, the
lights were off -- deliberately short-circuited.

The suspect had been able to get the locked cell
door open, and in the darkness hanged himself with
an unspecified kind of cord suspended from a door
hinge, the sources said.

...Christian Chartier, a spokesman for the tribunal,
said the monitoring of Dokmanovic was ?not a
suicide watch.?

However, he said that in 1997 ?for the same
reasons? Dokmanovic had been put under even
closer observation that included round-the-clock
video surveillance.?

[End Washington Post Quote]


Deconstructing the absurdities in this tale takes some work
because there are so many of them, and so we have to take turns
holding some of them constant while considering the others.
First, we hear that Dokmanovic -- get this -- *unlocked his
cell door*! How likely is this? And why would Dokmanovic even
try it?

The ICTY?s detention center is a ?heavily-monitored
high-security prison,?[8] and sergeant Walsh (of the 18th
District Philadelphia Police Department) informs me that such
prisons will have cell doors that open to the *outside* so the
hinge knuckles are also on the outside. Dokmanovic, then,
cannot hang himself by looping a cord around the hinge without
first opening the door. This is therefore the only plausible reason
for a suicidal Dokmanovic to try to open his cell door.

But Sergeant Walsh also explained to me that the locks on cell
doors in a high-security prison would stump most accomplished
professional thieves even if they (1) had ample time; (2) did not
fear discovery; and (3) were on the *outside* of the cell.

The last point is important. Walsh explained to me that in such
prisons ?The door?s are perfectly smooth on the inside?there is
no door knob and there is no way-lock.? So even if
Dokmanovic, the ex-mayor of a small town, had the exotic skills
of a world-class professional thief who can pick the lock to a
?heavily monitored high-security prison? cell in well under 30
minutes (for he still needs time left over to hang himself and
suffocate), he could not even begin to attempt this because, on
the inside, where Dokmanovic found himself, there was
*nothing to pick*!

(...?!)

What is going on here? Let us begin with the least damning
interpretation This says that the tribunal authorities indeed
found Dokmanovic hanging from the hinge to his cell door.
When they realized this would have required that he first
*unlock* this door they concluded that Dokmanovic did this.
But if concluding ?suicide? requires that Dokmanovic perform
miracles, shouldn?t they conclude that he must have been
*murdered*? And so this interpretation forces the conclusion
that the Tribunal authorities are mentally retarded.

A more damning interpretation resolves the absurdities, and
does not require Tribunal authorities to suffer from mental
handicaps. Suppose that the allegation of Dokmanovic?s suicide
is a *lie* to cover up that the Tribunal authorities are
themselves complicit in murdering Dokmanovic. Like most
hasty lies, it is not very good, and it eventually dawns on the
spin doctors that Dokmanovic would have had first to open his
cell door (perhaps a reporter raised the question during a press
conference). But how to solve this problem given that Hague
officials had already said that Dokmanovic hanged himself on
the hinge to his cell door? Simple: say that Dokmanovic
managed to unlock this door.

Presto!

This explains the prevarications of the tribunal officials. What it
certainly does *not* explain, however, is why the Washington
Post mentions Dokmanovic?s superhuman miracles only in
passing. After all, Harry Houdini himself could not pull this off
in his wildest dreams. This was a front page headline all by
itself!

Is the Post asleep?

We already have more than enough, but just for sport, let us
imagine that Dokmanovic has magical powers with which he
picks a lock that isn?t there. Does the rest of the Post's story
now make sense?

Alas!

Dokmanovic still could not succeed in hanging himself, as he
cannot pass his tie around the hinge merely by cracking the door
ajar. If you try this at home you will find that the door needs to
be opened almost completely. So even if Dokmanovic was quick
and subsequently forced the door shut again, how can it go
unnoticed, in a ?heavily monitored high-security prison,? that
an *especially monitored* prisoner has opened his cell door wide
and momentarily fiddles at the door?s hinge? After all, as
Sergeant Walsh explained, there is always a guard, at all times,
in the cell block (see below).

Again for sport, let us say that we are gullible enough to accept
that Dokmanovic is a superhuman who can not only pick locks
that aren't there, but he manages to open his cell door wide and
then passes his tie over the hinge -- all unnoticed. Does the rest
of the Post's story now make sense?

Alas! No... Insurmountable absurdities remain.

Why did Dokmanovic short-circuit the light? If Dokmanovic
can pick a lock that isn?t there he is super-intelligent, so how
can this genius not understand that shorting the light-when he
is being closely monitored-will attract attention? Sergeant
Walsh tells me that ?any lights that would go off in the cells
should be noticed immediately?there is a ?turn-key,? who is a
cell block attendant, who monitors the cells the whole time.
There is always somebody in the cell block.? So, given that this
is the cell of an especially monitored prisoner in a
?heavily-monitored, high-security prison,? shouldn?t his light
going off be noticed with alarm? Especially given that a
short-circuit will cause *sparks*, causing a breaker to bust and
other lights to go off!

But suppose that the genius Dokmanovic was nevertheless so
stupid on this particular point that he decided to short the light.
If we assume that Dokmanovic did this *before* he miraculously
opened the door, then we only add to his miracles, for now we
have him unlocking the door *in darkness*. If we suppose
instead that Dokmanovic short-circuited the light *after*
opening the door we hardly make more sense: the sparks would
immediately attract attention to the open door-that is, the same
door that he must now open wide in order to pass his tie around
the hinge! And if we say that Dokmanovic shorted the light after
passing his tie over the hinge and closing the door again, then
we are saying that he tried his best to attract attention to
himself when he needed a few precious minutes by himself so he
could suffocate.

Why should Dokmanovic want to short-circuit the light?

As before, if the story is a hastily concocted lie, this can
explain the absurdities. Perhaps it was claimed that Dokmanovic
shorted the light in order to suggest that this is how he escaped
detection while committing suicide. The liars responsible, however,
did not pause long enough to realize that shorting the light is
precisely the sort of thing that would have brought guards rushing
to the cell of an especially monitored prisoner who is potentially
suicidal in a high-security prison.

Hasty lies often have problems of this sort.

Also consistent with the cover-up hypothesis is Christian
Chartier?s reversal on whether Dokmanovic had been put on
suicide watch. First he said yes, but now he says no. If this is
all a cover up, then the first claim was issued to make Dokmanovic
seem plausibly suicidal (only a suicidal person would be put on
suicide watch). But somebody then noticed that suicide watch
involves round-the-clock video surveillance, so Chartier came
up with a much improved story, as reported in the Post article:
Dokmanovic was not on suicide watch *this* time (so it is more
plausible that he succeeded), but he had been placed on suicide
watch-complete with video surveillance-on *other* occasions
(so he was, after all, suicidal).

Very convenient.

Despite this fix, there are problems with this point. The first is
that if we suppose Dokmanovic was not on suicide watch, but
that, as Chartier claims, he had a suicidal history, then why was
he not placed on suicide watch *this* time?

The second problem concerns the fact that we cannot accept
Chartier?s claim that this was not a suicide watch because of
the description: ?[Dokmanovic] had complained of
depression?and on a doctor's recommendation?had been put
under medication and subjected to stepped-up monitoring with
his cell lights permanently switched on.? A depressive prisoner
who gets medication and stepped up monitoring is on?what?
*Suicide watch*. So this again raises the question of how this
watch could be so incompetent (including leaving him his tie!) if
Dokmanovic indeed had a history of attempted suicides, as
Chartier claims.

Remember, the last points are all icing on my cake. I examine
them merely to offer further demonstrations that people are
lying. All we really need to make the case that a murder is being
covered up is the fact that Dokmanovic cannot pick a lock that
isn't there.

But this is what they claim he did!

Why didn?t the Western media notice any of this? If the Hague
Tribunal authorities had said that pigs flew, would they have
reported this with the same equanimity?


** The Tribunal?s Official Inquiry **

The Tribunal authorities supposedly conducted an inquiry into
Dokmanovic?s death. This ?inquiry? was entrusted to one Judge
Almiro Rodrigues, whose final report was presented on 21 July,
1998, and subsequently published on the Tribunal?s website.[9]
As we shall see, rather than resolve the absurdities, Rodrigues?
report introduces fresh ones. Not intended to be one, of course,
the report nevertheless reads like a guilty confession.

Here is the tribunal?s bulleted summary of their findings,
printed at the end of the report.


[Start Quote from Hague Tribunal Report]

Findings Of The Inquiry:

1. Dokmanovic was suffering from depression and, for
that reason, was under particular medical care;

2. From about 23 June 1998, Mr. Dokmanovic was
checked every half-hour, during low service hours;

[End Quote]


What are they telling us here? It?s confusing. The Tribunal
claims that Dokmanovic was depressed and was getting special
medical care for it. And starting a week before his death, we are
told, he was closely monitored. The two words apparently
missing from points 1 and 2 are ?suicide watch.? Why are they
omitted?

[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

3. Under the rules of the Detention Unit, a detainee
may keep in his possession all clothes and personal
items for his own use or consumption unless, in the
opinion of the Commanding Officer or the General
Director, such items constitute a threat to the security
or good order of the detention unit or the host prison,
or to the health or safety of any person therein;

4. This is the reason why items such as cutlery, ties,
shoe laces, electric and manual razors, electric cables,
are among those commonly found in a detainee?s cell
and were found in Mr. Dokmanovic?s as well;

[End Quote]


Now we can appreciate the fix the tribunal is in-they must try
their hardest to lay all of the blame on one person: Dokmanovic.
On the one hand, he must seem obviously suicidal, and must
have weapons handy, in order to preempt the argument that he
was murdered. But on the other hand-and here is the
difficulty-this ?obviously suicidal? Dokmanovic cannot have
been on ?suicide watch,? for otherwise it would be *criminally
negligent* -- wouldn't it? --
to leave any weapons in his cell.

Pity them: the tribunal authorities must walk a line so thin that
it vanishes!

The chosen story line is thus that Dokmanovic was getting
?particular medical care? because he was ?suffering from
depression,? and this whispers he supposedly had suicidal
tendencies without actually using the forbidden word. The word
must be avoided because if they actually write down ?suicidal?
then the reader immediately wants to know why he was not on
?suicide watch.?

Similarly, elsewhere in the report we are told that he got ?one of
the highest levels of supervision *other* than the 24-hour
watch by closed circuit TV.? In other words, *not* the highest
level of supervision because *that*, of course, would be a
?suicide watch.?

The ?conclusion? that the report would have us reach is
therefore that, since the ?Commanding Officer or the General
Director? had not made the relevant judgment call to put the
depressive Dokmanovic on the highest level of supervision (i.e. a
?suicide watch?), it is perfectly understandable (isn?t it?) that
an astonishing menu of weapons remained in Dokmanovic?s cell:
?cutlery, ties, shoe laces, electric and manual razors, electric
cables?? (the only thing missing was a loaded gun and some
hemlock!).

Nobody?s fault??

But the Tribunal's rhetorical strategy requires that would-be
skeptics read its report in a daze much closer to death than
distraction, and also that they not be reminded of earlier and
sloppier attempts by the Tribunal to walk this very same
vanishing line.

These earlier attempts relied on the allegation that Dokmanovic
had tried to commit suicide twice before but that they
nevertheless didn?t consider him to be suicidal! For example, on
June 29th, the Associated Press reported:[10]


[Start AP Quote]

?Although tribunal officials were familiar with
Dokmanovic's medical records, his depression and his
regular meetings with a psychiatrist, ?he was not
known to us as a suicide candidate,? Chartier said.

However, Chartier disclosed on Monday that there
had been a ?previous incident? last year in which
Dokmanovic was placed under tighter
supervision that included surveillance cameras in his
cell. He refused to elaborate.?

[End Quote]


What ?previous incident? that is *not* a suicide attempt could
cause prison officials to place Dokmanovic ?under tighter
supervision that included surveillance cameras in his cell?? That
is what a suicide watch is? They were obviously suggesting that
Dokmanovic was suicidal. However, at the same time, Chartier
explained that Dokmanovic ?was not known to us as a suicide
candidate?!

Is the press asleep? Why weren?t they hounding this Chartier as
if he were fresh-cooked meat?

In its official report about its supposed inquiry into itself, the
Tribunal has now made the official story less ridiculous, even if
it is still preposterous. Gone are any suggestions of past suicide
attempts. This is important because the Tribunal must avoid
convicting itself: if they say there were previous suicide
attempts, then Dokmanovic was suicidal and the Tribunal was
criminally negligent.

Despite this ?fix,? as we have seen, the line they must walk
vanishes.


[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

5. On the night from 28 to 29 June 1998, after 10.00
p.m, Mr. Dokmanovic twice attempted to commit
suicide by trying to cut his veins with a razor blade
and by attempting to hang himself using a tie;

6. These attempts were not visible to the guards
checking his cell. This check consists of opening the
little window on the cell door and looking through it
into the cell. If the guard notices something unusual
or abnormal, he must call at least one other guard to
be present before opening the cell door itself. On the
date in question, nothing unusual was detected until
midnight;

[End Quote]


In what universe does a detention facility institute 'checks' on a
prisoner that are so pathetically inadequate that they cannot
reveal to the guards doing the checking that Dokmanovic has
already attempted to commit suicide twice!

The tribunal is stating an absurdity. Merely on such grounds it
can be accused of criminal negligence. So why do they say this?
Because this item makes a very important point between the
lines: Dokmanovic was fanatically determined to commit
suicide. Look: he kept trying! With such determination, how
could the Hague tribunal authorities stop him?

So?nobody?s fault?


[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

7. Between 11.30 p.m. and 00.05 a.m., Mr.
Dokmanovic short-circuited the general power supply
of his cell by placing the two extreme prongs of a fork
(the middle prongs of which had been deliberately
bent) into one of the wall sockets. He did that in order
to avoid the regular half-hour guards checking his
cell;

[End Quote]


The story has changed. Before, they told us-and repeatedly-that
Dokmanovic did this with his electric razor. Now they say it was
with his fork.

Whatever?

However, since the Hague investigators cannot possibly have
asked the dead Dokmanovic what his motive was for
short-circuiting the light, one has to wonder how they know
what he *intended* by it. And notice what they want you to
believe: as I speculated above, they wish you to believe that
Dokmanovic shorted the light so that the guards would not
come to check on him.

*That* is why Dokmanovic succeeded?! Because, once in the
dark, the guards could not see what he was doing??!

However, we were told that Dokmanovic ?had been put under
medication and subjected to stepped-up monitoring with his cell
lights permanently switched on.?[11] And according to the
tribunal?s own report, Dokmanovic was under surveillance so
close that it was only one notch below their highest level of
monitoring. Well, if so, then for Dokmanovic to plunge his cell
into darkness would be the very thing to attract the attention of
his keepers-they would immediately check his cell, especially
given that shorting a light will produce sparks, bust a breaker,
and turn off other lights. It stretches credulity to the point of
rupture to think that Dokmanovic was so stupid he did not to
realize this. But even if he was, shorting the light should have
guaranteed discovery before he could commit suicide!


[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

8. Finally, he managed to hang himself by fastening
on to the top door hinge of his cell?s wardrobe the end
of a second tie that he had firmly attached around his
neck; Mr. Dokmanovic was found dead shortly after
midnight;

[End Quote]


This explanation at least removes the earlier absurdity where
the Washington Post has Dokmanovic unlocking his *cell* door
in order to commit suicide. But it is important to note that this
new explanation is a patch.

When the Washington Post alleged that Dokmanovic had used
the hinge to his *cell* door, it had lots of company. I was able to
find a total of 17 major newspaper stories that, immediately
after the story broke, reported that Dokmanovic had used the
hinge to his cell door, and also 20 wires that said the same
thing.[12]

On the other hand, I could not find a *single* newspaper article
that reported Dokmanovic hanging himself on the door to his
wardrobe. As for the wires, a couple of wires reported the
wardrobe version, but only *after* the tribunal had made this
report public on July 21st, 1998.[13]

Furthermore, the Washington Post didn?t merely report that
Dokmanovic had supposedly hung himself on the hinge to his
cell door, it went to the trouble of *explaining it*! In other
words, they told us that Dokmanovic unlocked his cell door by
way of explaining that he used the hinge to this door in order to
hang himself). Liars always talk too long?

The hanging-from-the-wardrobe version in the tribunal?s
report is obviously a patch to correct the preposterous lies that
were initially put out in haste.

The mind nevertheless boggles. Why did the tribunal?s
spin-doctors *not* hang Dokmanovic from the door to his
wardrobe from the very beginning? That would have sounded
immediately more plausible and would have never required a
patch for a preposterous lie.

I do not have an answer to everything, and I do not have access
to what goes on in the minds of The Hague spin doctors. But
one possibility is that perhaps Dokmanovic?s cell *had* no
wardrobe. I digress briefly to consider this.

Below is a diagram of Milosevic?s cell that appeared in Radio
Netherlands (do not take literally that the door opens to the
inside; Radio Netherlands is constrained to this because it must
fit everything in the rectangle):[14]



Milosevic?s cell features a closet (wardrobe), and the New York
Times says that ?every cell, measuring 10 feet by 17 feet [about
19 sq yards], has its own shower, toilet, closet and desk.? [15]
But this appears to be in error.

Radio Netherlands says that Milosevic?s cell is 18 sq. yards (3×5
m.), and so did Agence France Presse (15 sq. m.).[16] The New
York Times (above) says 19 sq. yards, as did the Times of
London,[17] and the Sunday Telegraph.[18] The slight
discrepancies suggest that Milosevic?s cell size is indeed in the
close neighborhood of 19 sq. yards. However, the Washington
Post says *Dokmanovic?s* cell was about 30% smaller, at only
13 sq. yards.[19] If this is true, then it is false that *every*
cell has the dimensions that the NYT gives, and Dokmanovic?s
smaller cell may not contain a wardrobe -- much less one with
a hinged door that requires space in which to swing open.

But is it possible for a paper to claim that all inmates have cells
of the same size when they don?t? Sure it is.

Martin Fletcher wrote this for the Times of London: ?Like all
other inmates, [Milosevic] is locked up from 8.30pm to 8.30am in
a 10ft by 17ft cell [19 sq. yards].?[20] And the *same* Martin
Fletcher wrote this in an article for the Ottawa Citizen: ?Each
man has a modern cell of about 12-square metres [about 14 sq.
yards].? [21] Clearly, two statements that say every prisoner has
a cell of size X cannot be simultaneously true if they each give a
different dimension. So Fletcher misspoke.

Why the mistake?

When Fletcher gave the larger cell area, he was reporting about
*Milosevic*; when he gave the lower cell area, he was reporting
about *other* inmates at The Hague. So it seems that Fletcher,
in each case, distractedly generalized to all other inmates the
cell size that was relevant to his current topic.

Fletcher gives a list of the things that one finds inside the
smaller cells: ?Each man has a modern cell of about 12-square
metres [about 14 sq. yards] with a window, basin, shower, toilet
and coffee machine.?[22] No wardrobe. Moreover, the 14 sq.
yards cell area that he gives is quite close to the size given by
the Washington Post for Dokmanovic?s cell: 13 sq. yards.

Thus, if Dokmanovic was murdered in a cell that did not have a
wardrobe, his murderers could not set him up as if he had hung
himself from the wardrobe. So they used the cell door. But
when it became clear that nobody was going to come look, and
that the only investigation would be in-house, they tossed out
the absurd story where Dokmanovic is a magical lock-pick and
simply changed it, 'explaining' that Dokmanovic had hung
himself from the (possibly nonexistent) wardrobe.

What changes if someone can prove that Dokmanovic's cell
really did sport a wardrobe?

Nothing. Because it never made any sense whatever for The
Hague officials to say that Dokmanovic hung himself on the
hinge to his cell door -- after unlocking it! -- if what he really
did was hang himself from the wardrobe. That anything so
preposterous was ever said, therefore, is strong evidence that
Dokmanovic did *not* hang himself -- not from the wardrobe
or anything else.

[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

9. All of the Rules of the Detention Unit concerning
Security were observed. No negligent behaviour was
identified;

[End Quote]


Right, nobody?s fault! By now you are fully entitled to reach a
different conclusion, and to observe how fortunate for the
tribunal that it investigates itself.

I now turn to the last bulleted point in the tribunal?s report,
which deserves some discussion.


** There Was No Post-Mortem! **


The last bulleted point in the Tribunal?s report says the
following:


[Back to the Hague Tribunal?s Report]

10. The investigation conducted did not evidence any
sign of violence either at the scene of the incident or
on the body of Mr. Dokmanovic that would suggest a
criminal act.

[End Quote]


This is where the Tribunal tells us that it is officially
exonerating itself.

But notice what the Tribunal?s acquittal of itself requires: not
much. There is no mention of a post-mortem, which is precisely
how one would establish that there was no evidence on the body
suggesting a criminal act.

If there *had* been a post-mortem, we would be hearing about
it (why should the Tribunal omit pointing out how professional
its investigation was?). The omission thus suggests that there
was no post-mortem.

It is not the only thing that does. The day Dokmanovic?s suicide
was announced, it was reported that ?Dokmanovic?s corpse was
taken to a nearby *hospital* morgue [my emphasis],?[23] and
also that ?Both the tribunal and local Dutch authorities have
launched investigations that *could include* an autopsy [my
emphasis].?[24] And the next day it was said that
?Dokmanovic's body is expected to be transferred to his family
after a *possible* post-mortem examination [my
emphasis].?[25]

Why all this talk about a *possible* post-mortem? As in most
other places, the law in the Netherlands makes a post-mortem
after an apparent suicide not optional but *obligatory*.
Professor Barend A.J. Cohen teaches Clinical Forensic Medicine
and Medical Jurisprudence at the Netherlands' School of Public
Health (NSPH) in Utrecht. Professor Cohen states:[26]


[Start Quote]

?According to the law of the Netherlands, it is the
responsibility of the Medical Examiner to investigate
all deaths from criminal violence, accident or suicide,
as well as those that occurred when the person was in
apparent good health, was not attended by a
physician, was imprisoned, or died in any suspicious
manner.?

[End Quote]


Dokmanovic?s death was alleged to be a suicide; it occurred
while he was imprisoned; he was not attended by a physician;
and there are all sorts of suspicious circumstances surrounding
it. In other words, Dokmanovic?s death satisfies four separate
conditions, only one of which is needed to force, by law, that the
Medical Examiner in the Netherlands investigate. Why then do
we hear that his body was taken to a *hospital*-not a
police-morgue, and that *maybe* there would be a
post-mortem? Why is there no report of a post-mortem in the
tribunal?s report of the inquiry?

When the death of Dokmanovic was announced at the end of
June, it was said that there would be a separate Dutch
investigation into his death.[27] On July 23rd, the Associated
Press was still saying that ?Dutch authorities are conducting a
separate probe and are expected to publish their findings within
a week.?[28] That wire was authored by Mike Corder and filed
at 07:58 Eastern Time. Only three hours later, at 11:05 Eastern
Time, Mike Corder filed a very similar wire but this time all
mention of a parallel Dutch investigation was dropped.[29]
There is something else that is funny about these two wires. The
first has the ironic title ?Yugoslav Tribunal Exonerates Staff,?
whereas the second has the title ?Tribunal staff, procedures not
to blame for suicide in custody.? Did somebody in the editorial
office ring up Mike Corder and explain to him that if the
tribunal exonerates itself this should be reported as *fact* rather
than as irony?

I looked for any mention of the report which the ?Dutch
authorities,? according to Corder, were going to publish in a
week?s time. But I found nothing. Nothing at all. What I did
find a week later, in a wire dated August 1st, is that another
Hague prisoner had died suspiciously.[30] And in a wire dated
August 12th, the Associated Press wrote the following:[31]


[Start AP Quote]

In recent months, two Bosnian Serb suspects have
died in their cells, prompting critics to contend that
inmates are getting inadequate medical treatment.

Suspect Slavko Dokmanovic committed suicide in his
cell in June, and on Aug. 1, detainee Milan Kovacevic
died of a heart attack. Both deaths have been followed
by tribunal investigations.

[End Quote]


A reference was made to a tribunal in-house investigation for
each of these cases. But absolutely nothing was said about an
investigation by the Dutch authorities. This is already *three*
weeks after the original Corder AP wire! In fact, no news item
ever said anything about any report of a Dutch investigation
getting published.

The internal investigation into the second death, that of Milan
Kovacevic, was again conducted by the same Judge Almiro
Rodrigues. The same Mike Corder, from the Associated Press,
wrote the following on Sept. 7, 1998:[32]


[Start AP Quote]

It took prison guards 35 minutes to contact a
physician after Kovacevic first complained of severe
pain, and a full hour before the doctor arrived,
according to the investigation led by tribunal Judge
Almiro Rodrigues of Portugal.

Although Rodrigues conceded that ?some criticism
may be leveled against the medical emergency
procedures,? he insisted the delay was not the cause of
death.

?The inquiry revealed no indication of negligence on
the part of the duty doctor ... or any other person,?
Rodrigues concluded.

?An internal inquiry also cleared the tribunal of
blame for the death in June, of Slavko Dokmanovic,
who hanged himself in his cell while awaiting the
verdict in his war crimes trial.?

[End AP Quote]


Once again Mike Corder said nothing about a Dutch
investigation. And he reported on the fact that the tribunal
cleared *itself* -- and twice -- quite matter-of-factly. Corder
had apparently learned his lesson.

If, as seems to be the case, there was no separate Dutch
investigation, and no post-mortem on Dokmanovic?s body, did
this not violate Dutch law? Apparently not, because ?The ICTY
detention centre?was built in 1994 inside a Dutch prison but is
not subject to Dutch law.?[33]

If the ICTY is indeed not subject to Dutch law, then the initial
reports of an impending Dutch investigation were in error. This
seems probable, because if this Dutch investigation had occurred
at all, and if its results concurred with those of the Tribunal?s
report, the latter would not have failed to loudly mention this. A
post-mortem may be obligatory under Dutch law, but the
Hague Tribunal obviously does whatever it wants when it
investigates itself.

Notice, when a prisoner on suicide watch dies in Philadelphia?s
18th district, this is very serious. ?To give you an idea of how
serious this would be,? Sergeant Walsh explained to me, ?any
time there is a cell block incident it is investigated by a
homicide unit.? Well, that?s Philadelphia. At the UN's
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),
it is not so serious.

Why? Because the tribunal is a law unto itself; it answers to
nobody.



** A Convenient Suicide **


The convenient absence of a post-mortem by an independent
authority is added to another happy ?coincidence? for the
Tribunal. ?Dokmanovic?s death means the case is closed, and no
verdict will be released posthumously, tribunal spokesman
Christian Chartier said. ?You can't pass judgment on a dead
person.??[34] Poor Dokmanovic! Wherever else he went after
death, *under the law*, he is eternally in limbo.

But what a convenient twist of international law this is for the
tribunal! It avoids not merely the embarrassment of the expected
acquittal, and the spectacle of Dokmanovic giving press
conferences about how he was illegally kidnapped and
mistreated (this issue will be addressed in a forthcoming article).
That would have been bad enough. But try to imagine the
Tribunal having to explain that the man they illegally abducted,
and who subsequently died in custody, was innocent! That
would be a tremendous scandal. Better to keep people guessing
as to whether Dokmanovic was or not a war criminal, in which
case people will not be so sure that they should mourn him. It is
therefore very convenient that the expected ?not guilty? verdict
cannot be passed down posthumously.

About the inability to get a verdict at this point, Christian
Chartier said that ?It must be very frustrating for the family, for
the relatives of the victims, for the prosecution and the defense,
and maybe for historians.?[35] But why should this be
frustrating for the alleged relatives of the alleged victims? An
acquittal was expected! Is the tribunal?s spokesman suggesting
that we should consider this man guilty despite this expectation?
He sounds like one of the prosecutors...! Or is he suggesting that
the alleged families of these alleged victims would have found
catharsis in the acquittal of a man who was illegally kidnapped
and brought to the Hague, and who was nowhere near the
alleged massacres he was alleged to participate in?

As for historians, not to worry: they will have a field day when
they read this article.

Finally, since somebody could have raised questions later, it is
very convenient for the tribunal that some media outlets later
began untruthfully reporting that Dokmanovic had actually
been found guilty! For example, an Inter-Press Service wire, a
few months later, reported that ?[Dokmanovic] was found guilty
of involvement in the killing of more than 200 unarmed men
after their forcible evacuation from a Vukovar hospital in
November 1991. He died a week before he was due to
be sentenced.?[36]

This is perfectly false, as any reader can confirm by going to the
ICTY?s website and consulting their own posted documents
concerning the termination of trial proceedings against Slavko
Dokmanovic upon his death.[37]



** Conclusion **


The facts reviewed have already spoken for themselves, so a
short statement will suffice. The *best* we can say is that
Dokmanovic?s story argues for a ?tribunal? that is criminally
negligent with regard to the health and welfare of its prisoners,
and a mainstream Western media that is pathologically unable
to carry out the most elementary forms of reporting, let alone
questioning, analysis, and investigation.

But the above interpretation, terribly damning as it already is, in
fact is very difficult to swallow, for mere criminal negligence
does not explain why the Hague Tribunal?s report has neither
head nor tails, plus all the other sundry absurdities we have
reviewed. If we instead conclude this is a case of ?malice
aforethought? (?to kill either deliberately and intentionally or
recklessly with extreme disregard for human life?[38])-that is,
*premeditated murder*-we can explain the inconsistencies and
absurdities as resulting from an awkward cover-up.

Finally, if we add to all this that the press is not incompetent
but complicit, we can better explain its behavior. Because not only
was the mainstream Western media dishing out absurdities and
repeating what the Hague officials said with zero analysis, they
also failed to report crucial details. For example, no media
source mentioned that Dokmanovic was a leader for peace and
one of the signers of the Erdut peace agreement.[39] *Why*?
That turns out to be a crucially important omission.

Consider: is it plausible that Croatian leaders would have sat at
the table with Slavko Dokmanovic to talk peace if Dokmanovic
were really a notorious war criminal with blood fresh on his
hands, as the Hague Tribunal alleges?

Of course not.

So it is very important to both NATO and the Hague Tribunal
that ordinary people in the West not find out that Dokmanovic
was a leader for peace. The fact that the mainstream Western
media obliged NATO?s interests by giving us complete silence
on Dokmanovic?s background speaks volumes about the media?s
complicity. A forthcoming piece will examine the importance of
Dokmanovic?s role as a leader for peace in providing NATO
with a motive to kill him.

+

[Footnotes Follow The Appeal]

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*************
FOOTNOTES
*************
[1] Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 2002 Saturday Final Edition,
News; Pg. A18, 180 words, Milosevic's illness delays war crimes
trial, LONDON

[&] Court transcript July 25th, 2002 (p. 8642);
http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/020725ME.htm

[2] BBC Worldwide Monitoring, June 30, 1998

[3] AP Worldstream, June 29, 1998; Monday, International news,
670 words, AP Photo AMS101, JENIFER CHAO, THE HAGUE, Netherlands

[4] Inter Press Service, September 22, 1998, Tuesday, 844 words,
RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA: DEATHS IN THE HAGUE "JUSTIFY"
BELGRADE STANCE, By Vesna Peric-Zimonjic, BELGRADE, Sep. 22

[5] Deutsche Presse-Agentur, June 29, 1998, Monday, International
News, 497 words, Serb war-crimes suspect found hanged in cell
days before verdict due, The Hague

[6] The Scotsman, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Pg. 9, 601 words,
SERB WAR CRIMES SUSPECT FOUND HANGED IN CELL, Alex Blair
Foreign Affairs Reporter

[7] The Washington Post, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition, A
SECTION; Pg. A11, 551 words, Serb Found Hanged in U.N. Prison;
War-Crime Suspect's Death Called Suicide, Charles Trueheart,
Washington Post Foreign Service, PARIS, June 29

[8] ?Hague officials also said that an investigation would be
launched into questions of how the suicide had gone undetected in the
heavily monitored high-security prison, which was located in the
nearby town of Scheveningen.? Facts on File World News Digest, July
2, 1998, EUROPE; Croatia, Pg. 458 G3, 163 words, War Crimes
Suspect Commits Suicide;

?Red brick walls stretch around the high-security compound here,
the largest prison in the Netherlands, with close to 750 inmates.
Within this compound, invisible from the road, lies the modern,
independent cell block, built by the Dutch government and leased to
the tribunal. Last year, its budget was $3.3 million, paid for by the
United Nations.? The New York Times, July 15, 2001, Sunday, Late
Edition - Final, Section 1; Page 8; Column 1; Foreign Desk, 1502
words, Milosevic's Abode: 10 by 17 Feet but No Dungeon, By MARLISE
SIMONS, SCHEVENINGEN, the Netherlands

[9] http://www.un.org/icty/bulletin21-e/dokman.htm

[10] AP Worldstream, June 29, 1998; Monday 09:44 Eastern Time;
SECTION: International news; LENGTH: 663 words; HEADLINE: AP
Photos AMS101-102; BYLINE: JENIFER CHAO; DATELINE: THE
HAGUE, Netherlands

[11] The Washington Post, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition,
A SECTION; Pg. A11, 551 words, Serb Found Hanged in U.N. Prison;
War-Crime Suspect's Death Called Suicide, Charles Trueheart,
Washington Post Foreign Service, PARIS, June 29

[12] Major Newspapers that reported Dokmanovic hanged himself from
the hinge of his cell door. (No other newspapers made reference to
any specific door.)

1. The Baltimore Sun, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, FINAL
EDITION, Pg. 7A, 416 words, Serbian war crimes suspect hangs
himself; U.N. court was close to a verdict on his guilt
2. The New York Times, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Late
Edition - Final, Section A; Page 6; Column 4; Foreign Desk, 918
words, Serb Charged in Massacre Commits Suicide, By MARLISE SIMONS,
THE HAGUE, June 29
3. The Times, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Overseas news, 450
words, Serb war crime suspect found hanged in cell, Tom Walker
4. The Toronto Star, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, METRO
EDITION, NEWS; Pg. A12, 376 words, Accused war criminal found
hanged, (Reuters), AMSTERDAM
5. The Washington Post, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, Final
Edition, A SECTION; Pg. A11, 551 words, Serb Found Hanged in U.N.
Prison; War-Crime Suspect's Death Called Suicide, Charles Trueheart,
Washington Post Foreign Service, PARIS, June 29
6. The Seattle Times, June 29, 1998, Monday, Final
Edition, NEWS;, Pg. A9;, 702 words, AROUND THE WORLD
7. THE AUSTRALIAN, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, WORLD; Pg.10,
60 words, War crime suicide
8. Chicago Sun-Times, June 30, 1998, TUESDAY, Late Sports
Final Edition, NEWS; NATION/WORLD BRIEFS; Pg. 17, 593
words, World War II flying ace slain in home robbery.
9. COURIER-MAIL, June 30, 1998, Tuesday, NEWS; Pg. 18,
479 words, Suicide Serb beats war crimes verdict, CHAO J
10. The Gazette (Montreal), June 30, 19<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)

NOTA: Le notizie che seguono non sono in alcun modo esaustive degli
avvenimenti nella provincia di Kosovo-Metohija, e vengono qui
riportate solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.


=== * ===

AMMINISTRAZIONE O.N.U. IN KOSMET APRE POSTI DI
FRONTIERA TRA ALBANIA E JUGOSLAVIA

PROTEST OVER OPENING BORDER CROSINGS WITH ALBANIA
BELGRADE, Oct. 17 (Beta) - The Yugoslav Foreign Ministry
protested on Oct 17 to the U.N. Security Council because two border
crosings had been opened between Albania and Yugoslavia in the
Kosovo and Metohija area.
The permanent Yugoslav representative in the U.N., Ambasador Dejan
Sahovic, told the cairman of the Security Council in New York that
the move contravened the provisions of U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1244, especially in view of the fact that the decision to
open border crosings had been made without prior agreement with the
Yugoslav government.
The two border crosings on the AlbanianYugoslav border in the
villages of Orcusa and Kukes were opened on Wednesday.

=== * ===

ANZIANO SERBO AGGREDITO A GNJILANE

+++ SERBE ZUSAMMENGESCHLAGEN
GNJILANE. Laut einer Meldung von INET-News, wurde gestern
ein 75-jähriger Serbe, Zivorad Dokic, aus dem Dorf Zilova in
Gnjilane überfallen und zusammengeschlagen. Dokic ist nach
Gnjilane gekommen, um seine Rentenangelegenheiten zu
regulieren. INET-NEWS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 18.Oktober 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com

=== * ===

"POLIZIOTTI" KOSOVARO-ALBANESI MALTRATTANO
PRETE ORTODOSSO SOTTO GLI OCCHI DEI SOLDATI
ITALIANI

+++ ALBANISCHE "POLIZISTEN" MISSHANDELN MÖNCH
KULA, DECANI. Albanische Angehörige der sogenannten "Polizei"
der serbischen Provinz Kosovo und Metochien haben den Abt des
Klosters Visoki Decani mißhandelt. Der Vorfall ereignete sich an
einem Kontrollpunkt an der Grenze der serbischen Provinz zur
Teilrepublik Montenegro. Die albanischen "Polizisten" attackierten
den Abt zunächst verbal und schlugen ihn dann auch. Der Vorfall
ereignete sich unter den Augen italienischer KFOR-Soldaten.
STIMME KOSOVOS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 19.Oktober 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com

=== * ===

SOLDATI STATUNITENSI MALTRATTANO PROFUGHI SERBI
E GIORNALISTI A KLOKOT

DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN DEEPLY HURT BY
BEHAVIOR OF U.S. KFOR IN KLOKOT
It is unacceptable for KFOR troops to beat unarmed people

COMMUNIQUE
Gracanica, October 19, 2002

The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren is deeply hurt by
the rough behavior of U.S. KFOR troops in the Serb village of Klokot
following the recent crime by extremists leading to the death of
Svetlana Stankovic. It is absolutely unacceptable to apply force
against unarmed civilians who were only trying to return to their
homes, deeply embittered because of the attack. Especially pathetic
was the humiliation of two Serb women, Radmila Dimic and Dobrila
Milenkovic, who were, according to their own statement, kept
handcuffed for serveral hours. Klokot residents confirmed to the
representative of the Church that the U.S. soldiers beat the Serbs
using sticks and feet.

We are also concerned regarding information by the Independent
Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) that Radio Television
Serbia (RTS) reporters who filmed the incident in Klokot were
reportedly abused and kept for two hours, handcuffed, in the mud.

Such unsuitable behavior on the part of U.S. KFOR troops is
undermining their moral reputation and the trust of the Serbs in
peacekeeping forces. We therefore appeal that this incident be
thoroughly investigated and that measures are taken to prevent
similar excesses from reoccurring.
It is quite incomprehensible that KFOR troops are blocking the Serb
village and abusing its residents, including the family members of the
deceased woman, instead of seeking the perpetrators of the most recent
attack against the Serbs. A similar situation occurred following the
recent attack by Albanian extremists in which five Serb houses were
blown up in July. Kosovo Albanian extremists have killed no fewer
that 12 Serbs from the village of Klokot since the end of war despite
the presence of KFOR forces. Despite claims that the security
situation in the region is improving, the Serb people live in
increasing uncertainty, especially after the recent incident in
Klokot. Regrettably, this is not the first time that Albanian
extremists plant land mines in Serb fields. The claim that the mine
remained in the field from the war in 1999 is unfounded because the
field has been regularly cultivated by Stankovic family since 1999 and
no explosive devices were found in this area after a thorough KFOR
search. That is one reason more why the residends of Klokot were
shocked by the reaction of peacekeepers.

---

Politika, Belgrade
PROTEST BY INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS
Unacceptable behavior towards journalists

October 18, 2002

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS)
addressed a protest letter yesterday to UNMIK head Michael Steiner
regarding the arrest, abuse and threat of imprisonment of Radio
Television Serbia (RTS) reporter Zarko Joksimovic and photographer
Boban Sekulic by US KFOR troops in the village of Klokot despite
the fact that both possessed valid accreditation.

In the letter NUNS states that Joksimovic and Sekulic were in the
village of Klokot for the purpose of filming a report regarding the
death of Svetlana Stankovic. It advises Steiner that there is no
justification for forcing the two men to lie for two hours on the wet
earth while handcuffed with 20 rifles pointed at them before
they were expelled from Klokot.

UNS emphasizes that the public is justifiably awaiting an
investigation of the incident and emphasizes that UNMIK's task "is
anything but the violation of human rights of residents of Kosovo and
Metohija, and the human and professional rights of Joksimovic and
Sekulic".

=== * ===

LA KFOR ITALIANA ARRESTA CUGINO DI AGIM CEKU (EX
CAPO UCK) PER CONTRABBANDO DI SIGARETTE.
MA VIENE SUBITO RILASCIATO PER MOTIVI CHE NON E' DATO SAPERE

KFOR ARRESTS AGIM CEKU'S BROTHER, EKREM LUKA

PEC, Oct. 22 (Beta) - KFOR arrested the brother of Kosovo
Protection Corps Commander Agim Ceku and Ekrem Luka in Pec on
Oct. 22, on suspicion that they are involved in the smuggling of large
quantities of cigarettes, BETA has learned from ethnic Albanian
sources in Pristina. Luka is the owner of Dukadjini, the biggest
private company in Kosovo.
KFOR arrested another two persons, but their identity has not been
disclosed.
According to well informed sources in Kosovo, Ekrem Luka is a close
friend of Alliance for Future of Kosovo leader Ramush Haradinaj and
other former leaders of the officially disbanded Kosovo Liberation
Army in western Kosovo.

UNMIK: CEKU'S BROTHER NOT ARRESTED

PRISTINA, Oct 23 (Beta) - UNMIK spokesperson Andrea Angeli told
BETA on Oct. 23, that none of four persons, apprehended in Pec on
Oct. 22, was the brother of Kosovo Protection Corps Commander
Agim Ceku. Angeli said that the four persons, found to be in
possession of arms, were released in the afternoon on Oct. 22,
following an injunction by the relevant judge. He added that an
investigation into the matter was underway.
BETA has learned from eyewitnesses that the rumor about Ceku's
brother being arrested had spread because during the arrest, one of
the suspects said: "Don't touch me, I am Agim Ceku's brother."

KOSOVO: ITALIANI KFOR SCOPRONO DEPOSITO ARMI E SIGARETTE (2)

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 22 OTT - Tra i quattro albaneso-kosovari
arrestati questa mattina dalla polizia militare italiana a Peja c'e'
Ekrem Lluka, 47 anni, proprietario della ''compagnia Dukagjini'',
che e' il piu' grosso gruppo imprenditoriale del Kosovo occidentale.
In carcere e' finito pure un fratello del generale Agim Ceku, ex capo
militare dell'Uck e attuale comandante del Tmk, il corpo di
protezione civile del Kosovo. ''Al momento i quattro arrestati
vengono interrogati dalla polizia italiana inquadrata nella missione
delle Nazioni Unite'' ha detto all'Ansa Andrea Angeli, portavoce
dell'Unmik. Tra il materiale sequestrato, ci sono anche
apparecchiature per la produzione di etichette di sigarette false
trovate in una tipografia del gruppo. La polizia militare italiana ha
effettuato una perquisizione anche presso gli studi di Radio
Dukagjini, un'emittente privata che fa capo all'impresa di Lluka. Gli
arresti di oggi rischiano di provocare tensioni a Peja, zona sotto il
controllo dei militari italiani e dove Ekrem Lluka e' particolarmente
influente.(ANSA) BLL 22/10/2002 16:24
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/20021022162432362436.html

KOSOVO: RILASCIATI QUATTRO ARRESTATI DA MILITARI ITALIANI

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 24 OTT - Sono stati rilasciati dopo poche ore
su decisione di un tribunale locale i quattro albanesi-kosovari
arrestati lo scorso 22 ottobre dalla polizia militare del contingente
italiano della Kfor, forza di pace in Kosovo a guida Nato: lo apprende
oggi l'Ansa da fonti informate. Tra gli arrestati c'era Ekrem Lluka,
47 anni, titolare del piu' importante gruppo imprenditoriale del
Kosovo occidentale, e Selman Ceku, 45 anni, in un primo momento
indicato dagli inquirenti come fratello del generale Agim Ceku, ex
capo militare della guerriglia albanese (Uck) e attuale comandante
del Tmk, il corpo di protezione civile del Kosovo. Le stesse fonti
hanno successivamente rettificato, affermando che in realta' l'uomo e'
solo un cugino del generale Ceku. Gli arresti erano avvenuti dopo che
in uno dei depositi di proprieta' di Lluka erano state ritrovate armi
e 270 tonnellate di sigarette che in un primo momento si era
sospettato fossero di contrabbando. (ANSA). 24/10/2002 17:15
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/20021024171532365176.html

=== * ===

AGGREDITO AMMINISTRATORE UNMIK A PRIZREN

RADIO JUGOSLAVIA
Prizren Administrator Attacked By Albanians

October 22, 2002

In Prizren, southern Kosmet, six Albanians beat up the deputy
UNMIK administrator, Julian Bilbao, causing numerous injuries.
According to news agencies, special units of the UNMIK police
intervened, and one policeman was slightly injured. All the
perpetrators were arrested and criminal proceedings are to be
instigated against them.

=== * ===

AGGREDITO ANZIANO SERBO A KOSOVO POLJE

+++ SERBE ZUSAMMENGESCHLAGEN
KOSOVO POLJE. Auf dem Bahnhof von Kosovo Polje wurde
am Mittwoch gegen 20 Uhr der 75-jährige Serbe Miodrag Stankovic
zusammengeschlagen. Der alte Mann, wohnhaft in Kosovo Polje,
wurde von zwei ethnisch-albanischen Männern zu Boden geworfen
und anschließend mit Händen und Füßen attackiert. Hierbei wurden
ihm schwere Verletzungen zugefügt. TANJUG/INET-NEWS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 24.Oktober 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com

=== * ===

LA KFOR PRIVA GLI STUDENTI SERBI DI PROTEZIONE PER
ANDARE A SCUOLA A MITROVICA

Tanjug - Belgrade
KFOR Escort Canceled For Serbian Students

October 23, 2002

Kosovska Mitrovica, 23 Oct - On Wednesday, KFOR canceled the
escorts for Serbian students from Crkvena Vodica, Obilic, Janjina
Voda, and the villages from central Kosovo. Those students are
attending the schools in Plemetina and Priluzje, so it is unknown how
they will attend the schools in the future, says the head of the
Department of Education in Kosovska Mitrovica, Predrag Stojcetovic.
Stojcetovic pointed out that the parents would not allow the children
to go to school without a KFOR escort, because according to the
parents of Serbian students, their children are not safe on their way
from their homes to the school.

=== * ===

AGGREDITO ANZIANO SERBO A STRPCE

+++ SERBE VON ALBANERN ANGEGRIFFENS
STRPCE. Eine Gruppe bewaffneter ethnischer Albaner haben heute
gegen 15 Uhr den 71-jährigen Serben Bora Serafimovic aus dem
Dorf Pasjane bei Gnjilane angegriffen, während dieser Kühe hütete.
Die Angreifer, aus dem anliegenden Dorf Vlastice, haben den Mann
auf den Boden gestoßen, mehrmals auf den Kopf geschlagen und
anschließend seine Kühe weggeführt. Wegen den schweren
Verletzungen am Kopf wurde Serafimovic in das Krankenhaus von
Vranje verlegt. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 25.Oktober 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com

=== * ===

REGOLAMENTO DI CONTI POST-ELETTORALE

ALBANISCHE ABRECHNUNGEN IN SUVA REKA

PRIZREN. Der ?Bürgermeister" der Gemeinde Suva Reka, der
Albaner Uka Bitici und zwei seiner Mitarbeiter wurden gestern Abend
aus einem fahrenden Auto heraus von albanischen Terroristen
erschossen. Bitici und seine Mitarbeiter gehörten der Partei des
Albanerführers Rugova an. STIMME KOSOVOS
Balkan-Telegramm, 27.Oktober 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com

---

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dp/Qkosovo-vote-shooting.Rlhy_COR.html

Three shot dead by political opponents after Kosovo vote

-Hysa said celebrating members of the LDK -- which is
expected to win Saturday's election -- ran into
supporters of the rival Party of Democratic Kosovo
(PDK), led by former ethnic Albanian rebel Hashim Thaci.
"A young supporter of the PDK drew a gun and shot at
the mayor and two other people accompanying him. All
three have died," Hysa said.


PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Oct 27 (AFP) - A senior member
in the party of Kosovo's Albanian president, Ibrahim
Rugova, and two other men were shot dead by political
opponents in western Kosovo on Sunday, a day after
local elections there, officials said.
It was the first politically motivated attack during
the election period.
Kosovo's first local election in 2000, overwhelmingly
won by Rugova's League of Democratic Kosovo (LDK), was
marred by political violence between rival ethnic
Albanian groups.
Ylber Hysa, head of the non-governmental Kosovo Action
for Civic Initiatives (KACI) monitoring the election,
identified the dead LDK official as Uke Bytyci.
Bytyci was mayor of Suva Reka, some 60 kilometres (35
miles) west of provincial capital Pristina.
Hysa said celebrating members of the LDK -- which is
expected to win Saturday's election -- ran into
supporters of the rival Party of Democratic Kosovo
(PDK), led by former ethnic Albanian rebel Hashim
Thaci.
"A young supporter of the PDK drew a gun and shot at
the mayor and two other people accompanying him. All
three have died," Hysa said.
Andrea Angeli, spokesman for the United Nation mission
in Kosovo, confirmed the information.
"There is evidence to indicate that it was an ambush,"
he said from Pristina, adding that police were
investigating the incident.
Michael Steiner, the United Nation's top official in
the province, condemned the shooting as "an appalling
act of calculated murder".
"Callous killing is particularly distressing after
yesterday's municipal elections in Kosovo, which were
conducted so smoothly and without a violent incident,"
Steiner said in a statement.
Angeli said Bytyci and two people with him had been
shot and injured by at least one person in the village
of Lesan, some six kilometres south of Suva Reka.
He said UN police were interrogating a suspect held at
Suva Reka police station.
Although the official results of Kosovo's local
election have yet to be announced by the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Hysa's
KACI said the LDK had won the vote in most of the
province's 30 municipalities, including Suva Reka.
The Albanian-dominated southern Serbian province of
Kosovo has been under UN and NATO administration since
1999.

=== * ===

VITTORIO SGARBI PRENDE IN GIRO I SERBI DEL KOSOVO:
"BISOGNEREBBE PROTEGGERE I VOSTRI MONUMENTI"

SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

For immediate release

Info - Service ERP KIM

RENOWNED ITALIAN ACTIVIST FOR PROTECTION OF
CULTURAL HERITAGE SEEKS PROTECTION OF SERBIAN
ORTHODOX MONASTERIES IN KOSOVO

Sgarbi emphasises responsibility of KFOR for protection of Visoki
Decani and Pec Patriarchate

October 27, 2002

Rome - Italian deputy-minister of culture and a member of
Parliament Hon.Vittorio Sgarbi sent a letter to the new KFOR
commander, Italian general Fabio Mini, proposing special protection
of Serb Orthodox religious monuments in Kosovo. "The situation in
Kosovo and the unavoidable reduction of NATO forces in coming
months are cause for grave concern for the future protection of the
heritage of Serbian Orthodox culture and religion, especially of
Visoki Decani Monastery and the Pec Patriarchate, which are of great
significance for art history," wrote Sgarbi. Sgarbi notes in his
letter that many Orthodox religious monuments in Kosovo are already
damaged, and in many cases irreparably destroyed. "I wish to draw
your attention especially to the precarious situation in which two
pearls in northwestern Kosovo, Visoki Decani and the Pec Patriarchate
Monasteries, are found in comparison with well-guarded Gracanica
Monastery," emphasized Sgarbi. He added that the recent attack on
Serb pensioners in Pec clearly demonstrates the length of the path to
reconciliation between the [Serb and Albanian] communities and the
high degree of violence still reigning in Kosovo. Sgarbi expressed his
hope that Decani Monastery and Pec Patriarchate will be equally well
protected in future as they are now under the Italian military
command.

=== * ===

ARMI PER IL KOSOVO E L'ALBANIA VIA MONTENEGRO

Blic, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
October 26, 2002
Weapons for Kosovo and Albania via Podgorica

Large quantities of infantry weapons, ammunition and military
equipment often end up in well-guarded depots in central
Montenegro, not in Middle Eastern countries; from
there, the weapons are then smuggled into Albania and Kosovo

M.B., a businessman in the Podgorica quarter of Zagoric formerly
dealing in military surplus and equipment, purchased a small quanitity
of weapons and military equipment at the beginning of May of this
year for 25,000 dollars. Instead of being loaded onto ships, about
five truckloads of various weapons ended up in central Montenegro,
where they remain in warehouses today. He has already sold some of
the of the weapons and military equipment "without difficulty" to
parties in Albania and Kosovo. According to Blic's source, as a result
of information on smuggling of weapons and military equipment
provided to Western intelligence agencies the Montenegrin State
Security has been engaged in "intensive activity" in recent months.

International forces are presently conducting little more than formal
control of the border between Kosovo and Albania. Smuggling of
arms, narcotics, white slavery and incursions, that is, unhindered
entrance of various armed groups, are taking place without
obstruction. For example, at the Cafa Morina - Tropoja border
crossing there are only two-three policemen on the Albanian side and
two members of KFOR and one member of the Kosovo Protection
Corps on the Kosovo side of the border. Inspection of documents is a
mere formality; vehicles, transporter trucks and other transportation
is not inspected at all. Only a kilometer and a half from this
crossing there is a cobblestone road going from Tropoja to Bajram Curi
to the village of Junik village in Kosovo where there is no inspection
at all.
This is the road most often used for smuggling of drugs, weapons and
military equipment, and white slaves.

Cigarettes are now generally transported from Greece through
Albania to Kosovo and further toward Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
According to our source, intelligence sources are aware that the same
dealers are involved in all these activities.

The situation is similar at a second border crossing at Cafa - Prushit
from the Albanian side on the road toward Djakovica. Inspection on
the Albanian side is carried out by only one policeman in civilian
clothing, while on the Kosovo side no one is controlling the state
border at all.

=== * ===

CONTADINO SERBO AGGREDITO A KOSOVSKA MITROVICA

Ethnic Albanians beat up Serb in central Kosovo-Metohija
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Oct 30 (Tanjug) - A group of unidentified ethnic
Albanians beat up Kosovo Serb Ranko Pajevic of the village of Grace
as he was farming his land on Tuesday afternoon, Tanjug was told on
Wednesday. Pajevic was farming his land in the hamlet of Tomic near
Grace in central Kosovo-Metohija, when a group of ethnic Albanians
attacked and seriously injured him.
Ethnic Albanians also stole Pajevic's tractor and fled. Pajevic early
on Wednesday reported the case to UNMIK's police station in
Priluzje.
This is not the only attack ethnic Albanians carried out against
Serbs from this village. Serbs from Grace have repeatedly reported
cases in which their ethnic Albanian neighbors had forcibly seized
their land, stole their cattle or burnt their yield, to Kosovo's
multinational police. Grace is populated by about 250 Serbs.

=== * ===

CHIESTO IL RILASCIO DI TRE SERBI IN GALERA DA ANNI
CON IMPUTAZIONI ASSURDE

http://www.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/2002-10/31/326512.html

SERBIAN GOVERNMENT

Bozovic demands three Serbs be released
October 31, 2002

Belgrade, Oct. 30, 2002 - Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija
official Vladimir Bozovic sent a request to the UN's international
prosecutor for Kosovo-Metohija, Michael Hartmann, for the urgent
release of three imprisoned Serbs.

Bozovic revealed the identities of the three imprisoned Serbs to the
Beta news agency: Orahovac municipality President Anjelko
Kolasinac, who has been imprisoned for more than four years; Veselin
Besovic, from Pec, held in prison without evidence for almost three
years; and Slavoljub Jovic, who was, Bozovic claims, arrested
without proof.

The branch of the international criminal council in the Gnjilane
Municipal Court cleared another Serb, Bozidar Stojanovic, of
allegations of murdering an ethnic Albanian, his lawyer Zivojin
Jokanovic said. Stojanovic was previously sentenced to 16 years in
prison.

Stojanovic spent 38 months in detention. His lawyers managed to get a
new trial and prove his innocence. Hartmann was made aware of this
case of negligence. "We personally called on him and the whole
UNMIK judiciary to release the three Serbs," Bozovic said.

=== * ===

AVVIATE LE ESUMAZIONI DEI CADAVERI SCOPERTI NEL
CIMITERO ORTODOSSO DI PRIZREN - LA STAMPA
OCCIDENTALE *NON* PARLA DI FOSSE COMUNI

SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Information Service
Newsletter, Oct 30, 2002

SRNA Serbian News Agency
27 BODIES EXHUMED

PRISTINA, OCTOBER 29 (SRNA) - "Members of the Yugoslav
Government's expert team exhumed the remains of 27 people, most
probably Serbs killed during 1999, at the Orthodox cemetery in
Prizren yesterday and today," Vukasin Otasevic, a team member,
told SRNA this evening. "We will continue with exhumations
tomorrow; we cannot say how many bodies there may be at this time,"
said Otasevic. He added that he expects successful cooperation with
members of UNMIK's expert team, led by the head of the
Office for Missing and Kidnapped Persons, Jose Pablo Baraibar, to
continue. He expressed the hope that Serbian Government's expert
team will complete exhumations at several additional locations by the
end of the year. "Exhumations at the Orthodox cemetery in Prizren
began upon our initiative but are being conducted under the
organization of UNMIK's Office for Missing and Kidnapped
Persons," said Otasevic.

30 BODIES FOUND IN PRIZREN CEMETARY
PRIZREN, Oct 30 (Beta)- Thirty unidentified bodies have been found
during three days of exhumation at the Orthodox Christian cemetery
in Prizren, said Kosovo expert team chief, pathologist Slavisa
Dobricanin.
There are no more unexamined graves in this location, said
Dobricanin, adding that the first results show that the bodies are
Serbian.
Exhumations in several more locations in Kosovo, especially in the
Djakovica municipality, will be carried out by the end of the year.

=== * ===

AGGREDITO SERBO PRESSO GRACE

Radio Yugoslavia
A SERB BEATEN BY ALBANIANS
VUCITRN, October 30

Ranko Pajevic, a Serb from the village of Grace, northern Kosmet, has
been beaten up by a group of unidentified Albanians, Tanjug learns.
The agency reports that while working in the field, Pajevic was
attacked by a group of Albanians and sustained heavy bodily injuries.

http://www.mfa.gov.yu/Pressframe14.htm

ETHNIC ALBANIANS BEAT UP SERB IN CENTRAL
KOSOVO-METOHIJA

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Oct 30 (Tanjug) - A group of
unidentified ethnic Albanians beat up Kosovo Serb
Ranko Pajevic of the village of Grace as he was
farming his land on Tuesday afternoon, Tanjug was told
on Wednesday. Pajevic was farming his land in the
hamlet of Tomic near Grace in central Kosovo-Metohija,
when a group of ethnic Albanians attacked and
seriously injured him.

Ethnic Albanians also stole Pajevic's tractor and
fled. Pajevic early on Wednesday reported the case to
UNMIK's police station in Priluzje. This is not the
only attack ethnic Albanians carried out against Serbs
from this village. Serbs from Grace have repeatedly
reported cases in which their ethnic Albanian
neighbors had forcibly seized their land, stole their
cattle or burnt their yield, to Kosovo's multinational
police. Grace is populated by about 250 Serbs.

=== * ===

ANCHE AD OBILIC LA KFOR ELIMINA LA PROTEZIONE PER
GLI SCOLARI SERBI - IMPEDITA LA FREQUENTAZIONE
DELLE SCUOLE

POLITIKA (Belgrade daily)
KFOR QUITS ESCORTING SCHOOLCHILDREN IN OBILIC
MUNICIPALITY

October 30, 2002

For more than a week schoolchildren of four primary and three
secondary schools have not attended their classes, since KFOR has
suspended escorting them. According to Radmila Premovic, the
principle of the primary school Branko Radicevic, pupils have
not attended the classes for some ten days. The classes have stopped,
as Norwegian KFOR has not escorted primary and secondary
schoolchildren, who commute to their schools for some 10 kilometres
through Albanian populated places. According to the principle, KFOR
as a reason stated that their base has been moved to the village of
Lebane. KFOR recently has also stopped protecting school premises.

Radio Yugoslavia
October 30, 2002

Some 1,200 Serb pupils living in enclaves in central Kosmet have not
been attending school for 10 days now due to the safety situation, the
head of the Education Ministry Department for Kosovska Mitrovica,
Predrag Stojcetovic, said. He said that KFOR had ceased to escort Serb
children from Vucitrn, Obilic, Crkvena Vodica, Babin Most and
Plemetina on their way to school. The head of the MP club of the Serb
POVRATAK coalition, Rada Trajkovic, called on institutions and
organizations in charge of children's rights to react in order that a
solution be found.

ABOUT 1200 SERB STUDENTS MISSING CLASSES IN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Oct 30 (Tanjug) - About 1200 Serb
students who live in enclaves in central Kosovo and Metohija have
been compelled to miss out on their classes for the past 10 days
because they cannot travel to their schools in safety, Ministry of
Education Kosovska Mitrovica Department chief Predrag Stojcevic
told Tanjug on Wednesday.
Stojcevic said the local international peacekeeping force KFOR
in the UN-administered southern Serbian province had suspended
escorts for Serb children from Vucitrn, Obilic, Crkvene Vodice,
Babin Most, and Plemetina on their way to and from school.
Kosovo-Metohija parliament Serb coalition Return whip
Rada Trajkovic gave a statement to Tanjug, in which she called on
all institutions and organizations in charge of children's rights
to react so that a safe life and regular classes can be secured for
Serb children in Kosovo and Metohija.

=== * ===

ITALIANI ED ALBANESI ARRESTATI A TIRANA IN POSSESSO
DI 18 CHILI DI EROINA

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/
ap/20021101/ap_wo_en_po/albania_drugs_1

Police detain Italians and Albanians with heroin
Fri Nov 1,11:17 AM ET

TIRANA, Albania - Police have cracked an Italian-Albanian drug
ring, arresting several people and seizing eight kilograms (18 pounds)
of heroin, the biggest drug haul in the last three months, an Interior
Ministry official said Friday.
A ministry spokesman, Florian Serjani, said that police detained the
suspects - Albanians and Italians - on Thursday at a hotel in the port
town of Durres, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the capital, Tirana.
He would not say how many people were detained and declined to
provide further details.
But an Albanian newspaper, Shekulli, quoted unnamed police in
Durres as saying that police had cracked a mafia network that
transports drugs from Albania to Italy.
Three Italians and six Albanians were detained, the daily reported.
Albania is a transit country for drug trafficking rings that are
active across the Balkans.

=== * ===

A KOSOVSKA MITROVICA LE STRADE VENGONO
RIBATTEZZATE CON I NOMI DELLE FIGURE
DI SPICCO DEL NAZIFASCISMO

Politika, Belgrade
November 1, 2002

SERB STREETS RENAMED AFTER BALISTS*
(Balists, or Balli Combetar, members of a pro-Nazi Albanian
nationalist organization in WW2)

Only John Kennedy and Tetovska Streets unchanged

Kosovska Mitrovica, October 31

Assemblymen of the mono-national municipal assembly of Kosovska
Mitrovica have voted unanimously to change the names of almost 260
streets and publci squares in this city on the Ibar River. Obviously
their only criterion was to replace streets bearing the names of Serbs
and other non-Albanians with the names of dead Albanian
terrorists from the ranks of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
and notorious Balists during World War II.

The UNMIK administration did nothing to attempt to prevent the
name changes which, it should be added, are written exclusively in
Albanian in the southern, Albanian part of the city. The changing of
street names in Kosovska Mitrovica comes after the Albanians first
renamed all towns in the southern Serbian province, and then all the
street names, even in Serb enclaves where there are no Albanians. For
example, in Kosovska Mitrovica, Pasiceva Street became Milos
Kopilic Street. Karadjordjeva Street received the name of the
notorious Drenica region terrorist Adem Jashari, Duciceva Street now
bears the name Arta (golden), Railroad Street bears the name of
Bislim Bajgora, Hajduk-Stanka Street has been renamed Drenicka
Street, Drvarska Street has become Bujanska Conference Street, while
Kosovo-Maiden Street has now been renamed after the Bitoljski
Congress. Ramiz Sadiku Street has also changed its name and now
bears the name of Xhafer Deva, a notorious Balist who greeted the
fascist forces in Kosovska Mitrovica in World War II. The street
leading from the bus station which is located on the edge of the
southern, Albanian part of the city and leads to Srbica, is now called
Bloody Bridge Street. However, it was not enough for the
assemblymen to rename the streets by giving them names of terrorists
of the so-called KLA and Balists from World War II so they also gave
them names of cities in Albania. Thus some streets are now called
Shkodra, Tirana, Tropoja, Kukes... The only streets which did not
offend and are not nationalistic in tone are John Kennedy
Street and Tetovska Street. As well, it should be noted that the
assemblymen of the mono-national municipal assembly of Kosovska
Mitrovica have neglected to name at least some of the 260 streets in
the city on the Ibar River after well-known scientists, writers or
other
figures of renown in the world or at least in the region.

B. Radomirovic

=== * ===

L'INVIATO SPECIALE ONU JOSE CUTILEIRO RICONOSCE LA
SITUAZIONE INACCETTABILE DAL PUNTO DI VISTA DEI
DIRITTI UMANI IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA

CUTILEIRO DISSATISFIED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD IN KOSOVO

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Nov 3 (Tanjug) - The special human
rights envoy Jose Cutileiro said on Sunday that the human rights
record in Kosovo and Metohija has not improved.
In terms of improvement of the status of human rights, nothing
has changed since February last year when he visited Kosovo the
last time, Cutileiro told reporters in Kosovska Mitrovica,
following talks with a member of the presidency of Kosovo
parliament Oliver Ivanovic. He said he was particularly dissatisfied
with the fact that the process of return of Serbs to Kosovo and
Metohija was weak and not yet sustainable.

IMPEDITA INIZIATIVA SULLA JUGOSLAVIA AL SFE DI FIRENZE

"Un'altra Europa e' possibile": questo lo slogan del Social Forum
Europeo, che si svolgera' a Firenze dal 6 al 10 novembre 2002. Ma di
quale "altra Europa" si tratta? La domanda acquista un significato
limpido e pressante nel momento in cui la partecipazione al Forum e'
stata negata a dei sindacalisti jugoslavi, quelli della "Zastava" di
Kragujevac, che possono essere considerati "testimonianza vivente" degli
effetti micidiali del neo-liberismo in Europa ed in particolare in quei
paesi europei definiti "in transizione".

La "Zastava" di Kragujevac e' stata bombardata e distrutta da governi
neo-liberisti; la sua produzione e' stata bloccata, gli operai
licenziati o messi in cassa-integrazione, l'intero complesso e' stato
messo in liquidazione da un governo neo-liberista; l'azienda e' stata
recentissimamente inglobata in una ditta statunitense, secondo il piu'
classico modello neo-liberista e nel dettame della "globalizzazione".

Di tutto questo, delle conseguenze di tutto questo per le famiglie dei
lavoratori e per la popolazione tutta, i sindacalisti jugoslavi a
Firenze non potranno parlare; viceversa, tra gli interventi programmati
nei seminari del "Forum" ci e' stata segnalata la presenza di personaggi
di punta per l'affermazione della ideologia neo-liberista in Jugoslavia,
come Sonja Licht-Biserko, rappresentante in Serbia della Fondazione
Soros: propaganda ultra-liberista all'interno del Forum europeo contro
il neo-liberismo.

(I. Slavo)


---

Subject: da Alma - SOCIAL FORUM DI FIRENZE
Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 08:26:26 +0100
From: "Rossi Alma" <alma@...>


SOSPESA L'INIZIATIVA CON I SINDACALISTI DELLA ZASTAVA PROGRAMMATA PER IL
7 NOVEMBRE A FIRENZE IN OCCASIONE DEL FORUM SOCIALE EUROPEO.

purtroppo dobbiamo registare l'ennesimo boicottaggio del Social Forum.
L'ambasciata Italiana di belgrado non concede i visti ai delegati della
Zastava ed alla esponente del sindacato metalmeccanici nazionale
Jugoslavo.
I visti erano stati richiesti 15 giorni fa dalla Cgil di Brescia con
preghiera di sollecito per garantire la presenza dei rappresentanti
sindacali della Jugoslavia di partecipare ad un ciclo di iniziative che
si sarebbero svolte in Italia dal 4 al 12 di Novembre.
Una procedura identica a quella utilizzata in tante altre occasioni, con
addirittura un maggiore anticipo (in altre occasioni la richiesta,
successivamente accolta, era stata anche di 5-6 giorni).
L'Ambasciata Italiana a Belgrado, nonostante a conoscenza che la
richiesta di visto riguardava il periodo dal 4 al 12 di novembre,
comunica ai sindacalisti Jugoslavi di presentarsi all'ambasciata
il giorno 7 novembre.
Non già per concedere loro il visto ma per essere sottoposti ad un
colloquio dal quale poi sarebbe dipesa la decisione di rilasciare o
meno il visto, comunque non prima del 12 novembre.
Una atteggiamento chiaramente provocatorio. L'ambasciata sapeva bene
che la richiesta di visto, motivata, riguardava un periodo precedente, e
che la richiesta era fatta appositamente per permettere ai sindacalisti
Jugoslavi di essere presenti ad un ciclo di iniziative già programmato.
Nonostante questo si è operato esplicitamente per non permettere che
ciò evvenisse.
Pretestuosi anche gli argomenti utilizzati per giustificare questa
stravagante procedura.
Dall'ufficio visti, sollecitato successivamente, oltre che da noi, anche
da interventi di parlamentari di Rifondazione e dal compagno Vinci
deputato europeo, ci è stato risposto che l'appuntamento per il
giorno 7 è stato programmato per evitare a chi doveva presentarsi
per ottenere il visto, lunghe ed estenuanti code.
Ma perchè, visto che la richiesta era che la delegazione Jugoslava fosse
in Italia il giorno 4, l'appuntamento è stato convocato per il 7 con la
promessa che il visto sarebbe stato loro concesso il 12 ??.
E perchè l'Ambasciata non ha ritenuto necessario avvisare di ciò il
richiedente (cioè la Cgil di Brescia)???
Tra le motivazioni di questa lungaggine ci è stata segnalata
dall'ambasciata di Belgrado la necessità di tenere sotto controllo un
fenomeno di emigrazione ormai sempre più elevato (non gli è neppure
venuto il dubbio che ciò è causato proprio dai bombardamenti
effettuati sulla serbia, ed ora che fanno .. si stupiscono che la gente
cerchi di scappare dalla miseria che gli
occidentali hanno coscentemente prodotto in quel paese), trattando
quindi la delegazione sindacale Jugoslava al pari di "Clandestini" che
cercavano di scappare nel ricco occidente.
Altra motivazione era quella di contrastare il diffondersi dei "falsi
visti".... (sic). Ma se il visto viene chiesto all'ambasciata ... ??? è
falso anche quello ???.
Ci dicono che uguale atteggiamento è stato tenuto da altre ambasciate.
Una conferma in più di come in tanti stiano operando per il
boicottaggio del Social Forum Europeo.

Non si potrà quindi tenere la prevista conferenza sulle condizioni della
classe operaia in Jugoslavia convocata per il 7 novembre. Ce ne
rammarichiamo, sopratutto perchè questa sospensione è "subita" ed è la
conseguenza dell'arroganza di una amministrazione Consolare tutta
piegata, non già ad assistere gli interessi e le iniziative dei
cittadini
Italiani (in questo caso la possibilità di avare in Italia una
delegazione
per partecipare ad iniziative sindacali pubbliche), e perchè viene
meno la possibilità di un utilissimo confronto con rappresentanti di
una realtà oggi in lotta per la difesa dei diritti e contro l'invasività
di una agressione economica (dopo quella militare) iperliberista che
sta distruggendo ogni tutela del lavoro e del salario, ogni dignità,
con l'obiettivo di asservire alle leggi nel nuovo mercato globalizzato
un'intero territorio e la sua forza lavoro.


Alma Rossi - email - alma@...
indirizzo internet del Coordinamento RSU - http://www.ecn.org/coord.rsu/

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)


---

1. From "SLOBODA" Association, 2/11/2002
2. ICTY Responsible for life and health of President Milosevic (3/11)
3. Milosevic exhausted, war crimes trial adjourned (DW 1/11)
4. Milosevic trial halted as health worry grows (Reuters 1/11)
5. Judges say Milosevic's ill health threatens war crimes trial (AFP
1/11)
6. Milosevic complains about closed court sessions (AFP 23/10)


AN IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM "SLOBODA" ASSOCIATION:

Subject: Information on our web sites
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 20:08:47 +0100
From: "Vladimir Krsljanin" <vlada@...>

Message from SLOBODA (Freedom) Association - Yugoslav Committee for
the Defense of Slobodan Milosevic:

Due to enormous financial difficulties that follow our work in
assisting struggle of President Milosevic at The Hague for freedom,
truth and dignity of his people, all our web sites are temporarily
disconnected.

Thanks to many hours of work of ICDSM members and supporters in USA,
the web site of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan
Milosevic has been reconstructed and can now be reached at the
following temporary address:

http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm

If you are able to help our struggle by your donations, please go to:

http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/donations.htm


=== 1 ===


Subject: STOP THE MURDER! FREE MILOSEVIC! corrected
Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 22:39:45 +0100
From: "Vladimir Krsljanin" <vlada@...>


On Thursday, October 31, evening, President Slobodan Milosevic
suffered one of the sudden high increases of blood pressure,
characteristic for his illness (malignant hypertension + angina
pectoris). After that he felt so sick, that he couldn't attend the
"trial" next morning.

SUCH AN EVENT CAN CAUSE HIS DEATH!
President Slobodan Milosevic, national leader of Serbia and Yugoslavia
and hero of resistance to USA/NATO murderous war machinery is being
killed at The Hague by dungeon prison conditions, already nine months
of a pervert political trial, mountains of papers, lack of fresh air,
food, rest, physical activity, meetings with family and friends, any
facilities to prepare his extraordinary court room battle. He is being
killed also by total absence of medical care!
Here are the comments of the executioner "judge" May, according to
Reuters:

``He has complained of exhaustion and is being seen by a doctor this
morning and a report will be obtained,'' presiding judge Richard May
told the U.N. court in Milosevic's absence.

``In the light of the state of the accused's health and the length and
complexity of the case, the trial chamber is concerned about
completion of the trial,'' said May, one of three judges hearing the
case.

``Therefore we wish to have submission from the parties on the future
conduct of the case in order to ensure its expeditious conclusion. We
wish to have those submissions within seven days,'' he told
prosecutors and court officials.
Let these seven days be days of public fight for life of President
Milosevic!

President Milosevic has to be allowed to get specialized medical
treatment in Belgrade, until full recovery, by doctors who took care
about his health for years.

Perform every possible action!

Write to NATO puppet court ("International Criminal Tribunal for
Former Yugoslavia", "ICTY", fax +3170 512 8637) and tell them what you
mean!

Lawyers are invited to write to the "ICTY President" Claude Jorda and
"President of Trial Chamber III" Richard May, as well as to their
friends "Amici Curiae" Steven Kay and Branislav Tapuskovic (using the
same fax) and to tell them how they see "the future conduct of the
case"!

This morning SLOBODA (Freedom) - Yugoslav Committee for the defense of
Slobodan Milosevic wrote to "ICTY" the following:

---

Mr. Claude Jorda, President
Mr. Richard May, President
of the Trial Chamber III
ICTY
The Hague
The Netherlands


The actual deterioration of the health of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, long
time President of the Republic of Serbia and of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia is a direct and dramatic consequence of the way the
process has been conducted and of the fact that you have neglected the
recommendations of the physicians appointed by ICTY in order to
determine the state of Mr. President's health.

Even after of numerous warnings that, considering the state of health
of President Milosevic, detention conditions and rhythm and conduct of
the process can cause his death, you still continue to conduct your
political process in the same way. We remain you and warn you once
again that eminent Yugoslav cardiologists have concluded in their
objective and impartial expertise, which got consent of the physicians
appointed by you, that the way this political process has been
conducted represent a threat to the life of President Milosevic.

In spite the claim that ICTY is an international court of UN, you in
severest way violate the Resolutions and documents of the UN General
Assembly, related to health of persons in custody.

The first principle of the Resolution 3794 on the principles of
medical ethics, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 18,
1982, establishes an obligation to protect prisoners or detainees from
torture and other cruel, inhumane or humiliating sanctions or
behavior. The same Resolution obliges you to secure the medical
treatment of the same quality and based on same standards as for the
persons who are not in prison or in detention. But in violation to
that, you have not provided President Milosevic with medical therapy
nor even with medical care of the same quality and based on same
standards as for persons who are not in detention. This way you also
violate the Article 6 of the Codex of behavior of persons responsible
for application of the Law, adopted by UN General Assembly on December
17, 1979.

In addition to violation of the mentioned Resolutions, you also
violate your own Statute, namely its Article 21, point 4b, which
obliges you to provide every defendant with appropriate time and
facilities for preparation of his defense.

The astonishing rhythm of this political process, purpose of which is
not determination of the truth, but total endangering of the health of
President Milosevic, leads us to a conclusion that the fatal outcome
is your intention.

Experience with other persons in detention who faced dramatic
deterioration of heath or even loss of life, is also obliging you to
decide to allow Slobodan Milosevic to obtain medical therapy and
recovery in Belgrade by medical specialists who followed his health
condition for years, due to existence of special circumstances and to
resume the process after the improvement of his health.

We warn you that it is your obligation to harmonize your Rules and
practices with all UN documents on human rights protection, as well as
with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Belgrade, November 02, 2002

President of the Freedom Association -
Yugoslav Committee for the Defense of Slobodan Milosevic
Bogoljub Bjelica


=== 2 ===


Subject: WHAT DO THEY DO TO HIM
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 19:34:21 +0100
From: "Vladimir Krsljanin" <vlada@...>


ICTY Responsible for life and health of President Milosevic


The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
in The Hague is directly endangering the life and basic human rights
of President Slobodan Milosevic.

The long-term president of Serbia and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, founder and chairman of the Socialist Party of Serbia,
Slobodan Milosevic is held in the ICTY's detention unit under
conditions that could rightly be considered torture. President
Milosevic' cell is small, without access to natural air, and has a low
level of overall sanitation. He can only use the public telephone, and
pays for all his calls. He has been forced to attend the trial every
weekday for the past nine months (though with a recess in August). His
workday begins around 7 AM. He endures humiliating procedures during
transport from the detention unit to ICTY chambers and back. The trial
takes place between 9 AM and 4:30 PM. During the lunch break, he is
confined to the ICTY basement, and can only eat a sandwich. He is back
at the detention unit by 6 PM, and then he must choose between dinner
and a short walk in fresh air. Thereafter, till late at night, he
prepares for the next day of the trial.

For the remainder of prosecution's case, which is scheduled to end in
May 2003, he has to review over 100.000 pages of text and over 600
videotapes submitted by the prosecution. The length of the trial and
the amount of materials he has received are irrelevant to the
indictment, and their primary purpose is to wear out President
Milosevic.
His legal assistant cannot visit him on weekends. Unlike other
prisoners, who are allowed to see their families every day, and even
unsupervised, Mr. Milosevic can see his family only once a month, for
2-3 days, and always in under supervision. All other visits to
President Milosevic are subject to exceptional restrictions as well.

President Milosevic suffers from malignant hypertension and ischemical
myocardiopathy (angina pectoris). Psychological and physical exertions
to which he is subjected, combined with poor living conditions, can
easily lead to a heart attack, stroke, even sudden death. Even so, the
President not only lack specialised medical care, he lacks any medical
care at all. After numerous appeals and requests from Belgrade, and
after his full medical files have been sent to the ICTY, the trial
chamber approved a medical check-up. This happened only once, on July
11, 2002, and was performed by Dutch general practitioners approved by
the ICTY. The physicians nonetheless confirmed that the President's
living and working conditions represent a risk to his life and health,
and that it would be necessary to reduce the exertions to which he was
subjected, and provide a check-up and care by a cardiologist.
The trial chamber considered their report and recommendations on July
25 and August 26, 2002, and concluded that they should not be
implemented to the letter, but "in spirit".

However, to the present day, no cardiologist has been allowed to
examine President Milosevic, while the trial - previously adjourned by
2PM - has again been extended to 4:30 PM every day.

All of this indicates that the trial is but an organized attempt to
murder President Milosevic. Only his release, followed by medical care
and recuperation in Belgrade under supervision of specialists who have
treated and monitored his health for years, as well as his ability to
defend himself as a free man in the later on continued process, could
remove further risks to President Milosevic's life and secure the
elementary equality of the trial.

Beograd, 31 October 2002.


=== 3 ===


http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1429_W_667135,00.html

DEUTSCHE WELLE

01.11.2002 11:00 UTC

Milosevic exhausted, war crimes trial adjourned

Judges at Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial in The Hague have
expressed concern about completing the case against him after a
hearing was adjourned because he complained of exhaustion. The
ex-Yugoslav leader, who has been advised by doctors to rest regularly
because of high blood pressure, has been defending himself since
February against charges of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the
Balkans in the 1990s. Presiding judge Richard May told the United
Nations court Milosevic is being seen by a doctor and a report will be
obtained.


=== 4 ===


http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;
jsessionid=1XDPLALN4PC4KCRBAEKSFEY?type=search&StoryID=1667323

Milosevic trial halted as health worry grows
Last Updated: November 01, 2002 07:51 AM ET

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Slobodan Milosevic's trial has ground to a halt
after he complained of exhaustion, with judges concerned about the
impact of his ailing health on Europe's biggest war crimes hearing
since World War Two.

The 61-year-old ex-Yugoslav leader, who has been advised by doctors to
rest regularly because of high blood pressure, has been defending
himself at The Hague since February against charges of ethnic
cleansing in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Judges at the U.N. court adjourned Friday's hearing within a matter of
minutes after announcing Milosevic would not be taking his seat in the
dock because he had complained of exhaustion at the end of a week of
vigorous cross-examination.

"He has complained of exhaustion and is being seen by a doctor this
morning and a report will be obtained," presiding judge Richard May
told the court in Milosevic's absence.

TRIAL STRESSES RAISE CONCERNS

The landmark trial for genocide and crimes against humanity has been
adjourned several times since it opened more than eight months ago
because of Milosevic's health problems.

"In the light of the state of the accused's health and the length and
complexity of the case, the trial chamber is concerned about
completion of the trial," said May, one of a panel of three
international judges hearing the case.

Judges have urged prosecutors and Milosevic to deal quickly and
efficiently with the huge volume of evidence and testimony in a case
drawing on thousands of documents, videos, photographs and maps
covering three conflicts over almost a decade.

"The judges are not intimating that the trial itself is in jeopardy.
What they are concerned about is that there are stresses on all
participants in a trial of this scope and this length," tribunal
spokesman Jim Landale said.

Judge May asked the prosecution and a team of independent lawyers
appointed to ensure Milosevic gets a fair trial to come up with
proposals within a week to streamline the hearings.

"We were working within the framework given to the court by the trial
chamber already with very tough conditions," prosecution spokeswoman
Florence Hartmann said in response to judge May's request.

One of Milosevic's legal advisers called for a shorter trial day in
response to his client's poor health. The trial often runs from around
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., taking in hours of cross-examination, detailed
evidence and complex legal argument.

"Since yesterday evening he has been feeling very, very bad. He's got
very high blood-pressure. He can't be in court to do the cross
examination," Dragoslav Ognjanovic said.

"His blood pressure and his health condition is due to the exhausting
pace of the trial," he said. Milosevic's wife Mira Markovic and his
family were also worried, Ognjanovic added.

THE "BOSS"

Milosevic, who has dismissed as lies the charges he faces, earlier
this week locked horns with a Serb ex-secret agent, who told the court
the accused was the undisputed "Boss" in Belgrade in the 1990s.

The former Serb strongman -- charged with 66 counts of human rights
violations in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo -- has made it clear he
considers the charges politically motivated.

Milosevic opted to conduct his own defence in a show of contempt for a
court he does not recognise and spurned advice to appoint a defence
lawyer. He declined to plead to the charges and not guilty pleas were
entered on his behalf by judges.

The trial's first phase, focusing on alleged Serb atrocities in Kosovo
in 1999, ended in September. The court is now hearing evidence from
the 1991-95 conflict in Croatia and Bosnia.

Judges, who have already imposed time restrictions on both sides due
to the enormous scope of the trial, have asked prosecutors to conclude
their whole case over his alleged crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and
Kosovo, by next May.

Milosevic will then launch his defence. The trial is expected to last
at least two years.

The U.N. detention block where Milosevic is held with dozens of other
war crimes suspects from the former Yugoslavia has its own doctor and
medical facilities. The block is inside a Dutch prison compound with
its own hospital.


=== 5 ===


Judges say Milosevic's ill health threatens war crimes trial

THE HAGUE, Nov 1 (AFP) - Judges trying Slobodan Milosevic for war
crimes on Friday voiced concern that the trial might not be completed,
after the former Yugoslav president's poor health again forced a delay
in the proceedings.
"In the light of the state of health of the accused, the length and
the complexity of the case, the chamber is concerned about the best
way to ensure the completion of this trial," presiding judge Richard
May said.
Milosevic, 61, did not appear in court on Friday, complaining of
"extreme fatigue and exhaustion" but the case is scheduled to resume
on Monday.
His trial, on genocide and war crimes charges, has been interrupted
four times since it began in February because he has fellen ill.
Doctors who carried out a full medical check-up in July said he had
high blood pressure and risked having a heart attack.
The court tried to reduce the workload on Milosevic after the last
health warning but even with the time limits imposed on it the case
will take years to complete.
The prosecution has until May 2003 to present its case. Milosevic will
have until at least mid-2004 for his defence.
In court Milosevic, who is facing charges of genocide, war crimes and
crimes against humanity for the 1990s Balkan wars, does not appear to
be a frail old man.
He defends himself vigorously, entering into heated exchanges with
witnesses and sometimes with judges as well. The former Yugoslav
leader likes to play to home audiences with lengthy speeches about the
historical mistreatment of Serbs and alleged western plots against
Belgrade.
Milosevic has refuses to appoint counsel to a court he considers
illegal and is defending himself against a team of 60 members of the
prosecution's 545-strong staff.
He is said to spend nights in his cell poring over court documents and
statements to prepare to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
On Friday Judge May asked the prosecution and the amici curae --
lawyers appointed to assist the court in the case -- to submit within
seven days proposals on how best to proceed with the trial, taking
into account the defendant's health.
The judges have already suggested the appointment of a defence counsel
could reduce the strain on Milosevic.
He has strongly rejected the idea but legal experts say that the court
can appoint a lawyer for Milosevic against his will.
"The judges have the power to do anything that is necessary to ensure
the proper conduct of a trial and there is a precedent in the Rwanda
war crimes tribunal where counsel was appointed to an unwilling
defendant," Goran Sluiter, a legal expert at the University of
Utrecht, told AFP.
Sluiter expects that Milosevic will fight such an appointment tooth
and nail.
"Milosevic's big fear is to lose his time in court. For him the trial
is just a stage to air his views because he believes it is a show
trial and he will be convicted anyway," Sluiter said.
The court has hinted at a compromise solution -- appointing a defence
lawyer who would only assist during the cross-examination of
witnesses.
But Sluiter does not believe Milosevic will agree to anything that
would take him out of the limelight.
Milosevic faces more than 60 charges of war crimes and crimes against
humanity for his involvement in the wars in Kosovo (1998-99), Croatia
(1991-95) and Bosnia (1992-95).
The former president is also charged with genocide over the ethnic
cleansing of Muslims during the Bosnian war.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.


=== 6 ===


Milosevic complains about closed court sessions

THE HAGUE, Oct 23 (AFP) - Slobodan Milosevic complained on Wednesday
about the many closed sessions the judges are holding in his war
crimes trial before the tribunal here and described them as remnants
from another time.
"Secret trials stem from a past which nobody can boast about," the
former Yugoslav president told the court.
The war crimes trial of Milosevic, which is currently hearing evidence
about atrocities committed during the 1991-95 war in Croatia, has been
held largely in closed session the last few days with several witness
whose identities are shielded.
During closed sessions the public galleries are closed and the
testimony of the witnesses cannot be revealed.
Milosevic's outburst in court Wednesday came after the judges
reprimanded him for revealing elements of a testimony given in closed
session in one of his questions.
Presiding judge Richard May told the former president that "it is the
chamber that will rule in this case and not the public".
Milosevic is charged with over 60 counts of war crimes and crimes
against humanity for his role in the three conflicts that tore apart
the Balkans in the 1990s: the wars in Croatia (1991-95), the Bosnian
war (1992-95) and the Kosovo conflict (1998-99).
For Bosnia he faces a separate charge of genocide, the gravest of war
crimes.
Milosevic's historical war crimes trial started in February this year
and is expected to continue until at least 2004.

International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic
http://www.icdsm.org - http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm

=================================
Slobodan Milosevic's Cross-Examination of
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic: PART VI
Because the transcript of the cross-examination
is 150 pages long we have broken it into 12 easy
to read segments. If you wish to read the whole thing
at once go to:
http://www.icdsm.org/more/mesic.htm
OR
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic.htm
=================================



Page 10669

1 Presidency of Yugoslavia, you betrayed Yugoslavia and contributed to
its

2 break-up. Then proceeding to betray those with whom you had
collaborated

3 to destroy Yugoslavia. I'm referring to the HDZ and Tudjman. I don't

4 know who is next. Is it true that Tudjman wanted that from the very

5 start, when the HDZ was founded, Tudjman linked it up with the
right-wing

6 factions in Croatia, which includes those who do not conceal the
fact they

7 are Ustasha?

8 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Mesic, before you answer, allegations are made

9 there which you should have a chance to deal with, a series of them.

10 The first is that, as the president of the Presidency of

11 Yugoslavia, you betrayed Yugoslavia and contributed to its
break-up. Did

12 you regard yourself as betraying Yugoslavia?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] When I was elected to the Presidency

14 of Yugoslavia, I believed that I would help to resolve the Yugoslav
crisis

15 by political means, that I could contribute to avoiding the war. My

16 proposal to the Presidency was that we should adopt a fully
confederal

17 system and that the confederation should be given a time limit,
three to

18 five years, that the republics should be declared independent, that
the

19 republics should be internationally recognised, that they should
recognise

20 each other, and thereby be recognised by the international
community, and

21 that on the day when the Federation ceased to exist, a
confederation be

22 established. Why? Because everyone was dissatisfied with
Yugoslavia.

23 Serbia claimed that it was being exploited. Serbia claimed that
they were

24 the ones who funded others. Croatia was saying that its hard
currency was

25 being siphoned off to Belgrade. If everybody was dissatisfied, why
not

Page 10670

Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the
French and English
transcripts.

Page 10671

1 adopt a new model? My proposal was to have a confederation and to

2 establish what tasks the confederation would perform, how much this
would

3 cost, and what the key to the budget would be, to the financing of
this.

4 Serbia never expressed its view on this proposal. Instead of this,

5 Milosevic proposed a strong federation. That is what happened to
Kosovo

6 and Vojvodina, that this should happen everywhere. We could not
agree to

7 this. But I was in favour of negotiations. I thought that it was
better

8 to negotiate for ten years rather than to wage war for ten days.
Some

9 people were in favour of the war option, and Slobodan Milosevic was

10 certainly one of those.

11 But what could I have done in Belgrade? Who could I have

12 influenced? The generals contacted Milosevic, the army executed
what

13 Milosevic's regime wanted, the creation of a greater Serbia,
because he

14 was saying that the Serbs should remain in one state. That is the
part

15 that was to become Yugoslavia and to be taken from Croatia. That's
what

16 General Veljko Kadijevic says in his book, and he was the Secretary
for

17 National Defence.

18 Therefore, therefore, the army, when it had been made into a

19 Serbian army, when the Croats, the Slovenians, the Macedonians and
others

20 had left, when it had become a Serbian army, it was to perform the
job of

21 setting up new borders, and the one who was perpetrating that plan
was the

22 one who was destroying the Federation. I wanted to search for a
political

23 solution through constitutional means. I had two secretaries, an
advisor,

24 and a Chef de Cabinet, and they were the only people I could
influence. I

25 have to say they were all Serbs. Who else could I have influenced,
and

Page 10672

1 how could I have toppled Yugoslavia? Was it I who did it or was it
the

2 person who had the Yugoslav army at his disposal, which had been

3 transformed into a Serbian army?

4 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

5 Q. Mr. Mesic, that all the peoples of Yugoslavia should live in one

6 state pertained to Yugoslavia and that the Serbs in Yugoslavia lived
in

7 one state was one of the reasons why Serbia wanted Yugoslavia to be

8 preserved, and that is the only thing that you can quote me on
saying, not

9 anybody else. And you're making this up, just like others have along
the

10 same lines.

11 I asked you the following: Tudjman wanted a Croatian state at all

12 costs, and from the very inception of the HDZ, he firmly relied on
the

13 most radical right-wing, which consisted of the most drastic
Ustasha; is

14 that right?

15 A. That's not true. Increasingly radical elements started joining

16 the party and then I left the party.

17 Q. You say in your interview to the AIM and the question was why
did

18 Tudjman from the very inception of the HDZ so strongly rely on the
radical

19 right wing in which there are some clear-cut Ustasha. You say that
you

20 were powerless, that these were forces that were more powerful than
you

21 and that Tudjman went along with them and that the forces that you

22 represented were different, and you say that he relied on these
extremist

23 forces and he believed that they would be his friends in war, and
that

24 after the war he would manage to neutralise them. That was your

25 explanation. Is that right or is that not right, Mr. Mesic?

Page 10673

1 A. I think that I answered that question at the very outset. The HDZ

2 was a democratic party and now the question is what this journalist
meant

3 by the very outset. Which outset?

4 Q. All right. You explained that this was from March 1991 after the

5 meeting in Karadjordjevo. That is your interpretation of the
situation,

6 and we are not going to dwell on that. However, you did remain in
that

7 same HDZ for another three years and now you're attacking it.

8 A. 1991 until the end of 1992 cannot be three by any kind of

9 arithmetic. So there seems to be some kind of erroneous arithmetic

10 involved.

11 Q. Is it true that it was Tudjman's view that Bosnia was a mistake,

12 that it was a mistake to make it as a republic after the Second
World War

13 and that it should be annexed to Croatia? Is that right or is that
not

14 right?

15 A. Those were his ideas, that Bosnia was supposed to belong to

16 Croatia on the basis of a decision that should have been adopted by
Avnoj.

17 That's what we discussed, because we were both in opposition, both
Tudjman

18 and I were MPs in the Croatian parliament in 1965.

19 Q. All right. Is it true that it is precisely in Zagreb that

20 deportations of the population of Bosnia were discussed? Or as you
had

21 put it, the humane resettlement of the population and basically
this was

22 ethnic cleansing. Is this right or is this not right?

23 A. As for humane resettlement, that is something that you talked

24 about and all of those who thought that it was necessary to
transport

25 Croats from Slankamen into Croatia and Serbs into Serbia. I
certainly

Page 10674

1 took no part in that.

2 Q. All right, Mr. Mesic. Let's not dwell on this much longer. I

3 asked you whether you had your own views on this, because in the

4 transcript that I refer to, your opinion is quite obvious. You say
that

5 any person with common sense would realise that this is ethnic
cleansing.

6 A. Well, humanitarian resettlement is actually ethnic cleansing.

7 That is why your detachments came, Dusan Silni, Arkan's guard. All
of

8 them came in order to carry out ethnic cleansing. That is not even

9 humanitarian resettlement.

10 Q. Mr. Mesic, I am referring to your policy, the policy of Croatia.

11 I am not talking about whether anybody from Serbia did any such
thing.

12 Because as you know full well, it is only Serbia that kept its
ethnic

13 composition over the past ten years, and nobody was expelled from
Serbia,

14 not a single house was torched, and nobody was mistreated because
of their

15 ethnic affiliation.

16 A. Except for the fact that in Serbia there were 18 camps where
there

17 were Croatian citizens and they were fleeing from Seselj, the
Croats from

18 Vojvodina were, and they were settling Croat settlements and they
were

19 exchanging their houses for Serb houses. That is the so-called

20 humanitarian resettlement.

21 Q. Mr. Mesic, do you know that there was not a single camp in

22 Yugoslavia, or rather, in Serbia, not for Croats, not for anyone,
not for

23 Croats, not for Muslims, not for anyone.

24 A. Croatia is still looking for over 3.300 of its citizens. Many of

25 them, after Vukovar and after other places where massacres were
committed,

Page 10675

1 were taken to Serbia. We have to know that the Yugoslav army, with

2 paramilitary organisations, which, with the approval of the Serb

3 leadership came to Croatia, destroyed Croatian towns. Why was
Vukovar

4 destroyed? Why were the citizens of Croatia taken to Serbia from
Vukovar?

5 Why were they taken to camps in Serbia? If the president of Serbia
does

6 not know that there were camps in Serbia, then that is the problem
of

7 Serbia.

8 Q. Mr. Mesic, do you know, for example, that when this propaganda

9 started about the existence of camps in Serbia, that various foreign

10 delegations spoke to me about this, people who came on other
business, and

11 they asked me about these camps? And I answered to each and every
one of

12 them: Please feel free to take a helicopter that I have here and
that is

13 ready. Put your finger anywhere on a map and that's where the
helicopter

14 will take you, and you will see that there is nothing of the sort
in

15 Serbia. After a few answers that I gave of this kind, one
delegation, it

16 was a German delegation, asked to go, then pinpointed the mine in

17 Aleksinac on a map. They went there and the only thing they found
was --

18 JUDGE MAY: You're not giving evidence. You can give evidence to

19 us in due course.

20 Mr. Mesic, do you know anything about Mr. Milosevic's dealings

21 with foreign delegations? Have you seen any reports or heard
anything

22 about that?

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know about that. I do know

24 that the Yugoslav army, together with paramilitary organisations,
took out

25 of the Vukovar hospital almost 300 persons and that they were all

Page 10676

1 liquidated in Ovcara, near Vukovar. I also know that citizens who
were

2 taken prisoner in that massacre of Vukovar were transported to
Serbia.

3 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

4 Q. First of all, that is not correct. Secondly, please take a look

5 at this map.

6 JUDGE MAY: What are you suggesting happened at Vukovar,

7 Mr. Milosevic, if it's not correct?

8 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] It is not correct that anyone from

9 Serbia took citizens from Vukovar to Serbia. It is not correct that
any

10 policy of Serbia's influenced the intensification of the conflict
in the

11 region of Vukovar. What is correct is that it is precisely the
armed

12 detachments of the HDZ that barged into people's homes, into
villages

13 around Vukovar and took Serbs away, arrested them, and so on. They

14 attacked Vukovar --

15 JUDGE MAY: Is it disputed that 300 persons were taken from the

16 hospital to Ovcara and there liquidated? Is that disputed?

17 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I don't have these figures, Mr. May,

18 and I'm not discussing them now. But I shall try to find these
facts and

19 figures and see what kind of facts and figures are available. I can

20 claim, though, that no Serbian authorities had absolutely anything
to do

21 with this, nor did the Serb authorities cause any kind of ethnic
conflicts

22 in Vukovar. Ethnic conflicts in Vukovar were caused by the same
people I

23 quoted a minute ago, those who took people out of their homes in
Zagreb.

24 JUDGE MAY: I've asked you some questions about that. Now, let's

25 move on to matters which the witness can deal with, in particular,
his

Page 10677

1 evidence. Time, as you know, is limited, Mr. Milosevic. We must
allow

2 some time for the amicus to ask any questions that they want this

3 afternoon. And any re-examination, Mr. Nice?

4 MR. NICE: There's likely to be some, yes.

5 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Kay, could you help about the amicus?

6 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes, there will be questions.

7 JUDGE MAY: How long do you ask for, Mr. Tapuskovic? Can you give

8 us an idea, please?

9 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] It is hard for me to say. I will

10 honour any decision you make, but it seems to me that half an hour
would

11 be absolutely indispensable.

12 JUDGE MAY: We may not be able to give you half an hour, I'm

13 afraid, because time is short. We can extend the sitting this
afternoon

14 until 2.00, unless the Registry have any difficulty about that.
There's

15 another hearing this afternoon, but I anticipate we can sit until
2.00,

16 and we will extend the hearing until then to accommodate as much

17 questioning as we can.

18 But Mr. Milosevic, your time is limited, as you know. So let's

19 move on. If you've got any matters that you want to challenge on
what the

20 witness said in his evidence, you should do so.

21 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. May, of course I am challenging

22 almost everything that the witness said during his testimony. But I

23 assume that it is clear to you that limiting time for the

24 cross-examination of this witness is quite contrary to the need to

25 ascertain the truth. After all, the other party announced that they
would

Page 10678

Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the
French and English
transcripts.

Page 10679

1 examine him for ten hours and then they decreased the number by two
and a

2 half times in order to diminish my ability to cross-examine him.
However,

3 I am going to use the time that is given to me, and you will have to
deal

4 with the fact that you haven't given me enough time.

5 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

6 Q. Mr. Mesic, do you know that there were 221 camps for Serbs in the

7 period between 1991 and 1996 in Croatia? The five that you refer to
in

8 Serbia never existed. And here you have a list of all the 221 camps
for

9 Serbs in Croatia, and also a map that shows where they were and how
many

10 were in different towns and so on. Are you aware of this?

11 A. Regardless of the fact that I have been highly critical in terms

12 of the functioning of rule of law in the state of Croatia until the
year

13 2000, the truth is that there were no camps in Croatia. There were

14 abuses, there were crimes. That is certain. However, unfortunately,
I

15 did not answer the question that had to do with Vukovar. Do I have
to

16 give an answer? I do. Those who carried out liquidations were given

17 decorations and were promoted to the rank of general and other such
ranks.

18 They still live in Belgrade and they are wanted by this Tribunal.
So I'm

19 not the one who is inventing things. The only persons who were not
taken

20 out of Vukovar were those who were liquidated in Ovcara.

21 Q. According to the information I have, no army could have executed

22 or liquidated anyone. You know full well as a citizen of Yugoslavia
until

23 it was broken up and you have --

24 JUDGE MAY: This is a matter which the Trial Chamber, I suspect,

25 is going to have to determine in due course, and it sounds as
though these

* Continued at: http://www.icdsm.org/more/mesic-7.htm
OR http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic-7.htm



***** Urgent Message from Sloboda (Freedom) Association and the
International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic!

The Freedom Association in Belgrade and the ICDSM, based outside
Yugoslavia, are the two organizations formed at the
request of Slobodan Milosevic to aid in his defense.

Up until now our main work has been threefold. We have publicized the
truth about The Hague's phony trial. We have
organized research to help President Milosevic expose NATO's lies. And
we have initiated legal action in the Dutch and
European Courts.

Now our job has increased. The defense phase of the "trial" starts in
May 2003. No longer will Mr. Milosevic be limited
to cross-examining Hague witnesses. The prosecution will be forced
further onto the defensive as victims of NATO's
aggression and experts from Yugoslavia and the NATO countries tell
what really happened and expose media lies. Moreover,
Mr. Milosevic will call leaders, from East and West, some friendly and
some hostile to the truth.

The controlled mass media will undoubtedly try to suppress this
testimony as they have tried to suppress Mr. Milosevic's
cross-examinations. Nevertheless this phase of the "trial" will be the
biggest international forum ever to expose NATO's
use of racism, violence and lies to attack Yugoslavia.

We urgently need the help of all people who care about what is
happening in The Hague. Right now, Nico Steijnen , the
Dutch lawyer in the ICDSM, is waging legal battles in the Dutch courts
and before the European Court, about which more
news soon. These efforts urgently require financial support. We now
maintain a small staff of Yugoslav lawyers in
Holland, assisting and advising Mr. Milosevic full-time. We need to
expand our Dutch facilities, perhaps bringing in a
non-Yugoslav attorney full-time. Definitely we must guarantee that we
have an office and office manager available at all
times, to compile and process evidence and for meetings with witnesses
and lawyers and as a base for organizing press
conferences.

All this costs money. And for this, we rely on those who want Mr.
Milosevic to have the best possible support for
attacking NATO's lies.

************
Here's how you can help...
************

* You may contribute by credit card. By the end of September we will
have an ICDSM secure server so you can contribute
directly on the Internet.

For now, you can contribute by credit card in two ways: *

You can Contribute by Credit Card over the Telephone by calling:

ICDSM office, USA: 1 617 916-1705
SLOBODA (Freedom) Association office, Belgrade: 381 63 279 819

You can Contribute using PayPal at:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=icdsm%40aol.com
PayPal accepts VISA and MasterCard

You can Contribute by mail to:
ICDSM
831 Beacon St., #295
Newton Centre, MA 02459 (USA)

- OR -

You can Contribute by wire transfer to Sloboda Association

Intermediary:
UBS AG
Zurich, Switzerland
Swift Code: UBSWCHZH

Account with:
/ 756 - CHF
/ 840 - USD
/ 978 - EUR
Kmercijalna Banka AD
SV. Save 14, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Swift Code: KOBBYUBG

Beneficiary: Account No. 5428-1246-16154-6
SLOBODA
Rajiceva 16, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia

Thank you!

http://www.icdsm.org

International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic
http://www.icdsm.org - http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm

=================================
Slobodan Milosevic's Cross-Examination of
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic: PART VII
Because the transcript of the cross-examination
is 150 pages long we have broken it into 12 easy
to read segments. If you wish to read the whole thing
at once go to:
http://www.icdsm.org/more/mesic.htm
OR
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic.htm
=================================


Page 10680

1 are matters of argument. So, Mr. Milosevic, let's move on.

2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

3 Q. Mr. Mesic, is it clear to you that in that Yugoslav People's
Army,

4 there could not have been a single officer who would have issued
orders to

5 have innocent civilians executed?

6 JUDGE MAY: That is precisely the point, which is purely one of

7 argument and nothing else. Now, have you got further questions?

8 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, I have an enormous number of

9 questions left, but I have a present for Mr. Mesic, a map of camps
for

10 Serbs from 1991 to 1996, with a list of all camps according to
different

11 towns. 221, to be exact. When he goes back to Croatia, let him
check

12 that out and then he can give an answer to this question, because

13 obviously he cannot give an answer now. Could you please have this
map

14 shown on the ELMO. 221 camps.

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't need that, because this

16 simply is not true. There were --

17 JUDGE MAY: Just let us see. What is this document that you're

18 producing, Mr. Milosevic? Where does it come from?

19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The committee for collecting

20 information on crimes against humanity that were committed and
violations

21 of international law, published in Belgrade the 5th of February,
2001. I

22 was no longer president of Yugoslavia then. On the 5th of February,
2001.

23 It is the committee for collecting information on crimes committed.
This

24 is a map with all the camps and a list of all the camps in Croatia.

25 However, in all fairness, in Bosnia-Herzegovina there were 536.

Page 10681

1 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. So you did not rank first.

3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Please have this put on the overhead

4 projector so it can be seen.

5 JUDGE MAY: For what it's worth, this document may be put on the

6 overhead projector, the witness can look at it. He probably hasn't
seen

7 it. It can be shown to the Prosecution.

8 And then, Mr. Milosevic, if you want to prove it, that is, you

9 want it exhibited, then you can prove it yourself when you call your

10 evidence.

11 Yes, Mr. Mesic, you can --

12 Don't interrupt.

13 Mr. Mesic, just have a look at that, see if there's anything that

14 you can say about it or not. You've heard where it comes from,
you've

15 heard what it purports to be.

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Croatia did not have any camps, but

17 I do repeat: There were illegal acts, there were abuses, there were

18 crimes, and what I'm asking for is that every crime should be
investigated

19 and the perpetrators punished. I am struggling for individual guilt
to be

20 established. I don't want any collective responsibility. This has

21 nothing to do with the truth.

22 Q. All right. So you don't want to --

23 JUDGE MAY: Let the Prosecution have that document and then it can

24 be returned to the accused.

25 Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

Page 10682

1 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. Is it correct that among the generals that you refer to, that
they

3 took part in operations in Bosnia, were Milivoj Petkovic?

4 THE INTERPRETER: Could the accused please slow down. The

5 interpreters could not --

6 JUDGE MAY: You're being asked to slow down. Slow down, please.

7 A. Yes, some generals themselves said that they were in Bosnia, but

8 they said this subsequently.

9 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

10 Q. What did they say?

11 A. Subsequently.

12 Q. Oh, subsequently. Petkovic, Roso, you say that they were not

13 there?

14 A. I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying that they did not say

15 then, that they said afterwards that they had been in Bosnia.

16 Q. And is it correct that you said that the decision on the ethnic

17 cleansing of Muslims was not formally passed but that it was
carried out.

18 Is that correct or is that not correct?

19 A. I imagine it is understandable that if everybody leaves a
village

20 and that they were forced to leave a village, that that is ethnic

21 cleansing.

22 Q. Is it true that as far as Pero Markovic is concerned, the mayor
of

23 Capljina, you said that he carried out ethnic cleansing?

24 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Milosevic, how does it help? How is it relevant

25 whether an individual carried out ethnic cleansing in Bosnia? To
deal

Page 10683

1 with an indictment? What you must understand is that attacking
others is

2 not a form of defence, and therefore the relevance is strictly
limited.

3 Now, what is under investigation in this trial is the activities
which are

4 alleged in the indictment. For you to attack the others is no
defence and

5 of little, if any, relevance. Now, have you got anything else you
want to

6 ask this witness about his evidence as opposed to allegations that
you

7 want to make about others? No doubt this institution has
investigated and

8 will investigate those allegations against others, but it's of no

9 assistance to this Trial Chamber to make allegations about the
conflict

10 between the Bosnian Muslims and the Bosnian Croats in 1992 and 1993
when

11 we're dealing with crimes alleged to have been committed by you and
others

12 in Croatia strictly, but also in Bosnia.

13 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. May, what I'm bearing in mind is

14 precisely the profile of this witness. As for everything that
happened,

15 he accuses me, first and foremost, then he accuses his former
president

16 and his former political party, and his own generals, and he was
the one

17 who gave them instructions, and he also accuses his own
politicians, the

18 ones that he gave instructions to, in order to protect himself from

19 responsibility, which is vast, both in terms of the break-up of
Yugoslavia

20 and everything else that he is now accusing the HDZ and Tudjman and
other

21 factors of, under this slogan that this is the rule of law that he
favours

22 and that that's what he's struggling for. And until 1994, what, he
did

23 not struggle for the rule of law then?

24 JUDGE MAY: The accusations which a witness might make are not

25 relevant. It's his evidence which he makes and it's on that which
you

Page 10684

1 must concentrate.

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I am testifying about the facts that

3 I know about. I cannot testify about those that I'm not aware of.

4 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

5 Q. All right, Mr. Mesic. Who destroyed the bridge in Mostar? Is it

6 correct that it was destroyed by the Croatian forces?

7 JUDGE MAY: I'm not going to allow the question. Move on to

8 something else, Mr. Milosevic. You really must deal with this
witness's

9 evidence, not a generalised attack upon the Bosnian Croatians.

10 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation] Very well.

11 Q. Now, are the words correct by Imre Agotic, your military ally,

12 that were published in Zagreb that the greatest crimes were
performed when

13 they were taking over the terrain, that is to say, when the MUP of
Croatia

14 and the police were taking over the terrain?

15 JUDGE MAY: Which terrain are you talking about?

16 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

17 JUDGE MAY: No. Mr. Milosevic -- yes. Another question, and move

18 off this topic. Move on to something more relevant.

19 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

20 Q. All right, Mr. Mesic. As you say that you didn't meddle and

21 interfere in this, is it true that you, as a high-ranking
functionary of

22 the HDZ, personally went to Bosnia-Herzegovina and replaced Stjepan
Kljuc

23 from the post of HDZ head in Bosnia? Is that true or is it not?

24 A. I did not replace him. I went there as an HDZ official, but that

25 has nothing to do with this trial.

Page 10685

1 Q. Well, it does have very much to do with this trial, because it

2 testifies to your direct involvement in the events in Bosnia, for
which

3 you accuse me.

4 A. May I explain?

5 JUDGE MAY: Yes, since you've been asked.

6 A. The HDZ of Bosnia-Herzegovina was under the influence of the HDZ

7 of Croatia, because ultimately the HDZ was the one that founded it.
And

8 when the first president was replaced, the first president of the
HDZ of

9 Bosnia-Herzegovina, then what we had -- what had to be done was for
a new

10 HDZ president for Bosnia and Herzegovina to be elected. This could
only

11 be done at a party congress. But that party congress was not
scheduled.

12 A Presidency meeting was scheduled. President Tudjman asked me to
go to

13 Siroki Brijeg, which is where the HDZ Bosnia-Herzegovina was
meeting at

14 the time, to intervene in this method of replacement of Stjepan
Kljuc, who

15 at the time was president of the HDZ Presidency for
Bosnia-Herzegovina. I

16 got in touch with some people. I went to Siroki Brijeg. I spoke to

17 people there, and they told me that they supported Stjepan Kljuc.
What I

18 said to them was the following: Kljuc, it is my task that he be
replaced,

19 but that I talked to people and that he would be given a vote of

20 confidence if he tenders his resignation. However, what he did was
indeed

21 tender his resignation, irreversibly, and went to Sarajevo. Before
doing

22 so, he asked me: "How are you going to explain that away to
Tudjman?

23 That is to say if I am given a vote of confidence, how are you
going to

24 explain that to Tudjman?" And I said: "Well, I'll say the majority
was

25 in favour of not accepting your resignation and you will remain the

Page 10686

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the
French and

13 English transcripts.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

Page 10687

1 president of the HDZ party." And then he became afraid. He was
afraid

2 for his own survival. He got into his car and left Siroki Brijeg for

3 Sarajevo.

4 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

5 Q. All right. And is it true that the various decisions which refer

6 to Bosnia-Herzegovina, not only the one you mentioned a moment ago,
among

7 others, was taken by people in Zagreb, such as Vice Vukojevic from
Zagreb?

8 Was Vice Vukojevic a member of the Croatian Sabor or parliament?

9 A. Yes, he was a member of the Croatian Sabor, and he did appear in

10 uniform, in HVO uniform. Otherwise, his origins are from

11 Bosnia-Herzegovina. And I said to President Tudjman that I didn't
like

12 what Vice Vukojevic was doing. I criticised him.

13 Q. All right. You talk to Vukojevic and he said that they had shot

14 people. Is that right or not, Mr. Mesic?

15 A. No, it is not.

16 Q. Well, you can find that in the transcript, 7063.

17 A. No. He said something else. I said something else. And please

18 don't distort what I and he said. He said that in the battle for
Prozor,

19 the place called Prozor, a lot of Muslims had lost their lives, and
I

20 asked him whether anybody had been killed on the Croatian side or
perhaps

21 wounded. He said no, and that was all. I didn't have any further

22 conversation with him because I didn't think that you could have
people

23 killed on one side and nobody even wounded on the other. And I
never

24 spoke to him again after that.

25 Q. So you were angry with him, were you, because of that, because
you

Page 10688

1 in fact ascertained that crimes had been committed, but you didn't
take

2 steps at all. All you did was to be angry with him and you never
spoke to

3 him again.

4 A. The accused is well aware of the fact that this was

5 Bosnia-Herzegovina, their territory, and that I wasn't able to
undertake

6 anything there. He knows that full well.

7 Q. Is it true that there were many members of the Croatian
parliament

8 who went to Bosnia, many Croatian MPs who went to Bosnia during the
war,

9 not only Vice Vukojevic but others too, wearing uniforms, to take
part of

10 the war there?

11 JUDGE MAY: I'm going to interrupt now because there's a real

12 danger of this trial being totally sidelined about matters which
were not

13 part of the witness's evidence, and that is namely the conflict in
Bosnia

14 between the Croatians and the Muslims.

15 Now, Mr. Kay, you mentioned a matter earlier, and on the grounds

16 that this might be relevant in terms of credibility of the witness.
But

17 obviously the Trial Chamber must keep the matter within bounds. The

18 witness's evidence is essentially about Croatia, although I'm aware
that

19 Bosnia, of course, is also subject of an indictment and to some
extent his

20 evidence may be relevant to that. The question is to what extent is
the

21 accused entitled, if at all, to examine matters which at the moment
appear

22 to have no bearing at all on the issues which the witness raised or
indeed

23 the issues in the trial. This is a serious matter because clearly
if he's

24 going to follow the same approach which he used before, which was
to use

25 cross-examination as a vehicle to make allegations against the
other side,

Page 10689

1 to what extent is he entitled to do that, do you submit?

2 MR. KAY: He's entitled to attack the credentials of this

3 particular witness, who has maintained during his direct examination
that

4 he was only seeking to enforce the rule of law and was not a party
taking

5 part in hostilities within the region. Plainly, the accused
disagrees

6 with that and is attacking the knowledge of this witness as to what
were

7 the real events within the region and the participation of himself
and his

8 political party within those events. One appreciates that there is a
time

9 limit on a witness giving evidence, and that is the real issue here
for

10 the accused. Time spent on matters that are not productive of his
defence

11 to the indictment obviously can cause him to be in difficulty in
putting

12 forward a defence to the charges. But in many respects, we believe
he is

13 aware of those issues. They have been sufficiently in force during
the

14 trial, and attempts have been made by the amicus to ensure that he
does

15 put his case and is given an opportunity to do so. In many
respects,

16 where the subject of the Trial Chamber's ruling here in relation to

17 timing.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: I think the point is that he obviously is

19 entitled to test the witness's credibility by asking about matters

20 relating to Bosnia, but the real issue is: How far can he go down
that

21 road? It would seem to me that once he has put a question in
relation to

22 a particular matter touching on Bosnia and he has received an
answer on

23 that, then he should move on to another issue. In that regard, he
would

24 have been allowed to test credibility in relation to that matter,
but I

25 think the issue being raised by the Presiding Judge is that
apparently he

Page 10690

1 goes too far down the road, and that tends to take us into areas
that are

2 not relevant.

3 MR. KAY: A helpful way may be to just make the point here that

4 the Trial Chamber is aware of the matters that have been put in
issue by

5 the accused, that the Trial Chamber is aware that he has put in
issue

6 various aspects of this witness's evidence, so that any
reinforcement of

7 that fact is not further necessary.

8 JUDGE MAY: Thank you.

9 Mr. Milosevic, you've heard what's been said. You know there are

10 time limits. There is a question of how far you can continue to
deal with

11 matters which are purely peripheral, and bear in mind, as has been
said,

12 that the Trial Chamber realises quite well what you're putting in
issue

13 and the challenges you make to the credibility of this witness. You

14 should therefore deal with any matters which you think are
important,

15 which you might not otherwise be able to do so because of time, as
early

16 as possible. Now, you are subject to time limits, and there will be

17 another seven minutes and then we'll have to adjourn.

18 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, I understood that in addition

19 to the time constraints and limits that have seen to be
precipitously come

20 to the fore in the case of this witness, that I do have at least
until the

21 close of business today. I think that is a minimum. But I think
that it

22 would be in order if you were to give me a little more time, if you
were

23 really to take into account the quest for truth.

24 JUDGE MAY: We have in mind the time limits taken by the

25 Prosecution. You should have roughly similar. You can have until 20

* Continued at:
http://www.icdsm.org/more/mesic-8.htm
OR
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic-8.htm


***** Urgent Message from Sloboda (Freedom) Association and the
International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic!

The Freedom Association in Belgrade and the ICDSM, based outside
Yugoslavia, are the two organizations formed at the
request of Slobodan Milosevic to aid in his defense.

Up until now our main work has been threefold. We have publicized the
truth about The Hague's phony trial. We have
organized research to help President Milosevic expose NATO's lies. And
we have initiated legal action in the Dutch and
European Courts.

Now our job has increased. The defense phase of the "trial" starts in
May 2003. No longer will Mr. Milosevic be limited
to cross-examining Hague witnesses. The prosecution will be forced
further onto the defensive as victims of NATO's
aggression and experts from Yugoslavia and the NATO countries tell
what really happened and expose media lies. Moreover,
Mr. Milosevic will call leaders, from East and West, some friendly and
some hostile to the truth.

The controlled mass media will undoubtedly try to suppress this
testimony as they have tried to suppress Mr. Milosevic's
cross-examinations. Nevertheless this phase of the "trial" will be the
biggest international forum ever to expose NATO's
use of racism, violence and lies to attack Yugoslavia.

We urgently need the help of all people who care about what is
happening in The Hague. Right now, Nico Steijnen , the
Dutch lawyer in the ICDSM, is waging legal battles in the Dutch courts
and before the European Court, about which more
news soon. These efforts urgently require financial support. We now
maintain a small staff of Yugoslav lawyers in
Holland, assisting and advising Mr. Milosevic full-time. We need to
expand our Dutch facilities, perhaps bringing in a
non-Yugoslav attorney full-time. Definitely we must guarantee that we
have an office and office manager available at all
times, to compile and process evidence and for meetings with witnesses
and lawyers and as a base for organizing press
conferences.

All this costs money. And for this, we rely on those who want Mr.
Milosevic to have the best possible support for
attacking NATO's lies.

************
Here's how you can help...
************

* You may contribute by credit card. By the end of September we will
have an ICDSM secure server so you can contribute
directly on the Internet.

For now, you can contribute by credit card in two ways: *

You can Contribute by Credit Card over the Telephone by calling:

ICDSM office, USA: 1 617 916-1705
SLOBODA (Freedom) Association office, Belgrade: 381 63 279 819

You can Contribute using PayPal at:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=icdsm%40aol.com
PayPal accepts VISA and MasterCard

You can Contribute by mail to:
ICDSM
831 Beacon St., #295
Newton Centre, MA 02459 (USA)

- OR -

You can Contribute by wire transfer to Sloboda Association

Intermediary:
UBS AG
Zurich, Switzerland
Swift Code: UBSWCHZH

Account with:
/ 756 - CHF
/ 840 - USD
/ 978 - EUR
Kmercijalna Banka AD
SV. Save 14, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Swift Code: KOBBYUBG

Beneficiary: Account No. 5428-1246-16154-6
SLOBODA
Rajiceva 16, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia

Thank you!

http://www.icdsm.org

[Riceviamo e volentieri diffondiamo]


Per chi vuol andare a Praga

Care compagne, cari compagni,


come certamente saprete, il Prc ha aderito e partecipa al
controvertice di Praga contro la Nato (19 novembre) e
alla manifestazione europea contro la guerra e contro la
Nato che si svolgerà nel cuore di Praga il giorno dopo.

Data la scarsa informazione che su questi eventi è
apparsa finora sulla stampa italiana, penso di fare cosa
utile inviandovi alcuni materiali, pregando ognuno di voi
di fare il possibile a sua volta per divulgarli
ulteriormente; anche attraverso le vostre mailing-list
personali e/o quelle delle organizzazioni o associazioni
di cui fate parte, in modo da determinare una
moltiplicazione virtuosa dell'informazione.

Si tratta di favorire la massima partecipazione, dopo
quella del 9 novembre a Firenze, alla manifestazione
europea del 20 novembre a Praga. "Il movimento - ha
scritto bene Gennaro Migliore in un editoriale di
Liberazione - sta dandosi una stabile dimensione europea,
e si ritroverà a Firenze il 9 novembre per opporsi alla
guerra ed a Praga per avversare l'allargamento della
Nato".

Il Prc, così come le altre organizzazioni italiane
aderenti o che decideranno di aderire alle iniziative di
Praga, sono impegnate - ognuna in forme proprie - ad
organizzare la partecipazione e ad esse ci si può
utilmente rivolgere.

Il viaggio in auto, per 4 persone, andata e ritorno,
calcolando la partenza dal Nord Italia, viene a costare
circa 60 euro a testa in carburante e spese autostradali
(circa 10-12 ore di viaggio - tutta autostrada - da
Milano a Praga, per una distanza di circa mille Km.).

Il pernottamento a Praga in alberghi economici, ma
decorosi, costa circa 15-20 euro per notte a persona,
inclusa prima colazione. Sconti per gruppi di almeno 15
persone.

Chi fosse interessato ad avere ulteriori informazioni
logistiche per un alloggio economico a Praga, per una o
più notti, può rivolgersi a Claudio Buttazzo, grande
conoscitore di tutti i segreti di Praga, che può essere
contattato, a partire da domenica 3 novembre, ai seguenti
recapiti:

cell. 347-6925813
e-mail : cbuttazzo@...

Un caro saluto a tutti
Fausto Sorini

===================================

PRAGA

20 NOVEMBRE 2002 ore 14,30
Piazza della città vecchia (Staromestske namesti)

In occasione del vertice atlantico che si terrà il 21-22
novembre nella capitale ceka per decidere un nuovo
allargamento ad Est della Nato e il suo coinvolgimento
nella dottrina di Bush della "guerra preventiva"

MANIFESTAZIONE EUROPEA

Contro la guerra all'Iraq, contro le guerre di Bush
Contro la NATO e il suo allargamento ad Est
Per un'Europa di pace, di giustizia sociale e di
amicizia tra i popoli
Per un'Europa autonoma e neutrale, senza basi militari
straniere


La manifestazione è promossa dal Partito comunista della
Repubblica ceka (Kscm) con altre organizzazioni
giovanili, pacifiste, sindacali del Paese, e dal Forum
europeo per la pace, con l'adesione- per la prima volta
congiunta, dopo il 1989- delle maggiori forze comuniste e
di sinistra alternativa di tutta l'Europa (dell'Est e
dell'Ovest), rappresentative di decine di milioni di
cittadini europei. Hanno aderito finora : BELGIO (Pc e
Partito del lavoro), BIELORUSSIA (i due partiti
comunisti), BOSNIA (Pc dei lavoratori), BULGARIA (Pcb),
CIPRO (Akel), CROAZIA (Partito socialista del lavoro),
DANIMARCA (i due partiti comunisti), FINLANDIA (Pc),
FRANCIA (Pcf), GERMANIA (Pds e Dkp), GRECIA (Pc-Kke e
Synaspismos), ITALIA (Prc e PdCI), LATVIA (Partito
socialista), MOLDAVIA (Pc), POLONIA (Unione comunisti
polacchi - proletariat), PORTOGALLO (Pcp), RUSSIA (Pc
della Federazione russa), ROMANIA (i due partiti
socialisti), SLOVACCHIA (Pc-Kss), SPAGNA (Pce e Izquierda
Unida), SVEZIA (Pc), TURCHIA (Pc), UCRAINA (Pcu),
UNGHERIA (Partito del lavoro), YUGOSLAVIA (Partito
socialista serbo, Partito dei comunisti yugoslavi e Nuovo
Pc yugoslavo)?Dagli STATI UNITI aderisce l'International
Action Center di Ramsey Clark. Aderisce anche la
Federazione mondiale della gioventù democratica. E le
adesioni continuano?

La manifestazione è aperta a tutte le realtà politiche,
sociali, culturali, religiose, di movimento che si
riconoscano nelle sue parole d'ordine: contro la guerra,
contro la NATO.

Per adesioni e maggiori informazioni, politiche e
logistiche (viaggio e alloggio a Praga),
rivolgersi alle rispettive organizzazioni nazionali

=============================================

CONTRO-VERTICE ANTI-NATO

dal Partito Comunista di Boemia e Moravia (KSCM)
Lun 30 sett. 2002
mail a leftnews@... http://www.kscm.cz

Praga, 30 Settembre, 2002

Cari compagni,

Il contro-vertice internazionale organizzato dal KSCM si
terrà il 19 novembre, prima del summit della NATO,
affronterà le questioni chiave della sicurezza europea ed
il lancio di una campagna per attivare un movimento della
pace nel continente europeo.

Siamo convinti che dovrebbe essere dedicata attenzione
continua al tema della sicurezza europea. Per questo
proponiamo che per attivare un movimento per la pace e
per progettare l'architettura della sicurezza europea,
l'incontro internazionale di novembre dovrebbe avere una
continuità di lavoro permanente nel tempo. Il lavoro
relativo, fra un incontro e l'altro, potrebbe essere
coordinato da un comitato di coordinamento europeo. Al di
là dei vari punti di vista, con questa campagna l'Europa
potrebbe trasmettere un segnale contro la guerra al mondo
intero.

Vi chiediamo di raccogliere adesioni a sostegno della
bozza di appello che vi alleghiamo; siamo sicuri che
userete tutti i mezzi disponibili per attivare e
coordinare un movimento per la pace a livello europeo.

Vi invitiamo a segnalarci idee, suggerimenti e
osservazioni sul testo, entro il 1° novembre 2002, in
modo che esse possano essere incluse nel summit
internazionale di novembre a Praga.

Dott. Ing. H. Charfo, DrSc.
Responsabile del dipartimento esteri
Comitato Centrale - Partito Comunista di Boemia e Moravia



Bozza dell'appello internazionale di Praga

La NATO aumenta i rischi per la sicurezza e minaccia la pace.

L'esistenza della NATO è stata giustificata dai suoi
fondatori come "alleanza difensiva " contro " la minaccia
sovietica". Logicamente il crollo dell'Unione Sovietica e
la dissoluzione del patto di Varsavia avrebbero dovuto
portare anche allo scioglimento della NATO. E' accaduto
l'opposto. La NATO invece di smobilitare si sta
rafforzando.

Contrariamente a quanto dichiarato nel trattato fondativo
di Washington, la NATO ha ufficialmente assunto il
diritto di intervenire militarmente contro chiunque, in
qualsiasi parte del mondo e in qualunque momento. Questo
viola non soltanto il proprio statuto, ma sfida
apertamente il diritto internazionale, e la NATO usurpa
l'autorità della Comunità internazionale delle Nazioni
Unite e del suo Consiglio di sicurezza.

La guerra contro la Yugoslavia del 1999, intrapresa senza
un mandato del Consiglio di sicurezza Onu, in spregio
anche della convenzione di Ginevra, è la prova
convincente di una nuova strategia aggressiva ed
interventista che per la prima volta dal 1945 porta una
guerra di aggressione in Europa.
Un altro esempio lampante è l'attacco anglo-americano
all'Afghanistan, come parte di quella cosiddetta "guerra
contro il terrorismo", condotta e sostenuta da alcune
nazioni NATO. L'attacco non ha rispettato i principi
umanitari fondamentali e non ha risparmiato la
popolazione civile, le infrastrutture, le vite e i
diritti dei prigionieri di guerra.
Il cambiamento dell'elite dirigente dell'Afghanistan che
è stato imposto non risolverà i problemi di base della
popolazione afgana.

Influenzata in modo determinante dagli USA, la NATO è
sempre più chiaramente un patto politico-militare che va
ben oltre il carattere difensivo. Sta trasformandosi in
uno strumento di espansione e di consolidamento
dell'influenza mondiale degli Stati membri più
importanti. È uno strumento fondamentale per perseguire i
programmi degli Stati Uniti nel mondo intero, la loro
influenza e i loro interessi sul continente europeo.
L'egemonia degli Stati Uniti nella NATO si basa sullo
status privilegiato e sull'autorità USA, sul controllo
che gli Usa esercitano sugli apparati militari e di
sicurezza, sull'industria della "difesa" e sulla
tecnologia militare degli Stati membri dell'alleanza.
Le strutture militari integrate della NATO hanno una
operatività che agisce, specialmente nei momenti di
crisi, al di fuori dell'effettivo controllo delle
istituzioni nazionali, particolarmente negli Stati
europei.

Le armi nucleari, il cui uso è contrario alle
Costituzioni di diversi paesi membri, sono soggette di
fatto alle decisioni degli Stati Uniti e al controllo
politico-militare delle loro autorità, anche quando le
basi nelle quali sono schierate sono sul territorio di
questi Stati. Questo significa che c'è un crescente e
peculiare pericolo per tali paesi di essere trascinati in
uno scenario di guerra senza che ciò sia sottoposto alla
valutazione e al controllo delle legittime autorità
nazionali.
Sotto la pressione degli Stati Uniti, vi è così un
crescente pericolo per l'Europa e per il mondo di essere
trascinati in una nuova corsa al riarmo.

L'umanità è minacciata dalla militarizzazione dei
rapporti internazionali, dalla militarizzazione dello
spazio cosmico, dall'interventismo militare crescente che
sempre più domina la politica degli Stati Uniti.
La NATO, come strumento politico dell'egemonia USA, dà
priorità all'escalation militare e all'uso della forza,
anziché alle soluzioni pacifiche nelle controversie
internazionali e ai metodi civili di risoluzione dei
problemi economici e sociali che si acutizzano nel mondo
contemporaneo.
La NATO non è all'altezza di risolvere questi problemi
politicamente.

Per assicurare la pace sul continente e l'istituzione di
rapporti pacifici con le altre nazioni del mondo,
l'Europa non ha bisogno di un'alleanza aggressiva che
insidia e in pratica sfida il ruolo delle Nazioni Unite.
La NATO è inaccettabile nella sua forma attuale e
chiedere oggi il suo scioglimento è un fatto politico di
grande rilievo.

Noi pensiamo che la decisione, da parte degli Stati
europei, di sospendere la propria appartenenza alle
strutture militari integrate della NATO possa essere un
primo passo realistico di procedere nella direzione del
suo scioglimento. Ed è vitale per l'Europa e per gli
Stati che vogliono mantenere un certo grado di sovranità
nelle decisioni, per evitare di essere trascinati in
nuove avventure militari.

L'Europa ha bisogno di un diverso sistema di sicurezza
rispetto a quello rappresentato dalla NATO. Un sistema
difensivo e non aggressivo, che sulla base del principio
dell' eguale condizione e dignità, comprenda tutti gli
Stati del continente, dal Portogallo agli Urali, dalla
Scandinavia ai Balcani.
Un sistema che sia basato sulla necessità non soltanto
dell'esistenza ma anche della riforma delle Nazioni
Unite.

Un sistema che, nel pieno rispetto della carta delle
Nazioni Unite e dello spirito di Helsinki, si emancipi
dalla pressione degli USA e di altri poteri forti che
agiscono contro le leggi internazionali. Un sistema che
dovrebbe essere basato sulla sovranità di tutte le
nazioni e su rapporti di cooperazione pacifica con gli
altri Paesi. Noi proponiamo che questo concetto sia
implementato sulla base dell'esperienza dell'OSCE, nello
spirito della "Carta di Parigi per una nuova Europa",
firmata alla fine dell'incontro dei leaders degli stati e
dei governi dei Paesi membri della Conferenza sulla
Sicurezza e la Cooperazione in Europa (CSCE), tenuta a
Parigi il 21 novembre 1990.

L'Europa è stata sempre una delle parti del mondo più
minacciata dalle politiche di riarmo e dallo sviluppo
delle armi di sterminio di massa, nucleari, chimiche,
biologiche e "spaziali".
Essa può svolgere un ruolo determinante per una politica
di disarmo graduale e bilanciato, fino a che queste armi
possano essere completamente eliminate, a partire da
quelle delle grandi potenze. Ciò consentirebbe di
recuperare enormi risorse oggi bruciate nelle spese
militari, che potrebbero essere impiegate per uso
sociale, per risolvere i problemi economici e ambientali
che travagliano il pianeta.

Il patto aggressivo della NATO è incapace di trasformarsi
e porre le fondamenta di un'autentica sicurezza per
l'Europa. Il futuro sta nello sviluppo del processo di
integrazione economica e politica di tutti gli stati del
continente, su basi di pari uguaglianza e sovranità per
tutti i Paesi, contro qualsiasi tipo di oppressione da
parte di alcuni paesi o gruppi sociali nei confronti di
altri, e quindi del tutto diverse da quelle imposte dal
liberismo antisociale e dalla subalternità atlantica.

In occasione del vertice NATO a Praga, in cui ci si
aspetta che l'Alleanza si allarghi ad Est con l'ingresso
di nuovi paesi, i firmatari di questo appello, pur
esprimendo una varietà di posizioni politiche e
ideologiche, sono concordi nella comune volontà di pace,
invitano tutti i Paesi d'Europa e i membri delle Nazioni
Unite a mobilitarsi unitariamente contro la politica di
riarmo e di guerra e a compiere alcuni passi concreti
verso un'Europa di giustizia e di pace.

================================================

In occasione del vertice del Patto atlantico

MANIFESTAZIONE EUROPEA
IL 20 NOVEMBRE A PRAGA
CONTRO LA GUERRA
E PER
LO SCIOGLIMENTO DELLA NATO

di Claudio Buttazzo


Seattle, Praga, Nizza, Gotheborg, Genova, ed ora di nuovo
Praga. Dopo quello del settembre di due anni fa contro il
Fondo monetario internazionale, un altro appuntamento di
lotta internazionale e' fissato nella capitale ceka per
il 20 novembre prossimo.
In quei giorni, esattamente il 21-22 novembre, si terra'
a Praga, presso il Centro Congressi sul colle di Vyserad,
il vertice di tutti i paesi della Nato per decidere
l'ulteriore allargamento ad Est del Patto atlantico. Vi
parteciperanno 46 capi di Stato o di governo dei paesi
aderenti alla Nato e dei paesi della "Partnership per la
pace" e circa 200 "ospiti speciali", cioè ministri di
vari governi con consorti al seguito. I delegati saranno
2.500, mentre sono circa 2.000 i giornalisti accreditati.
Nel programma del Summit non sono previsti incontri, in
precedenza dati per certi, tra Nato e Russia e neppure
della Commissione Nato con l'Ucraina.
I paesi interessati all'allargamento sono i tre Stati
baltici (Estonia, Lettonia e Lituania), la Slovacchia, la
Romania e la Bulgaria, tutti confinanti con la Russia o,
comunque, con paesi dell'ex-Unione sovietica. Un
allargamento che, pur non aggiungendo nulla alla gia'
terrificante potenza militare e aggressiva del blocco
imperialistico guidato dagli Usa, ha due fondamentali
obiettivi politico-strategici: stringere in un'ulteriore
morsa la Russia, completando l'accerchiamento attorno a
tutti i suoi confini piu' "caldi"(sul versante europeo e
su quello mediorientale e caucasico) e imprimere il
marchio dell'egemonia statunitense sui paesi dell'Europa
centro-orientale e balcanica prima ancora del loro
ingresso, se mai avverra', nell'Unione europea. La
portata dell'operazione, dal punto di vista degli
equilibri mondiali, e piu' che evidente e risulta ancora
piu' drammaticamente accentuata dal particolare tipo di
ruolo che questi paesi si offrono a svolgere all'interno
della Nato. Si tratta di una questione poco dibattuta e
generalmente, purtroppo anche a sinistra, sottovalutata.
Si tratta, intanto, di paesi che hanno scelto, in campo
politico ed economico, le piu' estreme ricette
neoliberiste, legandosi mani e piedi al modello e
all'egemonia del capitalismo d'oltreoceano. I governi di
questi paesi, indifferentemente dal tipo di coalizioni
che si sono succedute, hanno sempre e indiscriminatamente
seguito una politica di totale allineamento alla politica
estera, e alle guerre, americane, anche in contrasto o in
difformità rispetto alle posizioni assunte dall'Unione
europea o da alcuni dei suoi paesi piu' importanti. E
alcuni di essi (in particolare Romania, Lituania e
Lettonia), pur non facendo parte della Nato e addirittura
senza che alcuno glielo richiedesse, si sonno offerti per
la partecipazione ad operazioni di guerra, in particolare
nelle operazioni nei Balcani e in Afganistan.

Si tratta, inoltre, di paesi quali, vivendo una
situazione economica disastrosa, cercano di offrire un
diversivo al malcontento delle popolazioni,
indirizzandolo verso l'esterno (alimentando i contrasti
con la vicina Russia) o verso le minoranze etniche
interne, particolarmente consistenti in tutti i paesi
dell'Est. Nel fare questo, vengono non di rado
rispolverate vecchie argomentazioni prese a prestito
dall'armamentario fascista e nazista. E' il caso dei tre
paesi baltici, in particolare della Lettonia, dove la
popolazione di nazionalita' russa (circa il 40% del
totale) viene sistemataticamente e pesantemente
discriminata, privata di diritti e spesso anche
volgarmente provocata nei suoi sentimenti antifascisti
con la riproposizione di simboli, ricorrenze e
celebrazioni in uso nel periodo del nazismo, con
pubbliche riabilitazione e decorazioni dei cambattenti
della Wermacht e con uno spudorato revisionismo storico
eletto a ideologia ufficiale dello Stato.

Questo e', dunque, lo scenario dentro al quale va a
espandersi la Nato, con tutte le inquietanti prospettive
e interrogativi che questo apre non solo per gli
equilibri mondiali, ma per la configurazione che potra'
assumere la stessa costruzione europea. E, a corollario
di tutto cio', c'e' la guerra infinita di Bush e
l'imminente guerra all'Irak. Dire di no a tutto questo,
fermare questa deriva distruttiva si puo'. E si deve.

Il Partito comunista di Boemia e Moravia, uno dei piu'
forti partiti comunisti in Europa (ha ottenuto il 18,6%
dei voti alle politiche del giugno scorso) si e'
opportunamente fatto promotore di un controvertice
internazionale in risposta al summit della Nato e per far
esprimere, con un forte no alla guerra infinita del
governo americano, la volonta' di pace dei popoli
europei. Ma il controvertice vuole andare ancora piu' in
la', ponendo una questione oggi ineludibile e preliminare
per qualsiasi prospettiva di pace e di sovranita' dei
popoli in Europa: la questione dello scioglimento della
Nato.

Va detto che questa iniziativa si svolge in un paese che,
per la sua collocazione nel centro dell'Europa, e' in una
posizione chiave per l'organizzazione strategica della
Nato. Non a caso esso e' stato scelto dal governo Usa
come il luogo prioritario per la realizzazione del
famigerato progetto di scudo spaziale. E pero' va anche
detto che e' proprio questa prospettiva a inquietare
ancor piu' i Ceki, tanto che l'opposizione alla Nato,
gia' maggioritaria presso l'opinione pubblica (tanto che
i governanti hanno sempre respinto la proposta di un
referendum sull'adesione), va ora ulteriormente
crescendo. E cresce, di pari passo, l'irritazione verso
l'atteggiamento servile del presidente della repubblica
Havel, che qui ormai chiamano "krvavy humanista"
(l'umanista sanguinario), per via della sua entusiastica
adesione a tutte le guerre Usa. Il presidente ceko non si
e' smentito neanche nell'attuale vecenda della
preannunciata guerra all'Irak. E' stato, dopo Blair, il
primo capo di Stato europeo a recarsi a Washington per
dare la piena adesione della Repubblica ceka ai piani di
guerra della Casa Bianca. Naturalmente, non aveva titolo
per farlo, non avendo preventivmente consultato ne' il
governo ne' il parlamento ed essendo a capo di una
Repubblica parlamentere, e non presidenziale. Questo la
dice lunga sul tasso di democrazia di questo celebrato
campione dell'anticomunismo.

Il controvertice di Praga si svolgera', dunque, il 19 e
20 novembre. Il 19 ci sara' un convegno, cui sono stati
invitati a partecipare tutti i partiti comunisti e
numerose forze di sinistra antagonista che agiscono sul
nostro continente dove si cercherà per la prima volta di
elaborare una posizione comune di tutti coloro che ad Est
e ad Ovest sostengono la necessita' dello scioglimento
della Nato e di un sistema alternativo di sicurezza
europea. E dove si cerchera' di dar vita ad un
coordinamento europeo permanente, che colleghi le
iniziative in questo campo e lanci una petizione in tutta
Europa contro la guerra e per l'abolizione del patto
nordatlantico.

Sono gia' una trentina le organizzazioni che da tutta
Europa hanno dato l'adesione al controvertice e ancor più
quelle che parteciperanno alla manifestazione :
organizzazioni che complessivamente rappresentano decine
di milioni di cittadini di ogni parte d'Europa, "dal
Portogallo agli Urali".

Il 20 novembre, alle ore 14.30, il controvertice si
trasformera' in una grande manifestazione, cui
prenderanno parte migliaia di persone da tutta Europa e
che sara' conclusa a Staromestske namesti (piazza della
Citta' vecchia), nel cuore della citta' antica.

Il governo ceko e la maggioranza dei media stanno già
alimentando un clima di terrore psicologico nella città,
dipingendo i manifestanti che verranno a Praga come
soggetti pericolosi e violenti. E' annunciata la presenza
di 12 mila poliziotti e di 240 soldati con idranti e
autoblindo e altri reparti dell'esercito. Il ministro
degli Interni ha affermato che le misure di sicurezza
saranno superiori a quelle adottate nel 2.000 in
occasione del vertice del Fmi.

Una "zona rossa" sarà creata attorno al Centro Congressi
e interesserà gran parte del centro di Praga, in
particolare i distretti 1,2,3,4 e 6, e non si esclude la
chiusura di altre zone e strade. Il governo, per
scoraggiare i giovani praghesi dal prendere parte alla
manifestazione anti-Nato, ha deciso la chiusura delle
scuole per i gioni del Summit e ha consigliato gli
studenti ad andarsene in vacanza. Molte scuole hanno
organizzato proprio per quei giorni delle gite
scolastiche, per tenere sotto sorveglianza i ragazzi.
Mentre diversi istituti scolastici hanno organizzato per
i giorni precedenti il Summit dei corsi di "formazione",
con la partecipazione di importanti personaggi politici e
politologi di regime che dovranno illustrare ai giovani
le straordinarie "virtù" dell'Alleanza atlantica.

E' dunque indispensabile che, dopo le giornate del Forum
Sociale Europeo di Firenze, tutti gli sforzi del
movimento contro la guerra e il neoliberismo si
concentrino sulla partecipazione, per quanto possibile
ampia, dal nostro paese alla manifestazione europea del
20 novembre a Praga.

=================================

Sulla manifestazione di Praga vedi anche la manchette al sito:
http://www.lernesto.it

=================================


Verso un nuovo movimento mondiale di "partigiani della pace" ?

Una battaglia da vincere


di Fausto Sorini

Non abbiamo ancora la certezza, mentre scriviamo (23
ottobre 2002), se vi sarà la guerra all'Iraq. E' in atto
nel Consiglio di Sicurezza (CdS) delle Nazioni Unite un
braccio di ferro che ci dice che la partita non è chiusa;
che l'Onu non è un guscio vuoto, privo ormai di ruolo
internazionale (anche se ovviamente, come ogni
istituzione, esso riflette i rapporti di forza reali che
esistono nel mondo); che Francia, Russia e Cina non sono
burattini alla corte di Bush; e che non esiste alcun
"direttorio mondiale unificato", nessun "asse strategico"
tra Usa, Russia e Cina, tutto interno e omogeneo alla
globalizzazione capitalistica, che ormai governerebbe il
mondo.

E se guerra comunque sarà, non conosciamo le forme
concrete né gli scenari politico-militari entro cui essa
si produrrà, per non parlare delle conseguenze sullo
scenario globale e segnatamente mediorientale ("si
apriranno le porte dell'inferno? ").

Non sappiamo neppure, nel caso, se essa avverrà come
attacco unilaterale degli Usa e di qualche fedele
alleato, senza l'avallo dell'Onu, o se viceversa essa
riceverà, al di là delle risoluzioni formali, un qualche
tacito, ambiguo "disco verde" da parte di quei membri del
CdS con diritto di veto (Francia, Russia e Cina) che fino
ad ora hanno agito per evitare uno sbocco militare.

Forse non ci rendiamo conto che questa stessa incertezza,
che in misura maggiore o minore alberga in ognuno di noi,
rappresenta di per sé un fatto politico enorme. Essa è il
segno, a oltre un decennio dal crollo dell'Urss, del
carattere non onnipotente dell'imperialismo Usa (uscito
vincente dalla competizione del '900) e delle sue
velleità di fare del 21° secolo il secolo dell' "impero
americano". (1)

Non è invincibile la linea dei settori più aggressivi
dell' imperialismo Usa: quelli che puntano a vincere la
competizione globale con le altre potenze emergenti
perseguendo una linea di unilateralismo assoluto, di
schiacciante superiorità militare sul resto del mondo.
Una prospettiva che Fidel Castro, già all'indomani
dell'11 settembre 2001, aveva definito di "dittatura
militare planetaria". E che ha indotto un uomo acuto e
intelligente come Luigi Pintor a scrivere : "la mia
generazione è convinta di aver vissuto in un secolo
tragico, ma può dirsi fortunata. Il genocidio era in
fondo ancora episodico e circoscritto e non ancora
duraturo e pianificato su scala planetaria". E' decisivo
sottolineare questo aspetto: non siamo in presenza di una
iniziativa inarrestabile della maggiore potenza
imperialista mondiale (la cui gravità non è certo il caso
di ribadire nell'editoriale di una rivista che ne ha
intravisto per tempo le linee portanti) (2). Siamo di
fronte ad una linea di tale pericolosità per l'insieme
della comunità mondiale, di tale disprezzo del diritto
internazionale e dei diritti sovrani dei popoli e delle
nazioni, da suscitare una opposizione - diversamente
graduata - non solo nelle componenti più progressive
dell'opinione mondiale, ma tale da suscitare riserve
anche in ambienti tradizionalmente conservatori, per
nulla propensi al pacifismo o a qualsivoglia cultura di
pace. Si pensi ai gruppi dominanti di paesi come la
Germania, la Francia, il Giappone, che sono parte
integrante del sistema imperialistico, membri della Nato
o affini, che fino a ieri hanno condiviso, taluni anche
operativamente, l'aggressione alla Yugoslavia (senza uno
straccio di mandato Onu), o l'intervento militare in
Afghanistan, ma che non accettano un unipolarismo
americano che pretende di sottometterli alle velleità
egemoniche di un solo padrone (Lenin le avrebbe definite
"contraddizioni inter-imperialistiche"?). (3) Dubbi e
riserve si manifestano persino all'interno
dell'amministrazione Bush. La strategia dei "falchi" di
Washington, così inquietante e densa di incognite per i
suoi stessi promotori (chi si ricorda la fine del Terzo
Reich ?), suscitare una opposizione così diffusa nel
mondo, da far ritenere non solo necessario, ma possibile,
che essa venga imbrigliata e almeno in parte fatta
retrocedere. Una opposizione così diffusa da aprire spazi
immensi ad un "nuovo movimento mondiale di partigiani
della pace", che in queste contraddizioni sappia
inserirsi per far pendere l'ago della bilancia dalla
parte della pace e del disarmo.

Parliamo innanzitutto del disarmo graduale e bilanciato
delle maggiori potenze, ampiamente dotate di armi
nucleari, chimiche e batteriologiche, di cui non si
comprende perché dovrebbero avere il monopolio. Per cui
un paese come l'Iraq, che sulla base di prove mai
fornite, lavorerebbe per poter disporre tra qualche anno
(come dice la Cia) di alcune testate nucleari
rudimentali, dovrebbe essere bombardato
"preventivamente", mentre uno Stato "canaglia" come
Israele, che non rispetta da decenni le risoluzioni
dell'Onu, massacra impunemente il popolo palestinese e
dispone, come è noto, di alcune centinaia di testate
nucleari, non dovrebbe essere chiamato a render conto dei
suoi atti, e sottoposto - perché no - a rigorosissime
ispezioni Onu per verificare la consistenza delle armi di
sterminio di cui esso già dispone in abbondanza nei
propri arsenali.

Ha detto bene in proposito il segretario del Prc, "che
noi qui in Europa, in Italia, dobbiamo trasformare
l'autunno in una straordinaria stagione contro la guerra.
Cercando di allargare il fronte quanto più possibile,
trasformando la battaglia per la pace nella nostra
principale battaglia strategica. Non solo una battaglia
di principio, una battaglia da vincere".

Si aprono spazi grandi per un movimento mondiale
antimperialista (comunque lo si voglia chiamare), che
organizzi uno schieramento più qualificato (certo non vi
troveremo Andreotti o Formigoni, e neppure Schroeder o
Chirac?), ma che per "vincere" non deve separarsi dalle
grandi masse e dalle forze popolari, come ad esempio la
Cgil, che oggi dicono comunque "no alla guerra". Uno
schieramento che comprenda i settori più avanzati dei
movimenti operai e di liberazione, di cui è parte
integrante e propulsiva (non esclusiva né
autosufficiente) il movimento che ha preso avvio a Porto
Alegre e che vedrà nelle giornate di Firenze del Forum
sociale europeo un suo momento importante, anche se
ancora molto parziale e provvisorio, di strutturazione
continentale (4).

Trovo emblematico in proposito l'appello internazionale
contro la guerra, promosso dal premio Nobel Josè
Saramago, con Pedro Almodovar, Carlos Taibo, James
Petras, Julio Anguita e altri 200 artisti e
intellettuali, a nome di una "Alleanza di intellettuali
antimperialisti". Un appello "contro una nuova
aggressione imperialistica che si propone di consolidare,
a qualunque prezzo, l'egemonia nord-americana". Andrebbe
rafforzato e generalizzato in ogni Paese del mondo
(quanti altri Nobel potrebbero firmare?), facendo
convergere il tutto in una grande campagna mondiale per
la raccolta di centinaia di milioni di firme, a tutte le
latitudini. (5)

Grandi spazi si aprono anche alla peculiare iniziativa
dei comunisti - nel quadro della più larga unità contro
la guerra - per riscoprire e diffondere nelle nuove
generazioni, tra i lavoratori e i popoli, la
consapevolezza dei nessi che esistono tra capitalismo e
guerra, "dove l'uno porta l'altra con sé, come la nube la
tempesta". E riscoprire anche per quella via l'esigenza
del socialismo nel mondo contemporaneo, e la
consapevolezza che un sistema sociale che si regge sullo
sfruttamento dell'uomo sull'uomo, un mondo che si regge
su crescenti squilibri economici e sociali tra un pugno
di paesi ricchi (in competizione tra loro) e un oceano di
paesi poveri, non sarà mai un mondo liberato dal pericolo
della guerra.

Nel mese di novembre si terranno in Europa due importanti
iniziative contro la guerra, a carattere continentale. Mi
riferisco al Fse di Firenze, che in particolare vedrà il
9 novembre una importante manifestazione europea contro
la guerra. Ed un secondo meeting europeo, meno conosciuto
ma non per questo meno significativo, che si terrà una
decina di giorni dopo a Praga, in occasione del vertice
della Nato del 21-22 novembre, che deciderà una sua
ulteriore espansione ad Est, con l'ingresso di nuovi
Paesi; e dove i rappresentanti Usa premeranno per un
coinvolgimento dell'Alleanza nella dottrina della "guerra
preventiva". Nei due giorni precedenti si terrà a Praga
un contro-vertice (19 novembre), promosso dal Partito
comunista ceko (Kscm), cui prenderanno parte la quasi
totalità dei partiti comunisti e di sinistra
anticapitalistica di tutta l'Europa, dell'Est e
dell'Ovest (dal Portogallo agli Urali, passando per i
Balcani). Un incontro continentale, il primo di questo
genere dopo il terremoto del 1989, in cui forze politiche
che rappresentano alcune decine di milioni di cittadini
di ogni parte d'Europa, discuteranno di come contribuire
allo sviluppo di un movimento continentale di massa,
articolato e continuativo, paese per paese, contro la
guerra, per lo scioglimento della Nato e la costruzione
di un sistema di sicurezza europea alternativo, non
aggressivo (una sorta di Onu europea), senza basi
militari straniere, coerente con l'idea di un'Europa
autonoma e neutrale, di pace, di giustizia sociale, di
amicizia tra i popoli. Il giorno dopo (20 novembre) le
stesse forze terranno una manifestazione europea nel
centro storico di Praga, aperta a tutte le realtà
politiche, sociali e di movimento che si riconoscono
nelle sue parole d'ordine: contro la guerra, per lo
scioglimento della Nato.

Forse non si è fatto abbastanza per costruire nei mesi
scorsi una adeguata sinergia tra questi due appuntamenti
di grande valore strategico. Auguriamoci che ciò sia
possibile in futuro, a partire dalle prossime giornate di
Firenze e di Praga. E che ogni sforzo sia messo in campo
per superare incomprensioni, distanze, pregiudiziali
ideologiche, piccole logiche di gruppo, che ostacolano la
massima convergenza di tutte le forze che si riconoscono
nelle due fondamentali discriminanti dell'anti-liberismo
e del "no" alla guerra. Vi sono oggi le condizioni, anche
in Europa, senza più muri tra Est e Ovest, per la
costruzione di un grande movimento popolare, con forme
flessibili ma efficaci di coordinamento, collocato su
posizioni socialmente avanzate, aperto alle convergenze
con chiunque sia comunque disponibile a dire "no" alla
guerra. Lo dimostra la straordinaria manifestazione di
fine settembre a Londra contro la guerra (450.000
persone), svoltasi in concomitanza con la riuscita
manifestazione di Roma, promossa e organizzata dal Prc
(dal nostro partito), ma che nei comizi ha dato ampio
spazio ad altri (no-global, sinistra Ds, movimento dei
lavoratori, associazioni di immigrati); la manifestazione
enorme, a metà settembre, del popolo dei "girotondi",
nella quale l'intervento di Gino Strada contro la guerra
è stato accolto da una autentica ovazione; la grande
riuscita dello sciopero generale del 18 ottobre e delle
manifestazioni di piazza, promosse dalla Cgil e dai
settori più avanzati del sindacalismo extra-confederale,
che hanno visto anche una massiccia partecipazione di
studenti, e in cui il tema del "no" alla guerra era
fortemente presente e condiviso; il documento contro la
guerra firmato da 131 parlamentari del Prc, del Pdci, dei
Ds, dei Verdi, della Margherita?che rappresentano insieme
quasi il 15% del Parlamento e che esprimono, senza
ambiguità, un orientamento contrario alla guerra che
tutti i sondaggi ci dicono essere larghissimamente
maggioritario nel paese. Un documento che opportunamente
raccoglie il richiamo di Pietro Ingrao (e persino di un
ex Presidente della Repubblica democristiano come Oscar
Luigi Scalfaro) all'articolo 11 della Costituzione.

Vi è qui un bel pezzo di "sinistra alternativa", sociale,
politica, di movimento, che può crescere e bilanciare la
recente (ennesima) torsione centrista e moderata della
maggioranza del gruppo dirigente dei Ds. A condizione che
si rispetti l'autonomia di ognuno, che si evitino come la
peste ipotesi confuse, velleitarie (e che alla fine
dividono, più che unire) di "nuovi soggetti politici" che
pretenderebbero di fondere o impastare tutte quelle forze
in un unico calderone, invece di operare - senza
forzature organizzativistiche - sul terreno assai più
produttivo dell'unità d'azione, del coordinamento
flessibile di tutte le iniziative condivise, con una
convergente elaborazione programmatica e progettuale.
Dove la piena autonomia politica, teorica e organizzativa
del partito comunista sia non già sinonimo di settarismo
e autosufficienza, bensì fattore propulsivo di più larghe
convergenze a sinistra. Partito comunista che si
conferma, pur con tutti i suoi difetti, strumento sempre
più prezioso e insostituibile di dinamismo politico e
sociale nel contesto italiano, su cui davvero vale la
pena di investire grandi forze ed energie, senza alcuna
boria autoreferenziale, con maggiore spirito di unità e
solidarietà interna, a partire dai gruppi dirigenti e
dalle modalità della loro costruzione.

Noi non abbiamo dubbi o esitazioni (non dobbiamo averne,
pena l'auto-emarginazione dal senso comune del nostro
popolo) su alcune priorità del momento: no alla guerra,
sostegno alle lotte dei lavoratori, opposizione
convergente al governo Berlusconi, intese tattiche -
ovunque possibile - anche sul terreno elettorale, per
battere le destre e le componenti più reazionarie del
quadro politico italiano. Ma sappiamo anche che un abisso
strategico ci distingue dal nuovo craxismo della
governabilità a qualunque costo, che sta nuovamente
prevalendo nell'Ulivo e nella direzione dei Ds. E non
diventeremo - non siamo nati per questo - né l'ala
sinistra, inevitabilmente subalterna e minoritaria, di
questo nuovo Ulivo in gestazione (non faremo la fine di
altri?), né una forza marginale e minoritaria, estranea
al movimento operaio in carne ed ossa e alle componenti
democratiche e progressive che contraddittoriamente
agiscono nel "popolo della sinistra", perché questa
sarebbe un'altra forma, speculare ma non meno
fallimentare, di subalternità.

Condivido in proposito alcune recenti sottolineature del
segretario del Prc (Liberazione, 19.10. 2002). E' vero:
"l'onda lunga oggi è quella del conflitto sociale e del
protagonismo dei lavoratori", dove emerge "una presenza
ricca e composita : classe operaia tradizionale, giovani
studenti e giovani lavoratori precari", con "una forte
volontà di opposizione politica e sociale alle scelte del
governo Berlusconi". Per cui, "dopo il successo di questo
sciopero, la normalizzazione della Cgil e del conflitto
sociale sarà più difficile?nonostante lo spostamento a
destra del centrosinistra ?e del baricentro politico
dell'Ulivo". "Bisogna prendere atto del fallimento
dell'ipotesi di chi aveva puntato tutto sullo spostamento
dell'insieme del centro-sinistra", o di chi puntava ad
una sua "rigenerazione dall'interno, ad una sua
rifondazione programmatica e di leadership : la strada
indicata da Cofferati nell'intervista di agosto al
Corriere". Il punto è quello della "costruzione di una
sinistra di alternativa, stando ciascuno dove sta,
evitando fughe di tipo organizzativistico, e produrre
iniziative e lotte comuni". E riprendere con forza il
tema della "fine della cultura dell'alternanza", con il
"mutamento del sistema elettorale", trovando le forme e
le convergenze necessarie per un " rilancio della
proporzionale".

Sul piano sociale, si impone la vertenza Fiat, e qui
bisogna "far leva su un intervento pubblico?che rompa i
tabù imposti dall'egemonia neo-liberista, sul ruolo dello
Stato e sul Patto di stabilità europeo".
Dove il dibattito sulla "nazionalizzazione" e sul
"rilancio dell'intervento pubblico in economia", allude
prospetticamente alla riapertura di una riflessione non
velleitaria su : "Quale socialismo per il XXI° secolo",
dopo il crollo di un modello di statalismo integrale. E
quindi : quale economia mista, con una prevalenza del
pubblico nei settori strategici, in un processo di lunga
transizione al socialismo, su scala mondiale e nelle sue
articolazioni nazionali e regionali; quale rapporto tra
pubblico e privato. E ancora : come costruire, in un
quadro di regionalizzazione crescente delle relazioni
economiche, un polo pubblico sovranazionale che sappia
reggere la competizione delle multinazionali private.

Si tratta cioè di riaprire, con una visione mondiale,
senza fughe in avanti né regressioni utopistiche, la
questione del socialismo.

---------------------------------------------------------

(1) Le due nozioni - imperialismo e logica "imperiale" -
se correttamente intese, possono coesistere e descrivere
fenomeni tra loro complementari, non escludentesi, a
condizione di fuoriuscire dallo schema negriano. La
questione non è nominalistica.

(2) E questo quando altri, anche in Rifondazione,
esitavano a cogliere il salto di qualità e la peculiera
pericolosità per la pace mondiale rappresentati non tanto
e non solo da una generica e indistinta "globalizzazione
capitalistica", senza nome e indirizzo, ma soprattutto
dalle nuove scelte strategiche di politica estera degli
Stati Uniti, fino alle più recenti teorizzazioni sulla
"guerra preventiva", sintetizzate in un opuscolo diffuso
il mese scorso dalla Casa Bianca, e che il quotidiano
Liberazione, unico tra i giornali italiani, ha avuto il
merito di tradurre e pubblicare integralmente (e
tempestivamente) nella sua edizione del 10 ottobre 2002 (
www.liberazione.it ) e che rappresenta un'autentica
miniera di argomenti.

(3) La Stampa (3.9.2002) pubblica in proposito una
significativa dichiarazione di Tareq Aziz, vicepremier
irakeno: "l'animosità americana contro di noi si spiega
con il fatto che se distruggeranno l'Iraq controlleranno
il petrolio di tutto il Medio Oriente, che rappresenta il
65% delle riserve mondiali, e quindi saranno in grado di
governare la crescita economica di ogni nazione del mondo
intero. L'Europa è solidale con noi non solo per ragioni
umanitarie, ma perché così protegge i suoi interessi". E
più recentemente (La Stampa, 23.10.2002) : "la Corea del
Nord ha ammesso di avere un programma nucleare. Gli Usa
non hanno chiesto ispezioni Onu come per l'Iraq. Perché?
Perché due cose mancano in Corea del Nord: il petrolio e
Israele".

(4) Mentre l'Europa occidentale è largamente
rappresentata nel Forum sociale europeo, nonostante
permangano veti assurdi alla presenza dei partiti in
quanto tali, le forze sociali e politiche che nell'Europa
dell'Est, nei Balcani e nei paesi dell'area ex-sovietica,
a partire dalla Russia, rappresentano le istanze
fondamentali del Forum (anti-liberismo e opposizione alla
guerra) sono praticamente assenti, salvo rarissime
eccezioni. Questi paesi, in cui vive circa la metà dei
700 milioni di cittadini che popolano il continente, sono
per lo più rappresentati nel Fse da piccoli o
piccolissimi gruppi, il cui consenso sociale e politico
nei rispettivi popoli è assolutamente marginale. Il caso
più eclatante è quello delle grandi organizzazioni legate
ai comunisti e ai socialisti di sinistra di questi paesi,
dove essi rappresentano in molti casi il 30-40% dei
rispettivi popoli (stiamo parlando - a spanne - di una
sessantina di milioni di persone, di cui una buona parte
solo in Russia, Ucraina, Bielorussia?) e che a Firenze
non saranno in alcun modo rappresentate. Mancanza di
contatti o assurde pregiudiziali ideologiche di alcuni
settori del Forum verso i comunisti dell'Est ? Varrebbe
la pena di discuterne e di saperne di più.

(5) Il testo dell'appello (in spagnolo) e le adesioni,
nonché la lettera aperta di queste personalità europee
agli intellettuali ed artisti statunitensi, firmatari di
un analogo manifesto, sono reperibili in:
www.nodo50.org/csca , oppure scivendo a :
csca@...