Informazione
The Economist January 29, 2000
Sins of the secular missionaries
Aid and campaign groups, or NGOs, matter more and more in world
affairs. But they are often far from being "non-governmental",
as they claim. And they are not always a force for good
A YOUNG man thrusts his crudely printed calling card at the
visitor. After his name are printed three letters: NGO. "What do you
do?" the visitor asks."I have formed an NGO.""Yes, but what does it
do?""Whatever they want. I am waiting for some funds and then I will
make a project."
Once little more than ragged charities, non-governmental
organisations
(NGOs) are now big business. Somalia, where that exchange took place,
is heaven for them. In large parts of the country, western
governments,
the United Nations and foreign aid agencies cannot work directly; it
is
too dangerous. So outsiders must work through local groups, which
become a powerful source of patronage. "Anybody who's anybody is an
NGO
these days," sighs one UN official.
And not just in Somalia. NGOs now head for crisis zones as fast as
journalists do: a war, a flood, refugees, a dodgy election, even a
world trade conference, will draw them like a honey pot. Last spring,
Tirana, the capital of Albania, was swamped by some 200 groups
intending to help the refugees from Kosovo. In Kosovo itself, the
ground is now thick with foreign groups competing to foster
democracy,
build homes and proffer goods and services. Environmental activists
in
Norway board whaling ships; do-gooders gather for the Chiapas rebels
in
Mexico.
In recent years, such groups have mushroomed. A 1995 UN report on
global governance suggested that nearly 29,000 international NGOs
existed. Domestic ones have grown even faster. By one estimate, there
are now 2m in America alone, most formed in the past 30 years. In
Russia, where almost none existed before the fall of communism, there
are at least 65,000. Dozens are created daily; in Kenya alone, some
240
NGOs are now created every year.
Most of these are minnows; some are whales, with annual incomes of
millions of dollars and a worldwide operation. Some are primarily
helpers, distributing relief where it is needed; some are mainly
campaigners, existing to promote issues deemed important by their
members. The general public tends to see them as uniformly
altruistic,
idealistic and independent. But the term "NGO", like the activities
of
the NGOs themselves, deserves much sharper scrutiny.
Governments' puppets?
The tag "Non-Governmental Organisation" was used first at the
founding
of the UN. It implies that NGOs keep their distance from officialdom;
they do things that governments will not, or cannot, do. In fact,
NGOs
have a great deal to do with governments. Not all of it is healthy.
Take the aid NGOs. A growing share of development spending, emergency
relief and aid transfers passes through them. According to Carol
Lancaster, a former deputy director of USAID, America's development
body, NGOs have become "the most important constituency for the
activities of development aid agencies". Much of the food delivered
by
the World Food Programme, a UN body, in Albania last year was
actually
handed out by NGOs working in the refugee camps. Between 1990 and
1994,
the proportion of the EU's relief aid channelled through NGOs rose
from
47% to 67%. The Red Cross reckons that NGOs now disburse more money
than the World Bank.
And governments are happy to provide that money. Of Oxfam's #98m
($162m) income in 1998, a quarter, #24.1m, was given by the British
government and the EU. World Vision US, which boasts of being the
world's "largest privately funded Christian relief and development
organisation", collected $55m-worth of goods that year from the
American government. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the winner of
last
year's Nobel peace prize, gets 46% of its income from government
sources. Of 120 NGOs which sprang up in Kenya between 1993 and the
end
of 1996, all but nine received all their income from foreign
governments and international bodies. Such official contributions
will
go on, especially if the public gets more stingy. Today's young,
educated and rich give a smaller share of their incomes away than did
-- and do -- their parents.
In Africa, where international help has the greatest influence,
western governments have long been shifting their aid towards NGOs.
America's help, some $711m last year, increasingly goes to approved
organisations, often via USAID. Europe's donors also say that
bilateral
aid should go to NGOs, which are generally more open and efficient
than
governments. For the UN, too, they are now seen as indispensable. The
new head of the UN's Development Programme says the body "will put a
lot more emphasis on relations with NGOs". Most such agencies now
have
hundreds of NGO partners.
So the principal reason for the recent boom in NGOs is that western
governments finance them. This is not a matter of charity, but of
privatisation: many "non-governmental" groups are becoming
contractors
for governments. Governments prefer to pass aid through NGOs because
it
is cheaper, more efficient -- and more at arm's length -- than direct
official aid.
Governments also find NGOs useful in ways that go beyond the
distribution of food and blankets. Some bring back useful
information,
and make it part of their brief to do so. Outfits such as the
International Crisis Group and Global Witness publish detailed and
opinionated reports from places beset by war or other disasters. The
work of Global Witness in Angola is actually paid for by the British
Foreign Office.
Diplomats and governments, as well as other NGOs, journalists and the
public, can make good use of these reports. As the staff of foreign
embassies shrink, and the need to keep abreast of events abroad
increases, governments inevitably turn to private sources of
information. In some benighted parts of the world, sometimes only
NGOs
can nowadays reveal what is going on.
Take, for example, human rights, the business of one of the biggest
of
the campaigning NGOs, Amnesty International. Amnesty has around 1m
members in over 162 countries, and its campaigns against political
repression, in particular against unfair imprisonment, are known
around
the world. The information it gathers is often unavailable from other
sources.
Where western governments' interests match those of campaigning NGOs,
they can form effective alliances. In 1997, a coalition of over 350
NGOs pushed for, and obtained, a treaty against the use of landmines.
The campaign was backed by the usual array of concerned governments
(Canada, the Scandinavians) and won the Nobel peace prize.
NGOs are also interesting and useful to governments because they work
in the midst of conflict. Many were created by wars: the Red Cross
after the Battle of Solferino in 1859, the Save the Children Fund
after
the first world war, MSF after the Biafran war. By being "close to
the
action" some NGOs, perhaps unwittingly, provide good cover for spies
--
a more traditional means by which governments gather information.
In some cases, NGOs are taking over directly from diplomats: not
attempting to help the victims of war, but to end the wars
themselves.
Some try to restrict arms flows, such as Saferworld, which is against
small arms. Others attempt to negotiate ceasefires. The Italian
Catholic lay community of Sant' Egidio helped to end 13 years of
civil
war in Mozambique in 1992. International Alert, a London-based peace
research group, tried the same for Sierra Leone in the mid-1990s.
Last
year, Unicef (a part of the UN) and the Carter Centre, founded by
ex-President Jimmy Carter, brought about a peace deal of sorts
between
Uganda and Sudan. There are now roughly 500 groups registered by the
European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation. "Civil
war demands civil action," say the organisers.
Larger NGOs have pledged not to act as "instruments of government
foreign policy". But at times they are seen as just that. Governments
are more willing to pay groups to deliver humanitarian aid to a war
zone than to deliver it themselves. Last autumn, America's Congress
passed a resolution to deliver food aid to rebels in southern Sudan
via
USAID and sympathetic Christian groups (religious NGOs earn the label
RINGOs, and are found everywhere).
Perhaps the most potent sign of the closeness between NGOs and
governments, aside from their financial links, is the exchange of
personnel. In developing countries, where the civil service is poor,
some governments ask NGOs to help with the paperwork requested by the
World Bank and other international institutions. Politicians, or
their
wives, often have their own local NGOs. In the developed world,
meanwhile, increasing numbers of civil servants take time off to work
for NGOs, and vice versa: Oxfam has former staff members not only in
the British government, but also in the Finance Ministry of Uganda.
This symbiotic relationship with government (earning some groups the
tag GRINGO) may make the governments of developing countries work
better. It may also help aid groups to do their job effectively. But
it
hardly reflects their independence.
NGOS can also stray too close to the corporate world. Some, known to
critics as "business NGOs", deliberately model themselves on, or
depend
greatly on, particular corporations. Bigger ones have commercial
arms,
media departments, aggressive head-hunting methods and a wide array
of
private fund-raising and investment strategies. Smaller ones can be
overwhelmed by philanthropic businesses or their owners: Bill Gates,
the head of Microsoft, gave $25m last year to an NGO that is looking
for a vaccine for AIDS, transforming it overnight from a small group
with a good idea to a powerful one with a lot of money to spend.
The business of helping
In 1997, according to the OECD, NGOs raised $5.5 billion from private
donors. The real figure may well be higher: as leisure, travel and
other industries have grown, so too have charities. In 1995
non-profit
groups (including, but not only, NGOs) provided over 12% of all jobs
in
the Netherlands, 8% in America and 6% in Britain.
Many groups have come to depend on their media presence to help with
fund-raising. This is bringing NGOs their greatest problems. They are
adapting from shoebox outfits, stuffing envelopes and sending off
perhaps one container of medicines, to sophisticated
multi-million-dollar operations. In the now-crowded relief market,
campaigning groups must jostle for attention: increasingly, NGOs
compete and spend a lot of time and money marketing themselves.
Bigger
ones typically spend 10% of their funds on marketing and
fund-raising.
The focus of such NGOs can easily shift from finding solutions and
helping needy recipients to pleasing their donors and winning
television coverage. Events at Goma, in Congo, in 1994 brought this
problem home. Tens of thousands of refugees from Rwanda, who had
flooded into Goma, depended on food and shelter from the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and from NGOs. Their dramatic plight drew
the
television cameras and, with them, the chance for publicity and huge
donations. A frantic scramble for funds led groups to lie about their
projects. Fearful that the media and then the public might lose
confidence in NGOs, the Red Cross drew up an approved list of NGOs
and
got them to put their names to a ten-point code of conduct,
reproduced
above.
Since then, NGOs have been working hard to improve. More than 70
groups and 142 governments backed the 1995 code of conduct, agreeing
that aid should be delivered "only on a basis of need". "We hold
ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those from
whom we accept resources," they pledged. Yet in Kosovo last year
there
was a similar scramble, with groups pushing to be seen by camera
crews
as they worked. Personnel and resources were even shifted there from
worse wars and refugee crises in Africa.
As they get larger, NGOs are also looking more and more like
businesses themselves. In the past, such groups sought no profits,
paid
low wages -- or none at all -- and employed idealists. Now a whole
class of them, even if not directly backed by businesses, have taken
on
corporate trappings. Known collectively as BINGOs, these groups
manage
funds and employ staff which a medium-sized company would envy. Like
corporations, they attend conferences endlessly. Fund-raisers and
senior staff at such NGOs earn wages comparable to the private
sector.
Some bodies, once registered as charities, now choose to become
non-profit companies or charitable trusts for tax reasons and so that
they can control their spending and programmes more easily. Many big
charities have trading arms, registered as companies. One
manufacturing
company, Tetra Pak, has even considered sponsoring emergency food
delivery as a way to advertise itself. Any neat division between the
corporate and the NGO worlds is long gone. Many NGOs operate as
competitors seeking contracts in the aid market, raising funds with
polished media campaigns and lobbying governments as hard as any
other
business. Governments and UN bodies could now, in theory, ask for
tenders from businesses and NGOs to carry out their programmes. It
seems only a matter of time before this happens. If NGOs are cheap
and
good at delivering food or health care in tough areas, they should
win
the contracts easily.
Good intentions not enough
It could be argued that it does not matter even if NGOs are losing
their independence, becoming just another arm of government or
another
business. GRINGOs and BINGOs, after all, may be more efficient than
the
old sort of charity.
Many do achieve great things: they may represent the last hope for
civilians caught in civil wars, for those imprisoned unfairly and for
millions of desperate refugees. There are many examples of small,
efficient and inspirational groups with great achievements: the best
will employ local people, keep foreign expertise to a minimum,
attempt
precise goals (such as providing clean water) and think deeply about
the long-term impact of their work. Some of these grow into large,
well-run groups.
But there are also problems. NGOs may be assumed to be less
bureaucratic, wasteful or corrupt than governments, but
under-scrutinised groups can suffer from the same chief failing: they
can get into bad ways because they are not accountable to anyone.
Critics also suspect that some aid groups are used to propagate
western
values, as Christian missionaries did in the 19th century. Many NGOs,
lacking any base in the local population and with their money coming
from outside, simply try to impose their ideas without debate. For
example, they often work to promote women's or children's interests
as
defined by western societies, winning funds easily but causing social
disruption on the ground.
Groups that carry out population or birth-control projects are
particularly controversial; some are paid to carry out sterilisation
programmes in the poor parts of the world, because donors in the rich
world consider there are too many people there. Anti-"slavery"
campaigns in Africa, in which western NGOs buy children's freedom for
a
few hundred dollars each, are notorious. Unicef has condemned such
groups, but American NGOs continue to buy slaves -- or people they
consider slaves -- in southern Sudan. Clearly, buying slaves, if that
is what they are, will do little to discourage the practice of
trading
them.
NGOs also get involved in situations where their presence may prolong
or complicate wars, where they end up feeding armies, sheltering
hostages or serving as cover for warring parties. These may be the
unintended consequences of aid delivery, but they also complicate
foreign policy.
Even under calmer conditions, in non-emergency development work, not
all single-interest groups may be the best guarantors of long-term
success. They are rarely obliged to think about trade-offs in policy
or
to consider broad, cross-sector approaches to development. NGOs are
"often organised to promote particular goals...rather than the
broader
goal of development," argues Ms Lancaster. In Kosovo last spring,
"many
governments made bilateral funding agreements with NGOs, greatly
undermining UNHCR's ability to prioritise programmes or monitor
efficiency," says Peter Morris of MSF. This spring in Kosovo, "there
were instances of several NGOs competing to work in the same camps,
duplication of essential services," complains an Oxfam worker. And
whatever big international NGOs do in the developing world, they
bring
in western living standards, personnel and purchasing power which can
transform local markets and generate great local resentment. In
troubled zones where foreign NGOs flourish, weekends bring a line of
smart four-by-fours parked at the best beaches, restaurants or
nightclubs. The local beggars do well, but discrepancies between
expatriate staff and, say, impoverished local officials trying to do
the same work can cause deep antipathy. Not only have NGOs diverted
funds away from local governments, but they are often seen as
directly
challenging their sovereignty.
NGOs can also become self-perpetuating. When the problem for which
they
were founded is solved, they seek new campaigns and new funds. The
old
anti-apartheid movement, its job completed, did not disband, but
instead became another lobby group for southern Africa. As NGOs
become
steadily more powerful on the world scene, the best antidote to
hubris,
and to institutionalisation, would be this: disband when the job is
done. The chief aim of NGOs should be their own abolition.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Sins of the secular missionaries
Aid and campaign groups, or NGOs, matter more and more in world
affairs. But they are often far from being "non-governmental",
as they claim. And they are not always a force for good
A YOUNG man thrusts his crudely printed calling card at the
visitor. After his name are printed three letters: NGO. "What do you
do?" the visitor asks."I have formed an NGO.""Yes, but what does it
do?""Whatever they want. I am waiting for some funds and then I will
make a project."
Once little more than ragged charities, non-governmental
organisations
(NGOs) are now big business. Somalia, where that exchange took place,
is heaven for them. In large parts of the country, western
governments,
the United Nations and foreign aid agencies cannot work directly; it
is
too dangerous. So outsiders must work through local groups, which
become a powerful source of patronage. "Anybody who's anybody is an
NGO
these days," sighs one UN official.
And not just in Somalia. NGOs now head for crisis zones as fast as
journalists do: a war, a flood, refugees, a dodgy election, even a
world trade conference, will draw them like a honey pot. Last spring,
Tirana, the capital of Albania, was swamped by some 200 groups
intending to help the refugees from Kosovo. In Kosovo itself, the
ground is now thick with foreign groups competing to foster
democracy,
build homes and proffer goods and services. Environmental activists
in
Norway board whaling ships; do-gooders gather for the Chiapas rebels
in
Mexico.
In recent years, such groups have mushroomed. A 1995 UN report on
global governance suggested that nearly 29,000 international NGOs
existed. Domestic ones have grown even faster. By one estimate, there
are now 2m in America alone, most formed in the past 30 years. In
Russia, where almost none existed before the fall of communism, there
are at least 65,000. Dozens are created daily; in Kenya alone, some
240
NGOs are now created every year.
Most of these are minnows; some are whales, with annual incomes of
millions of dollars and a worldwide operation. Some are primarily
helpers, distributing relief where it is needed; some are mainly
campaigners, existing to promote issues deemed important by their
members. The general public tends to see them as uniformly
altruistic,
idealistic and independent. But the term "NGO", like the activities
of
the NGOs themselves, deserves much sharper scrutiny.
Governments' puppets?
The tag "Non-Governmental Organisation" was used first at the
founding
of the UN. It implies that NGOs keep their distance from officialdom;
they do things that governments will not, or cannot, do. In fact,
NGOs
have a great deal to do with governments. Not all of it is healthy.
Take the aid NGOs. A growing share of development spending, emergency
relief and aid transfers passes through them. According to Carol
Lancaster, a former deputy director of USAID, America's development
body, NGOs have become "the most important constituency for the
activities of development aid agencies". Much of the food delivered
by
the World Food Programme, a UN body, in Albania last year was
actually
handed out by NGOs working in the refugee camps. Between 1990 and
1994,
the proportion of the EU's relief aid channelled through NGOs rose
from
47% to 67%. The Red Cross reckons that NGOs now disburse more money
than the World Bank.
And governments are happy to provide that money. Of Oxfam's #98m
($162m) income in 1998, a quarter, #24.1m, was given by the British
government and the EU. World Vision US, which boasts of being the
world's "largest privately funded Christian relief and development
organisation", collected $55m-worth of goods that year from the
American government. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the winner of
last
year's Nobel peace prize, gets 46% of its income from government
sources. Of 120 NGOs which sprang up in Kenya between 1993 and the
end
of 1996, all but nine received all their income from foreign
governments and international bodies. Such official contributions
will
go on, especially if the public gets more stingy. Today's young,
educated and rich give a smaller share of their incomes away than did
-- and do -- their parents.
In Africa, where international help has the greatest influence,
western governments have long been shifting their aid towards NGOs.
America's help, some $711m last year, increasingly goes to approved
organisations, often via USAID. Europe's donors also say that
bilateral
aid should go to NGOs, which are generally more open and efficient
than
governments. For the UN, too, they are now seen as indispensable. The
new head of the UN's Development Programme says the body "will put a
lot more emphasis on relations with NGOs". Most such agencies now
have
hundreds of NGO partners.
So the principal reason for the recent boom in NGOs is that western
governments finance them. This is not a matter of charity, but of
privatisation: many "non-governmental" groups are becoming
contractors
for governments. Governments prefer to pass aid through NGOs because
it
is cheaper, more efficient -- and more at arm's length -- than direct
official aid.
Governments also find NGOs useful in ways that go beyond the
distribution of food and blankets. Some bring back useful
information,
and make it part of their brief to do so. Outfits such as the
International Crisis Group and Global Witness publish detailed and
opinionated reports from places beset by war or other disasters. The
work of Global Witness in Angola is actually paid for by the British
Foreign Office.
Diplomats and governments, as well as other NGOs, journalists and the
public, can make good use of these reports. As the staff of foreign
embassies shrink, and the need to keep abreast of events abroad
increases, governments inevitably turn to private sources of
information. In some benighted parts of the world, sometimes only
NGOs
can nowadays reveal what is going on.
Take, for example, human rights, the business of one of the biggest
of
the campaigning NGOs, Amnesty International. Amnesty has around 1m
members in over 162 countries, and its campaigns against political
repression, in particular against unfair imprisonment, are known
around
the world. The information it gathers is often unavailable from other
sources.
Where western governments' interests match those of campaigning NGOs,
they can form effective alliances. In 1997, a coalition of over 350
NGOs pushed for, and obtained, a treaty against the use of landmines.
The campaign was backed by the usual array of concerned governments
(Canada, the Scandinavians) and won the Nobel peace prize.
NGOs are also interesting and useful to governments because they work
in the midst of conflict. Many were created by wars: the Red Cross
after the Battle of Solferino in 1859, the Save the Children Fund
after
the first world war, MSF after the Biafran war. By being "close to
the
action" some NGOs, perhaps unwittingly, provide good cover for spies
--
a more traditional means by which governments gather information.
In some cases, NGOs are taking over directly from diplomats: not
attempting to help the victims of war, but to end the wars
themselves.
Some try to restrict arms flows, such as Saferworld, which is against
small arms. Others attempt to negotiate ceasefires. The Italian
Catholic lay community of Sant' Egidio helped to end 13 years of
civil
war in Mozambique in 1992. International Alert, a London-based peace
research group, tried the same for Sierra Leone in the mid-1990s.
Last
year, Unicef (a part of the UN) and the Carter Centre, founded by
ex-President Jimmy Carter, brought about a peace deal of sorts
between
Uganda and Sudan. There are now roughly 500 groups registered by the
European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation. "Civil
war demands civil action," say the organisers.
Larger NGOs have pledged not to act as "instruments of government
foreign policy". But at times they are seen as just that. Governments
are more willing to pay groups to deliver humanitarian aid to a war
zone than to deliver it themselves. Last autumn, America's Congress
passed a resolution to deliver food aid to rebels in southern Sudan
via
USAID and sympathetic Christian groups (religious NGOs earn the label
RINGOs, and are found everywhere).
Perhaps the most potent sign of the closeness between NGOs and
governments, aside from their financial links, is the exchange of
personnel. In developing countries, where the civil service is poor,
some governments ask NGOs to help with the paperwork requested by the
World Bank and other international institutions. Politicians, or
their
wives, often have their own local NGOs. In the developed world,
meanwhile, increasing numbers of civil servants take time off to work
for NGOs, and vice versa: Oxfam has former staff members not only in
the British government, but also in the Finance Ministry of Uganda.
This symbiotic relationship with government (earning some groups the
tag GRINGO) may make the governments of developing countries work
better. It may also help aid groups to do their job effectively. But
it
hardly reflects their independence.
NGOS can also stray too close to the corporate world. Some, known to
critics as "business NGOs", deliberately model themselves on, or
depend
greatly on, particular corporations. Bigger ones have commercial
arms,
media departments, aggressive head-hunting methods and a wide array
of
private fund-raising and investment strategies. Smaller ones can be
overwhelmed by philanthropic businesses or their owners: Bill Gates,
the head of Microsoft, gave $25m last year to an NGO that is looking
for a vaccine for AIDS, transforming it overnight from a small group
with a good idea to a powerful one with a lot of money to spend.
The business of helping
In 1997, according to the OECD, NGOs raised $5.5 billion from private
donors. The real figure may well be higher: as leisure, travel and
other industries have grown, so too have charities. In 1995
non-profit
groups (including, but not only, NGOs) provided over 12% of all jobs
in
the Netherlands, 8% in America and 6% in Britain.
Many groups have come to depend on their media presence to help with
fund-raising. This is bringing NGOs their greatest problems. They are
adapting from shoebox outfits, stuffing envelopes and sending off
perhaps one container of medicines, to sophisticated
multi-million-dollar operations. In the now-crowded relief market,
campaigning groups must jostle for attention: increasingly, NGOs
compete and spend a lot of time and money marketing themselves.
Bigger
ones typically spend 10% of their funds on marketing and
fund-raising.
The focus of such NGOs can easily shift from finding solutions and
helping needy recipients to pleasing their donors and winning
television coverage. Events at Goma, in Congo, in 1994 brought this
problem home. Tens of thousands of refugees from Rwanda, who had
flooded into Goma, depended on food and shelter from the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and from NGOs. Their dramatic plight drew
the
television cameras and, with them, the chance for publicity and huge
donations. A frantic scramble for funds led groups to lie about their
projects. Fearful that the media and then the public might lose
confidence in NGOs, the Red Cross drew up an approved list of NGOs
and
got them to put their names to a ten-point code of conduct,
reproduced
above.
Since then, NGOs have been working hard to improve. More than 70
groups and 142 governments backed the 1995 code of conduct, agreeing
that aid should be delivered "only on a basis of need". "We hold
ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those from
whom we accept resources," they pledged. Yet in Kosovo last year
there
was a similar scramble, with groups pushing to be seen by camera
crews
as they worked. Personnel and resources were even shifted there from
worse wars and refugee crises in Africa.
As they get larger, NGOs are also looking more and more like
businesses themselves. In the past, such groups sought no profits,
paid
low wages -- or none at all -- and employed idealists. Now a whole
class of them, even if not directly backed by businesses, have taken
on
corporate trappings. Known collectively as BINGOs, these groups
manage
funds and employ staff which a medium-sized company would envy. Like
corporations, they attend conferences endlessly. Fund-raisers and
senior staff at such NGOs earn wages comparable to the private
sector.
Some bodies, once registered as charities, now choose to become
non-profit companies or charitable trusts for tax reasons and so that
they can control their spending and programmes more easily. Many big
charities have trading arms, registered as companies. One
manufacturing
company, Tetra Pak, has even considered sponsoring emergency food
delivery as a way to advertise itself. Any neat division between the
corporate and the NGO worlds is long gone. Many NGOs operate as
competitors seeking contracts in the aid market, raising funds with
polished media campaigns and lobbying governments as hard as any
other
business. Governments and UN bodies could now, in theory, ask for
tenders from businesses and NGOs to carry out their programmes. It
seems only a matter of time before this happens. If NGOs are cheap
and
good at delivering food or health care in tough areas, they should
win
the contracts easily.
Good intentions not enough
It could be argued that it does not matter even if NGOs are losing
their independence, becoming just another arm of government or
another
business. GRINGOs and BINGOs, after all, may be more efficient than
the
old sort of charity.
Many do achieve great things: they may represent the last hope for
civilians caught in civil wars, for those imprisoned unfairly and for
millions of desperate refugees. There are many examples of small,
efficient and inspirational groups with great achievements: the best
will employ local people, keep foreign expertise to a minimum,
attempt
precise goals (such as providing clean water) and think deeply about
the long-term impact of their work. Some of these grow into large,
well-run groups.
But there are also problems. NGOs may be assumed to be less
bureaucratic, wasteful or corrupt than governments, but
under-scrutinised groups can suffer from the same chief failing: they
can get into bad ways because they are not accountable to anyone.
Critics also suspect that some aid groups are used to propagate
western
values, as Christian missionaries did in the 19th century. Many NGOs,
lacking any base in the local population and with their money coming
from outside, simply try to impose their ideas without debate. For
example, they often work to promote women's or children's interests
as
defined by western societies, winning funds easily but causing social
disruption on the ground.
Groups that carry out population or birth-control projects are
particularly controversial; some are paid to carry out sterilisation
programmes in the poor parts of the world, because donors in the rich
world consider there are too many people there. Anti-"slavery"
campaigns in Africa, in which western NGOs buy children's freedom for
a
few hundred dollars each, are notorious. Unicef has condemned such
groups, but American NGOs continue to buy slaves -- or people they
consider slaves -- in southern Sudan. Clearly, buying slaves, if that
is what they are, will do little to discourage the practice of
trading
them.
NGOs also get involved in situations where their presence may prolong
or complicate wars, where they end up feeding armies, sheltering
hostages or serving as cover for warring parties. These may be the
unintended consequences of aid delivery, but they also complicate
foreign policy.
Even under calmer conditions, in non-emergency development work, not
all single-interest groups may be the best guarantors of long-term
success. They are rarely obliged to think about trade-offs in policy
or
to consider broad, cross-sector approaches to development. NGOs are
"often organised to promote particular goals...rather than the
broader
goal of development," argues Ms Lancaster. In Kosovo last spring,
"many
governments made bilateral funding agreements with NGOs, greatly
undermining UNHCR's ability to prioritise programmes or monitor
efficiency," says Peter Morris of MSF. This spring in Kosovo, "there
were instances of several NGOs competing to work in the same camps,
duplication of essential services," complains an Oxfam worker. And
whatever big international NGOs do in the developing world, they
bring
in western living standards, personnel and purchasing power which can
transform local markets and generate great local resentment. In
troubled zones where foreign NGOs flourish, weekends bring a line of
smart four-by-fours parked at the best beaches, restaurants or
nightclubs. The local beggars do well, but discrepancies between
expatriate staff and, say, impoverished local officials trying to do
the same work can cause deep antipathy. Not only have NGOs diverted
funds away from local governments, but they are often seen as
directly
challenging their sovereignty.
NGOs can also become self-perpetuating. When the problem for which
they
were founded is solved, they seek new campaigns and new funds. The
old
anti-apartheid movement, its job completed, did not disband, but
instead became another lobby group for southern Africa. As NGOs
become
steadily more powerful on the world scene, the best antidote to
hubris,
and to institutionalisation, would be this: disband when the job is
done. The chief aim of NGOs should be their own abolition.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
REPUBBLICA
FEDERATIVA
SOCIALISTA
JUGOSLAVIA
Zotohem para flamurit të pionirëvet dhe para shokëvet
pionierë, që do të mësoj e do të jetoj si bir besnik i
Atdheut tim Republikeës Socialiste Federative të
Jugosllavisë. Zotohem që do të ruaj vëllazërimin e bashkimin
e popujvet tanë dhe lirinë e Atdheut, të fituar me gjakun e
djemvet tanë më të mirë.
PËR ATDHE ME TITON PËRPARA!
RROFTË 29 NËNTOR!
RROFTË SHOKU TITO!
Agim, Prishtinë
( http://www.sfrj.com )
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERATIVA
SOCIALISTA
JUGOSLAVIA
Zotohem para flamurit të pionirëvet dhe para shokëvet
pionierë, që do të mësoj e do të jetoj si bir besnik i
Atdheut tim Republikeës Socialiste Federative të
Jugosllavisë. Zotohem që do të ruaj vëllazërimin e bashkimin
e popujvet tanë dhe lirinë e Atdheut, të fituar me gjakun e
djemvet tanë më të mirë.
PËR ATDHE ME TITON PËRPARA!
RROFTË 29 NËNTOR!
RROFTË SHOKU TITO!
Agim, Prishtinë
( http://www.sfrj.com )
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
I PARTIGIANI JUGOSLAVI NELLA RESISTENZA FRANCESE
-----Original Message-----
From: democrite <democrite@...>
Date: 16 May 1999 17:55
Subject: Yugoslavs in the French Resistance
>SMALL IN NUMBER, GREAT IN SACRIFICE
>
>YUGOSLAV IMMIGRATION
>
> Relatively speaking, Yugoslav immigrants died the most. Small in
>number, they were great in sacrifice. As early as 1939, at the time of
>mobilisation, more than 1,500 Yugoslavs had voluntarily joined the
>French army. Later, at the time of occupation, nearly 3,000 took part
>in the various Resistance movements. Everywhere, in Pas-de-Calais,
>Corrèze, Haute-Savoy, Moselle and Paris, Yugoslavs distinguished
>themselves by their bravery and courage. The attitude of the Yugoslav
>fighters and Resistance workers was always inspired by the strong
>friendship and sincere loyalty they felt towards the countries which
>welcomed them, and they gave ample proof of their attachment at the
>darkest times.
> At Nîmes, in the Maritime Alps, in the Ardennes and in Haute-Savoy,
>more than fifty Yugoslavs fell victim to Nazi barbarity. The first
>thing the Yugoslav Resistance fighters had done had been to direct their
>activity towards the Croatian troops dragooned into the ranks of the
>Wehrmacht. It was thanks to such action that near Grenoble, a Croatian
>unit blew up a depot where a large amount of ammunition and explosives
>were stored, killing many Germans.
> At Villefranche-de-Rouergue resided a regiment of engineers made up of
>about 1,300 Croats. They had ended up in this region - where the
>peasants reminded them of their far-off homeland by their sobriety and
>the homespun of their clothes - after having refused to leave for the
>Eastern front. These soldiers found it quite natural to consider France
>as a country of friends and the population was quick to recognise them
>as such. A mutual current of friendship soon formed. It was not long
>before the soldiers heard of the maquis and decided their duty was to
>act too. They thought up a plan of escape. But out of the 1,300, there
>was one traitor. Seeing they had been exposed, the others took action.
>After a judgement in the name of Tito, they shot their officers,
>occupied the town and proclaimed liberty. Immediately, Hitler's forces
>flooded in from the surrounding centres - Toulouse, Albi, Limoges and
>Rodez. The men hardly had time to split up into small groups and take
>to the maquis. They left the town together so that the population would
>not be trapped between two enemy fires, and took up position in the
>surrounding hills ready for an unequal battle.
> 200 Croats were killed in the fight. More than 400 were taken prisoner
>and shot in the barracks courtyard. The remaining 600 or so were able
>to escape and carried on fighting by the sides of the French Resistance
>fighters.
> In the Ardennes, there were groups of immigrant partisans. The
>"Marshal Tito" corp., of which two leaders died during combat, was made
>up of Yugoslavs. In the region of Nancy, on the road to Germany, it was
>groups of immigrants of Yugoslav origin and Soviet prisoners who had
>escaped, who prevented the Nazis from coming to the aid of Wehrmacht
>groups cut off from their bases. The names of these heroic brigades
>were "Paris Commune", "Stalingrad" and "Jelezniack".
> From the ranks of these fighters came Resistance leaders, like General
>Ljubomir ILITCH, who by their courage and their self-sacrifice in the
>struggle against the fascist occupying army, won the friendship of all
>the Resistance workers. In homage to the participation to the struggle
>of Yugoslavs against the common enemy, the French authorities gave the
>names of two of their heroes, MIRNIK and BOLTAR, who were shot by the
>Germans, to two streets in the towns of Avion (Pas-de-Calais) and
>Toulouse. In the South of France, near Toulouse, sixteen Yugoslav
>immigrant fighters were awarded either the War Cross or the Resistance
>Medal for their courage and dedication.
>
>GENERAL ILITCH
>
> General Ljubomir ILITCH, former commander in the International Brigades
>in Spain, commander of the F.F.I. of the resistance of immigrants in
>France during German occupation, and one of the most active organisers
>of the maquis guerrillas, tells in his memoirs how he managed to join
>the Resistance movement in France.
> "In 1940, the Germans and the Vichy leaders decided to shut up in the
>camps all the "troublesome" elements who had shown in the past true
>attachment to the cause of liberty, of democracy and, thus, to France.
>All the committed antifascists were thus imprisoned and their situation
>got worse as clandestine resistance became active and it transpired
>clearly what role all the foreigners living in France were to play! The
>Vichy and Gestapo jailers split the prisoners up into the "ringleaders",
>who were strong and thus a danger to them, and the majority who were
>less spirited, weakened as they were by hunger, deprivation and
>demoralisation. We "dangerous" ones were sent to the prison of Castres,
>which was used as a depot and as a station passed through by prisoners
>on their way to concentration camps in Germany. When we were undressed
>and stripped of our papers, baggage, family photos and even identity
>cards, we understood that our departure for the death camps was
>approaching. That was how the Germans arranged the papers of the
>political deportees and kept them carefully in their archives. Among us
>in prison there were also French officers and allies who had dropped by
>parachute, and Belgian and Polish officers, doing intelligence work for
>the allies. We were totally cut off from the outside world yet even then
>we were able to study all the obstacles in our way, the safety catches,
>the alarm bells and electronic alarm systems set up by the Germans in
>case of a possible escape. The escape took place in broad daylight,
>thanks to each one of us carrying out perfectly our tasks according to
>given instructions.
> There were 36 of us who escaped, plus two women from the English
>intelligence service. We made it to the mountains, and made those
>chasing us lose all trace of us. At last, after a week, we established
>contact with the clandestine maquis and partisans and got down to action
>at once. Four of us were Yugoslavs: we all wanted to join Tito without
>delay to fight in our own country. But the difficulties in leaving were
>great: we would have had to pass through Spain, and we had stayed there
>as volunteers in the International Brigades in '36 - '39. Our faces
>were known there... So while waiting to go, we all put ourselves at the
>disposal of the French Resistance and began to work together with the
>F.T.P."(1).
>
>Jean STANKOVITCH
>
> An article in the 4th September 1946 issue of "Le Havre Libre" recalled
>the memory of this young hero of Yugoslav origin.
> Born in Le Havre, Jean Stankovitch, after studying at Dicquemare
>school, was taken by the Obligatory Work Service in '43. Refusing
>immediately to go to Germany, he stayed for some time hidden in the town
>under the name of Jean Coquelin. However, the inaction to which his
>illegal situation constrained him was not suited to him. He suffered
>from it, and often opened up about his feelings to his friend Maurice
>Leboucher, who was to be much talked of later. Leboucher, understanding
>well that Jean Stankovitch was driven by a burning desire to make
>himself useful, did not hesitate to advise him to come and join him at
>the German submarine base, in Le Havre, where he was able to get him
>hired as electrician.
> Jean Stankovitch spent some time there, and enjoyed the good tricks his
>friend and himself played on the occupying forces, good tricks which
>could be called, in other words, sabotage. "They think I'm from an
>electricity school!" he would say to his close friends. And this trick
>alone was enough to thrill him.
> His mother, however, fearing bombings, soon decided to go and live in
>Belleville. Jean followed her, most unwillingly. But he could not
>remain inactive there either.
> And in the days following the arrival of the allies, he was glad to act
>as a courier for them, passing through the barricades that then isolated
>Le Havre. For, unknown to his mother, he was a member of the Resistance
>group "France before all". There he had met a young man, three years
>younger than him, and the two of them had fomented multiple projects to
>undermine German organisation wherever their modest means might be used,
>whenever the time came to get down to action.
> On Saturday 2nd September, when the tanks were officially announced,
>the two comrades could no longer keep still. Despite their families'
>advice to be cautious, they escaped and ran to meet the tanks. Bernard
>Lefebvre who was heading for Saint-Cyr was glad to be able to get a lift
>on a tank. He felt as if he was driving up the road of triumph.
> A few kilometres on, they heard that a volunteer was wanted to carry a
>letter from the allies' lines to a certain castle of Fontenay where
>there was still a German officer. Jean proposed himself, and set off at
>once in company of a young lady who spoke German. Once they got there,
>they were kept waiting for over an hour, after which they were chased
>away: the message was an order to surrender! Startled, the young lady
>and Jean Stankovitch found themselves in the road with bursts of fire
>beginning to rain down on them. They were amazed to still be alive, so
>much anger had they read in the eyes of the officer to whom they had
>unknowingly been assigned to propose capitulation. And even though they
>had failed in their mission, they were still glad to get away from their
>goal.
> That evening, after having served as liaison agents between the many
>Resistance groups, Jean and Bernard met up and, together with the other
>comrades, discussed besides the English tanks. It is not known how an
>Alsacian soldier managed to slip up to them and ask them to be kind
>enough to accept to serve as an intermediary between ten of his comrades
>and the Allies to whom they wanted to surrender. Promised that they
>would not be hurt, they decided to meet by a farm between 6.30 and
>7.00am. At the decided moment, Stankovitch and Lefevbre went to the
>place as arranged and waited. The firing from the barricades became
>heavier, and it was difficult for them to believe that the Alsacians
>would manage to get there under such an avalanche of bullets. And yet,
>since they had given their word, they were bent on keeping it, and tried
>to stay put. What happened in the moments which followed? Doubtless a
>shell exploding nearby or a low burst of gunfire took them by surprise.
>Both of them were touched. Bernard Lefebvre was killed outright and
>Jean Sankovitch, fatally wounded, died one hour later, after terrible
>suffering, at the first aid centre at Rolleville which he had been taken
>to.
>
>Sava KOVATCHEVITCH
>
> Sava Kovatchevitch, originally from the Lika district, had come to
>France in 1937 to earn a living and help his family a little. After
>occupying France, the Germans sent him to do labour in Düsseldorf,
>Germany. There, he began with the other workers to do sabotage, but the
>Gestapo was after him, especially as he was teaching the deported
>workers how to commit sabotage. He left at the moment he was about to
>be arrested. At the time, he was already in contact with Yugoslav and
>French prisoners and, alongside the patriots of Lorraine, was helping
>them.
> He was in Lorraine under the name "Pierre" and had a heavy, dangerous
>task. With the help of the patriots of Lorraine, he created a huge
>organization to get people through Germany and Lorraine towards France
>and its maquis. He made false identity papers with the help of the
>mayor of Baynville, Pierre Semmoni and Victor Florch, a post inspector
>in Nancy. Alongside the patriots from Lorraine - Emile Kodari, Louis
>Vagner, Albert Vaguer, Alphonse Vagner, Victor Picrona, Pierre Vagner,
>Jeannette Koisser, from Metz, and Louise Florch, also from Metz - Sava
>got men through into France and saved thier lives. French and Yugoslav
>prisoners in camps in Germany knew of this and those who escaped from
>the Stalag XII F. came to find him. He obtained them civilian clothes,
>false identity papers and food; he got them over the border and the
>rivers near Metz.
> Sava was discovered by Pavelitch's oustachis in charge of keeping tabs
>on the Croatian workers deported to Germany. The Gestapo arrested him
>and tortured him for 72 days , starving and beating him, so that he
>would denounce the organisation by which war prisoners, civilian
>deportees and saboteurs got away into France. This son of the Lika held
>out and never even thought of letting out anything at all.
> "If I must die, I may as well die as a man, and not tarnish my Lika, "
>Sava would say.
> In the end, the Gestapo sent him to join a labour company. He
>succeeded in escaping, and started his work once more, even more
>secretly than before. He was searched for intensely, and in August 1944
>the place became too hot beneath his feet and he was forced to leave.
>He made it to France and joined the maquis again.
>Among the Yugoslav fighters who died in action, let us mention:
>Dimitri KOTOUROVIC (1911 - 1944), former fighter in the International
>Brigades in Spain, initiator and organiser of the first F.T.P. (ndlt:
>Franc Tireur et Partisan) groups in Marseille. Was killed heroically at
>his post in April 1944.
>Victor FILIPIC, shot by the Gestapo after committing sabotage at
>Sallaumines.
>Sava PAVLICEK, killed while fighting on August 18th 1944 in Sauppe.
>Givorad BOGOSAVLJEVIC, killed by the Germans during battle in August
>1944 in Quincy-Voisins.
>Stanko NOVAKOVIC, killed in action at Verdun in August 1944.
>Michel ARIEFF, nicknamed "Tito", killed in action at Mausouées Farm in
>August 1944.
>Zika PETROVIC, 25 years old, escpaded war prisoner, killed in action in
>Meaux.
>Rudolf CUCEK and Victor ERJAVEC, two miners in Pas-de-Calais, together
>shot by the Germans.
>BRUNOVIC, from Bruay-en Artois, killed in action in August 1942.
>FAJS, from Bruay-en Artois, killed while he was opposing resistance to
>the police who had come to arrest him in May 1943.
>
>Notes:
>1. Quoted in "Unis" bulletin n° 52, 17.2.1946.
>(On les nommait des étrangers, Les immigrés dans la résistance, by
>Gaston Laroche, F.T.P.F. colonel, Boris Matline)
>
>Souvenir Franco-Soviétique,
>Jean LEVEQUE,
>Villa "Florelle",
>28410 BROUE
>
>Translated from the French by P.M.
>
>--
>Les "Editions Democrite" publient un mensuel en francais :
>> "Les dossiers du BIP" avec des traductions d'articles provenant de la
>> presse communiste(grecque, allemande, anglaise, turque, russe, espagnole,
>> portugaise...)sur des evenements qui interessent des lecteurs
>communistes.
>> Editions Democrite, 52, bld Roger Salengro, 93190 LIVRY-GARGAN, FRANCE
>> e-mail : democrite@...
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: democrite <democrite@...>
Date: 16 May 1999 17:55
Subject: Yugoslavs in the French Resistance
>SMALL IN NUMBER, GREAT IN SACRIFICE
>
>YUGOSLAV IMMIGRATION
>
> Relatively speaking, Yugoslav immigrants died the most. Small in
>number, they were great in sacrifice. As early as 1939, at the time of
>mobilisation, more than 1,500 Yugoslavs had voluntarily joined the
>French army. Later, at the time of occupation, nearly 3,000 took part
>in the various Resistance movements. Everywhere, in Pas-de-Calais,
>Corrèze, Haute-Savoy, Moselle and Paris, Yugoslavs distinguished
>themselves by their bravery and courage. The attitude of the Yugoslav
>fighters and Resistance workers was always inspired by the strong
>friendship and sincere loyalty they felt towards the countries which
>welcomed them, and they gave ample proof of their attachment at the
>darkest times.
> At Nîmes, in the Maritime Alps, in the Ardennes and in Haute-Savoy,
>more than fifty Yugoslavs fell victim to Nazi barbarity. The first
>thing the Yugoslav Resistance fighters had done had been to direct their
>activity towards the Croatian troops dragooned into the ranks of the
>Wehrmacht. It was thanks to such action that near Grenoble, a Croatian
>unit blew up a depot where a large amount of ammunition and explosives
>were stored, killing many Germans.
> At Villefranche-de-Rouergue resided a regiment of engineers made up of
>about 1,300 Croats. They had ended up in this region - where the
>peasants reminded them of their far-off homeland by their sobriety and
>the homespun of their clothes - after having refused to leave for the
>Eastern front. These soldiers found it quite natural to consider France
>as a country of friends and the population was quick to recognise them
>as such. A mutual current of friendship soon formed. It was not long
>before the soldiers heard of the maquis and decided their duty was to
>act too. They thought up a plan of escape. But out of the 1,300, there
>was one traitor. Seeing they had been exposed, the others took action.
>After a judgement in the name of Tito, they shot their officers,
>occupied the town and proclaimed liberty. Immediately, Hitler's forces
>flooded in from the surrounding centres - Toulouse, Albi, Limoges and
>Rodez. The men hardly had time to split up into small groups and take
>to the maquis. They left the town together so that the population would
>not be trapped between two enemy fires, and took up position in the
>surrounding hills ready for an unequal battle.
> 200 Croats were killed in the fight. More than 400 were taken prisoner
>and shot in the barracks courtyard. The remaining 600 or so were able
>to escape and carried on fighting by the sides of the French Resistance
>fighters.
> In the Ardennes, there were groups of immigrant partisans. The
>"Marshal Tito" corp., of which two leaders died during combat, was made
>up of Yugoslavs. In the region of Nancy, on the road to Germany, it was
>groups of immigrants of Yugoslav origin and Soviet prisoners who had
>escaped, who prevented the Nazis from coming to the aid of Wehrmacht
>groups cut off from their bases. The names of these heroic brigades
>were "Paris Commune", "Stalingrad" and "Jelezniack".
> From the ranks of these fighters came Resistance leaders, like General
>Ljubomir ILITCH, who by their courage and their self-sacrifice in the
>struggle against the fascist occupying army, won the friendship of all
>the Resistance workers. In homage to the participation to the struggle
>of Yugoslavs against the common enemy, the French authorities gave the
>names of two of their heroes, MIRNIK and BOLTAR, who were shot by the
>Germans, to two streets in the towns of Avion (Pas-de-Calais) and
>Toulouse. In the South of France, near Toulouse, sixteen Yugoslav
>immigrant fighters were awarded either the War Cross or the Resistance
>Medal for their courage and dedication.
>
>GENERAL ILITCH
>
> General Ljubomir ILITCH, former commander in the International Brigades
>in Spain, commander of the F.F.I. of the resistance of immigrants in
>France during German occupation, and one of the most active organisers
>of the maquis guerrillas, tells in his memoirs how he managed to join
>the Resistance movement in France.
> "In 1940, the Germans and the Vichy leaders decided to shut up in the
>camps all the "troublesome" elements who had shown in the past true
>attachment to the cause of liberty, of democracy and, thus, to France.
>All the committed antifascists were thus imprisoned and their situation
>got worse as clandestine resistance became active and it transpired
>clearly what role all the foreigners living in France were to play! The
>Vichy and Gestapo jailers split the prisoners up into the "ringleaders",
>who were strong and thus a danger to them, and the majority who were
>less spirited, weakened as they were by hunger, deprivation and
>demoralisation. We "dangerous" ones were sent to the prison of Castres,
>which was used as a depot and as a station passed through by prisoners
>on their way to concentration camps in Germany. When we were undressed
>and stripped of our papers, baggage, family photos and even identity
>cards, we understood that our departure for the death camps was
>approaching. That was how the Germans arranged the papers of the
>political deportees and kept them carefully in their archives. Among us
>in prison there were also French officers and allies who had dropped by
>parachute, and Belgian and Polish officers, doing intelligence work for
>the allies. We were totally cut off from the outside world yet even then
>we were able to study all the obstacles in our way, the safety catches,
>the alarm bells and electronic alarm systems set up by the Germans in
>case of a possible escape. The escape took place in broad daylight,
>thanks to each one of us carrying out perfectly our tasks according to
>given instructions.
> There were 36 of us who escaped, plus two women from the English
>intelligence service. We made it to the mountains, and made those
>chasing us lose all trace of us. At last, after a week, we established
>contact with the clandestine maquis and partisans and got down to action
>at once. Four of us were Yugoslavs: we all wanted to join Tito without
>delay to fight in our own country. But the difficulties in leaving were
>great: we would have had to pass through Spain, and we had stayed there
>as volunteers in the International Brigades in '36 - '39. Our faces
>were known there... So while waiting to go, we all put ourselves at the
>disposal of the French Resistance and began to work together with the
>F.T.P."(1).
>
>Jean STANKOVITCH
>
> An article in the 4th September 1946 issue of "Le Havre Libre" recalled
>the memory of this young hero of Yugoslav origin.
> Born in Le Havre, Jean Stankovitch, after studying at Dicquemare
>school, was taken by the Obligatory Work Service in '43. Refusing
>immediately to go to Germany, he stayed for some time hidden in the town
>under the name of Jean Coquelin. However, the inaction to which his
>illegal situation constrained him was not suited to him. He suffered
>from it, and often opened up about his feelings to his friend Maurice
>Leboucher, who was to be much talked of later. Leboucher, understanding
>well that Jean Stankovitch was driven by a burning desire to make
>himself useful, did not hesitate to advise him to come and join him at
>the German submarine base, in Le Havre, where he was able to get him
>hired as electrician.
> Jean Stankovitch spent some time there, and enjoyed the good tricks his
>friend and himself played on the occupying forces, good tricks which
>could be called, in other words, sabotage. "They think I'm from an
>electricity school!" he would say to his close friends. And this trick
>alone was enough to thrill him.
> His mother, however, fearing bombings, soon decided to go and live in
>Belleville. Jean followed her, most unwillingly. But he could not
>remain inactive there either.
> And in the days following the arrival of the allies, he was glad to act
>as a courier for them, passing through the barricades that then isolated
>Le Havre. For, unknown to his mother, he was a member of the Resistance
>group "France before all". There he had met a young man, three years
>younger than him, and the two of them had fomented multiple projects to
>undermine German organisation wherever their modest means might be used,
>whenever the time came to get down to action.
> On Saturday 2nd September, when the tanks were officially announced,
>the two comrades could no longer keep still. Despite their families'
>advice to be cautious, they escaped and ran to meet the tanks. Bernard
>Lefebvre who was heading for Saint-Cyr was glad to be able to get a lift
>on a tank. He felt as if he was driving up the road of triumph.
> A few kilometres on, they heard that a volunteer was wanted to carry a
>letter from the allies' lines to a certain castle of Fontenay where
>there was still a German officer. Jean proposed himself, and set off at
>once in company of a young lady who spoke German. Once they got there,
>they were kept waiting for over an hour, after which they were chased
>away: the message was an order to surrender! Startled, the young lady
>and Jean Stankovitch found themselves in the road with bursts of fire
>beginning to rain down on them. They were amazed to still be alive, so
>much anger had they read in the eyes of the officer to whom they had
>unknowingly been assigned to propose capitulation. And even though they
>had failed in their mission, they were still glad to get away from their
>goal.
> That evening, after having served as liaison agents between the many
>Resistance groups, Jean and Bernard met up and, together with the other
>comrades, discussed besides the English tanks. It is not known how an
>Alsacian soldier managed to slip up to them and ask them to be kind
>enough to accept to serve as an intermediary between ten of his comrades
>and the Allies to whom they wanted to surrender. Promised that they
>would not be hurt, they decided to meet by a farm between 6.30 and
>7.00am. At the decided moment, Stankovitch and Lefevbre went to the
>place as arranged and waited. The firing from the barricades became
>heavier, and it was difficult for them to believe that the Alsacians
>would manage to get there under such an avalanche of bullets. And yet,
>since they had given their word, they were bent on keeping it, and tried
>to stay put. What happened in the moments which followed? Doubtless a
>shell exploding nearby or a low burst of gunfire took them by surprise.
>Both of them were touched. Bernard Lefebvre was killed outright and
>Jean Sankovitch, fatally wounded, died one hour later, after terrible
>suffering, at the first aid centre at Rolleville which he had been taken
>to.
>
>Sava KOVATCHEVITCH
>
> Sava Kovatchevitch, originally from the Lika district, had come to
>France in 1937 to earn a living and help his family a little. After
>occupying France, the Germans sent him to do labour in Düsseldorf,
>Germany. There, he began with the other workers to do sabotage, but the
>Gestapo was after him, especially as he was teaching the deported
>workers how to commit sabotage. He left at the moment he was about to
>be arrested. At the time, he was already in contact with Yugoslav and
>French prisoners and, alongside the patriots of Lorraine, was helping
>them.
> He was in Lorraine under the name "Pierre" and had a heavy, dangerous
>task. With the help of the patriots of Lorraine, he created a huge
>organization to get people through Germany and Lorraine towards France
>and its maquis. He made false identity papers with the help of the
>mayor of Baynville, Pierre Semmoni and Victor Florch, a post inspector
>in Nancy. Alongside the patriots from Lorraine - Emile Kodari, Louis
>Vagner, Albert Vaguer, Alphonse Vagner, Victor Picrona, Pierre Vagner,
>Jeannette Koisser, from Metz, and Louise Florch, also from Metz - Sava
>got men through into France and saved thier lives. French and Yugoslav
>prisoners in camps in Germany knew of this and those who escaped from
>the Stalag XII F. came to find him. He obtained them civilian clothes,
>false identity papers and food; he got them over the border and the
>rivers near Metz.
> Sava was discovered by Pavelitch's oustachis in charge of keeping tabs
>on the Croatian workers deported to Germany. The Gestapo arrested him
>and tortured him for 72 days , starving and beating him, so that he
>would denounce the organisation by which war prisoners, civilian
>deportees and saboteurs got away into France. This son of the Lika held
>out and never even thought of letting out anything at all.
> "If I must die, I may as well die as a man, and not tarnish my Lika, "
>Sava would say.
> In the end, the Gestapo sent him to join a labour company. He
>succeeded in escaping, and started his work once more, even more
>secretly than before. He was searched for intensely, and in August 1944
>the place became too hot beneath his feet and he was forced to leave.
>He made it to France and joined the maquis again.
>Among the Yugoslav fighters who died in action, let us mention:
>Dimitri KOTOUROVIC (1911 - 1944), former fighter in the International
>Brigades in Spain, initiator and organiser of the first F.T.P. (ndlt:
>Franc Tireur et Partisan) groups in Marseille. Was killed heroically at
>his post in April 1944.
>Victor FILIPIC, shot by the Gestapo after committing sabotage at
>Sallaumines.
>Sava PAVLICEK, killed while fighting on August 18th 1944 in Sauppe.
>Givorad BOGOSAVLJEVIC, killed by the Germans during battle in August
>1944 in Quincy-Voisins.
>Stanko NOVAKOVIC, killed in action at Verdun in August 1944.
>Michel ARIEFF, nicknamed "Tito", killed in action at Mausouées Farm in
>August 1944.
>Zika PETROVIC, 25 years old, escpaded war prisoner, killed in action in
>Meaux.
>Rudolf CUCEK and Victor ERJAVEC, two miners in Pas-de-Calais, together
>shot by the Germans.
>BRUNOVIC, from Bruay-en Artois, killed in action in August 1942.
>FAJS, from Bruay-en Artois, killed while he was opposing resistance to
>the police who had come to arrest him in May 1943.
>
>Notes:
>1. Quoted in "Unis" bulletin n° 52, 17.2.1946.
>(On les nommait des étrangers, Les immigrés dans la résistance, by
>Gaston Laroche, F.T.P.F. colonel, Boris Matline)
>
>Souvenir Franco-Soviétique,
>Jean LEVEQUE,
>Villa "Florelle",
>28410 BROUE
>
>Translated from the French by P.M.
>
>--
>Les "Editions Democrite" publient un mensuel en francais :
>> "Les dossiers du BIP" avec des traductions d'articles provenant de la
>> presse communiste(grecque, allemande, anglaise, turque, russe, espagnole,
>> portugaise...)sur des evenements qui interessent des lecteurs
>communistes.
>> Editions Democrite, 52, bld Roger Salengro, 93190 LIVRY-GARGAN, FRANCE
>> e-mail : democrite@...
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
AUDIZIONI ALLA COMMISSIONE ESTERI DEL PARLAMENTO CANADESE
I contribuiti che diffondiamo in questo messaggio vengono dal Canada. Si
tratta di alcune audizioni tenute ad Ottawa, alla Camera dei Comuni,
dinanzi allo Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International
Trade da parte di varie personalita' ritenute a vario titolo "informate
sui fatti" riguardo alla aggressione della NATO contro la Repubblica
Federale di Jugoslavia. In particolare, i contributi seguenti sono le
testimonianze di JAMES BISSET, ex-ambasciatore canadese a Belgrado, ora
"indesiderato" nella stessa ambasciata canadese a Belgrado, e SERGE
TRIFKOVIC, professore di storia, responsabile per gli esteri di
"Chronicles - Magazine of American Culture".
Tutti i documenti sono stati diffusi dalla lista STOPNATO@...
===
Author: James Bisset
Publisher/Date: February 2000
Title: Notes for address to Standing Committee Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (Ca)
1: Introduction
I wish to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity of speaking
this morning.
It is some comfort to know that although I was not allowed to speak to
anyone in the Canadian embassy in Belgrade during a recent visit there
that I am free to speak to members of the Canadian parliament.
I have been an out spoken critic of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. I
believe it to have been a tragic mistake -- a historic miscalculation
that will have far reaching implications.
When NATO bombs fell on Yugoslavia in the spring and summer of last year
they caused more than just death and destruction in that country. The
bombs also struck at the heart of international law and delivered a
serious blow to the framework of global security that since the end of
the second world war has protected all of us from the horrors of a
nuclear war.
Kosovo broke the ground rules for NATO engagement and the aggressive
military intervention by NATO into the affairs of a sovereign state for
other than defensive purposes marked an ominous turning point in the
aims and objectives of that organization. It is important that we
understand this and seek clarification as to whether this was a
"one-off" aberration or a signal of fundamental change in the nature and
purposes of the organization. This is something the committee might well
examine in the course of its work.
2: An Illegal War
NATO's war in Kosovo was conducted without the approval of the United
Nations Security Council. It was a violation of international law, the
United Nations charter and its own article 1, which requires NATO to
settle any international disputes by peaceful means and not to threaten
or use force, "in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the
United Nations."
Apologists for NATO including our own foreign and defence ministers try
to avoid this issue by simply not mentioning it. There has been no
attempt to explain why the United Nations Security Council was ignored.
No effort to spell out under whose authority did NATO bomb Yugoslavia.
The ministers and their officials continue to justify the air strikes on
the grounds that the bombs were necessary to stop ethnic cleansing and
atrocities, despite all the evidence that by far the bulk of the ethnic
cleansing took place after the bombing not before it. It was the bombing
that triggered off the worst of the ethnic cleansing.
As for the atrocities it now seems that here again we were lied to about
the extent of the crimes commited. United States Secretary of Defence
Cohen told us that at least 100,000 Kosovars had perished. Tony Blair
spoke of genocide being carried out in Kosovo. The media relished in
these atrocity stories and printed every story told to them by Albanian,
"eye witnesses." The myth that the war was to stop ethnic cleansing and
atrocities contiues to be perpetrated by department spokesmen and large
parts of the media.
No one wants to defend atrocities and the numbers game in such
circumstances becomes sordid. Nevertheless numbers do become important
if they are used to justify military action against a sovereign state.
in the case of Kosovo it appears that about 2000 people were killed
there prior to the NATO bombing. considering that a civil war had been
underway since 1993 this is not a remarkable figure and compared with a
great many other hot spots hardly enough to warrant a 79-day bombing
campaign. It is also interesting to note that the UN tribunal
indictement of Milosovic of May 1999, cites only one incident of deaths
before the bombing -- the infamous Racak incident -- which itself is
challenged by French journalists who were on the ground there and
suspect a frame-up involving US General Walker who sounded the alarm.
The Kosovo "war" reveals disturbing evidence of how lies and duplicity
can mislead us into accepting things that we instinctively know to be
wrong. Jamie Shea and other NATO apologists have lied to us about the
bombing. The sad thing is that most of the Canadian media, and our
political representatives have accepted without question what has been
told to us by NATO and our own foreign affairs spokesmen.
3: An Unecessary War
perhaps the most serious charge against the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
is that it was unnecessary. NATO chose bombing over diplomacy. Violence
over negotiation. NATO's leaders tried to convince us that dropping tons
of bombs on Yugoslavia was serving humanitarian purposes.
A UN Security Council resolution of October 1998 accepted by Yugoslavia,
authorized over 1300 monitors from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] to enter Kosovo and try to de-escalate the
fighting. from the accounts of a number of these monitors their task was
successful. While cease-fire violations continued on both sides the
intensity of the armed struggle was considerably abated.
The former Czech foreign minister, Jiri Dienstbier, and Canada's own
Rollie Keith of Vancouver -- both monitors for the OSCE on the ground in
Kosovo -- have publicly stated that there were no international refugees
over the last five months of the OSCE's presence in Kosovo and the
number of internally displaced only amounted to a few thousands in the
weeks leading up to the bombing.
The OSCE mission demonstrated that diplomacy and negotiation might well
have resolved the Kosovo problem without resorting to the use of force.
It was the failure of the United States to accept any flexibility in its
dealing with Belgrade in the weeks leading up to the war that spelled
diplomatic failure.
The adamant refusal of the USA to involve either the Russians or the
United Nations in the negotiations. The refusal to allow any other
intermediary to deal with Milosovic and finally the imposition of the
Rambouillet ultimatum which was clearly designed to ensure that
Yugoslavia had no choice but to refuse its insulting terms.
It is now generally accepted by those who have seen the Rambouillet
agreement that no sovereign state could have agreed to its conditions.
The insistence of allowing acess to all of Yugoslavia by NATO forces and
the demand that a referendum on autonomy be held within three years
guaranteed a Serbian rejection.
The Serbian parliament did, however, on March 23, state a willingness to
"examine the character and extent of an international presence in Kosovo
immediately after the signing of an autonomy accord acceptable to all
national communities in Kosovo, the local Serb minority included. " The
United States was not interested in pursuing this offer. NATO needed its
war. NATO's formal commitment to resolve international disputes by
peaceful means was thrown out the window.
The Rambouillet document itself was not easily obtained from NATO
sources. The chairman of the defence committee of the French National
Assembly asked for a copy shortly after the bombing commenced but was
not given a copy until a few days before the UN peace treaty was signed.
I hope that members of this committee have a copy to look at and will be
able to find out when and if Canada was informed of its conditions.
4: NATO's campaign a total failure
We have been asked to believe that the war in Kosovo was fought for
human rights. Indeed the president of the Czech republic received a
standing ovation in this House of Commons when he stated that Kosovo was
the first war fought for human values rather than territory. I suspect
even President Havel would have second thoughts about that statement now
that a large part of Yugoslav territory has in effect been handed over
to the Albanians.
The war allegedly to stop ethnic cleansing has not done so. Serbs
Gypsies, Jews, and Slav muslims are being forced out of Kosovo under the
eyes of 45,000 NATO troops. Murder and anarchy reigns supreme in Kosovo
as the KLA and criminal elements have taken charge. The United Nations
admits failure to control the situation and warns Serbs not to return.
The war allegedly to restore stability to the Balkans has done the
opposite.Yugoslavia's neighbors are in a state of turmoil. Montenegro is
on the edge of civil war. Macedonia is now worried that Kosovo has shown
the way for its own sizeable Albanian minority to demand
self-determination. Albania has been encouraged to strive harder to
fulfill its dream of greater Albania. Serbia itself has been ruined
economically. Embittered and disillusioned it feels betrayed and
alienated from the western democracies.
The illegal and unecessary war has alienated the other great nuclear
powers, Russia and China. These countries are now convinced that the
west cannot be trusted. NATO expansion eastward is seen as an aggressive
and hostile threat and will be answered by an increase in the nuclear
arsenal of both nations. After Kosovo who can with any conviction
convince them that NATO is purely a defensive alliance dedicated to
peace and to upholding the principles of the United Nations?
More seriously the NATO bombing has destroyed NATO's credibility. NATO
stood for more than just a powerful military organization. It stood for
peace; the rule of law, and democratic institutions. The bombing of
Yugoslavia threw all of that out the window.
No longer can NATO stand on the moral high ground. Its action in
Yugoslavia revealed it to be an aggressive military machine prepared to
ignore international law and intervene with deadly force in the internal
affairs of any state with whose actions or behaviour it does not agree.
5: Conclusions
There are those who believe that the long standing principle of state
sovereignty can be over ruled when human rights violations are taking
place in a country. Until Kosovo the ground rules for such intervention
called for Security Council authority before such action could be taken.
Apologists for NATO argue that it was unlikely Security Council
authority could have been obtained because of the veto power of China or
Russia. So it would appear rather than even try to get consent NATO took
upon itself the powers of the Security Council. I am not sure we should
all be comfortable with this development.
Undoubtedly there may be times when such intervention is justified and
immediately Rwanda comes to mind -- but intervention for humanitarian
reasons is a dangerous concept. Because who is to decide when to take
such action and under whose authority? Hitler intervened in
Czechoslovakia because he claimed the human rights of the Sudeten
Germans were being violated. Those who advocate a change in the current
rules for intervention are free to do so but until the rules change
should we not all obey the ones that still have legitimacy?
NATO made a serious mistake in Kosovo. Its bombing campaign was not only
an unmitigated disaster but it changed fundamentally the very nature and
purposes of the alliance. Does article 1 of the NATO treaty still stand?
Does NATO still undertake to settle any international disputes in which
it may become involved by peaceful means? Do the NATO countries still
undertake to refrain in their international relations from the threat or
use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the united
nations?
Kosovo should serve as a warning call that Canadian democracy needs a
shot in the arm to wake it up to the realities that foreign policy is
important--important because as happened one day last march Canadians
can wake up and find they are at war. Canadian pilots were bombing
Serbia. yet there was no declaration of war. The Canadian parliament was
not consulted. The majority of the Canadian people had no idea where
Kosovo was -- let alone understand why our aircraft were bombing cities
in a fellow nation state that had been a staunch ally during two world
wars.
It was not only Yugoslav soverignty that was violated by NATO's illegal
action. Canadian sovereignty was also abused. Canada had become involved
in a war without any member of the Canadian parliament or the Canadian
people being consulted.the ultimate expression of a nation's sovereignty
is the right to declare war. NATO abrogated this right.
If it essential that we give up some of our sovereignty as the price we
pay for membership in global institutons such as NATO then it is
mandatory that such institutions follow their own rules, respect thrule
of law, and operate within the generally accepted framework of the
United Nations charter. This NATO did not do. It is for this reason I
would suggest your committee must ask some tough questions about the
nature of Canada's involvement in the Kosovo war.
(James Bisset is the former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia, who was
recently physically barred by the Canadian government from entering the
embassy in Belgrade.)
===
Testimony by S. Trifkovic, House of Commons SCFAIT, Ottawa, 17/02/2000
GEO-POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO
Testimony by S. Trifkovic
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
House of Commons, Ottawa, February 17, 2000
The war waged by NATO against Yugoslavia in 1999 marks a significant
turning point, not only for America and NATO but also for “the West” as
a
whole. The principle of state sovereignty, and of the rule of law
itself, has
been subverted in the name of an allegedly humanitarian ideology. Facts
have been converted into fiction, and even the fictions invoked to
justify
the act are giving up all pretense to credibility. Old systems for the
protection of
national liberties, political, legal and economic, have now been
subverted into vehicles for their destruction. But so far from
demonstrating
the vigor of Western ruling elites in their ruthless pursuit of an
ideology of
multi-ethnic democracy and international human rights, the whole Balkan
entanglement may be as a disturbing revelation of those ruling elites’
moral and cultural decay. I shall therefore devote my remarks to the
consequences of the war for the emerging new international system, and –
ultimately – for the security and stability of the Western world itself.
Almost a decade separated ‘Desert Storm’ from ‘Humanitarian Bombing.’ In
1991 the Maastricht Treaty was signed, and the rest of the decade has
brought the gradual usurpation of traditional European sovereignty by a
corporate-controlled Brussels regime of unelected bureaucrats who now
feel
bold enough to tell Austria how to run its domestic affairs. On this
side
of the ocean we had the passage of NAFTA and in 1995 the Uruguay round
of GATT gave us the WTO. The nineties were thus a decade of gradual
foundation laying for the new international order. The denigration of
sovereign nationhood hypnotized the public into applauding the
dismantling
of the very institutions that offered the only hope of representative
empowerment. The process is sufficiently far advanced for President
Clinton to claim (“A Just and Necessary War,” NYT, May 23, 1999) that,
had
it not bombed Serbia, "NATO itself would have been discredited for
failing
to defend the very values that give it meaning."
The war was in fact both unjust and unnecessary, but the significance of
Mr. Clinton’s statement is in that he has openly declared null and void
the international system in existence ever since the Peace of Westphalia
(1648). It was an imperfect and often violated system, but nevertheless
it
provided the basis for international discourse from which only the
assorted red and black totalitarians have openly deviated. Since 24
March
1999 this is being replaced by the emerging Clinton Doctrine, a carbon
copy of the Brezhnev doctrine of limited sovereignty that supposedly
justified the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Like his
Soviet predecessor, Mr. Clinton used an abstract and ideologically
loaded
notion - that of universal “human rights” - as the pretext to violate
the law and
tradition. The Clinton Doctrine is rooted in the bipartisan hubris of
Washington’s foreign policy “elite,” tipsy on its own heady brew of the
“world’s last and only superpower.” Legal formalities are passé, and
moral
imperatives - never sacrosanct in international affairs - are replaced
by
a cynical exercise in situational morality, dependent on an actor’s
position within the superpower ’s value system.
And so imperial high-mindedness is back, but in a new form. Old
religion, national flags and nationalist rivalry play no part. But the
yearning
for excitement and importance, that took the British to Peking, Kabul
and
Khartoum, the French to Fashoda and Saigon, and the Americans to Manila,
has now re-emerged. As a result a war was waged on an independent nation
because it refused foreign troops on its soil. All other justifications
are post facto rationalizations. The powers that waged that war have
aided
and abetted secession by an ethnic minority, secession that – once
formally
effected - will render many European borders tentative. In the context
of
any other European nation the story would sound surreal. The Serbs,
however, have been demonized to the point where they must not presume to
be treated like others.
But the fact that the West could do anything it chose to the Serbs does
not explain why it should. It is hardly worth refuting, yet again, the
feeble excuses for intervention. “Humanitarian” argument has been
invoked.
But what about Kashmir, Sudan, Uganda, Angola, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka,
Algeria? Properly videotaped and Amanpourized, each would be good for a
dozen “Kosovos”. There was no “genocide,” of course. Compared to the
killing fields of the Third World Kosovo was an unremarkable,
low-intensity conflict, uglier perhaps than Northern Ireland a decade
ago,
but much less so than Kurdistan. A total of 2,108 fatalities on all
sides
in Kosovo until June 1999, in a province of over two million, favorably
compares to the annual homicide tally of 450 in Washington D.C.
(population 600,000). Counting corpses is poor form, but bearing in mind
the brutalities and “ethnic cleansings” ignored by NATO - or even
condoned, notably in Croatia in 1995, or in eastern Turkey - it is clear
that “Kosovo” is not about universal principles. In Washington Abdullah
Ocalan is a terrorist, but KLA are freedom fighters.
What was it about, then? “Regional stability”, we were told next: if we
didn ’t stop the conflict it would engulf Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, the
whole of the Balkans in fact, with much of Europe to follow. But the
cure
- bombing Serbia into detaching an ethnically pure-Albanian Kosovo to
the
KLA narco-mafia, under NATO’s benevolent eye – will unleash a chain
reaction throughout the ex-Communist half of Europe. Its first victim
will be
the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, where the restive Albanian
minority comprises a third of the total population. And will the
Pristina
model not be demanded by the Hungarians in Rumania (more numerous
than Kosovo’s Albanians), and in southern Slovakia? What will stop the
Russians in the Ukraine, in Moldova, in Estonia, and in northern
Kazakhstan from following suit? Or the Serbs and Croats in the
chronically
unstable and unviable Dayton-Bosnia? And finally, when the Albanians get
their secession on the grounds of their numbers, will the same apply
when
the Latinos in southern California or Texas eventually outnumber their
Anglo
neighbors and start demanding bilingual statehood, leading to
reunification
with Mexico? Are Russia and China to threaten the United States with
bombing if Washington does not comply?
The outcome in Kosovo, for now, is in line with a deeply flawed model of
the new Balkan order that seeks to satisfy the aspirations of all ethnic
groups in former Yugoslavia - except the Serbs. This is a disastrous
strategy for all concerned. Even if forced into submission now, the
Serbs
shall have no stake in the ensuing order of things. Sooner or later they
will fight to recover Kosovo. The Carthaginian peace imposed on the
Serbs
today will cause chronic imbalance and strife for decades to come. It
will
entangle the West in a Balkan quagmire, and guarantee a new war as soon
as Mr. Clinton’s successors lose interest in underwriting the ill-gotten
gains
of America’s Balkan clients.
NATO has won, for now, but “the West” has lost. The war has undermined
the very principles that constitute the West, namely the rule of law.
The
notion of “human rights” can never provide a basis for either the rule
of
law or morality. “Universal human rights,” detached from any rootedness
in
time or place, will be open to the latest whim of outrage or the latest
fad for victimhood. The misguided effort to transform NATO from a
defensive alliance into a mini-U.N. with “out-of-area” self-appointed
responsibilities, is a certain road to more Bosnias and more Kosovos
down
the line. Now that the Clintonistas and NATO were “successful” in
Kosovo,
we can expect new and even more dangerous adventures elsewhere. But
next time around the Russians, Chinese, Indians and others will know
better than to buy the slogans about free markets and democratic human
rights, and the future of “the West” in the eventually inevitable
conflict may
be uncertain. Canada should ponder the implications of this course, and
gather the courage to say “no” to global interventionism – for its own
sake,
and for the sake of peace and stability in the world. Is it really
obliged to
watch in undissenting submission as a long, dangerous military
experiment
is mounted which will lead us to a real war for Central Asia? Will it
soon be
'defending' new KLAs against 'genocide' along Russia’s Islamic rim,
among
ethnic groups as yet unknown to the Western press that can provide a
series of excuses for intervention, all as good, that is as bad, as the
Kosovo
Albanian excuse?
Was Canada’s imperial history so sweet that it must seek another
imperial command-center, in Washington, to compensate for the loss of
London? Does Canada today feel comfortable with the emerging truth: that
it has less freedom of choice about war and peace than it did as a free
Dominion under the old Statute of Westminster? For there can be no doubt
that the war NATO was fighting in April and May 1999 was not intended,
or
willed, by anything which can be called the Alliance, when the use of
force
was plotted inside the Beltway in 1998.
It is worth asking how far this re-acquisition of minor imperial status
-
by Canada and other NATO members - is creating a media-led political
process that leaves national decision-making meaningless, beyond a
formal
cheer-leading function. It is also worth asking how it came to be that
the
chief war aim of NATO was 'keeping the Alliance together', what
disciplines it implies, and how easily, and bloodily, it can be
repeated.
The moral absolutism that was invoked by the proponents of intervention
as
a substitute for rational argument can no longer be sustained. Genuine
dilemmas about our human responsibility for one another must not be used
to reactivate the viral imperialism of the re-extended West. The more
arrogant the new doctrine, the greater the willingness to lie for the
truth. To be capable of “doing something” sustains moral self-respect,
if
we can suppress the thought that we are not so much moral actors as
consumers of predigested choices. At the onset of the Millenium we are
living in a virtual Coliseum where exotic and nasty troublemakers can be
killed not by lions but by the magical flying machines of the Imperium.
As
the candidates for punishment - or martyrdom - are pushed into the
arena,
many denizens of “the West” react to the show as imperial consumers, not
as citizens with a parliamentary right and a democratic duty to question
the proceedings.
May the results of your present inquiry prove me wrong. Thank you.
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: Peter Bein [mailto:pbein@...]
>>>>Sent: February 10, 2000 4:16 PM
>>>>To: 'HilchJ@...'
>>>>Subject:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I am urging you that the following individuals be called to testify
before
>>>>the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(SCFAIT)
>>>>as expert witnesses re Canada's role in the conflict and
post-conflict
>>>>developments in Kosovo and Metohija. It is imperative that MPs in
SCAFIT
>>>>hear from and question experts who reflect all sides in this
conflict. The
>>>>MPs are already well acquainted with the perspectives of Canada's
military
>>>>and the Dept of Foreign Affairs, as their views were publicized for
many
>>>>months.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Mr. James Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia,
Bulgaria and
>>>>Albania.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Michael Chossudovsky, professor of economics at the University
of
>>>>Ottawa.
>>>>
>>>>Mr. Roland Keith from Vancouver, B.C.,who was stationed in Kosovo
as a
>>>>monitor with the
>>>>Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Director of Research at the International
Institute
>>of
>>>>Concern for Public Health in Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>Prof. Dr. Hari Sharma, professor emeritus of chemistry at the
University
>>of
>>>>Waterloo, Ontario.
>>>>
>>>>Prof. Dr. Michael Mandel, professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law
School ,
>>>>York
>>>>University, Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Serge Trifkovic, an author, former university professor,
historian,
>>>>foreign affairs editor of the "Chronicles - Magazine of American
>>>>Culture".
>>>>
>>>>Mrs. Radmila Swann, a retired federal public servant and a founding
member
>>>>of
>>>>the Ottawa Heritage Society.
>>>>
>>>>Mr. Nikola Rajkovic, a law student and a founding member of the
Centre for
>>>>Peace in the Balkans in Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>I trust that testimonies of these people will add a great value to
the
>>>>hearings.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Peter Bein, P.Eng.
>>>>Vancouver B.C.
>>>>tel. +604 822 1685
>>>>fax +604 822 3033
>>>>e-mail: pbein@...
>>>>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
I contribuiti che diffondiamo in questo messaggio vengono dal Canada. Si
tratta di alcune audizioni tenute ad Ottawa, alla Camera dei Comuni,
dinanzi allo Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International
Trade da parte di varie personalita' ritenute a vario titolo "informate
sui fatti" riguardo alla aggressione della NATO contro la Repubblica
Federale di Jugoslavia. In particolare, i contributi seguenti sono le
testimonianze di JAMES BISSET, ex-ambasciatore canadese a Belgrado, ora
"indesiderato" nella stessa ambasciata canadese a Belgrado, e SERGE
TRIFKOVIC, professore di storia, responsabile per gli esteri di
"Chronicles - Magazine of American Culture".
Tutti i documenti sono stati diffusi dalla lista STOPNATO@...
===
Author: James Bisset
Publisher/Date: February 2000
Title: Notes for address to Standing Committee Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (Ca)
1: Introduction
I wish to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity of speaking
this morning.
It is some comfort to know that although I was not allowed to speak to
anyone in the Canadian embassy in Belgrade during a recent visit there
that I am free to speak to members of the Canadian parliament.
I have been an out spoken critic of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. I
believe it to have been a tragic mistake -- a historic miscalculation
that will have far reaching implications.
When NATO bombs fell on Yugoslavia in the spring and summer of last year
they caused more than just death and destruction in that country. The
bombs also struck at the heart of international law and delivered a
serious blow to the framework of global security that since the end of
the second world war has protected all of us from the horrors of a
nuclear war.
Kosovo broke the ground rules for NATO engagement and the aggressive
military intervention by NATO into the affairs of a sovereign state for
other than defensive purposes marked an ominous turning point in the
aims and objectives of that organization. It is important that we
understand this and seek clarification as to whether this was a
"one-off" aberration or a signal of fundamental change in the nature and
purposes of the organization. This is something the committee might well
examine in the course of its work.
2: An Illegal War
NATO's war in Kosovo was conducted without the approval of the United
Nations Security Council. It was a violation of international law, the
United Nations charter and its own article 1, which requires NATO to
settle any international disputes by peaceful means and not to threaten
or use force, "in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the
United Nations."
Apologists for NATO including our own foreign and defence ministers try
to avoid this issue by simply not mentioning it. There has been no
attempt to explain why the United Nations Security Council was ignored.
No effort to spell out under whose authority did NATO bomb Yugoslavia.
The ministers and their officials continue to justify the air strikes on
the grounds that the bombs were necessary to stop ethnic cleansing and
atrocities, despite all the evidence that by far the bulk of the ethnic
cleansing took place after the bombing not before it. It was the bombing
that triggered off the worst of the ethnic cleansing.
As for the atrocities it now seems that here again we were lied to about
the extent of the crimes commited. United States Secretary of Defence
Cohen told us that at least 100,000 Kosovars had perished. Tony Blair
spoke of genocide being carried out in Kosovo. The media relished in
these atrocity stories and printed every story told to them by Albanian,
"eye witnesses." The myth that the war was to stop ethnic cleansing and
atrocities contiues to be perpetrated by department spokesmen and large
parts of the media.
No one wants to defend atrocities and the numbers game in such
circumstances becomes sordid. Nevertheless numbers do become important
if they are used to justify military action against a sovereign state.
in the case of Kosovo it appears that about 2000 people were killed
there prior to the NATO bombing. considering that a civil war had been
underway since 1993 this is not a remarkable figure and compared with a
great many other hot spots hardly enough to warrant a 79-day bombing
campaign. It is also interesting to note that the UN tribunal
indictement of Milosovic of May 1999, cites only one incident of deaths
before the bombing -- the infamous Racak incident -- which itself is
challenged by French journalists who were on the ground there and
suspect a frame-up involving US General Walker who sounded the alarm.
The Kosovo "war" reveals disturbing evidence of how lies and duplicity
can mislead us into accepting things that we instinctively know to be
wrong. Jamie Shea and other NATO apologists have lied to us about the
bombing. The sad thing is that most of the Canadian media, and our
political representatives have accepted without question what has been
told to us by NATO and our own foreign affairs spokesmen.
3: An Unecessary War
perhaps the most serious charge against the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
is that it was unnecessary. NATO chose bombing over diplomacy. Violence
over negotiation. NATO's leaders tried to convince us that dropping tons
of bombs on Yugoslavia was serving humanitarian purposes.
A UN Security Council resolution of October 1998 accepted by Yugoslavia,
authorized over 1300 monitors from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] to enter Kosovo and try to de-escalate the
fighting. from the accounts of a number of these monitors their task was
successful. While cease-fire violations continued on both sides the
intensity of the armed struggle was considerably abated.
The former Czech foreign minister, Jiri Dienstbier, and Canada's own
Rollie Keith of Vancouver -- both monitors for the OSCE on the ground in
Kosovo -- have publicly stated that there were no international refugees
over the last five months of the OSCE's presence in Kosovo and the
number of internally displaced only amounted to a few thousands in the
weeks leading up to the bombing.
The OSCE mission demonstrated that diplomacy and negotiation might well
have resolved the Kosovo problem without resorting to the use of force.
It was the failure of the United States to accept any flexibility in its
dealing with Belgrade in the weeks leading up to the war that spelled
diplomatic failure.
The adamant refusal of the USA to involve either the Russians or the
United Nations in the negotiations. The refusal to allow any other
intermediary to deal with Milosovic and finally the imposition of the
Rambouillet ultimatum which was clearly designed to ensure that
Yugoslavia had no choice but to refuse its insulting terms.
It is now generally accepted by those who have seen the Rambouillet
agreement that no sovereign state could have agreed to its conditions.
The insistence of allowing acess to all of Yugoslavia by NATO forces and
the demand that a referendum on autonomy be held within three years
guaranteed a Serbian rejection.
The Serbian parliament did, however, on March 23, state a willingness to
"examine the character and extent of an international presence in Kosovo
immediately after the signing of an autonomy accord acceptable to all
national communities in Kosovo, the local Serb minority included. " The
United States was not interested in pursuing this offer. NATO needed its
war. NATO's formal commitment to resolve international disputes by
peaceful means was thrown out the window.
The Rambouillet document itself was not easily obtained from NATO
sources. The chairman of the defence committee of the French National
Assembly asked for a copy shortly after the bombing commenced but was
not given a copy until a few days before the UN peace treaty was signed.
I hope that members of this committee have a copy to look at and will be
able to find out when and if Canada was informed of its conditions.
4: NATO's campaign a total failure
We have been asked to believe that the war in Kosovo was fought for
human rights. Indeed the president of the Czech republic received a
standing ovation in this House of Commons when he stated that Kosovo was
the first war fought for human values rather than territory. I suspect
even President Havel would have second thoughts about that statement now
that a large part of Yugoslav territory has in effect been handed over
to the Albanians.
The war allegedly to stop ethnic cleansing has not done so. Serbs
Gypsies, Jews, and Slav muslims are being forced out of Kosovo under the
eyes of 45,000 NATO troops. Murder and anarchy reigns supreme in Kosovo
as the KLA and criminal elements have taken charge. The United Nations
admits failure to control the situation and warns Serbs not to return.
The war allegedly to restore stability to the Balkans has done the
opposite.Yugoslavia's neighbors are in a state of turmoil. Montenegro is
on the edge of civil war. Macedonia is now worried that Kosovo has shown
the way for its own sizeable Albanian minority to demand
self-determination. Albania has been encouraged to strive harder to
fulfill its dream of greater Albania. Serbia itself has been ruined
economically. Embittered and disillusioned it feels betrayed and
alienated from the western democracies.
The illegal and unecessary war has alienated the other great nuclear
powers, Russia and China. These countries are now convinced that the
west cannot be trusted. NATO expansion eastward is seen as an aggressive
and hostile threat and will be answered by an increase in the nuclear
arsenal of both nations. After Kosovo who can with any conviction
convince them that NATO is purely a defensive alliance dedicated to
peace and to upholding the principles of the United Nations?
More seriously the NATO bombing has destroyed NATO's credibility. NATO
stood for more than just a powerful military organization. It stood for
peace; the rule of law, and democratic institutions. The bombing of
Yugoslavia threw all of that out the window.
No longer can NATO stand on the moral high ground. Its action in
Yugoslavia revealed it to be an aggressive military machine prepared to
ignore international law and intervene with deadly force in the internal
affairs of any state with whose actions or behaviour it does not agree.
5: Conclusions
There are those who believe that the long standing principle of state
sovereignty can be over ruled when human rights violations are taking
place in a country. Until Kosovo the ground rules for such intervention
called for Security Council authority before such action could be taken.
Apologists for NATO argue that it was unlikely Security Council
authority could have been obtained because of the veto power of China or
Russia. So it would appear rather than even try to get consent NATO took
upon itself the powers of the Security Council. I am not sure we should
all be comfortable with this development.
Undoubtedly there may be times when such intervention is justified and
immediately Rwanda comes to mind -- but intervention for humanitarian
reasons is a dangerous concept. Because who is to decide when to take
such action and under whose authority? Hitler intervened in
Czechoslovakia because he claimed the human rights of the Sudeten
Germans were being violated. Those who advocate a change in the current
rules for intervention are free to do so but until the rules change
should we not all obey the ones that still have legitimacy?
NATO made a serious mistake in Kosovo. Its bombing campaign was not only
an unmitigated disaster but it changed fundamentally the very nature and
purposes of the alliance. Does article 1 of the NATO treaty still stand?
Does NATO still undertake to settle any international disputes in which
it may become involved by peaceful means? Do the NATO countries still
undertake to refrain in their international relations from the threat or
use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the united
nations?
Kosovo should serve as a warning call that Canadian democracy needs a
shot in the arm to wake it up to the realities that foreign policy is
important--important because as happened one day last march Canadians
can wake up and find they are at war. Canadian pilots were bombing
Serbia. yet there was no declaration of war. The Canadian parliament was
not consulted. The majority of the Canadian people had no idea where
Kosovo was -- let alone understand why our aircraft were bombing cities
in a fellow nation state that had been a staunch ally during two world
wars.
It was not only Yugoslav soverignty that was violated by NATO's illegal
action. Canadian sovereignty was also abused. Canada had become involved
in a war without any member of the Canadian parliament or the Canadian
people being consulted.the ultimate expression of a nation's sovereignty
is the right to declare war. NATO abrogated this right.
If it essential that we give up some of our sovereignty as the price we
pay for membership in global institutons such as NATO then it is
mandatory that such institutions follow their own rules, respect thrule
of law, and operate within the generally accepted framework of the
United Nations charter. This NATO did not do. It is for this reason I
would suggest your committee must ask some tough questions about the
nature of Canada's involvement in the Kosovo war.
(James Bisset is the former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia, who was
recently physically barred by the Canadian government from entering the
embassy in Belgrade.)
===
Testimony by S. Trifkovic, House of Commons SCFAIT, Ottawa, 17/02/2000
GEO-POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO
Testimony by S. Trifkovic
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
House of Commons, Ottawa, February 17, 2000
The war waged by NATO against Yugoslavia in 1999 marks a significant
turning point, not only for America and NATO but also for “the West” as
a
whole. The principle of state sovereignty, and of the rule of law
itself, has
been subverted in the name of an allegedly humanitarian ideology. Facts
have been converted into fiction, and even the fictions invoked to
justify
the act are giving up all pretense to credibility. Old systems for the
protection of
national liberties, political, legal and economic, have now been
subverted into vehicles for their destruction. But so far from
demonstrating
the vigor of Western ruling elites in their ruthless pursuit of an
ideology of
multi-ethnic democracy and international human rights, the whole Balkan
entanglement may be as a disturbing revelation of those ruling elites’
moral and cultural decay. I shall therefore devote my remarks to the
consequences of the war for the emerging new international system, and –
ultimately – for the security and stability of the Western world itself.
Almost a decade separated ‘Desert Storm’ from ‘Humanitarian Bombing.’ In
1991 the Maastricht Treaty was signed, and the rest of the decade has
brought the gradual usurpation of traditional European sovereignty by a
corporate-controlled Brussels regime of unelected bureaucrats who now
feel
bold enough to tell Austria how to run its domestic affairs. On this
side
of the ocean we had the passage of NAFTA and in 1995 the Uruguay round
of GATT gave us the WTO. The nineties were thus a decade of gradual
foundation laying for the new international order. The denigration of
sovereign nationhood hypnotized the public into applauding the
dismantling
of the very institutions that offered the only hope of representative
empowerment. The process is sufficiently far advanced for President
Clinton to claim (“A Just and Necessary War,” NYT, May 23, 1999) that,
had
it not bombed Serbia, "NATO itself would have been discredited for
failing
to defend the very values that give it meaning."
The war was in fact both unjust and unnecessary, but the significance of
Mr. Clinton’s statement is in that he has openly declared null and void
the international system in existence ever since the Peace of Westphalia
(1648). It was an imperfect and often violated system, but nevertheless
it
provided the basis for international discourse from which only the
assorted red and black totalitarians have openly deviated. Since 24
March
1999 this is being replaced by the emerging Clinton Doctrine, a carbon
copy of the Brezhnev doctrine of limited sovereignty that supposedly
justified the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Like his
Soviet predecessor, Mr. Clinton used an abstract and ideologically
loaded
notion - that of universal “human rights” - as the pretext to violate
the law and
tradition. The Clinton Doctrine is rooted in the bipartisan hubris of
Washington’s foreign policy “elite,” tipsy on its own heady brew of the
“world’s last and only superpower.” Legal formalities are passé, and
moral
imperatives - never sacrosanct in international affairs - are replaced
by
a cynical exercise in situational morality, dependent on an actor’s
position within the superpower ’s value system.
And so imperial high-mindedness is back, but in a new form. Old
religion, national flags and nationalist rivalry play no part. But the
yearning
for excitement and importance, that took the British to Peking, Kabul
and
Khartoum, the French to Fashoda and Saigon, and the Americans to Manila,
has now re-emerged. As a result a war was waged on an independent nation
because it refused foreign troops on its soil. All other justifications
are post facto rationalizations. The powers that waged that war have
aided
and abetted secession by an ethnic minority, secession that – once
formally
effected - will render many European borders tentative. In the context
of
any other European nation the story would sound surreal. The Serbs,
however, have been demonized to the point where they must not presume to
be treated like others.
But the fact that the West could do anything it chose to the Serbs does
not explain why it should. It is hardly worth refuting, yet again, the
feeble excuses for intervention. “Humanitarian” argument has been
invoked.
But what about Kashmir, Sudan, Uganda, Angola, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka,
Algeria? Properly videotaped and Amanpourized, each would be good for a
dozen “Kosovos”. There was no “genocide,” of course. Compared to the
killing fields of the Third World Kosovo was an unremarkable,
low-intensity conflict, uglier perhaps than Northern Ireland a decade
ago,
but much less so than Kurdistan. A total of 2,108 fatalities on all
sides
in Kosovo until June 1999, in a province of over two million, favorably
compares to the annual homicide tally of 450 in Washington D.C.
(population 600,000). Counting corpses is poor form, but bearing in mind
the brutalities and “ethnic cleansings” ignored by NATO - or even
condoned, notably in Croatia in 1995, or in eastern Turkey - it is clear
that “Kosovo” is not about universal principles. In Washington Abdullah
Ocalan is a terrorist, but KLA are freedom fighters.
What was it about, then? “Regional stability”, we were told next: if we
didn ’t stop the conflict it would engulf Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, the
whole of the Balkans in fact, with much of Europe to follow. But the
cure
- bombing Serbia into detaching an ethnically pure-Albanian Kosovo to
the
KLA narco-mafia, under NATO’s benevolent eye – will unleash a chain
reaction throughout the ex-Communist half of Europe. Its first victim
will be
the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, where the restive Albanian
minority comprises a third of the total population. And will the
Pristina
model not be demanded by the Hungarians in Rumania (more numerous
than Kosovo’s Albanians), and in southern Slovakia? What will stop the
Russians in the Ukraine, in Moldova, in Estonia, and in northern
Kazakhstan from following suit? Or the Serbs and Croats in the
chronically
unstable and unviable Dayton-Bosnia? And finally, when the Albanians get
their secession on the grounds of their numbers, will the same apply
when
the Latinos in southern California or Texas eventually outnumber their
Anglo
neighbors and start demanding bilingual statehood, leading to
reunification
with Mexico? Are Russia and China to threaten the United States with
bombing if Washington does not comply?
The outcome in Kosovo, for now, is in line with a deeply flawed model of
the new Balkan order that seeks to satisfy the aspirations of all ethnic
groups in former Yugoslavia - except the Serbs. This is a disastrous
strategy for all concerned. Even if forced into submission now, the
Serbs
shall have no stake in the ensuing order of things. Sooner or later they
will fight to recover Kosovo. The Carthaginian peace imposed on the
Serbs
today will cause chronic imbalance and strife for decades to come. It
will
entangle the West in a Balkan quagmire, and guarantee a new war as soon
as Mr. Clinton’s successors lose interest in underwriting the ill-gotten
gains
of America’s Balkan clients.
NATO has won, for now, but “the West” has lost. The war has undermined
the very principles that constitute the West, namely the rule of law.
The
notion of “human rights” can never provide a basis for either the rule
of
law or morality. “Universal human rights,” detached from any rootedness
in
time or place, will be open to the latest whim of outrage or the latest
fad for victimhood. The misguided effort to transform NATO from a
defensive alliance into a mini-U.N. with “out-of-area” self-appointed
responsibilities, is a certain road to more Bosnias and more Kosovos
down
the line. Now that the Clintonistas and NATO were “successful” in
Kosovo,
we can expect new and even more dangerous adventures elsewhere. But
next time around the Russians, Chinese, Indians and others will know
better than to buy the slogans about free markets and democratic human
rights, and the future of “the West” in the eventually inevitable
conflict may
be uncertain. Canada should ponder the implications of this course, and
gather the courage to say “no” to global interventionism – for its own
sake,
and for the sake of peace and stability in the world. Is it really
obliged to
watch in undissenting submission as a long, dangerous military
experiment
is mounted which will lead us to a real war for Central Asia? Will it
soon be
'defending' new KLAs against 'genocide' along Russia’s Islamic rim,
among
ethnic groups as yet unknown to the Western press that can provide a
series of excuses for intervention, all as good, that is as bad, as the
Kosovo
Albanian excuse?
Was Canada’s imperial history so sweet that it must seek another
imperial command-center, in Washington, to compensate for the loss of
London? Does Canada today feel comfortable with the emerging truth: that
it has less freedom of choice about war and peace than it did as a free
Dominion under the old Statute of Westminster? For there can be no doubt
that the war NATO was fighting in April and May 1999 was not intended,
or
willed, by anything which can be called the Alliance, when the use of
force
was plotted inside the Beltway in 1998.
It is worth asking how far this re-acquisition of minor imperial status
-
by Canada and other NATO members - is creating a media-led political
process that leaves national decision-making meaningless, beyond a
formal
cheer-leading function. It is also worth asking how it came to be that
the
chief war aim of NATO was 'keeping the Alliance together', what
disciplines it implies, and how easily, and bloodily, it can be
repeated.
The moral absolutism that was invoked by the proponents of intervention
as
a substitute for rational argument can no longer be sustained. Genuine
dilemmas about our human responsibility for one another must not be used
to reactivate the viral imperialism of the re-extended West. The more
arrogant the new doctrine, the greater the willingness to lie for the
truth. To be capable of “doing something” sustains moral self-respect,
if
we can suppress the thought that we are not so much moral actors as
consumers of predigested choices. At the onset of the Millenium we are
living in a virtual Coliseum where exotic and nasty troublemakers can be
killed not by lions but by the magical flying machines of the Imperium.
As
the candidates for punishment - or martyrdom - are pushed into the
arena,
many denizens of “the West” react to the show as imperial consumers, not
as citizens with a parliamentary right and a democratic duty to question
the proceedings.
May the results of your present inquiry prove me wrong. Thank you.
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: Peter Bein [mailto:pbein@...]
>>>>Sent: February 10, 2000 4:16 PM
>>>>To: 'HilchJ@...'
>>>>Subject:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I am urging you that the following individuals be called to testify
before
>>>>the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(SCFAIT)
>>>>as expert witnesses re Canada's role in the conflict and
post-conflict
>>>>developments in Kosovo and Metohija. It is imperative that MPs in
SCAFIT
>>>>hear from and question experts who reflect all sides in this
conflict. The
>>>>MPs are already well acquainted with the perspectives of Canada's
military
>>>>and the Dept of Foreign Affairs, as their views were publicized for
many
>>>>months.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Mr. James Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia,
Bulgaria and
>>>>Albania.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Michael Chossudovsky, professor of economics at the University
of
>>>>Ottawa.
>>>>
>>>>Mr. Roland Keith from Vancouver, B.C.,who was stationed in Kosovo
as a
>>>>monitor with the
>>>>Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Director of Research at the International
Institute
>>of
>>>>Concern for Public Health in Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>Prof. Dr. Hari Sharma, professor emeritus of chemistry at the
University
>>of
>>>>Waterloo, Ontario.
>>>>
>>>>Prof. Dr. Michael Mandel, professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law
School ,
>>>>York
>>>>University, Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Serge Trifkovic, an author, former university professor,
historian,
>>>>foreign affairs editor of the "Chronicles - Magazine of American
>>>>Culture".
>>>>
>>>>Mrs. Radmila Swann, a retired federal public servant and a founding
member
>>>>of
>>>>the Ottawa Heritage Society.
>>>>
>>>>Mr. Nikola Rajkovic, a law student and a founding member of the
Centre for
>>>>Peace in the Balkans in Toronto.
>>>>
>>>>I trust that testimonies of these people will add a great value to
the
>>>>hearings.
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Peter Bein, P.Eng.
>>>>Vancouver B.C.
>>>>tel. +604 822 1685
>>>>fax +604 822 3033
>>>>e-mail: pbein@...
>>>>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
VIVA IL RE D'ITALIA E D'ALBANIA
S.A.R. il Principe Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, partito da Ginevra con
un volo privato, in qualita' di rappresentante dell'Ordine dei Santi
Maurizio e Lazzaro, antico ordine dinastico dei Savoia, si e' recato in
Albania per adottare 600 kosovari:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/kosovo.gif
Scortato dai Carabinieri del Regno, ha visitato i campi profughi:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo.jpg
dove ha contribuito alle operazioni di soccorso umanitario organizzate
nell'ambito della Missione Arcobaleno:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo2.jpg
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo3.jpg
Peccato pero' che il giovine abbia una nonna serba... Cosi' tanto un bel
ragazzo...
(Fonte: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8261/ )
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
S.A.R. il Principe Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, partito da Ginevra con
un volo privato, in qualita' di rappresentante dell'Ordine dei Santi
Maurizio e Lazzaro, antico ordine dinastico dei Savoia, si e' recato in
Albania per adottare 600 kosovari:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/kosovo.gif
Scortato dai Carabinieri del Regno, ha visitato i campi profughi:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo.jpg
dove ha contribuito alle operazioni di soccorso umanitario organizzate
nell'ambito della Missione Arcobaleno:
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo2.jpg
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/campo3.jpg
Peccato pero' che il giovine abbia una nonna serba... Cosi' tanto un bel
ragazzo...
(Fonte: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8261/ )
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Protesta formale della RF di Jugoslavia per il comportamento dei
soldati KFOR durante le perquisizioni a Mitrovica
* Scambio di accuse tra RF di Jugoslavia e NATO ("The Times of
India"/Reuters)
* Pesanti critiche dalla Cina all'atteggiamento di KFOR/UNMIK in Kosmet
* Comunicato del Partito Democratico della Serbia sull'appoggio
statunitense all'irredentismo panalbanese
* Italia: Comunicato di Voce Operaia sulla situazione a Mitrovica
* C'ERANO UNA VOLTA... "Circassians in Kosovo Polje in the Yugoslav
Federation" - storia sconosciuta di una delle comunita' nazionali
spazzate via dal Kosmet per mano dell'UCKFOR
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
YUGOSLAVIA LODGES SHARP PROTEST WITH UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Yugoslavia lodged a sharp protest with the United Nations Security
Council late Monday on the occasion of the latest dramatic developments
in Kosovska Mitrovica which have been caused by ethnic Albanian
terrorists, but also members of the international force KFOR with their
arrogant behavour and brutal action of house-searching Serb districts of
this town in Serbia's Kosovo province.
The letter, sent to Security Council President Arnoldo Listre, the
Argentinian Ambassador, by the head of the Yugoslav mission to the
United Nations, Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, most strongly protested
and demanded that the council take immediate measures toward a
normalization of the situation in this town, immediately to curb the
terrorism of ethnic Albanians, vandalism, and lynching and liquidation
of Serbs and other non-Albanians.
The very course of events and building up of tensions confirm that this
is a pre-conceived action in which ethnic Albanians of Kosovska
Mitrovica, led by terrorists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army,
were joined by thousands of ethnic Albanians who arrived from Pristina,
the letter said.
It is perfectly clear that the concentrated attack was planned with the
objective of banishing Serbs, Montenegrins, Goranians, Muslims of Slav
extraction, and ethnic Turks from Kosovska Mitrovica, the only remaining
multi-national and multi-confessional town in Kosovo, in order to
complete the process of ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians who live in
isolation in enclaves in this Serbian province, said the letter.
Yugoslavia has already warned the Security Council on previous occasions
against the fiasco and inability of KFOR and UNMIK to realize their
obligations stemming from Resolution 1244, as well as the
Military-Technical Agreement.
In spite of Yugoslavia's warning and the fact that most of the Serb and
non-Albanian population have already been banished from Kosovo,
witnessed by these very same security forces and the civilian mission,
the KFOR and UNMIK have not only failed to do anything to prevent the
terrorism of ethnic Albanians and acts of vandalism, but have very often
been accomplices in these heinous acts.
The latest aggravation of the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica is due to
the totally unprovoked arrogant behaviour of KFOR towards Serbs in that
town, said the letter, proceeding to describe the destructive and brutal
behaviour of KFOR U.S. and German troops who broke down doors and
windows on schools and private houses in their house-search.
The action had evidently been planned in advance. U.S. troops arrived
from Gnjilane, and among them were ethnic Albanians in KFOR U.S.
uniforms, who were recognized by the local population.
Press representatives also appeared to be on the spot, reporting in
Albanian, as well as several crew of foreign TV stations. Leaflets were
dropped from a helicopter, urging Serbs to surrender their allegedly
concealed weapons.
The latest abuse of the about 4,500 Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica is yet
more proof of the political double standards of the KFOR mission, warned
the letter sent by Yugoslavia to the Security Council.
---
Times of India
Wednesday 23 February 2000
Belgrade dismisses West's allegations on Kosovo
By Julijana Mojsilovic
BELGRADE: Yugoslavia dismissed Western officials' allegations that it
was stoking tensions in and around Kosovo and accused them on Tuesday of
supporting Albanian "terrorists" in the province.
"These people are behind the terrorism and separatism of Kosovo
Albanians. They have created the Kosovo Liberation Army and a crisis in
the Balkans to expand NATO to the region," Yugoslav Information Minister
Goran Matic said.
He was speaking a day after battles broke out between Western
peacekeepers and rioters when thousands of ethnic Albanians tried to
storm across a bridge in the centre of the flashpoint Kosovo city of
Mitrovica to reach the province's largest remaining Serb enclave.
On Sunday, NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping troops clashed with Mitrovica's
Serbs, angered by the troops' search of homes for weapons following
shootings and grenade attacks which killed nine people, both Serbs and
Albanians.
Richard Holbrooke, US ambassador to the UN, said in New York on Monday
that trouble was being fomented by the Yugoslav government, which was
forced by last year's NATO air war to surrender control of Kosovo.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said on Monday the military
alliance was also monitoring a Yugoslav troop build-up in other ethnic
Albanian areas of southern Serbia and would not tolerate a new conflict
there.
NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark, visiting Albania, also
expressed concern about the area.
Matic counterattacked by accusing Holbrooke, Robertson and Clark of
wanting to expel remaining Serbs from Mitrovica in order to gain control
of a mine near the city, saying they were "in a gold rush".
"The three are demanding from ethnic Albanians to expel the remaining
non-Albanians from Mitrovica in order to get hold of the richest gold
mine in the Balkans," Matic said.
But it would not succeed, he said, adding that "Serbia is not
California".
He was referring to the Trepca lead and zinc mining complex, which
exploits ore also containing gold and silver. The complex is situated
north of Mitrovica in a Serb-dominated area. Serbia still controls four
of some 17 Trepca mines in Kosovo.
"These people are now doing everything to cover up their crimes," Matic
said of the leaders of NATO countries which took part in the
March-to-June air campaign against Belgrade.
The state news agency Tanjug reported that Yugoslavia lodged a sharp
protest with the UN Security Council late on Monday. "Yugoslavia has
already warned the Security Council on previous occasions against the
fiasco and inability of KFOR and the UN mission in Kosovo to realise
their obligations stemming from resolution 1244 as well as the
Military-Technical Agreement," it quoted the Yugoslav letter as saying.
(Reuters)
---
www.serbia-info.com/news
"Jiefan Jun Bao": West stirs ethnic Albanians up against Serbs
February 23, 2000
Concern for escalation of violation in Kosovo and
Metohija
Beijing, February 22nd - Chinese military daily
"Jiefan Jun Ban" condemned today "incapability of KFOR
and UNMIK in Kosovo" and appealed to the world
community to "prevent ethnic Albanian terrorism under
the auspices of the UN".
Reacting to "the latest separatist actions of ethnic
Albanian separatists in Kosovo, the military daily
warned that "West deliberately stirs up anger of
ethnic Albanians towards the Serbs in
Kosovo-Metohija".
"It is necessary to create the conditions for
political solution of Kosovo issue with full respect
of sovereignty and territorial integrity of FRY and
consistent implementation of the UN Security Council's
Resolution 1244", stressed today Chinese
representative for press Ju Ban Tzao, referring to the
latest wave of crime in Kosovo.
"It is obvious that the situation in Kosovo has
deteriorated since the arrival of the UN military and
civil mission last June", stated Ju, stressing this
was preceded by the NATO aggression against
Yugoslavia, headed by the US.
"The use of force against sovereign Yugoslavia not
only violated the UN Charter and the principles of the
international standards, but also turned out to be
utterly dangerous example of interference with the
interior business of a sovereign country" stated Ju,
expressing "China's deep concern regarding the
escalation of violence in Kosovo".
The military daily points out that "the inclined
policy of KFOR and UNMIK exerted pressure on Serbs and
supported ethnic Albanian extremists which created
additional tension in Kosovo".
"Tolerant attitude of KFOR and UNMIK towards extreme
ethnic Albanians now returns as a boomerang to the UN
military and civil mission in Kosovo" says Jiefan Jun
Bao, reminding that terrorist organization KLA is not
disarmed, but only transformed into so-called "Kosovo
Protective Corps".
"The world community insists on the fact that Kosovo
is an inseparable part of Yugoslavia, which
additionally enraged ethnic Albanian extremists due to
their separatist idea on independent Kosovo",
emphasizes the military paper.
Jiefan Jun Bao reminds that Yugoslavia has warned the
UN that the attacks of ethnic Albanian terrorists to
date have already caused tragic consequences and
victims in Kosovo.
Yugoslavia demands that the Security Council urgently
takes most energetic measures in order to immediately
stop the attacks on unprotected Serb population, says
Jiefan Jun Bao.
Bias of West and incapability of KFOR and UNMIK must
change fundamentally their transparent attitude and
consistently implement the Security Council's
Resolution 1244, otherwise they will face a dead-end
situation in inflamed Kosovo, warns the military
paper.
---
>
>Right-and Albright was just in Tirana on February 19 to meet with
>Hashim Thaci.
>http://news.excite.com/photo/img/r/albania/usa/20000219/tir09
>
>
>inf-@... wrote:
>original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/sorabia/?start=3307
>> Albright, Holbrooke and Clark Lead Albanians
>>
>> NATO and Washington have been warning for days that a solution to the
>> problem in Kosovska Mitrovica must be found. Since the exodus of more
>than
>> 200,000 Serbs and the harassment of those who remained in the
>province
>> resolved the Kosovo issue, Washington believes that the only thing to
>be
>> done is to cleanse the last significant Serb enclave by expelling the
>Serbs
>> from Mitrovica. It is important to note that the Mitrovica enclave is
>the
>> one linking Kosovo with the rest of Serbia. Washington is apparently
>> determined to carry out a U.S. plan in which only an ethnically
>"pure,"
>> Albanian Kosovo can be considered truly multi-ethnic.
>>
>> For that purpose, an Albanian march on Mitrovica was organised. Just
>like it
>> promoted several Albanian terrorists and criminals to high-ranking
>military
>> officers and diplomats in Rambouillet only to demilitarise them later
>and
>> turn them into commanders, political leaders and state dignitaries,
>> Washington has now decided to head the Albanian march on Mitrovica.
>Its true
>> goal is to ethnically cleanse the town of the Serbs rather than
>liberate it.
>>
>> The Albanian masses involved in the campaign on Mitrovica were not
>led by
>> Albanian criminal politicians like Hashim Thaqi, but rather the very
>top of
>> the U.S. diplomatic and military elite. After all that happened in
>Kosovo
>> before the eyes of the whole wide word, Madeleine Albright termed as
>> "tragedy" the events in Mitrovica only. Richard Holbrooke said that
>> Mitrovica was the hottest spot in Europe, and Wesley Clark guaranteed
>that
>> NATO would take "appropriate measures" to avoid the final division of
>> Mitrovica. Thereby, the trio making Washington's iron fist confirmed
>that it
>> was behind the Albanian march and barbarism of U.S. soldiers of KFOR
>in the
>> north of Mitrovica. Tomorrow, it can easily support another "Flash"
>or
>> "Storm" thanks to which Mitrovica would no longer be a divided town.
>To say
>> the truth, it would be a Serbless town, just like the whole of Kosovo
>after
>> all. Those on the Serb side failing to see this are both politically
>blind
>> and irresponsible.
>>
>> Belgrade, February 22, 2000
>>
>> Information Service of the Democratic Party of Serbia
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Group Moderator: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.
>page at http://www.egroups.com/list/sorabia
>for more informations about current situation in Serbia
http://www.sorabia.home.dhs.org
>
>
---
Comunicato di VOCE OPERAIA
22 febbraio
Uno spettacolo raccapricciante si è consumato a Kosovska Mitrovica sotto
gli occhi di chi li aveva aperti. Issando bandiere albanesi, Nato, UE, e
USA, i seguaci dell¹UCK (frazione Taci) hanno inscenato una marcia per
sradicare dal Kosovo non soli i serbi, ma tutte quelle minoranze,
nazionali e politiche, che rifiutano l¹albanizzazione forzata. Non si
tratta soltanto di ³pulizia etnica², abbiamo a che fare con una pulizia
sociale e politica, di una rappresaglia fanatica dal chiaro segno
reazionario e filo-occidentale. Ci vengono in mente tutti quei pagliacci
di sinistra che durante i bombardamenti NATO, con la scusa di difendere
i diritti albanesi, hanno sostenuto l¹UCK come legittima forza di
liberazione nazionale considerando, proprio come i regimi imperialisti,
il governo di Belgrado come il nemico numero uno. Allora dicevamo a
questo signori che la maggioranza degli albanesi del Kosovo, volenti o
no, erano un popolo di Crumiri (Crumiri, per chi non lo sapesse, erano
qui tunisini schierati coi colonialisti francesi durante la lotta per
l¹indipendenza) i quali, se avessero avuto la meglio, non avrebbero
affatto costruito un Nazione, ma un casino coloniale sotto diretto
protettorato NATO. Questi signori hanno avuto il ben servito.
Lo diciamo così, tanto per la cronaca, non perché speriamo in un loro
ripensamento. L¹autocritica non presuppone solo l¹intelligenza, ma
l¹onestà intellettuale, qualità che hanno lasciato sfracellare al suolo,
assieme alle bombe all¹uranio impoverito sganciate sulla Iugoslavia dai
bombardieri occidentali.
Dichiarazione di Voce Operaia
Sin dal giugno scorso, subito dopo gli Accordi di pace di Kumanovo, le
milizie dell¹UCK, sotto l¹ombrello e l¹indifferenza delle truppe
NATO-Kfor, hanno dato una sistematica caccia ai cittadini serbi, rom,
gorani (e albanesi anti-UCK), provocando la loro espulsione in massa dal
Kosovo. Questa vendetta, che ha gia¹ provocato centinaia di morti
e migliaia di feriti, contrariamente a quanto affermano i reticenti e
pudici mass media, non e¹ soltanto una ³pulizia etnica², èla seconda
fase della guerra civile che contrappone il nazionalismo kosovaro
filo-NATO e filo-USA a TUTTI coloro che si rifiutano di sottomettersi
alla supremazia dei nazionalisti più fanatici e di trasformare il
Kosovo e la Iugoslavia in protettorati della NATO.
Costretti a vivere in piccole enclaves, i serbi sono stati costretti,
anche a causa della complicita¹ delle truppe occidentali con i miliziani
dell¹UCK, ad autodifendersi per non soccombere. Nelle ultime settimane
la pressione dei nazionalisti albanesi oltranzisti si è concentrata su
Kosovska Mitrovica dove vivono, nel settore nord, assieme alla comunità
serba, rom, albanesi e altre minoranze. Queste comunita¹ dopo essere
state sottoposte ad ogni tipo di vessazione e umiliazione, sono state
fatte bersaglio di attacchi armati sanguinosi che hanno causato, nelle
ultime settimane, decine di morti. Le truppe Kfor hanno lasciato correre
e sono intervenute in forze solo quando gruppi armati serbi hanno
inflitto colpi pesantissimi alle forze UCK decidendo la chiusura del
ponte che collega le due parti della citta¹. La comunita¹ serba non
puo¹ essere lasciata sola: piaccia o no essa e¹ ora un avamposto non
solo cotro l¹UCK, ma pure contro l¹occupante NATO!
E¹ una trincea nella lotta contro l¹imperialismo!
Intenzionati a spazzare via ogni serbo dal Kosovo, i centri dirigenti
dell¹UCK dell¹ala di Taci, da Pristina, hanno cosi¹ ordinato una marcia
su Kosovska Mitrovica con l¹obbiettivo di occupare la parte nord della
citta¹. I manifestanti, tanto per far capire con chi stanno e in chi
sperano, innalzavano numerose bandiere degli USA, della NATO e della
Gran Bretagna e gridavano slogan invocando un piu¹ deciso impegno
nord-americano in Kosovo per fare piazza pulita dei serbi.
Nel momento in cui la marcia si avvicinava a Kosovska Mitrovica, le
truppe NATO sono state poste nella massima allerta, anche perche¹ quelle
iugoslave avevano fatto altrettanto ammassandosi ai bordi del Kosovo. Le
notizie dell¹ultima ora segnalano che la marcia degli albanesi,
attestatasi sul ponte oltre il quale centinaia di serbi formavano un
presidio, ha fatto dietrofront anche grazie all¹interposizione delle
truppe NATO-Kfor. Il peggio e¹ stato dunque per ora evitato. Ma solo
per ora.
E¹ infatti evidente che in Kosovo la NATO non ha mantenuto alcuna sua
promessa: non c¹è pace, non c¹è alcuna convivenza,
non c¹è alcuna tolleranza multietnica. Cio¹ a causa anzitutto del
tentativo degli albanesi UCK di cacciare tutti gli oppositori, tra cui i
serbi. E non ci sara¹ mai fino a quando la NATO continuera¹ a
sostenerli. E¹ infatti nell¹interesse della NATO che il Kosovo sia
ingovernabile, cosi¹ si potra¹ giusitificare un¹occupazione militare
permanente.
E questo e¹ l¹altro fattore devastante: la NATO non vuole rispettare gli
Accordi di pace (che prevedono che il Kosovo sia riconsegnato alle
autorita¹ iugoslave). Cio¹ portera¹ ad una nuova esplosione del
conflitto, poiche¹ il governo di Belgrado, almeno fino a quando non
cadra¹ in mano alle opposizioni filo-occidentali, e¹ deciso a far
rispettare gli accordi del giugno 1999.
Non ci sara¹ pace nei Balcani fino a quando la NATO vorra¹ imporre il
suo dominio!
PRIMO COMPITO:
RISPETTARE GLI ACCORDI DI KUMANOVO! FUORI LA NATO DALLA IUGOSLAVIA E
DAI BALCANI!
Non ci sara¹ pace fino a quando ogni nazione non avrà dignità e il
diritto di autodeterminarsi su basi
democratiche!
SECONDO COMPITO:
AUTODETERMINAZIONE IN UNA FEDERAZIONE ANTIMPERIALISTA!
Ci sara¹ pace solo quando saliranno al potere governi operai e popolari
e tutte le cricche capitaliste
saranno spazzate via!
TERZO COMPITO:
LOTTARE PER IL SOCIALISMO!
(per contatti: voceoperaia@...)
=============================================================
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Predrag Tosic <p-tosic@...> wrote
> Meaning, basically, of the same origin as the Basques?
You're right, Predrag. Also, the Iberian, pre-Roman, component is still
present in Spanish and
Portuguese (correct me, João, if I am wrong) languages: sounds as the
typical double /RR/, so
unpronounceable for english speaking people, for example.
>
> Frankly, I did tend to believe that most of the NORTH Caucasus
> indigenous peoples were Turkophonic.
You can have a look to this map, about Ethnography in the North
Caucasus.
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/6150/ethno.jpg
>
> What other modern nations/ethnos belong to this group?
You can find Circassians (Cherkess) in Jordan (they are becoming a
powerful lobby group) and
Syria, but no longer in places as Kosovo Polje because they were forced
to leave to the Republic of
Adigeya (their ancestral homeland), inside Russian Federation, "thanks"
Albanian terrorism.
>
I enclose a pretty good article from a good Jordan friend.
------------------------
Circassians in Kosovo Polje in the Yugoslav Federation
The following article was extracted from "Les Tcherkesses du Kosovo
Polje en Yougoslavie" by
Niko Zupanic in The Journal of The International Institute of
Anthropology, the Paris session, first
section. It was translated and edited by Amjad Jaimoukhaf, a Circassian
intellectual from Jordan.
The ethnographers and historians are aware that the homeland of the
Circassians is along the
basin of the Kuban river in Ciscaucasia. They inhabited the
north-western part of the Caucasus.
The Circassians were divided into many tribes that spoke mutually
intelligible dialects:
Natuqwazh, Shapsugh, Abzakh, Bzhadugh, Hatuqwai, Beslanay, Mokhosh,
Temirgoy, Zhanay,
Egherukoy, Ubykh and Kabarday.
Their collective name was probably corrupted by the Turks from the
ancient Greek name
'kerxetai'. In the middle ages, the Russians used to refer to them by
the name Kossogh, which is
related to Kasag, the name by which the Ossetians call the Kabardians,
but also the Circassians
in general. The self designation of the Circassians is Adygha, which is
believed by linguists to be
related to the old name Zyghoy (strabon). It is believed that the
'Iazyghi', who were installed in
the territory between the rivers Tisa (Theiss) and the Danube not long
after the birth of Christ,
were a group of Zyghoy from the Caucasus, which name was transformed in
European Sarmatia by
adding first the prefix a- and then ia-.
The Circassians were until the 13th century a.d. pagan and free. They
were then subjugated by the
Georgians and christianised. In the first half of the 15th century they
overthrew the Georgian yoke,
but they were in continuous battle with the Tatars and they lost their
territory in the north.
Towards the middle of the 16th century the Kuban became their northern
frontier, because in 1570,
Ghirai, the khan of the Tatars, defeated them in a battle on the banks
of middle Kuban and forced
them to embrace Islam. Until that time, the Circassians settlements
stretched northwards to the
river Kama and some scattered groups were even found as far as the mouth
of the don.
The Circassians switched their religious allegiance very easily
according to the circumstances.
They had a superficial knowledge of Christianity and they were a mixture
of semi-pagans,
demi-muslims and some Christians.
The Circassians have always been distinguished by their intrepidity and
equine skills. They strictly
observed a code of hospitality and blood vengeance. The songs and tales
of the east celebrate the
beauty of Circassians maidens.
The Circassians put up a fierce resistance in their war with the
Russians, but they were eventually
defeated in 1864. Many of them were forced to leave their country and
resettle in the ottoman
empire: in Syria, Asia minor and the Balkan peninsula. Only a few
remained in their homeland,
about 110,000 people.
The majority of the Circassians who were established in the Balkan
peninsula were sent by the
ottoman authorities to the frontiers of the ancient duchy of Serbia to
reinforce its position there
and to terrorise the Serbs. During that time the Circassians were
established in Kosovo Polje
where the author visited them in 1924 and 1929. He counted about fifty
families, or about 250
people, for the majority had left for Asia minor and Syria.
The Circassians are very interesting for the Serbs, because the first
bearers of the name Serb
were aboriginal in the Caucasus, probably Circassians who crossed the
don at the time of the great
Sarmatian migration, together with the Ants, the Zichi (Kissi), the
Chorvats, the Vals, etc. They
co-mingled with the Slavs and established the first tribal
organisations. Undoubtedly these
Caucaso-sarmatian horsemen were assimilated in the mass of the Slav
population, but the names
of the tribes and the primitive structure of the state still exist to
this day.
>From their original Slav homeland at the confluence of the upper and middle Dniepr and of the
Pripet and the Boug, the Serbs immigrated to the confluence of the
middle Elbe and the Saale,
whence a group, which had a military organisation, resettled in Illyria
[NOTE from Javier: it's
pathetic the way Kosovo Albanian are trying to fake History, claiming
themselves to be
"descendants of the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Dardanians". See
http://www.unpo.org/member/kosova/kosova.html ] It was probably in 626
a.d., when
Constantinopla was besieged by the Avars and the Persians, that
Hercules, the Byzantine emperor
implored Samo, the Grand Duke of the Slavs, for help. The Croats and the
Serbs moved to the
Balkan peninsula, attacked the Avars from behind, delivered the Slavs
(Yugoslavs) who were
living there and saved Constantinopla, the Byzantine empire and eastern
Christendom.
After defeating the Avars, the Serbs established themselves in the
interior of Illyria at the lower
end of the indigenous Slavs. At their arrival in Illyria, the Serbs
spoke the same language as the
Serbs of Lusace, but being fewer in number than the native population,
they were linguistically
assimilated and they lost their north-west Slavic language.
The Circassians, who used to be one of the three principal nations in
the Caucasus, speak a
Japhetic language, which is not related to any other language group.
This means that they are not
Aryan, since these speak Indo-European languages. They may be allied to
the Basques in the
Pyrenees, who, before the advent of the Indo-Europeans, formed one
section of an organic chain
of related nations that stretched from Spain to the Caucasus. Those
nations were the Iberians, the
Legurs, the Etruscans, the Rets, the Pelasgians (an ancient pre-Aryan
race, which used to be
widely spread over the coasts and islands of the eastern Mediterranean
and Aegean, and believed
to have occupied Greece before the Hellenes), the Kars, the
Cappadochians, the Amazons (a race
of female warriors alleged to have existed in Scythia) , the Khalybs,
the Colchians, etc. These
peoples were violently replaced by the Indo-Europeans.
The circassians in Kosovo Polje are to be found in the following
villages: Gornje Stanovce, Donje
Stanovce, Velika Reka and Milosevo. Before the Turko-Serbian war of
1877-1878, there were
about 12,000 Circassians in the region. After the war the overwhelming
majority immigrated to
Syria and Asia minor. In 1912 and 1918 more people moved out, and the
author estimated that there
were only 250 circassians in the province by 1929. The present
population is estimated at 1,000.
References:
1. Niko Zupanic, 'Les Origines des Serbes', the origins of the Serbs.
Second session of the
International Institute of anthropology, pp. 227-229. Paris, 1926.
2. Niko Zupanic, 'Bela Srbija'. Zagreb, 1922; Les Serbes a Srbciste
(Macedoine), au vii siecle.
Extrait du Byzantion, t. Iv, p. 277-280. Liege, 1929.
3. T. R. Djordjevic, 'Cerkezi u Nasoj Zemlji', the circassians on our
territory. Glasnik Skopskog
Naucnog Drustva, t. Iii, p. 143. Skoplje, 1928.
------------
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
soldati KFOR durante le perquisizioni a Mitrovica
* Scambio di accuse tra RF di Jugoslavia e NATO ("The Times of
India"/Reuters)
* Pesanti critiche dalla Cina all'atteggiamento di KFOR/UNMIK in Kosmet
* Comunicato del Partito Democratico della Serbia sull'appoggio
statunitense all'irredentismo panalbanese
* Italia: Comunicato di Voce Operaia sulla situazione a Mitrovica
* C'ERANO UNA VOLTA... "Circassians in Kosovo Polje in the Yugoslav
Federation" - storia sconosciuta di una delle comunita' nazionali
spazzate via dal Kosmet per mano dell'UCKFOR
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
YUGOSLAVIA LODGES SHARP PROTEST WITH UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Yugoslavia lodged a sharp protest with the United Nations Security
Council late Monday on the occasion of the latest dramatic developments
in Kosovska Mitrovica which have been caused by ethnic Albanian
terrorists, but also members of the international force KFOR with their
arrogant behavour and brutal action of house-searching Serb districts of
this town in Serbia's Kosovo province.
The letter, sent to Security Council President Arnoldo Listre, the
Argentinian Ambassador, by the head of the Yugoslav mission to the
United Nations, Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, most strongly protested
and demanded that the council take immediate measures toward a
normalization of the situation in this town, immediately to curb the
terrorism of ethnic Albanians, vandalism, and lynching and liquidation
of Serbs and other non-Albanians.
The very course of events and building up of tensions confirm that this
is a pre-conceived action in which ethnic Albanians of Kosovska
Mitrovica, led by terrorists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army,
were joined by thousands of ethnic Albanians who arrived from Pristina,
the letter said.
It is perfectly clear that the concentrated attack was planned with the
objective of banishing Serbs, Montenegrins, Goranians, Muslims of Slav
extraction, and ethnic Turks from Kosovska Mitrovica, the only remaining
multi-national and multi-confessional town in Kosovo, in order to
complete the process of ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians who live in
isolation in enclaves in this Serbian province, said the letter.
Yugoslavia has already warned the Security Council on previous occasions
against the fiasco and inability of KFOR and UNMIK to realize their
obligations stemming from Resolution 1244, as well as the
Military-Technical Agreement.
In spite of Yugoslavia's warning and the fact that most of the Serb and
non-Albanian population have already been banished from Kosovo,
witnessed by these very same security forces and the civilian mission,
the KFOR and UNMIK have not only failed to do anything to prevent the
terrorism of ethnic Albanians and acts of vandalism, but have very often
been accomplices in these heinous acts.
The latest aggravation of the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica is due to
the totally unprovoked arrogant behaviour of KFOR towards Serbs in that
town, said the letter, proceeding to describe the destructive and brutal
behaviour of KFOR U.S. and German troops who broke down doors and
windows on schools and private houses in their house-search.
The action had evidently been planned in advance. U.S. troops arrived
from Gnjilane, and among them were ethnic Albanians in KFOR U.S.
uniforms, who were recognized by the local population.
Press representatives also appeared to be on the spot, reporting in
Albanian, as well as several crew of foreign TV stations. Leaflets were
dropped from a helicopter, urging Serbs to surrender their allegedly
concealed weapons.
The latest abuse of the about 4,500 Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica is yet
more proof of the political double standards of the KFOR mission, warned
the letter sent by Yugoslavia to the Security Council.
---
Times of India
Wednesday 23 February 2000
Belgrade dismisses West's allegations on Kosovo
By Julijana Mojsilovic
BELGRADE: Yugoslavia dismissed Western officials' allegations that it
was stoking tensions in and around Kosovo and accused them on Tuesday of
supporting Albanian "terrorists" in the province.
"These people are behind the terrorism and separatism of Kosovo
Albanians. They have created the Kosovo Liberation Army and a crisis in
the Balkans to expand NATO to the region," Yugoslav Information Minister
Goran Matic said.
He was speaking a day after battles broke out between Western
peacekeepers and rioters when thousands of ethnic Albanians tried to
storm across a bridge in the centre of the flashpoint Kosovo city of
Mitrovica to reach the province's largest remaining Serb enclave.
On Sunday, NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping troops clashed with Mitrovica's
Serbs, angered by the troops' search of homes for weapons following
shootings and grenade attacks which killed nine people, both Serbs and
Albanians.
Richard Holbrooke, US ambassador to the UN, said in New York on Monday
that trouble was being fomented by the Yugoslav government, which was
forced by last year's NATO air war to surrender control of Kosovo.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said on Monday the military
alliance was also monitoring a Yugoslav troop build-up in other ethnic
Albanian areas of southern Serbia and would not tolerate a new conflict
there.
NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark, visiting Albania, also
expressed concern about the area.
Matic counterattacked by accusing Holbrooke, Robertson and Clark of
wanting to expel remaining Serbs from Mitrovica in order to gain control
of a mine near the city, saying they were "in a gold rush".
"The three are demanding from ethnic Albanians to expel the remaining
non-Albanians from Mitrovica in order to get hold of the richest gold
mine in the Balkans," Matic said.
But it would not succeed, he said, adding that "Serbia is not
California".
He was referring to the Trepca lead and zinc mining complex, which
exploits ore also containing gold and silver. The complex is situated
north of Mitrovica in a Serb-dominated area. Serbia still controls four
of some 17 Trepca mines in Kosovo.
"These people are now doing everything to cover up their crimes," Matic
said of the leaders of NATO countries which took part in the
March-to-June air campaign against Belgrade.
The state news agency Tanjug reported that Yugoslavia lodged a sharp
protest with the UN Security Council late on Monday. "Yugoslavia has
already warned the Security Council on previous occasions against the
fiasco and inability of KFOR and the UN mission in Kosovo to realise
their obligations stemming from resolution 1244 as well as the
Military-Technical Agreement," it quoted the Yugoslav letter as saying.
(Reuters)
---
www.serbia-info.com/news
"Jiefan Jun Bao": West stirs ethnic Albanians up against Serbs
February 23, 2000
Concern for escalation of violation in Kosovo and
Metohija
Beijing, February 22nd - Chinese military daily
"Jiefan Jun Ban" condemned today "incapability of KFOR
and UNMIK in Kosovo" and appealed to the world
community to "prevent ethnic Albanian terrorism under
the auspices of the UN".
Reacting to "the latest separatist actions of ethnic
Albanian separatists in Kosovo, the military daily
warned that "West deliberately stirs up anger of
ethnic Albanians towards the Serbs in
Kosovo-Metohija".
"It is necessary to create the conditions for
political solution of Kosovo issue with full respect
of sovereignty and territorial integrity of FRY and
consistent implementation of the UN Security Council's
Resolution 1244", stressed today Chinese
representative for press Ju Ban Tzao, referring to the
latest wave of crime in Kosovo.
"It is obvious that the situation in Kosovo has
deteriorated since the arrival of the UN military and
civil mission last June", stated Ju, stressing this
was preceded by the NATO aggression against
Yugoslavia, headed by the US.
"The use of force against sovereign Yugoslavia not
only violated the UN Charter and the principles of the
international standards, but also turned out to be
utterly dangerous example of interference with the
interior business of a sovereign country" stated Ju,
expressing "China's deep concern regarding the
escalation of violence in Kosovo".
The military daily points out that "the inclined
policy of KFOR and UNMIK exerted pressure on Serbs and
supported ethnic Albanian extremists which created
additional tension in Kosovo".
"Tolerant attitude of KFOR and UNMIK towards extreme
ethnic Albanians now returns as a boomerang to the UN
military and civil mission in Kosovo" says Jiefan Jun
Bao, reminding that terrorist organization KLA is not
disarmed, but only transformed into so-called "Kosovo
Protective Corps".
"The world community insists on the fact that Kosovo
is an inseparable part of Yugoslavia, which
additionally enraged ethnic Albanian extremists due to
their separatist idea on independent Kosovo",
emphasizes the military paper.
Jiefan Jun Bao reminds that Yugoslavia has warned the
UN that the attacks of ethnic Albanian terrorists to
date have already caused tragic consequences and
victims in Kosovo.
Yugoslavia demands that the Security Council urgently
takes most energetic measures in order to immediately
stop the attacks on unprotected Serb population, says
Jiefan Jun Bao.
Bias of West and incapability of KFOR and UNMIK must
change fundamentally their transparent attitude and
consistently implement the Security Council's
Resolution 1244, otherwise they will face a dead-end
situation in inflamed Kosovo, warns the military
paper.
---
>
>Right-and Albright was just in Tirana on February 19 to meet with
>Hashim Thaci.
>http://news.excite.com/photo/img/r/albania/usa/20000219/tir09
>
>
>inf-@... wrote:
>original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/sorabia/?start=3307
>> Albright, Holbrooke and Clark Lead Albanians
>>
>> NATO and Washington have been warning for days that a solution to the
>> problem in Kosovska Mitrovica must be found. Since the exodus of more
>than
>> 200,000 Serbs and the harassment of those who remained in the
>province
>> resolved the Kosovo issue, Washington believes that the only thing to
>be
>> done is to cleanse the last significant Serb enclave by expelling the
>Serbs
>> from Mitrovica. It is important to note that the Mitrovica enclave is
>the
>> one linking Kosovo with the rest of Serbia. Washington is apparently
>> determined to carry out a U.S. plan in which only an ethnically
>"pure,"
>> Albanian Kosovo can be considered truly multi-ethnic.
>>
>> For that purpose, an Albanian march on Mitrovica was organised. Just
>like it
>> promoted several Albanian terrorists and criminals to high-ranking
>military
>> officers and diplomats in Rambouillet only to demilitarise them later
>and
>> turn them into commanders, political leaders and state dignitaries,
>> Washington has now decided to head the Albanian march on Mitrovica.
>Its true
>> goal is to ethnically cleanse the town of the Serbs rather than
>liberate it.
>>
>> The Albanian masses involved in the campaign on Mitrovica were not
>led by
>> Albanian criminal politicians like Hashim Thaqi, but rather the very
>top of
>> the U.S. diplomatic and military elite. After all that happened in
>Kosovo
>> before the eyes of the whole wide word, Madeleine Albright termed as
>> "tragedy" the events in Mitrovica only. Richard Holbrooke said that
>> Mitrovica was the hottest spot in Europe, and Wesley Clark guaranteed
>that
>> NATO would take "appropriate measures" to avoid the final division of
>> Mitrovica. Thereby, the trio making Washington's iron fist confirmed
>that it
>> was behind the Albanian march and barbarism of U.S. soldiers of KFOR
>in the
>> north of Mitrovica. Tomorrow, it can easily support another "Flash"
>or
>> "Storm" thanks to which Mitrovica would no longer be a divided town.
>To say
>> the truth, it would be a Serbless town, just like the whole of Kosovo
>after
>> all. Those on the Serb side failing to see this are both politically
>blind
>> and irresponsible.
>>
>> Belgrade, February 22, 2000
>>
>> Information Service of the Democratic Party of Serbia
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Group Moderator: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.
>page at http://www.egroups.com/list/sorabia
>for more informations about current situation in Serbia
http://www.sorabia.home.dhs.org
>
>
---
Comunicato di VOCE OPERAIA
22 febbraio
Uno spettacolo raccapricciante si è consumato a Kosovska Mitrovica sotto
gli occhi di chi li aveva aperti. Issando bandiere albanesi, Nato, UE, e
USA, i seguaci dell¹UCK (frazione Taci) hanno inscenato una marcia per
sradicare dal Kosovo non soli i serbi, ma tutte quelle minoranze,
nazionali e politiche, che rifiutano l¹albanizzazione forzata. Non si
tratta soltanto di ³pulizia etnica², abbiamo a che fare con una pulizia
sociale e politica, di una rappresaglia fanatica dal chiaro segno
reazionario e filo-occidentale. Ci vengono in mente tutti quei pagliacci
di sinistra che durante i bombardamenti NATO, con la scusa di difendere
i diritti albanesi, hanno sostenuto l¹UCK come legittima forza di
liberazione nazionale considerando, proprio come i regimi imperialisti,
il governo di Belgrado come il nemico numero uno. Allora dicevamo a
questo signori che la maggioranza degli albanesi del Kosovo, volenti o
no, erano un popolo di Crumiri (Crumiri, per chi non lo sapesse, erano
qui tunisini schierati coi colonialisti francesi durante la lotta per
l¹indipendenza) i quali, se avessero avuto la meglio, non avrebbero
affatto costruito un Nazione, ma un casino coloniale sotto diretto
protettorato NATO. Questi signori hanno avuto il ben servito.
Lo diciamo così, tanto per la cronaca, non perché speriamo in un loro
ripensamento. L¹autocritica non presuppone solo l¹intelligenza, ma
l¹onestà intellettuale, qualità che hanno lasciato sfracellare al suolo,
assieme alle bombe all¹uranio impoverito sganciate sulla Iugoslavia dai
bombardieri occidentali.
Dichiarazione di Voce Operaia
Sin dal giugno scorso, subito dopo gli Accordi di pace di Kumanovo, le
milizie dell¹UCK, sotto l¹ombrello e l¹indifferenza delle truppe
NATO-Kfor, hanno dato una sistematica caccia ai cittadini serbi, rom,
gorani (e albanesi anti-UCK), provocando la loro espulsione in massa dal
Kosovo. Questa vendetta, che ha gia¹ provocato centinaia di morti
e migliaia di feriti, contrariamente a quanto affermano i reticenti e
pudici mass media, non e¹ soltanto una ³pulizia etnica², èla seconda
fase della guerra civile che contrappone il nazionalismo kosovaro
filo-NATO e filo-USA a TUTTI coloro che si rifiutano di sottomettersi
alla supremazia dei nazionalisti più fanatici e di trasformare il
Kosovo e la Iugoslavia in protettorati della NATO.
Costretti a vivere in piccole enclaves, i serbi sono stati costretti,
anche a causa della complicita¹ delle truppe occidentali con i miliziani
dell¹UCK, ad autodifendersi per non soccombere. Nelle ultime settimane
la pressione dei nazionalisti albanesi oltranzisti si è concentrata su
Kosovska Mitrovica dove vivono, nel settore nord, assieme alla comunità
serba, rom, albanesi e altre minoranze. Queste comunita¹ dopo essere
state sottoposte ad ogni tipo di vessazione e umiliazione, sono state
fatte bersaglio di attacchi armati sanguinosi che hanno causato, nelle
ultime settimane, decine di morti. Le truppe Kfor hanno lasciato correre
e sono intervenute in forze solo quando gruppi armati serbi hanno
inflitto colpi pesantissimi alle forze UCK decidendo la chiusura del
ponte che collega le due parti della citta¹. La comunita¹ serba non
puo¹ essere lasciata sola: piaccia o no essa e¹ ora un avamposto non
solo cotro l¹UCK, ma pure contro l¹occupante NATO!
E¹ una trincea nella lotta contro l¹imperialismo!
Intenzionati a spazzare via ogni serbo dal Kosovo, i centri dirigenti
dell¹UCK dell¹ala di Taci, da Pristina, hanno cosi¹ ordinato una marcia
su Kosovska Mitrovica con l¹obbiettivo di occupare la parte nord della
citta¹. I manifestanti, tanto per far capire con chi stanno e in chi
sperano, innalzavano numerose bandiere degli USA, della NATO e della
Gran Bretagna e gridavano slogan invocando un piu¹ deciso impegno
nord-americano in Kosovo per fare piazza pulita dei serbi.
Nel momento in cui la marcia si avvicinava a Kosovska Mitrovica, le
truppe NATO sono state poste nella massima allerta, anche perche¹ quelle
iugoslave avevano fatto altrettanto ammassandosi ai bordi del Kosovo. Le
notizie dell¹ultima ora segnalano che la marcia degli albanesi,
attestatasi sul ponte oltre il quale centinaia di serbi formavano un
presidio, ha fatto dietrofront anche grazie all¹interposizione delle
truppe NATO-Kfor. Il peggio e¹ stato dunque per ora evitato. Ma solo
per ora.
E¹ infatti evidente che in Kosovo la NATO non ha mantenuto alcuna sua
promessa: non c¹è pace, non c¹è alcuna convivenza,
non c¹è alcuna tolleranza multietnica. Cio¹ a causa anzitutto del
tentativo degli albanesi UCK di cacciare tutti gli oppositori, tra cui i
serbi. E non ci sara¹ mai fino a quando la NATO continuera¹ a
sostenerli. E¹ infatti nell¹interesse della NATO che il Kosovo sia
ingovernabile, cosi¹ si potra¹ giusitificare un¹occupazione militare
permanente.
E questo e¹ l¹altro fattore devastante: la NATO non vuole rispettare gli
Accordi di pace (che prevedono che il Kosovo sia riconsegnato alle
autorita¹ iugoslave). Cio¹ portera¹ ad una nuova esplosione del
conflitto, poiche¹ il governo di Belgrado, almeno fino a quando non
cadra¹ in mano alle opposizioni filo-occidentali, e¹ deciso a far
rispettare gli accordi del giugno 1999.
Non ci sara¹ pace nei Balcani fino a quando la NATO vorra¹ imporre il
suo dominio!
PRIMO COMPITO:
RISPETTARE GLI ACCORDI DI KUMANOVO! FUORI LA NATO DALLA IUGOSLAVIA E
DAI BALCANI!
Non ci sara¹ pace fino a quando ogni nazione non avrà dignità e il
diritto di autodeterminarsi su basi
democratiche!
SECONDO COMPITO:
AUTODETERMINAZIONE IN UNA FEDERAZIONE ANTIMPERIALISTA!
Ci sara¹ pace solo quando saliranno al potere governi operai e popolari
e tutte le cricche capitaliste
saranno spazzate via!
TERZO COMPITO:
LOTTARE PER IL SOCIALISMO!
(per contatti: voceoperaia@...)
=============================================================
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Predrag Tosic <p-tosic@...> wrote
> Meaning, basically, of the same origin as the Basques?
You're right, Predrag. Also, the Iberian, pre-Roman, component is still
present in Spanish and
Portuguese (correct me, João, if I am wrong) languages: sounds as the
typical double /RR/, so
unpronounceable for english speaking people, for example.
>
> Frankly, I did tend to believe that most of the NORTH Caucasus
> indigenous peoples were Turkophonic.
You can have a look to this map, about Ethnography in the North
Caucasus.
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/6150/ethno.jpg
>
> What other modern nations/ethnos belong to this group?
You can find Circassians (Cherkess) in Jordan (they are becoming a
powerful lobby group) and
Syria, but no longer in places as Kosovo Polje because they were forced
to leave to the Republic of
Adigeya (their ancestral homeland), inside Russian Federation, "thanks"
Albanian terrorism.
>
I enclose a pretty good article from a good Jordan friend.
------------------------
Circassians in Kosovo Polje in the Yugoslav Federation
The following article was extracted from "Les Tcherkesses du Kosovo
Polje en Yougoslavie" by
Niko Zupanic in The Journal of The International Institute of
Anthropology, the Paris session, first
section. It was translated and edited by Amjad Jaimoukhaf, a Circassian
intellectual from Jordan.
The ethnographers and historians are aware that the homeland of the
Circassians is along the
basin of the Kuban river in Ciscaucasia. They inhabited the
north-western part of the Caucasus.
The Circassians were divided into many tribes that spoke mutually
intelligible dialects:
Natuqwazh, Shapsugh, Abzakh, Bzhadugh, Hatuqwai, Beslanay, Mokhosh,
Temirgoy, Zhanay,
Egherukoy, Ubykh and Kabarday.
Their collective name was probably corrupted by the Turks from the
ancient Greek name
'kerxetai'. In the middle ages, the Russians used to refer to them by
the name Kossogh, which is
related to Kasag, the name by which the Ossetians call the Kabardians,
but also the Circassians
in general. The self designation of the Circassians is Adygha, which is
believed by linguists to be
related to the old name Zyghoy (strabon). It is believed that the
'Iazyghi', who were installed in
the territory between the rivers Tisa (Theiss) and the Danube not long
after the birth of Christ,
were a group of Zyghoy from the Caucasus, which name was transformed in
European Sarmatia by
adding first the prefix a- and then ia-.
The Circassians were until the 13th century a.d. pagan and free. They
were then subjugated by the
Georgians and christianised. In the first half of the 15th century they
overthrew the Georgian yoke,
but they were in continuous battle with the Tatars and they lost their
territory in the north.
Towards the middle of the 16th century the Kuban became their northern
frontier, because in 1570,
Ghirai, the khan of the Tatars, defeated them in a battle on the banks
of middle Kuban and forced
them to embrace Islam. Until that time, the Circassians settlements
stretched northwards to the
river Kama and some scattered groups were even found as far as the mouth
of the don.
The Circassians switched their religious allegiance very easily
according to the circumstances.
They had a superficial knowledge of Christianity and they were a mixture
of semi-pagans,
demi-muslims and some Christians.
The Circassians have always been distinguished by their intrepidity and
equine skills. They strictly
observed a code of hospitality and blood vengeance. The songs and tales
of the east celebrate the
beauty of Circassians maidens.
The Circassians put up a fierce resistance in their war with the
Russians, but they were eventually
defeated in 1864. Many of them were forced to leave their country and
resettle in the ottoman
empire: in Syria, Asia minor and the Balkan peninsula. Only a few
remained in their homeland,
about 110,000 people.
The majority of the Circassians who were established in the Balkan
peninsula were sent by the
ottoman authorities to the frontiers of the ancient duchy of Serbia to
reinforce its position there
and to terrorise the Serbs. During that time the Circassians were
established in Kosovo Polje
where the author visited them in 1924 and 1929. He counted about fifty
families, or about 250
people, for the majority had left for Asia minor and Syria.
The Circassians are very interesting for the Serbs, because the first
bearers of the name Serb
were aboriginal in the Caucasus, probably Circassians who crossed the
don at the time of the great
Sarmatian migration, together with the Ants, the Zichi (Kissi), the
Chorvats, the Vals, etc. They
co-mingled with the Slavs and established the first tribal
organisations. Undoubtedly these
Caucaso-sarmatian horsemen were assimilated in the mass of the Slav
population, but the names
of the tribes and the primitive structure of the state still exist to
this day.
>From their original Slav homeland at the confluence of the upper and middle Dniepr and of the
Pripet and the Boug, the Serbs immigrated to the confluence of the
middle Elbe and the Saale,
whence a group, which had a military organisation, resettled in Illyria
[NOTE from Javier: it's
pathetic the way Kosovo Albanian are trying to fake History, claiming
themselves to be
"descendants of the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Dardanians". See
http://www.unpo.org/member/kosova/kosova.html ] It was probably in 626
a.d., when
Constantinopla was besieged by the Avars and the Persians, that
Hercules, the Byzantine emperor
implored Samo, the Grand Duke of the Slavs, for help. The Croats and the
Serbs moved to the
Balkan peninsula, attacked the Avars from behind, delivered the Slavs
(Yugoslavs) who were
living there and saved Constantinopla, the Byzantine empire and eastern
Christendom.
After defeating the Avars, the Serbs established themselves in the
interior of Illyria at the lower
end of the indigenous Slavs. At their arrival in Illyria, the Serbs
spoke the same language as the
Serbs of Lusace, but being fewer in number than the native population,
they were linguistically
assimilated and they lost their north-west Slavic language.
The Circassians, who used to be one of the three principal nations in
the Caucasus, speak a
Japhetic language, which is not related to any other language group.
This means that they are not
Aryan, since these speak Indo-European languages. They may be allied to
the Basques in the
Pyrenees, who, before the advent of the Indo-Europeans, formed one
section of an organic chain
of related nations that stretched from Spain to the Caucasus. Those
nations were the Iberians, the
Legurs, the Etruscans, the Rets, the Pelasgians (an ancient pre-Aryan
race, which used to be
widely spread over the coasts and islands of the eastern Mediterranean
and Aegean, and believed
to have occupied Greece before the Hellenes), the Kars, the
Cappadochians, the Amazons (a race
of female warriors alleged to have existed in Scythia) , the Khalybs,
the Colchians, etc. These
peoples were violently replaced by the Indo-Europeans.
The circassians in Kosovo Polje are to be found in the following
villages: Gornje Stanovce, Donje
Stanovce, Velika Reka and Milosevo. Before the Turko-Serbian war of
1877-1878, there were
about 12,000 Circassians in the region. After the war the overwhelming
majority immigrated to
Syria and Asia minor. In 1912 and 1918 more people moved out, and the
author estimated that there
were only 250 circassians in the province by 1929. The present
population is estimated at 1,000.
References:
1. Niko Zupanic, 'Les Origines des Serbes', the origins of the Serbs.
Second session of the
International Institute of anthropology, pp. 227-229. Paris, 1926.
2. Niko Zupanic, 'Bela Srbija'. Zagreb, 1922; Les Serbes a Srbciste
(Macedoine), au vii siecle.
Extrait du Byzantion, t. Iv, p. 277-280. Liege, 1929.
3. T. R. Djordjevic, 'Cerkezi u Nasoj Zemlji', the circassians on our
territory. Glasnik Skopskog
Naucnog Drustva, t. Iii, p. 143. Skoplje, 1928.
------------
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
MANOVRE MILITARI
Secondo il segretario generale della NATO George Robertson l'esercito
della Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia non deve effettuare movimenti di
truppe sul proprio territorio. Robertson si riferisce in particolare
alle truppe jugoslave che sarebbero concentrate in Serbia centrale, nei
pressi del confine interno con la provincia del Kosmet.
Robertson pero' ritiene che il suo paese (la Gran Bretagna) possa ed
anzi debba impiegare truppe e mezzi non solo in Irlanda del Nord, ma
persino nei Balcani, a migliaia di chilometri di distanza - magari
proprio sul territorio della Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia!
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Secondo il segretario generale della NATO George Robertson l'esercito
della Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia non deve effettuare movimenti di
truppe sul proprio territorio. Robertson si riferisce in particolare
alle truppe jugoslave che sarebbero concentrate in Serbia centrale, nei
pressi del confine interno con la provincia del Kosmet.
Robertson pero' ritiene che il suo paese (la Gran Bretagna) possa ed
anzi debba impiegare truppe e mezzi non solo in Irlanda del Nord, ma
persino nei Balcani, a migliaia di chilometri di distanza - magari
proprio sul territorio della Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia!
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
GIORNALI DA BUTTARE: 1. "LA REPUBBLICA"
Leggiamo su "Repubblica on line" del 22/2/2000 che i carabinieri
italiani avrebbero individuato qualcuna delle famose "fosse comuni" di
Srebrenica. La notizia sarebbe clamorosa, visto che dopo ben cinque
anni, del "massacro serbo di ottomila musulmani" al quale si allude
continuamente (ma per "Repubblica" adesso sono diventati diecimila!)
ancora nessuna fossa comune era stata ritrovata - a parte le "foto da
satellite" di fonte CIA nelle quali ci hanno fatto vedere "terra mossa
di fresco".
Purtroppo (o per fortuna), pero', la notizia non e' credibile, ed anzi
sembra un "cappello" fatto apposta per "coprire" giornalisticamente la
vera notizia contenuta nell'articolo, riguardante le indagini
sull'omicidio di tre volontari italiani. Questi ultimi sarebbero stati
uccisi dai "Berretti Verdi", che gia' dal nome sembrano piuttosto essere
una formazione paramilitare bosniaco-musulmana (ma nell'articolo non si
dice). E' questa una maniera doppiamente infame - ma non certo nuova -
di contribuire, come giornalisti, al conflitto nei Balcani attizzando
odio gratuito nei confronti di una delle parti in causa (sempre quella).
> I militari sulle tracce del massacro di Sebrenica
> Individuati gli assassini dei volontari bresciani
>
> I carabinieri scoprono
> nuove fosse in Bosnia
>
>
> SARAJEVO - Per anni hanno investigato in silenzio, cercato prove, scovato
> riscontri, portato testimoni: tutte cose difficili nella Sarajevo sconvolta
> dalla guerra. Ora i carabinieri della Multinational Specialized Unit sono
> riusciti a scoprire gli assassini dei tre volontari bresciani uccisi nel
> 1993 in Bosnia. I militari non si sono fermati e hanno individuato altre
> fosse comuni, due sicure e altre cinque su cui stanno ancora perfezionando
> le ultime verifiche. Montagne di cadaveri che portano le indagini sulle
> tracce del massacro di Sebrenica, dove durante il conflitto nell'ex
> Yugoslavia vennero fatte scomparire diecimila persone.
>
> Per raccontare questa ultima, tragica, scoperta bisogna partire da lontano:
SI NOTI CHE ADESSO IL GIORNALISTA CAMBIA TEMA DI NUOVO, NEL TENTATIVO DI
CONFONDERE LA PROBLEMATICA DI SREBRENICA (scritto "Sebrenica", poiche'
l'ignoranza non mente) CON QUELLA DELL'ATTENTATO AI VOLONTARI
> da quando Guido Puletti, Sergio Lana e Fabio Moreni furono falciati a colpi
> di mitra, nel 1993 nei pressi di Gornji Vakuf, da una banda paramilitare
> durante l'attacco ad un convoglio umanitario. I carabinieri, in stretto
> contatto con Carla Del Ponte, il magistrato che coordina le indagini sui
> crimini di guerra nella ex Jugoslavia, sono riusciti a dare un nome e un
> volto ai colpevoli. L'inchiesta porta ai "berretti verdi" di Hanefjia
> Prjijc, il comandante Paraga, che vive tranquillo nella sua città, Voljice.
> Per lui e i suoi uomini, molti fuggti all'estero, sono però pronti i
> mandati di cattura e per l'arresto non dovrebbe mancare molto tempo.
>
> La stessa tecnica di lavoro, fatta di tenacia e professionalità, i
> carabinieri l'hanno usata nella caccia alle fosse comuni. Gli inquirenti su
> questo punto mantengono il più stretto riserbo ma sembrano essere arrivati
> appunto ad un passo da uno degli episodi più sanguinosi della guerra
> nell'ex Jugoslavia: la probabile eliminazione fisica di diecimila persone
> dalla città di Sebrenica.
SI NOTI: "IL PIU' STRETTO RISERBO", "SEMBRANO ESSERE ARRIVATI",
"PROBABILE ELIMINAZIONE FISICA"
> Finora sono stati individuati tremila cadaveri, all'appello mancano dunque
SI NOTI: "SONO STATI INDIVIDUATI" (A NOI NON RISULTA)
> gli altri settemila, che si teme possano essere seppelliti in diverse fosse
SI NOTI: "ALTRI SETTEMILA" (IN BASE A QUALI FONTI?), "SI TEME CHE"
> comuni. Nei mesi scorsi gli uomini del colonnello Renato Scuzzarello ne
> avevano individuate tre, negli ultimi giorni ne sono venute alla luce altre
> due.
...MA ALL'INIZIO DELL'ARTICOLO SI DICE CHE SONO DUE SICURE E CINQUE
FORSE!
SE QUALCUNO AVESSE INFORMAZIONI PIU' PRECISE SU QUESTE FOSSE GIA'
INDIVIDUATE (OLTRE AL NOME DEL COLONNELLO) E' PREGATO DI INVIARCELE E
LE DIFFONDEREMO IMMEDIATAMENTE.
> L'attenzione adesso, con esami balistici sulle armi usate dai serbi, è
SOLO QUI SI CITA ESPLICITAMENTE UNA PARTE IN CONFLITTO (I SERBI)
> puntata sulle ultime cinque fosse scovate. Le indagini dureranno sino a
> primavera, se andranno nella direzione immaginata dai carabinieri, sarà un
> altro contributo alla verità, un piccolo-grande omaggio alle vittime di
> quella guerra.
A PRIMAVERA AVREMO TUTTI DIMENTICATO LA NOTIZIOLA E NESSUNO ANDRA' A
VERIFICARE.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Leggiamo su "Repubblica on line" del 22/2/2000 che i carabinieri
italiani avrebbero individuato qualcuna delle famose "fosse comuni" di
Srebrenica. La notizia sarebbe clamorosa, visto che dopo ben cinque
anni, del "massacro serbo di ottomila musulmani" al quale si allude
continuamente (ma per "Repubblica" adesso sono diventati diecimila!)
ancora nessuna fossa comune era stata ritrovata - a parte le "foto da
satellite" di fonte CIA nelle quali ci hanno fatto vedere "terra mossa
di fresco".
Purtroppo (o per fortuna), pero', la notizia non e' credibile, ed anzi
sembra un "cappello" fatto apposta per "coprire" giornalisticamente la
vera notizia contenuta nell'articolo, riguardante le indagini
sull'omicidio di tre volontari italiani. Questi ultimi sarebbero stati
uccisi dai "Berretti Verdi", che gia' dal nome sembrano piuttosto essere
una formazione paramilitare bosniaco-musulmana (ma nell'articolo non si
dice). E' questa una maniera doppiamente infame - ma non certo nuova -
di contribuire, come giornalisti, al conflitto nei Balcani attizzando
odio gratuito nei confronti di una delle parti in causa (sempre quella).
> I militari sulle tracce del massacro di Sebrenica
> Individuati gli assassini dei volontari bresciani
>
> I carabinieri scoprono
> nuove fosse in Bosnia
>
>
> SARAJEVO - Per anni hanno investigato in silenzio, cercato prove, scovato
> riscontri, portato testimoni: tutte cose difficili nella Sarajevo sconvolta
> dalla guerra. Ora i carabinieri della Multinational Specialized Unit sono
> riusciti a scoprire gli assassini dei tre volontari bresciani uccisi nel
> 1993 in Bosnia. I militari non si sono fermati e hanno individuato altre
> fosse comuni, due sicure e altre cinque su cui stanno ancora perfezionando
> le ultime verifiche. Montagne di cadaveri che portano le indagini sulle
> tracce del massacro di Sebrenica, dove durante il conflitto nell'ex
> Yugoslavia vennero fatte scomparire diecimila persone.
>
> Per raccontare questa ultima, tragica, scoperta bisogna partire da lontano:
SI NOTI CHE ADESSO IL GIORNALISTA CAMBIA TEMA DI NUOVO, NEL TENTATIVO DI
CONFONDERE LA PROBLEMATICA DI SREBRENICA (scritto "Sebrenica", poiche'
l'ignoranza non mente) CON QUELLA DELL'ATTENTATO AI VOLONTARI
> da quando Guido Puletti, Sergio Lana e Fabio Moreni furono falciati a colpi
> di mitra, nel 1993 nei pressi di Gornji Vakuf, da una banda paramilitare
> durante l'attacco ad un convoglio umanitario. I carabinieri, in stretto
> contatto con Carla Del Ponte, il magistrato che coordina le indagini sui
> crimini di guerra nella ex Jugoslavia, sono riusciti a dare un nome e un
> volto ai colpevoli. L'inchiesta porta ai "berretti verdi" di Hanefjia
> Prjijc, il comandante Paraga, che vive tranquillo nella sua città, Voljice.
> Per lui e i suoi uomini, molti fuggti all'estero, sono però pronti i
> mandati di cattura e per l'arresto non dovrebbe mancare molto tempo.
>
> La stessa tecnica di lavoro, fatta di tenacia e professionalità, i
> carabinieri l'hanno usata nella caccia alle fosse comuni. Gli inquirenti su
> questo punto mantengono il più stretto riserbo ma sembrano essere arrivati
> appunto ad un passo da uno degli episodi più sanguinosi della guerra
> nell'ex Jugoslavia: la probabile eliminazione fisica di diecimila persone
> dalla città di Sebrenica.
SI NOTI: "IL PIU' STRETTO RISERBO", "SEMBRANO ESSERE ARRIVATI",
"PROBABILE ELIMINAZIONE FISICA"
> Finora sono stati individuati tremila cadaveri, all'appello mancano dunque
SI NOTI: "SONO STATI INDIVIDUATI" (A NOI NON RISULTA)
> gli altri settemila, che si teme possano essere seppelliti in diverse fosse
SI NOTI: "ALTRI SETTEMILA" (IN BASE A QUALI FONTI?), "SI TEME CHE"
> comuni. Nei mesi scorsi gli uomini del colonnello Renato Scuzzarello ne
> avevano individuate tre, negli ultimi giorni ne sono venute alla luce altre
> due.
...MA ALL'INIZIO DELL'ARTICOLO SI DICE CHE SONO DUE SICURE E CINQUE
FORSE!
SE QUALCUNO AVESSE INFORMAZIONI PIU' PRECISE SU QUESTE FOSSE GIA'
INDIVIDUATE (OLTRE AL NOME DEL COLONNELLO) E' PREGATO DI INVIARCELE E
LE DIFFONDEREMO IMMEDIATAMENTE.
> L'attenzione adesso, con esami balistici sulle armi usate dai serbi, è
SOLO QUI SI CITA ESPLICITAMENTE UNA PARTE IN CONFLITTO (I SERBI)
> puntata sulle ultime cinque fosse scovate. Le indagini dureranno sino a
> primavera, se andranno nella direzione immaginata dai carabinieri, sarà un
> altro contributo alla verità, un piccolo-grande omaggio alle vittime di
> quella guerra.
A PRIMAVERA AVREMO TUTTI DIMENTICATO LA NOTIZIOLA E NESSUNO ANDRA' A
VERIFICARE.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
TEST DI INTELLIGENZA
1. Di che nazionalita' erano i dimostranti scesi in piazza il 21/2/2000
presso Mitrovica, in Kosovo?
2. Che bandiere portavano?
3. Chi controllava la zona?
4. Chi controllava la marcia?
5. Ed in che modo l'hanno controllata?
6. Cosa facevano i serbi di Mitrovica in quelle ore?
7. Cosa era successo il giorno precedente?
8. Chi e' che cerca di fomentare la tensione?
RISPOSTE: 1. albanesi-kosovari e albanesi d'Albania 2. albanesi e
americane 3. le truppe di alcuni paesi NATO 4. vedi risposta precedente
5. ne hanno lasciati passare molti fin dentro la citta', poi il
comandante Reinhardt ha arringato la folla esprimendo solidarieta' per
gli obiettivi della marcia 6. donne, bambini ed anziani scappavano nei
boschi, poche migliaia di uomini formavano un presidio 7. soldati
statunitensi e tedeschi avevano passato al setaccio in malo modo tutto
il settore serbo per privare le popolazione degli strumenti di
autodifesa 8. Slobodan Milosevic, ovvio! Che domanda idiota...
"Lord George Robertson said Monday there was 'no doubt that (Yugoslav
President Slobodan) Milosevic will have a hand in some of the
provocations being organized on the Serb side'... In New York, Richard
Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused the
Yugoslav government in Belgrade of fomenting the latest unrest. His view
was shared by Gen. Wesley Clark, the NATO commander in Europe. 'There is
an influence by Belgrade in the area,' Clark said" (AP 22/2)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Di che nazionalita' erano i dimostranti scesi in piazza il 21/2/2000
presso Mitrovica, in Kosovo?
2. Che bandiere portavano?
3. Chi controllava la zona?
4. Chi controllava la marcia?
5. Ed in che modo l'hanno controllata?
6. Cosa facevano i serbi di Mitrovica in quelle ore?
7. Cosa era successo il giorno precedente?
8. Chi e' che cerca di fomentare la tensione?
RISPOSTE: 1. albanesi-kosovari e albanesi d'Albania 2. albanesi e
americane 3. le truppe di alcuni paesi NATO 4. vedi risposta precedente
5. ne hanno lasciati passare molti fin dentro la citta', poi il
comandante Reinhardt ha arringato la folla esprimendo solidarieta' per
gli obiettivi della marcia 6. donne, bambini ed anziani scappavano nei
boschi, poche migliaia di uomini formavano un presidio 7. soldati
statunitensi e tedeschi avevano passato al setaccio in malo modo tutto
il settore serbo per privare le popolazione degli strumenti di
autodifesa 8. Slobodan Milosevic, ovvio! Che domanda idiota...
"Lord George Robertson said Monday there was 'no doubt that (Yugoslav
President Slobodan) Milosevic will have a hand in some of the
provocations being organized on the Serb side'... In New York, Richard
Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused the
Yugoslav government in Belgrade of fomenting the latest unrest. His view
was shared by Gen. Wesley Clark, the NATO commander in Europe. 'There is
an influence by Belgrade in the area,' Clark said" (AP 22/2)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
TARANTO - incontro con gli operai della Zastava
TORINO - si e' costituito il COORDINAMENTO TORINESE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA
>
> Riceviamo e diffondiamo questo messaggio di Ferdinando Dubla
> <dubla@...>
>
> TARANTO INCONTRA GLI OPERAI JUGOSLAVI DELLA ZASTAVA BOMBARDATA DALLA NATO
>
> Il 24 marzo del 1999, l'alleanza dei 19 paesi aderenti al Patto Atlantico
> (NATO), attaccarono la Federazione Jugoslava con la scusa di voler
> difendere la minoranza albanese. Ma nei 78 giorni che seguirono
> bombardarono di tutto, compresi gli stessi albanesi, con distruzioni di
> infrastrutture civili e morte di innocenti. La guerra fu un pauroso
> arretramento di diritti e di democrazia per tutti noi e l'Italia, con il
> governo D'Alema, fu complice dell'imperialismo USA-NATO. Imponendo il
> consenso alla cosiddetta 'missione umanitaria', oltre che con la forza,
> anche con la mistificazione attraverso l'uso propagandistico dei media. Da
> una parte si bombardava, dall'altra si chiedeva al nostro popolo di
> partecipare alla farsa della "missione Arcobaleno", terreno di scambio e di
> corruzione con le mafie albanesi, come hanno dimostrato le ultime vicende
> giudiziarie.
> E ancora oggi, il popolo jugoslavo, nonostante già stremato dai danni che
> la guerra ha prodotto (come ad esempio l'inquinamento delle acque e della
> terra che impedisce un approvvigionamento alimentare sufficiente, la
> carenza di medicinali di base, ecc..) soffre di un odioso embargo che
> impedisce non solo la ricostruzione, ma anche la semplice sopravvivenza.
> E' necessario che tutti i cittadini di Taranto si sentano solidali e
> partecipi all'iniziativa con i delegati sindacali della Zastava di
> Kragujevac, fabbrica di automobili che ora la Fiat ha abbandonato e che
> solo i suoi 35.000 operai possono salvare con la solidarietà di classe e
> internazionalista.
>
> Durante l'incontro sarà proiettato il video di Fulvio Grimaldi "Serbi da
> morire" e sarà presentato il libro di poeti dilettanti contro la guerra
> "Gli assassini della tenerezza" con disegni dei bambini di Kragujevac, il
> ricavato delle cui vendite sarà devoluto in solidarietà ai lavoratori
> jugoslavi. Sarà inoltre proposto il programma di adozioni a distanza.
>
> SABATO 26 FEBBRAIO 2000
> h.16,30
> Aula Magna ITIS "A.Righi"
> Via Dante
> Taranto
>
> CONFERENZA-STAMPA DEI PROMOTORI DI TARANTO
> VENERDI 25 FEBBRAIO 2000
> h.11
> Salone circolo "E.Che Guevara" PRC
> c.so Piemonte (100 metri dall'Ufficio-pacchi PT)
> TARANTO
>
> Organizzazione:
> Coordinamento cittadino Partito della Rifondazione Comunista-Taranto
> Un ponte per Belgrado in terra di Bari
> Cobas (Confederazione sindacati di base)
> Slai-Cobas
> Cooperativa sociale "Owen"
> Comitato jonico contro le guerre
> Collettivo per l'autorganizzazione sociale
> Primaveraradio
---
COSTITUITO IL COORDINAMENTO TORINESE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA
Lo schieramento di forze e soggetti che, all'interno del movimento
contro la
guerra, ha ritenuto primario e fondamentale, lo schierarsi dalla parte
degli
aggrediti contro gli aggressori, ha costituito il Coordinamento torinese
per
la Jugoslavia, con lo scopo di rafforzare e consolidare le attività di
sostegno e solidarietà per il popolo jugoslavo.
Ciascuno di noi in questi mesi si è impegnato in attività di denuncia,
sostegno, controinformazione e solidarietà sotto varie forme; oggi
abbiamo
ritenuto giusto e soprattutto doveroso costruire un percorso unitario,
che
metta insieme esperienze, intelligenze, risorse e forze.
UNIRSI per UNIRE e rendere più forti ed efficaci gli sforzi per questa
battaglia di solidarietà e sostegno a questo popolo aggredito,
bombardato,
avvelenato ed ora strangolato ed affamato dalle moderne armi di
sterminio di
massa, quali sono l'embargo e le sanzioni (l'Iraq è sotto i nostri
occhi);
armi usate dagli imperialisti contro i popoli non asserviti al Nuovo
Ordine
Mondiale.
Riteniamo questo impegno un dovere e non un'opzione. Chi sceglie
percorsi
individuali o autoreferenziali, favorisce logiche più dannose che
proficue.
Nel Coordinamento ciascuno manterrà la sua specificità e autonomia, ma
ciascuno è parte di un processo unitario e collettivo che ha nella
solidarietà concreta e consapevole alla Jugoslavia e
nell’antiimperialismo,
la sua ragione di essere.
Siamo coscienti di essere una piccola forza di fronte agli scenari
mass-mediatici e imperiali della realtà intorno, ma questo non ci
spaventa o
fa desistere, e la nascita di questo Coordinamento è un piccolo passo
avanti, un segnale di speranza e anche di forza, perché dove ci sono
idee,
intelligenze, determinazione, coscienze schierate che si uniscono, tutti
siamo un po' forti, di conseguenza più forte risulterà il nostro lavoro.
Le caratteristiche, la composizione, le tematiche su cui si svilupperà
il
lavoro, con varie iniziative sono:
· Solidarietà concreta come obiettivo primario e urgente (raccolta
fondi,
alimentari, medicine con le strutture contattate)
· Denuncia delle devastazioni ambientali nella Jugoslavia bombardata
· Documentazione e controinformazione, dando voce e rendendo pubblici i
punti di vista degli aggrediti.
· Lavori del Tribunale Indipendente Internazionale contro i crimini
NATO in
Jugoslavia.
Facciamo Appello ad aderire ed essere partecipi a questo lavoro a
chiunque
concordi con queste basi minime di affinità e che ritenga di non voler
essere complice con un governo che, violando la Costituzione,
calpestando il
Diritto Internazionale e infangando il patrimonio ideale di pace e
solidale,
lasciatoci in eredità dalla lotta di liberazione dal Nazifascismo, ha
oggi
portato il nostro paese ad essere aggressore e affamatore di un altro
popolo. Per noi questo è inaccettabile politicamente ed eticamente.
Facciamo moralmente nostro quel motto che per decenni ha unito i popoli
e le
genti jugoslave, impedendo guerre, tragedie e miserie:
"UNITA' E FRATELLANZA" - per il futuro dei popoli e nostro.
Comitato Promotore :
Un ponte per (Torino)- Comitato contro la guerra dei Lavoratori
dell'Università e del Politecnico -Comitato Yugoslavia - Fondazione
Pasti
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
TORINO - si e' costituito il COORDINAMENTO TORINESE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA
>
> Riceviamo e diffondiamo questo messaggio di Ferdinando Dubla
> <dubla@...>
>
> TARANTO INCONTRA GLI OPERAI JUGOSLAVI DELLA ZASTAVA BOMBARDATA DALLA NATO
>
> Il 24 marzo del 1999, l'alleanza dei 19 paesi aderenti al Patto Atlantico
> (NATO), attaccarono la Federazione Jugoslava con la scusa di voler
> difendere la minoranza albanese. Ma nei 78 giorni che seguirono
> bombardarono di tutto, compresi gli stessi albanesi, con distruzioni di
> infrastrutture civili e morte di innocenti. La guerra fu un pauroso
> arretramento di diritti e di democrazia per tutti noi e l'Italia, con il
> governo D'Alema, fu complice dell'imperialismo USA-NATO. Imponendo il
> consenso alla cosiddetta 'missione umanitaria', oltre che con la forza,
> anche con la mistificazione attraverso l'uso propagandistico dei media. Da
> una parte si bombardava, dall'altra si chiedeva al nostro popolo di
> partecipare alla farsa della "missione Arcobaleno", terreno di scambio e di
> corruzione con le mafie albanesi, come hanno dimostrato le ultime vicende
> giudiziarie.
> E ancora oggi, il popolo jugoslavo, nonostante già stremato dai danni che
> la guerra ha prodotto (come ad esempio l'inquinamento delle acque e della
> terra che impedisce un approvvigionamento alimentare sufficiente, la
> carenza di medicinali di base, ecc..) soffre di un odioso embargo che
> impedisce non solo la ricostruzione, ma anche la semplice sopravvivenza.
> E' necessario che tutti i cittadini di Taranto si sentano solidali e
> partecipi all'iniziativa con i delegati sindacali della Zastava di
> Kragujevac, fabbrica di automobili che ora la Fiat ha abbandonato e che
> solo i suoi 35.000 operai possono salvare con la solidarietà di classe e
> internazionalista.
>
> Durante l'incontro sarà proiettato il video di Fulvio Grimaldi "Serbi da
> morire" e sarà presentato il libro di poeti dilettanti contro la guerra
> "Gli assassini della tenerezza" con disegni dei bambini di Kragujevac, il
> ricavato delle cui vendite sarà devoluto in solidarietà ai lavoratori
> jugoslavi. Sarà inoltre proposto il programma di adozioni a distanza.
>
> SABATO 26 FEBBRAIO 2000
> h.16,30
> Aula Magna ITIS "A.Righi"
> Via Dante
> Taranto
>
> CONFERENZA-STAMPA DEI PROMOTORI DI TARANTO
> VENERDI 25 FEBBRAIO 2000
> h.11
> Salone circolo "E.Che Guevara" PRC
> c.so Piemonte (100 metri dall'Ufficio-pacchi PT)
> TARANTO
>
> Organizzazione:
> Coordinamento cittadino Partito della Rifondazione Comunista-Taranto
> Un ponte per Belgrado in terra di Bari
> Cobas (Confederazione sindacati di base)
> Slai-Cobas
> Cooperativa sociale "Owen"
> Comitato jonico contro le guerre
> Collettivo per l'autorganizzazione sociale
> Primaveraradio
---
COSTITUITO IL COORDINAMENTO TORINESE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA
Lo schieramento di forze e soggetti che, all'interno del movimento
contro la
guerra, ha ritenuto primario e fondamentale, lo schierarsi dalla parte
degli
aggrediti contro gli aggressori, ha costituito il Coordinamento torinese
per
la Jugoslavia, con lo scopo di rafforzare e consolidare le attività di
sostegno e solidarietà per il popolo jugoslavo.
Ciascuno di noi in questi mesi si è impegnato in attività di denuncia,
sostegno, controinformazione e solidarietà sotto varie forme; oggi
abbiamo
ritenuto giusto e soprattutto doveroso costruire un percorso unitario,
che
metta insieme esperienze, intelligenze, risorse e forze.
UNIRSI per UNIRE e rendere più forti ed efficaci gli sforzi per questa
battaglia di solidarietà e sostegno a questo popolo aggredito,
bombardato,
avvelenato ed ora strangolato ed affamato dalle moderne armi di
sterminio di
massa, quali sono l'embargo e le sanzioni (l'Iraq è sotto i nostri
occhi);
armi usate dagli imperialisti contro i popoli non asserviti al Nuovo
Ordine
Mondiale.
Riteniamo questo impegno un dovere e non un'opzione. Chi sceglie
percorsi
individuali o autoreferenziali, favorisce logiche più dannose che
proficue.
Nel Coordinamento ciascuno manterrà la sua specificità e autonomia, ma
ciascuno è parte di un processo unitario e collettivo che ha nella
solidarietà concreta e consapevole alla Jugoslavia e
nell’antiimperialismo,
la sua ragione di essere.
Siamo coscienti di essere una piccola forza di fronte agli scenari
mass-mediatici e imperiali della realtà intorno, ma questo non ci
spaventa o
fa desistere, e la nascita di questo Coordinamento è un piccolo passo
avanti, un segnale di speranza e anche di forza, perché dove ci sono
idee,
intelligenze, determinazione, coscienze schierate che si uniscono, tutti
siamo un po' forti, di conseguenza più forte risulterà il nostro lavoro.
Le caratteristiche, la composizione, le tematiche su cui si svilupperà
il
lavoro, con varie iniziative sono:
· Solidarietà concreta come obiettivo primario e urgente (raccolta
fondi,
alimentari, medicine con le strutture contattate)
· Denuncia delle devastazioni ambientali nella Jugoslavia bombardata
· Documentazione e controinformazione, dando voce e rendendo pubblici i
punti di vista degli aggrediti.
· Lavori del Tribunale Indipendente Internazionale contro i crimini
NATO in
Jugoslavia.
Facciamo Appello ad aderire ed essere partecipi a questo lavoro a
chiunque
concordi con queste basi minime di affinità e che ritenga di non voler
essere complice con un governo che, violando la Costituzione,
calpestando il
Diritto Internazionale e infangando il patrimonio ideale di pace e
solidale,
lasciatoci in eredità dalla lotta di liberazione dal Nazifascismo, ha
oggi
portato il nostro paese ad essere aggressore e affamatore di un altro
popolo. Per noi questo è inaccettabile politicamente ed eticamente.
Facciamo moralmente nostro quel motto che per decenni ha unito i popoli
e le
genti jugoslave, impedendo guerre, tragedie e miserie:
"UNITA' E FRATELLANZA" - per il futuro dei popoli e nostro.
Comitato Promotore :
Un ponte per (Torino)- Comitato contro la guerra dei Lavoratori
dell'Università e del Politecnico -Comitato Yugoslavia - Fondazione
Pasti
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" conteneva un arsenale
("Il Manifesto", Associated Press)
* Il punto della situazione... (G. Carpi)
* Ignobile comportamento dei "peacekeeper" olandesi ad Orahovac (Emperors
Clothes, Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.)
* Devastato il settore nord di Mitrovica dalle truppe tedesche e statunitensi
"alla ricerca di armi" mentre in decine di migliaia marciano con bandiere
albanesi ed americane per chiedere la cacciata degli ultimi serbi rimasti.
Il comandante KFOR Reinhardt: "Stanno dimostrando per un futuro migliore"
(KFOR Press Update, stopnato@..., New York Times, Tanjug)
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 16 Febbraio 2000
KOSOVO/NATO-ONU
Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" trasportava armi a Mitrovica
Bernard Kouchner attacca il governo di Parigi: "Non mandate la polizia".
Verso le sue dimissioni?
- TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO -
L a notizia. Un'autoambulanza diretta a Kosovska Mitrovica, la città ancora
a ferro e fuoco nel nord del Kosovo, è finita fuori strada e al suo interno
la polizia dell'Onu ha scoperto un grosso carico di armi: 14 lanciarazzi,
182 granate, moltissime munizioni e sei casse di proiettili calibro 7,62 per
armi leggere. Secondo Andrea Angeli, portavoce della polizia Onu,
"l'incidente non è chiaro, non si sa se dell'autoambulanza fosse prima stato
denunciato un furto o che cosa...". Qual è il fatto esplosivo? E' che sulla
fiancata dell'autoambulanza svetta a lettere cubitali la scritta "Missione
Arcobaleno". L'autoambulanza risulta essere stata donata dal Cesvi, Ong di
Bergamo, all'ospedale di Glakovac - a circa 30-40 km da Pristina, nella
direzione di Pec sulla strada per Mitrovica - e quindi pagata con i soldi
della Missione Arcobaleno. Era stata forse rubata dall'ospedale per
trasportare armi - in Bosnia ambulanze dell'Onu sono spesso servite allo
stesso scopo - destinate agli albanesi di Mitrovica che riprendono la guerra
sparando per la prima volta sugli uomini del contingente francese della
Nato? Alla fine diranno che sì, era stata rubata. Ma la verità è che le armi
arrivano a Mitrovica dall'Uck che in Kosovo controlla tutto, dai comuni agli
ospedali, dalle strade ai fondi elargiti a piene mani da ampie strutture -
400 Ong solo a Pristina - che fanno riferimento all'Onu e
all'Amministratore, Bernard Kouchner. E questo perché l'Uck altro non è che
l'attuale Kpt (Kosovo Protection Corps) la nuova polizia voluta a tutti i
costi da Kouchner e dalla Nato che ha così riciclato, a partire dal
comandante Agim Ceku - su cui indaga il Tribunale dell'Aja - le sue
gerarchie di comando, i mezzi militari e le milizie.
Certo, è troppo presto per gettare discredito, anche qui, sulla Missione
Arcobaleno - anche se qualche risposta dal governo italiano dovrà pur
venire, come dallo stesso Kouchner che ogni giorno deve fare i conti con la
cappa di piombo del potere mafioso-malavitoso che in Kosovo controlla tutto.
Il fatto è che questa notizia-bomba, insieme alla crisi esplosiva della
città di Mitrovica, pongono all'ordine del giorno il nodo dei risultati
della guerra "umanitaria" della Nato. E sotto tiro è Bernard Kouchner.
Soprattutto dopo il duro scontro da lui avuto ieri addirittura con il
governo francese. Per il terzo mese di fila Kouchner ha accusato i governi
occidentali di non fornire forze di polizia all'Amministrazione Onu. Ieri ha
denunciato anche il comportamento di Parigi, che "dimentica di essere la
patria dei diritti umani" e dove "i politici francesi si 'sparano' addosso"
mentre a Mitrovica i cecchini albanesi sparano sui soldati francesi. Gli ha
risposto il ministro della difesa Jean Pierre Chevenement: "Quando si spara
sui soldati - ha detto duramente - l'aumento del numero dei poliziotti non è
forse la soluzione al problema". Uno scontro tutto interno alla sinistra di
governo che ha voluto l'intervento "umanitario".
La polemica ha raggiunto anche le Nazioni unite: Kouchner, dicono, non deve
pensare che la questione della sicurezza in Kosovo sia una questione "di
famiglia", tra lui e il governo francese. Un conflitto ingigantito dai fatti
di Mitrovica di questi giorni, dove cecchini albanesi hanno fatto fuoco sui
soldati della Nato per la prima volta, un ceccino albanese è stato ucciso e
la città è sotto coprifuoco, sempre divisa in due dal ponte sul fiume Ibar.
Kouchner, dicono fonti dell'Onu di Pristina, continua a ripetere che
"Mitrovica non è il simbolo del Kosovo", e qui sbaglia "perché i fatti di
Mitrovica sono proprio il simbolo di quello che ora il Kosovo rappresenta".
Lì le forze Kfor-Nato solo adesso difendono i serbi perché sono i pochi
serbi - cinquemila - rimasti in tutto il Kosovo, Mitrovica è il bantustan
più grosso con sacche di poche centinaia sparse a Pristina, Pec e in poche
altre parti. Dopo una mattanza su cui si è spesso taciuto che ha visto 500
civili serbi morire ammazzati dopo l'ingresso della Nato. Se i serbi
venissero cacciati anche da lì chi la racconterebbe più la favola degli
obiettivi multietnici? Sotto gli occhi della Nato l'Uck in sette mesi ha
cacciato dal Kosovo quasi 300.000 persone, serbi, albanesi
"collaborazionisti", goranci (serbi islamizzati, considerati agenti di
Belgrado) e tutti gli zingari le cui case sono state rase al suolo ovunque.
Mitrovica è il simbolo di tutto questo. Kouchner, su mandato Nato-Onu e di
tutti i governi europei, ha avviato di fatto l'indipendenza della regione
(con il libero corso del marco tedesco al posto del dinaro, con l'apertura
delle frontiere all'Albania, con le targhe autonome, con il governo senza
serbi, con la polizia emanazione dell'Uck, le telecomunicazioni a rete
autonoma da Belgrado - fra l'altro affidata alla francese Alcatel). Ma negli
accordi di pace il Kosovo resta regione della Serbia, e questo vogliono
ancora Unione europea e Stati uniti. Ora siamo nella palude. Washington
cerca in ogni modo di trovare una via d'uscita. Il cerino resta nelle mani
dell'Europa, e del signor Kouchner. A Pristina, negli ambienti Onu - come
alcuni giornali americani in questi giorni - dicono che le sfuriate di
Kouchner sulle forze di polizia che non arrivano, mentre incombe il
fallimento, sono una "dichiarazione d'impotenza, meglio a questo punto
passare la mano, girare pagina, meglio le sue dimissioni".
---
Weapons, ammunition found in ambulance in Kosovo
Associated Press
By ELENA BECATOROS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (February 15, 2000 10:57 a.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Peacekeepers found a large stock of
powerful weapons and ammunition in an ambulance apparently driven by
ethnic Albanians and heading for this turbulent northern city, a NATO
spokesman said Tuesday.
The ambulance, its emergency signals flashing, veered off a road and
into a ditch while approaching a checkpoint outside Kosovska Mitrovica
late Monday, said Fabrice Turco, a spokesman for the French
peacekeepers. Peacekeepers found weapons and ammunition in the vehicle,
including 14 anti-tank rocket launchers and 182 high-explosive grenades,
NATO said.
The ambulance was marked with ethnic Albanian writing, which uses a
different alphabet from the Serb language. U.N. police were searching
Tuesday for the driver and a passenger, both of whom fled the vehicle
after it went into the ditch.
Kosovska Mitrovica has been a flashpoint for violence between the
province's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations for months. Unrest began
to escalate Feb. 2, when a grenade attack on a U.N. bus killed two
elderly Serbs.
Two French peacekeepers were injured by ethnic Albanian snipers here
over the weekend, and the NATO-led peacekeepers have arrested dozens of
people since. Of the 51 ethnic Albanians arrested, six have been
released.
In addition, the nightly curfew has been extended from seven hours to 12
hours. Under the new regulations, people are prohibited from circulating
on Kosovska Mitrovica's streets from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
The alliance reported no security incidents overnight, and the city was
calm. But a local ethnic Albanian human rights group said three more
Albanian families were forced to flee their homes on the northern,
Serb-controlled side of the city.
Additional Greek peacekeepers backed up by U.S. and Canadian soldiers
have been sent in to help cope with the weekend's outbreak of violence.
The peacekeepers are conducting extensive searches of houses and
buildings for weapons and other evidence of criminal intent.
Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic's 18-month crackdown against separatists in
Kosovo. After NATO bombing forced the Serb troops to withdraw last
spring, ethnic Albanians began attacking Serbs in revenge.
The NATO peacekeeping mission, which began after the bombing, has
shifted over the last eight months from facilitating the return of
refugees to protecting Serbs and Gypsies from the ethnic Albanian
reprisals.
"I would remind all parties in Kosovo that it was NATO that put an end
to organized ethnic cleansing and has worked to restore peace and
stability for all ethnic groups in the province," NATO Secretary-General
Lord George Robertson said in Brussels, Belgium.
---
RIEPILOGO DELLA SITUAZIONE NELLA PRIMA META' DI FEBBRAIO
Il mese di febbraio comincia come meglio non si potrebbe: il 2/II un
autobus di civili serbi in uscita dall'enclave-ghetto di Kosovska
Mitrovica e' stata attaccato a colpi di razzi anticarro. Risultato,
due morti e cinque feriti, nonche' una prevedibile recrudescenza della
guerra per bande: il giorno dopo, tre albanesi kosovari vengono
"cecchinati" a Mitrovica e due granate lanciate in locali frequentati
da serbi fanno circa venticinque feriti. Gli scontri sono proseguiti
nei giorni successivi, costringendo circa 550 persone a lasciare le
proprie case, tanto che il rappresentante russo della missione ONU
Sergej Ivanov ha denunciato la totale impotenza della "forza di pace"
e ha minacciato di ritirare il proprio contingente. Intanto,
proseguono gli incendi, i rapimenti, i pestaggi e le esercitazioni
nello sport di lanciare granate in case, negozi e locali serbi: il
4/II a Obilic; nello stesso giorno, viene presa a colpi di granata una
corsia dell'ospedale di Prizren, col ferimento grave di 4 pazienti
serbe; a Gnjilane, il 9/II, 5 bombe in 24 ore, mentre nella stessa
citta' un serbo era stato ammazzato a casa sua il 4/II; un altro
autobus carico di serbi e' stato bersagliato a Lipljan l'8/II,
fortunatamente senza vittime.
Non stupisce quindi che i non albanesi continuino a lasciare il
Kosovo, spinti dalla paura o dai rastrellamenti dell'UCK. Il 2/II, gli
ultimi slavi-musulmani (circa un migliaio), hanno abbandonato la
regione di Prizren per rifugiarsi a Novi Pazar (Serbia). La
piccola comunita' ebraica di Pristina era gia' stata costretta in
novembre a rifugiarsi a Belgrado. "E' stato terribile quando due
dozzine di uomini armati, albanesi di Albania a giudicare dall'accento
(!), hanno fatto irruzione nel nostro appartamento." - Dichiara il
capo dell'ex comunita' ebraica Cedomir Prlincevic al quotidiano
tedesco "Neues Deutschland" (22/XII) - "Mia madre, che ha ottant'anni,
ha avuto un infarto perche' si e' ricordata delle SS di Hitler, che
nel 1943 irruppero nel suo appartemento allo stesso modo". Come spesso
accade, anche in questo caso le forze di occupazione KFOR si erano
distinte per l'atteggiamento pilatesco.
Mentre 45.000 soldati KFOR armati fino ai denti ignorano la
sistematica pulizia etnica condotta in Kosovo, impiegati come sono ad
occupare a lungo termine e a fortificare i nodi strategici
fondamentali della regione per futuri obiettivi che niente hanno a che
fare col "peacekeeping" (la base americana di Camp Bondsteel, costo
36,6 milioni di dollari, 6300 presenze, e' destinata a rimpiazzare
Aviano come testa di ponte verso oriente), il contingente civile ONU
e' totalmente privo di fondi (le quote dell'UE e degli USA sono
"sotto" di 102 milioni di dollari secondo lo stesso Rappresentante
Generale della missione ONU B. Kouchner) e non ha ancora avviato
nessuna delle opere di ricostruzione previste. In compenso, secondo
un'inchiesta del "London Times" (5/II), nella regione fioriscono
traffico di droga, rapimento e tratta dei bambini, prostituzione
(quest'ultima merce anche ad usum delle stesse truppe KFOR).
Intanto, se la struttura amministrativa ad interim, patrocinata da B.
Kouchner e non prevista dagli accordi di pace, nasce gia' lacerata
dalle liti inter-albanesi (gli altri gruppi etnici non vi
partecipano), l'UCK non perde occasione per ribadire a modo suo
l'egemonia de facto sulla maggior parte dei comuni: Hasim Chuse,
leader di un piccolo partito democratico, e' stato ritrovato morto il
2/II con tre proiettili nella nuca, dopo essere sparito di casa il
19/I.
Anche su questo versante, ben poche le garanzie offerte dalle forze
KFOR: dopo la perquisizione, con sequestro di un arsenale, a casa del
fratello del leader UCK Hashim Thaci e dopo le indagini su altri
capibanda, e' bastato che il portavoce UCK Krasniqi indirizzasse a
Kouchner e al generale Klaus Reinhardt (comandante generale della
KFOR) una lettera minatoria, accusando la KFOR di "agire come i
criminali serbi", perche' i due alti papaveri della forza di
occupazione si scusassero direttamente con Thaci. La concordia e'
stata prontamente ristabilita, e pochi giorni dopo Kouchner e
Reinhardt hanno tenuto a battesimo il nuovo "Corpo di Protezione del
Kosovo", interamente targato UCK a cominciare dal suo comandante Agim
Ceku, ex ufficiale disertore dell'esercito jugoslavo, poi noto come il
piu' feroce fra i capi dei contras kosovari, responsabile del massacro
di 120 serbi a Gospic (Croazia) gia' nel 1991.
Oltre che alla pulizia di casa propria, i terroristi UCK si dedicano
con un certo successo anche ai rapporti internazionali: il Primo
Ministro bulgaro Ivan Kostov (destra nazionalista e filo-atlantica),
ha invitato Thaci a Sofia in visita ufficiale, probabilmente sperando
che cio' acceleri il tanto ambito ingresso della Bulgaria nell'UE e
nella NATO. Non bastera' certo a rovinare l'intesa il recente
sequestro (29/I) di 38 chili di eroina su un tir albanese alla
frontiera bulgara: il paese gioca infatti da anni un ruolo chiave
nella via della droga gestita dalle mafie turca, albanese e kosovara
(261 kg sequestrati in Bulgaria nel '99).
Si sa: "business is business", e parallelamente alla colonizzazione
delle strutture produttive kosovare (vedi "Rinascita" del 14/I), gli
occupanti occidentali non perdono tempo neanche sul fronte
finanziario. Il 24/I ha iniziato le attivita' la "Micro Enterprise
Bank" (MEB), un ente di credito industriale acquartierato presso la
Missione ONU e patrocinato e diretto dai governi tedesco e olandese
(amministratore generale: l'olandese Koen Wasmus). In una situazione
di assoluto monopolio finanziario dopo la distruzione forzata di tutti
i legami economici fra Pristina e Belgrado, la MEB promette di
diventare il principale volano di colonizzazione economica della
regione, in modo non dissimile da quanto gia' da tempo attuato in
Bosnia dalla "Banca Europea per la Ricostruzione e lo Sviluppo" (BERS,
non a caso uno dei principali finanziatori anche della MEB).
Guido Carpi
Universita' di Cassino
Fonti: Tanjug; FreeB92; Agence France Presse; Transnational Foundation
for Peace and Future Research; "Il Manifesto"; Reuters; IWPR's Balkan
Crisis Report.
---
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 3:29 AM
Subject: [sorabia] NATO Dutch Mercenaries Torment Serb Women and Children in
Orahovac
>Dutch Rep Office to UN
>Attn. Office Manager/Ambassador
>United Nations
>New York, NY
>
>Copies: Foreign Missions to UN, Foreign Embasses to US, State Department,
> US Congress, Senate, US and Intermnationa Media,
Concerned
>/ Involved Individuals Across the World
>
>February 20, 2000
>
>Dear Sir, or Madam,
>
>The arrogant Dutch mercenaries under the pirate NATO flag, both the aerial
>and the ground butchers, have been rated by the civilized world as the most
>notorious brutes and barbarous savages in the recent cowardly, terrorist
>attack on a small nation of the Serbs, in the motley pack of the wild and
>blood thirsty NATO professional killers of the children, nannies, sick and
>defenseless victims, under the command of the even more vicious military
and
>civilian superiors.
>
>Known as the nation of cowards in defending their homeland in W.W.II, that
>graciously forgave the Germans for pulverized Rotterdam, but then the
loyal,
>rubber-spine lackeys, subservient butlers, shoeshine boys and dog-walkers
of
>the victorious German Nazi officers. Now the armed Dutch, under the NATO
safe
>skirt, have displayed their true colors in Kosovo: monstrous bullies for
the
>helpless Serb women and children in Orahovac, who found their match and
ally
>in the Albanian cutthroats, both in the service of the same masters in
Bonn,
>Washington and London.
>Once a colonial power, the Dutch have become faithful colonial servants for
>the US and German empires, diligently wagging the tail for a piece of a
>chewed off bone.
>I am hoping the Dutch hunters of the Serbs will someday leave their crushed
>bones in the Serb Kosovo sacred soil-to contaminate it, as did the British
>and US depleted uranium shells. The Netherlands could not stoop any lower
in
>disgrace.
>
> Respectfully
and
>Truly Yours,
>
> Tika
Jankovic
> San Jose,
>California
>
>
>
>
>
>Can children be war criminals?'
>by Abe de Vries
>(Translated from Trouw, Amsterdam daily newspaper)
>www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>BELGRADE
>
>"The sooner the Dutch 'Yellow Riders' leave Orahovac, the better. They're
>worse than the Germans," says Mirjana. "The soldiers are not so bad, but
the
>officers are terrible'', according to Natasha. "They admit that they're
only
>here for the Albanians, not for the Serbs,'' says Simka.
>
>Three women from Orahovac, who until recently lived there or who have
family
>there. This is their story, which differs substantially from the one
>lieutenant-colonel Tony van Loon, the commander of the Yellow Riders, has
>told. (Trouw, November 11). His artillery unit will soon be replaced. [See
>Note # 1 at end]
>
>The women read the interview with Van Loon. In their eyes the Yellow Riders
>don't have even one reason to be proud of themselves. "Dear sir,'' begins
an
>open letter from the Humanitarian Committee of Women from Orahovac, ''the
>fact that you turned Orahovac into a test field where the Serbs - without a
>possibility to leave because you pretend not to be able to give them
>protection - are thus forced to stay imprisoned in a ghetto - should not be
>something you should be proud of, nor should you leave Kosovo with a clear
>conscience. To keep the Serbs as prisoners this way is to deliver them to
the
>mercy of terrorists. If this is the way to create a multi-ethnic society,
>than such a society existed also in Warshaw during World War Two.''
>
>In Orahovac 2500 Serbs and 500 gypsies live a terrible life. They are
packed
>into a few streets with only KFOR [NATO] checkpoints separating them from
the
>extremely hostile Albanian majority in the rest of the town. They all want
to
>leave for Serbia or Montenegro. Only one thing is keeping them in Orahovac:
>the fact that the Dutch don't want to guarantee their safety if they
venture
>out of the ghetto.
>
>The Yellow Riders say they're searching for possible war criminals amongst
>the Serbs. A lot of Serbian men are afraid the KLA has put their names on a
>secret list of suspects, so they stay where they are.
>
>Mirjana (26), Natasha (27) and Simka (35) have difficulty believing the
>Serbian police really murdered hundreds of Albanian citizens in Orahovac
and
>the surrounding villages. According to the Yellow Riders, Serbian police
>reservists born in the area executed perhaps some thousand Albanians in
cold
>blood. Until now, 400 bodies have been found. Natasha: "There was a war
going
>on. The KLA attacked the army and the police, who were not saying: 'O
please,
>kill us.' I was in Orahovac myself when the war started. It was a
>psychologically unbearable situation. While NATO bombed us from the air,
>uniformed terrorists were everywhere in the city. In Orahovac and the
>villages everyday Serbs were killed.'' Mirjana: "A number of bodies that
were
>found could belong to Serbs. Villages like Velika Hoca, Retimlje, Zociste
and
>Opterusa were mainly inhabited by Serbs. In Retimlje alone 30 Serbs were
>murdered last year. Where are the bodies of the Serbs?'' Simka: "People say
>all kinds of things. It's because of the hatred Albanians have for the Serb
>police.'' Natasha: "Let's say some Serbs did commit war crimes. Do you
think
>they'll be waiting in Orahovac for Kfor to arrest them? Those who maybe
>really did something wrong are long gone.'' Mirjana: "My husband was
director
>of a municipal archive. If he hadn't left on time, he would probably also
now
>be considered a war criminal. But he is not a nationalist. He fired some
>Albanians because they didn't work well.''
>
>The women do not understand why KFOR refuses to let at least the children
go.
>Until now only one convoy of 155 Serbs was allowed to leave town. Guarded
by
>Dutch troops, it was attacked by a large crowd of Albanians in the vicinity
>of Pec. After that UNHCR, the refugee-agency of the United Nations, stopped
>its humanitarian evacuations in Kosovo. Natasha and Simka both tried
several
>times to take the children of their relatives back to Serbia. Without
>success.
>
>"Can children also be war criminals?'' asks Natasha. "I've cried and I've
>screamed'', says Simka. "But this Dutch officer just stood there and looked
>at me as through a mask. He didn't show any emotion. Nothing. It was just
not
>allowed.'' Simka recently returned from a visit to Orahovac. She says the
>situation there is worse than a couple of weeks ago. Many times there are
>days without electricity, she says. The Serbs cannot buy food in Albanian
>shops They rely on humanitarian organisations to help them. Albanians block
>the road to Pristina, to stop a Russian batallion from entering the town
(the
>Russians are scheduled to replace the Dutch), so all kinds of shortages
>exist.
>
>Simka: "With winter coming, the Serbs are in panic. They're afraid
everybody
>will forget about them. Now they can still drive to Velika Hoca, where many
>Serbs live, but the road is in bad condition and nobody clears up the snow.
>They'll be stuck.''
>
>A visit to Orahovac is only possible with KFOR protection. Visitors have to
>leave the same day. The Serbs in Orahovac are allowed to use a Red Cross
>satellite telephonefor one minute a week. According to the women, the phone
>is bugged. Mirjana: "The line is cut the moment someone says something
>negative about life in Orahovac."
>
>Mail can be delivered to the Red Cross, but the letters are first examined
by
>a censor. Relatives in Serbia get them with thick black lines through the
>text.
>
>Since the arrival of the Dutch soldiers more than 20 Serbs from Orahovac
have
>been kidnapped and 136 Serbian houses have been burned to the ground. One
of
>the missing Serbs is the husband of a translator who worked for the Yellow
>Riders. In none of these cases have the Dutch started an investigation, let
>alone succeeded in bringing someone back, says Simka.
>
>In 1998, some 50 Serbs were kidnapped. Nobody has heard from them since.
She
>asks why the Dutch, who arrested 11 Serb war crimes suspects, have never
>arrested an Albanian for war crimes. The Albanian Ismet Tara is Orahovac's
>KLA-commander. He would be the biggest criminal. Simka: "His uncle had the
>reputation in 1941 of being the worst fascist in town. My uncle, who was a
>Partizan, told me that.'' Mirjana mentions Sebajdin Cena, her teacher at
>school. "My parents and I were at his wedding. My father gave him his first
>job. He was recognized as one of the organizors of the kidnappings last
>year.''
>
>The Dutch, conclude the women, are one-sided, anti-Serb and don't do a
thing
>to improve the situation for the Serbs in Orahovac. Natasja: "With them,
>every day is worse than the day before''. Mirjana: "I don't think this
[Dutch
>Col.] Van Loon will ever sleep well again."
>
>***
>
>Note # 1 - The above article is second in a series by Trouw. The first
>consisted of an interview with Dutch KFOR (NATO) Commander Col. Tony van
>Loon. Excerpts from that article with comments by Simca and Natasha can be
>read by clicking on The Women of Orahovac Answer the Colonel or going to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/trouw.htm
>
>Note # 2 - To read interviews with the women from Orahovac, click on Save
the
>families: The women of Orahovac speak or go to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/savethe.htm
>
>Enjoyed this article? Send it to a friend!
>
>To read more... please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Group Moderator: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.
>page at http://www.egroups.com/list/sorabia
>for more informations about current situation in Serbia
http://www.sorabia.home.dhs.org
>
>
---
-----Original Message-----
From: NATODOC <natodoc@...>
To: NATODATA@...
<NATODATA@...>
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 8:47 AM
Subject: KFOR Press Update, 21 February 2000
>KFOR
>Press Update
>Delivered by Lieutenant Commander Philip Anido
>KFOR Spokesman
>
>PRISTINA - Monday, 21 February 2000
>KFOR Search Operation in Mitrovica
>KFOR soldiers, supported by UNMIK police, began a second day of searches in
>several neighbourhoods in Mitrovica this morning at 7 a.m. They are looking
>for small and large caches of illegal and dangerous weapons.
>Owners of the weapons will be detained and turned over to UNMIK police, and
>those who are suspected for having been involved in the recent violent
>actions will be arrested.
>Yesterday, 11 arrests were made, all for weapons violations. The men
>included 10 Albanians and one Serb. Following identification and
>interrogation, nine were released. One Albanian and one Serb remain in
>custody.
>The latest report of weapons confiscated includes:
>* 22 rifles
>* 8 blocks of plastic explosive
>* 1 heavy machine gun
>* 18 rifle magazines loaded with ammunition; 30 bullets per
>* 1 hunting rifle
>* 1000's of rounds of ammunition
>* 2 automatic pistols
>* 4 hand grenade
>The search operation will continue until General Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, the
>Commander of KFOR, is satisfied that illegal activities have been stopped
>and dangerous weapons are banned from Mitrovica.
>KFOR and UNMIK will not allow any illegal activities that perpetuate the
>cycle of violence or hold up the process of peace and reconciliation in
>Kosovo to continue.
>Approximately 2,500 KFOR troops from 12 nations are supporting the
operation
>in Mitrovica.
>Demonstration
>Twenty thousand Albanian citizens from Pristina and other communities are
>marching to Mitrovica today to protest the situation in that troubled city.
>The men, women and children are marching on foot and driving in cars, vans
>and busses.
>UNMIK police are following the parade and KFOR soldiers are monitoring the
>progress along the route using foot patrols, vehicles and helicopters.
>The organizers have called for a peaceful demonstration and have agreed
that
>the protesters will stop in Vucitrn south of the city. From there, 12
>representatives will be allowed to deliver a letter to UN officials in
>Mitrovica.
>By 4 p.m. the crowds on foot will be picked up by bus for the return trip
to
>Pristina.
>Incidents During the Past 24 Hours
>Searches and Weapons Confiscations
>Multinational Brigade East
>Yesterday in Kravarica, a KFOR patrol confiscated two rifles
>and a quantity of ammunition.
>Incidents and Injuries
>Multinational Brigade Centre
>Yesterday evening, KFOR Norwegian troops reported that a
>home-made bomb was thrown into an occupied Serb house. There were no
>injuries but there was damage to the house. KFOR are using specially
>trained dogs in their investigation.
>Arrests
>Multinational Brigade West
>Yesterday morning in Pec, KFOR Military Police and UNMIK
>police arrested a Montenegrin man in connection with the shooting of an
>Albanian on 19 February in Vitomirica.
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
[Finally, a headline has been assigned to this story
from the New York Times - by the Florida Sun Sentinel
- that doesn't grotesquely distort the truth.
For those who have been following the current state of
"Kosovo peacekeeping," in a province overrun by 50,000
NATO occupation troops an equal number of ethnic
Albanians "just happen" to gather in the capital city,
Pristina, and march 25 miles to Mitrovica.
Waving Albanian (that is, the nation of Albania's) and
American flags, the marchers - organized by whom, if
not the KLA? - are able to converge on Mitrovica
unhindered and ostensibly unnoticed by General
Reinhardt and his Balkans Korps, who are busy
ransacking Serb quarters in that city for non-existent
arms caches.
And then this from General Reinhardt: "They have
demonstrated how they want to live" - as they're
forcing their way through K-For cordons and
threatening God-knows-what violence should they
succeed - "and are demonstrating for a better future.
They want a united city."
They want a united city, indeed. United like Warsaw
became after Reinhardt's countrymen attacked the
Warsaw Ghetto some sixty-five years ago.
Beginning to sound surreal? No more than the entire
false rationale for NATO aggression and occupation in
the first place.]
_____________________________________________________
Thousands of Albanians rally to oust Serbs from city
in Kosovo
By CARLOTTA GALL
Web-posted: 10:55 p.m. Feb. 21, 2000
MITROVICA, Yugoslavia -- Thousands of ethnic Albanians
from throughout Kosovo marched on this divided city on
Monday and clashed with NATO-led troops who used tear
gas and fists to keep them from reaching the Serbian
district.
An estimated 25,000 protesters tried to cross the
main bridge that divides the Serb and Albanian
sections of this mining town, but were turned back as
thousands of Serbs stood watching from the other side.
The Albanians repeatedly pushed against the lines of
British and Canadian soldiers and French gendarmes as
fights broke out and demonstrators were hauled away.
Monday's showdown came as tensions continued to
build in the ethnically divided city of 90,000 people.
The violence of the past two weeks has left 11 people
dead and dozens wounded, including two French soldiers
who were shot in gun battles.
Wave after wave of protesters arrived Monday on
foot from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province, 25
miles away, and from the western towns of Pec and
Srbica among others. Young men strode up the main
street waving red Albanian flags and banners as they
tried to breach the military lines.
Across the River Ibar, Serbs held the Serbian
tricolor aloft and played Serbian nationalist songs on
loudspeakers. For several hours peacekeepers struggled
to contain the crowd and French police resorted to
volley after volley of tear gas over the heads of the
British and Canadians, often leaving the soldiers
choking and retching along with the demonstrators.
By nightfall the protesters, some of whom had
walked for 10 hours, grew tired and drifted away. The
commander of the peacekeeping force, German Gen. Klaus
Reinhardt, climbed atop a British tank to talk to the
crowd. He praised his troops for their restraint and
said they had prevented any serious injuries or
consequences.
He also said he understood the demonstrators.
"They have shown the way they want to live and are
demonstrating for a better future. They want a united
city," he said.
But his words underlined the intractable problem
the city presents for the peacekeepers and the U.N.
administration. The Albanians all speak of liberating
the city, by which they mean moving back into the Serb
district en masse, which in turn would force the Serbs
to flee.
---
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
BRUTAL AND BARBARIC ACT BY KFOR
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, February 21 (Tanjug) - Jovica Jovanovic, a member of
the subcommittee for administration and legislature of the Yugoslav
committee for cooperation with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and
Metohija province, said on Sunday that the search of apartments and
institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica by international force KFOR
U.S. and German troops was a brutal, barbaric and uncivilized act.
Jovanovic told reporters he had been present during a search of the
Faculty of Technology. He saw troops break down with axes the doors of a
laboratory and other premises.
Jovanovic also toured the school of technology which had also been a
target of KFOR's barbaric activities.
He said it was not by accident that the barbaric action was carried out by
U.S. and German troops. The presence of numerous foreign reporters and TV
crew at the very time when the action took place, and their on-the-spot
reporting is proof that this was all stage-managed, Jovanovc said.
The leading players in this action - U.S. and German troops - were not
picked at random, because there are no more Serbs in the parts of Kosovo
and Metohija where these troops are deployed, he said.
Jovanovic said it was an act of ultimate cynicism when French troops
brought the principal of the School of Technology about a dozen cylinder
locks and padlocks to compensate for the incurred damage.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
("Il Manifesto", Associated Press)
* Il punto della situazione... (G. Carpi)
* Ignobile comportamento dei "peacekeeper" olandesi ad Orahovac (Emperors
Clothes, Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.)
* Devastato il settore nord di Mitrovica dalle truppe tedesche e statunitensi
"alla ricerca di armi" mentre in decine di migliaia marciano con bandiere
albanesi ed americane per chiedere la cacciata degli ultimi serbi rimasti.
Il comandante KFOR Reinhardt: "Stanno dimostrando per un futuro migliore"
(KFOR Press Update, stopnato@..., New York Times, Tanjug)
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 16 Febbraio 2000
KOSOVO/NATO-ONU
Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" trasportava armi a Mitrovica
Bernard Kouchner attacca il governo di Parigi: "Non mandate la polizia".
Verso le sue dimissioni?
- TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO -
L a notizia. Un'autoambulanza diretta a Kosovska Mitrovica, la città ancora
a ferro e fuoco nel nord del Kosovo, è finita fuori strada e al suo interno
la polizia dell'Onu ha scoperto un grosso carico di armi: 14 lanciarazzi,
182 granate, moltissime munizioni e sei casse di proiettili calibro 7,62 per
armi leggere. Secondo Andrea Angeli, portavoce della polizia Onu,
"l'incidente non è chiaro, non si sa se dell'autoambulanza fosse prima stato
denunciato un furto o che cosa...". Qual è il fatto esplosivo? E' che sulla
fiancata dell'autoambulanza svetta a lettere cubitali la scritta "Missione
Arcobaleno". L'autoambulanza risulta essere stata donata dal Cesvi, Ong di
Bergamo, all'ospedale di Glakovac - a circa 30-40 km da Pristina, nella
direzione di Pec sulla strada per Mitrovica - e quindi pagata con i soldi
della Missione Arcobaleno. Era stata forse rubata dall'ospedale per
trasportare armi - in Bosnia ambulanze dell'Onu sono spesso servite allo
stesso scopo - destinate agli albanesi di Mitrovica che riprendono la guerra
sparando per la prima volta sugli uomini del contingente francese della
Nato? Alla fine diranno che sì, era stata rubata. Ma la verità è che le armi
arrivano a Mitrovica dall'Uck che in Kosovo controlla tutto, dai comuni agli
ospedali, dalle strade ai fondi elargiti a piene mani da ampie strutture -
400 Ong solo a Pristina - che fanno riferimento all'Onu e
all'Amministratore, Bernard Kouchner. E questo perché l'Uck altro non è che
l'attuale Kpt (Kosovo Protection Corps) la nuova polizia voluta a tutti i
costi da Kouchner e dalla Nato che ha così riciclato, a partire dal
comandante Agim Ceku - su cui indaga il Tribunale dell'Aja - le sue
gerarchie di comando, i mezzi militari e le milizie.
Certo, è troppo presto per gettare discredito, anche qui, sulla Missione
Arcobaleno - anche se qualche risposta dal governo italiano dovrà pur
venire, come dallo stesso Kouchner che ogni giorno deve fare i conti con la
cappa di piombo del potere mafioso-malavitoso che in Kosovo controlla tutto.
Il fatto è che questa notizia-bomba, insieme alla crisi esplosiva della
città di Mitrovica, pongono all'ordine del giorno il nodo dei risultati
della guerra "umanitaria" della Nato. E sotto tiro è Bernard Kouchner.
Soprattutto dopo il duro scontro da lui avuto ieri addirittura con il
governo francese. Per il terzo mese di fila Kouchner ha accusato i governi
occidentali di non fornire forze di polizia all'Amministrazione Onu. Ieri ha
denunciato anche il comportamento di Parigi, che "dimentica di essere la
patria dei diritti umani" e dove "i politici francesi si 'sparano' addosso"
mentre a Mitrovica i cecchini albanesi sparano sui soldati francesi. Gli ha
risposto il ministro della difesa Jean Pierre Chevenement: "Quando si spara
sui soldati - ha detto duramente - l'aumento del numero dei poliziotti non è
forse la soluzione al problema". Uno scontro tutto interno alla sinistra di
governo che ha voluto l'intervento "umanitario".
La polemica ha raggiunto anche le Nazioni unite: Kouchner, dicono, non deve
pensare che la questione della sicurezza in Kosovo sia una questione "di
famiglia", tra lui e il governo francese. Un conflitto ingigantito dai fatti
di Mitrovica di questi giorni, dove cecchini albanesi hanno fatto fuoco sui
soldati della Nato per la prima volta, un ceccino albanese è stato ucciso e
la città è sotto coprifuoco, sempre divisa in due dal ponte sul fiume Ibar.
Kouchner, dicono fonti dell'Onu di Pristina, continua a ripetere che
"Mitrovica non è il simbolo del Kosovo", e qui sbaglia "perché i fatti di
Mitrovica sono proprio il simbolo di quello che ora il Kosovo rappresenta".
Lì le forze Kfor-Nato solo adesso difendono i serbi perché sono i pochi
serbi - cinquemila - rimasti in tutto il Kosovo, Mitrovica è il bantustan
più grosso con sacche di poche centinaia sparse a Pristina, Pec e in poche
altre parti. Dopo una mattanza su cui si è spesso taciuto che ha visto 500
civili serbi morire ammazzati dopo l'ingresso della Nato. Se i serbi
venissero cacciati anche da lì chi la racconterebbe più la favola degli
obiettivi multietnici? Sotto gli occhi della Nato l'Uck in sette mesi ha
cacciato dal Kosovo quasi 300.000 persone, serbi, albanesi
"collaborazionisti", goranci (serbi islamizzati, considerati agenti di
Belgrado) e tutti gli zingari le cui case sono state rase al suolo ovunque.
Mitrovica è il simbolo di tutto questo. Kouchner, su mandato Nato-Onu e di
tutti i governi europei, ha avviato di fatto l'indipendenza della regione
(con il libero corso del marco tedesco al posto del dinaro, con l'apertura
delle frontiere all'Albania, con le targhe autonome, con il governo senza
serbi, con la polizia emanazione dell'Uck, le telecomunicazioni a rete
autonoma da Belgrado - fra l'altro affidata alla francese Alcatel). Ma negli
accordi di pace il Kosovo resta regione della Serbia, e questo vogliono
ancora Unione europea e Stati uniti. Ora siamo nella palude. Washington
cerca in ogni modo di trovare una via d'uscita. Il cerino resta nelle mani
dell'Europa, e del signor Kouchner. A Pristina, negli ambienti Onu - come
alcuni giornali americani in questi giorni - dicono che le sfuriate di
Kouchner sulle forze di polizia che non arrivano, mentre incombe il
fallimento, sono una "dichiarazione d'impotenza, meglio a questo punto
passare la mano, girare pagina, meglio le sue dimissioni".
---
Weapons, ammunition found in ambulance in Kosovo
Associated Press
By ELENA BECATOROS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (February 15, 2000 10:57 a.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Peacekeepers found a large stock of
powerful weapons and ammunition in an ambulance apparently driven by
ethnic Albanians and heading for this turbulent northern city, a NATO
spokesman said Tuesday.
The ambulance, its emergency signals flashing, veered off a road and
into a ditch while approaching a checkpoint outside Kosovska Mitrovica
late Monday, said Fabrice Turco, a spokesman for the French
peacekeepers. Peacekeepers found weapons and ammunition in the vehicle,
including 14 anti-tank rocket launchers and 182 high-explosive grenades,
NATO said.
The ambulance was marked with ethnic Albanian writing, which uses a
different alphabet from the Serb language. U.N. police were searching
Tuesday for the driver and a passenger, both of whom fled the vehicle
after it went into the ditch.
Kosovska Mitrovica has been a flashpoint for violence between the
province's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations for months. Unrest began
to escalate Feb. 2, when a grenade attack on a U.N. bus killed two
elderly Serbs.
Two French peacekeepers were injured by ethnic Albanian snipers here
over the weekend, and the NATO-led peacekeepers have arrested dozens of
people since. Of the 51 ethnic Albanians arrested, six have been
released.
In addition, the nightly curfew has been extended from seven hours to 12
hours. Under the new regulations, people are prohibited from circulating
on Kosovska Mitrovica's streets from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
The alliance reported no security incidents overnight, and the city was
calm. But a local ethnic Albanian human rights group said three more
Albanian families were forced to flee their homes on the northern,
Serb-controlled side of the city.
Additional Greek peacekeepers backed up by U.S. and Canadian soldiers
have been sent in to help cope with the weekend's outbreak of violence.
The peacekeepers are conducting extensive searches of houses and
buildings for weapons and other evidence of criminal intent.
Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic's 18-month crackdown against separatists in
Kosovo. After NATO bombing forced the Serb troops to withdraw last
spring, ethnic Albanians began attacking Serbs in revenge.
The NATO peacekeeping mission, which began after the bombing, has
shifted over the last eight months from facilitating the return of
refugees to protecting Serbs and Gypsies from the ethnic Albanian
reprisals.
"I would remind all parties in Kosovo that it was NATO that put an end
to organized ethnic cleansing and has worked to restore peace and
stability for all ethnic groups in the province," NATO Secretary-General
Lord George Robertson said in Brussels, Belgium.
---
RIEPILOGO DELLA SITUAZIONE NELLA PRIMA META' DI FEBBRAIO
Il mese di febbraio comincia come meglio non si potrebbe: il 2/II un
autobus di civili serbi in uscita dall'enclave-ghetto di Kosovska
Mitrovica e' stata attaccato a colpi di razzi anticarro. Risultato,
due morti e cinque feriti, nonche' una prevedibile recrudescenza della
guerra per bande: il giorno dopo, tre albanesi kosovari vengono
"cecchinati" a Mitrovica e due granate lanciate in locali frequentati
da serbi fanno circa venticinque feriti. Gli scontri sono proseguiti
nei giorni successivi, costringendo circa 550 persone a lasciare le
proprie case, tanto che il rappresentante russo della missione ONU
Sergej Ivanov ha denunciato la totale impotenza della "forza di pace"
e ha minacciato di ritirare il proprio contingente. Intanto,
proseguono gli incendi, i rapimenti, i pestaggi e le esercitazioni
nello sport di lanciare granate in case, negozi e locali serbi: il
4/II a Obilic; nello stesso giorno, viene presa a colpi di granata una
corsia dell'ospedale di Prizren, col ferimento grave di 4 pazienti
serbe; a Gnjilane, il 9/II, 5 bombe in 24 ore, mentre nella stessa
citta' un serbo era stato ammazzato a casa sua il 4/II; un altro
autobus carico di serbi e' stato bersagliato a Lipljan l'8/II,
fortunatamente senza vittime.
Non stupisce quindi che i non albanesi continuino a lasciare il
Kosovo, spinti dalla paura o dai rastrellamenti dell'UCK. Il 2/II, gli
ultimi slavi-musulmani (circa un migliaio), hanno abbandonato la
regione di Prizren per rifugiarsi a Novi Pazar (Serbia). La
piccola comunita' ebraica di Pristina era gia' stata costretta in
novembre a rifugiarsi a Belgrado. "E' stato terribile quando due
dozzine di uomini armati, albanesi di Albania a giudicare dall'accento
(!), hanno fatto irruzione nel nostro appartamento." - Dichiara il
capo dell'ex comunita' ebraica Cedomir Prlincevic al quotidiano
tedesco "Neues Deutschland" (22/XII) - "Mia madre, che ha ottant'anni,
ha avuto un infarto perche' si e' ricordata delle SS di Hitler, che
nel 1943 irruppero nel suo appartemento allo stesso modo". Come spesso
accade, anche in questo caso le forze di occupazione KFOR si erano
distinte per l'atteggiamento pilatesco.
Mentre 45.000 soldati KFOR armati fino ai denti ignorano la
sistematica pulizia etnica condotta in Kosovo, impiegati come sono ad
occupare a lungo termine e a fortificare i nodi strategici
fondamentali della regione per futuri obiettivi che niente hanno a che
fare col "peacekeeping" (la base americana di Camp Bondsteel, costo
36,6 milioni di dollari, 6300 presenze, e' destinata a rimpiazzare
Aviano come testa di ponte verso oriente), il contingente civile ONU
e' totalmente privo di fondi (le quote dell'UE e degli USA sono
"sotto" di 102 milioni di dollari secondo lo stesso Rappresentante
Generale della missione ONU B. Kouchner) e non ha ancora avviato
nessuna delle opere di ricostruzione previste. In compenso, secondo
un'inchiesta del "London Times" (5/II), nella regione fioriscono
traffico di droga, rapimento e tratta dei bambini, prostituzione
(quest'ultima merce anche ad usum delle stesse truppe KFOR).
Intanto, se la struttura amministrativa ad interim, patrocinata da B.
Kouchner e non prevista dagli accordi di pace, nasce gia' lacerata
dalle liti inter-albanesi (gli altri gruppi etnici non vi
partecipano), l'UCK non perde occasione per ribadire a modo suo
l'egemonia de facto sulla maggior parte dei comuni: Hasim Chuse,
leader di un piccolo partito democratico, e' stato ritrovato morto il
2/II con tre proiettili nella nuca, dopo essere sparito di casa il
19/I.
Anche su questo versante, ben poche le garanzie offerte dalle forze
KFOR: dopo la perquisizione, con sequestro di un arsenale, a casa del
fratello del leader UCK Hashim Thaci e dopo le indagini su altri
capibanda, e' bastato che il portavoce UCK Krasniqi indirizzasse a
Kouchner e al generale Klaus Reinhardt (comandante generale della
KFOR) una lettera minatoria, accusando la KFOR di "agire come i
criminali serbi", perche' i due alti papaveri della forza di
occupazione si scusassero direttamente con Thaci. La concordia e'
stata prontamente ristabilita, e pochi giorni dopo Kouchner e
Reinhardt hanno tenuto a battesimo il nuovo "Corpo di Protezione del
Kosovo", interamente targato UCK a cominciare dal suo comandante Agim
Ceku, ex ufficiale disertore dell'esercito jugoslavo, poi noto come il
piu' feroce fra i capi dei contras kosovari, responsabile del massacro
di 120 serbi a Gospic (Croazia) gia' nel 1991.
Oltre che alla pulizia di casa propria, i terroristi UCK si dedicano
con un certo successo anche ai rapporti internazionali: il Primo
Ministro bulgaro Ivan Kostov (destra nazionalista e filo-atlantica),
ha invitato Thaci a Sofia in visita ufficiale, probabilmente sperando
che cio' acceleri il tanto ambito ingresso della Bulgaria nell'UE e
nella NATO. Non bastera' certo a rovinare l'intesa il recente
sequestro (29/I) di 38 chili di eroina su un tir albanese alla
frontiera bulgara: il paese gioca infatti da anni un ruolo chiave
nella via della droga gestita dalle mafie turca, albanese e kosovara
(261 kg sequestrati in Bulgaria nel '99).
Si sa: "business is business", e parallelamente alla colonizzazione
delle strutture produttive kosovare (vedi "Rinascita" del 14/I), gli
occupanti occidentali non perdono tempo neanche sul fronte
finanziario. Il 24/I ha iniziato le attivita' la "Micro Enterprise
Bank" (MEB), un ente di credito industriale acquartierato presso la
Missione ONU e patrocinato e diretto dai governi tedesco e olandese
(amministratore generale: l'olandese Koen Wasmus). In una situazione
di assoluto monopolio finanziario dopo la distruzione forzata di tutti
i legami economici fra Pristina e Belgrado, la MEB promette di
diventare il principale volano di colonizzazione economica della
regione, in modo non dissimile da quanto gia' da tempo attuato in
Bosnia dalla "Banca Europea per la Ricostruzione e lo Sviluppo" (BERS,
non a caso uno dei principali finanziatori anche della MEB).
Guido Carpi
Universita' di Cassino
Fonti: Tanjug; FreeB92; Agence France Presse; Transnational Foundation
for Peace and Future Research; "Il Manifesto"; Reuters; IWPR's Balkan
Crisis Report.
---
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 3:29 AM
Subject: [sorabia] NATO Dutch Mercenaries Torment Serb Women and Children in
Orahovac
>Dutch Rep Office to UN
>Attn. Office Manager/Ambassador
>United Nations
>New York, NY
>
>Copies: Foreign Missions to UN, Foreign Embasses to US, State Department,
> US Congress, Senate, US and Intermnationa Media,
Concerned
>/ Involved Individuals Across the World
>
>February 20, 2000
>
>Dear Sir, or Madam,
>
>The arrogant Dutch mercenaries under the pirate NATO flag, both the aerial
>and the ground butchers, have been rated by the civilized world as the most
>notorious brutes and barbarous savages in the recent cowardly, terrorist
>attack on a small nation of the Serbs, in the motley pack of the wild and
>blood thirsty NATO professional killers of the children, nannies, sick and
>defenseless victims, under the command of the even more vicious military
and
>civilian superiors.
>
>Known as the nation of cowards in defending their homeland in W.W.II, that
>graciously forgave the Germans for pulverized Rotterdam, but then the
loyal,
>rubber-spine lackeys, subservient butlers, shoeshine boys and dog-walkers
of
>the victorious German Nazi officers. Now the armed Dutch, under the NATO
safe
>skirt, have displayed their true colors in Kosovo: monstrous bullies for
the
>helpless Serb women and children in Orahovac, who found their match and
ally
>in the Albanian cutthroats, both in the service of the same masters in
Bonn,
>Washington and London.
>Once a colonial power, the Dutch have become faithful colonial servants for
>the US and German empires, diligently wagging the tail for a piece of a
>chewed off bone.
>I am hoping the Dutch hunters of the Serbs will someday leave their crushed
>bones in the Serb Kosovo sacred soil-to contaminate it, as did the British
>and US depleted uranium shells. The Netherlands could not stoop any lower
in
>disgrace.
>
> Respectfully
and
>Truly Yours,
>
> Tika
Jankovic
> San Jose,
>California
>
>
>
>
>
>Can children be war criminals?'
>by Abe de Vries
>(Translated from Trouw, Amsterdam daily newspaper)
>www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>BELGRADE
>
>"The sooner the Dutch 'Yellow Riders' leave Orahovac, the better. They're
>worse than the Germans," says Mirjana. "The soldiers are not so bad, but
the
>officers are terrible'', according to Natasha. "They admit that they're
only
>here for the Albanians, not for the Serbs,'' says Simka.
>
>Three women from Orahovac, who until recently lived there or who have
family
>there. This is their story, which differs substantially from the one
>lieutenant-colonel Tony van Loon, the commander of the Yellow Riders, has
>told. (Trouw, November 11). His artillery unit will soon be replaced. [See
>Note # 1 at end]
>
>The women read the interview with Van Loon. In their eyes the Yellow Riders
>don't have even one reason to be proud of themselves. "Dear sir,'' begins
an
>open letter from the Humanitarian Committee of Women from Orahovac, ''the
>fact that you turned Orahovac into a test field where the Serbs - without a
>possibility to leave because you pretend not to be able to give them
>protection - are thus forced to stay imprisoned in a ghetto - should not be
>something you should be proud of, nor should you leave Kosovo with a clear
>conscience. To keep the Serbs as prisoners this way is to deliver them to
the
>mercy of terrorists. If this is the way to create a multi-ethnic society,
>than such a society existed also in Warshaw during World War Two.''
>
>In Orahovac 2500 Serbs and 500 gypsies live a terrible life. They are
packed
>into a few streets with only KFOR [NATO] checkpoints separating them from
the
>extremely hostile Albanian majority in the rest of the town. They all want
to
>leave for Serbia or Montenegro. Only one thing is keeping them in Orahovac:
>the fact that the Dutch don't want to guarantee their safety if they
venture
>out of the ghetto.
>
>The Yellow Riders say they're searching for possible war criminals amongst
>the Serbs. A lot of Serbian men are afraid the KLA has put their names on a
>secret list of suspects, so they stay where they are.
>
>Mirjana (26), Natasha (27) and Simka (35) have difficulty believing the
>Serbian police really murdered hundreds of Albanian citizens in Orahovac
and
>the surrounding villages. According to the Yellow Riders, Serbian police
>reservists born in the area executed perhaps some thousand Albanians in
cold
>blood. Until now, 400 bodies have been found. Natasha: "There was a war
going
>on. The KLA attacked the army and the police, who were not saying: 'O
please,
>kill us.' I was in Orahovac myself when the war started. It was a
>psychologically unbearable situation. While NATO bombed us from the air,
>uniformed terrorists were everywhere in the city. In Orahovac and the
>villages everyday Serbs were killed.'' Mirjana: "A number of bodies that
were
>found could belong to Serbs. Villages like Velika Hoca, Retimlje, Zociste
and
>Opterusa were mainly inhabited by Serbs. In Retimlje alone 30 Serbs were
>murdered last year. Where are the bodies of the Serbs?'' Simka: "People say
>all kinds of things. It's because of the hatred Albanians have for the Serb
>police.'' Natasha: "Let's say some Serbs did commit war crimes. Do you
think
>they'll be waiting in Orahovac for Kfor to arrest them? Those who maybe
>really did something wrong are long gone.'' Mirjana: "My husband was
director
>of a municipal archive. If he hadn't left on time, he would probably also
now
>be considered a war criminal. But he is not a nationalist. He fired some
>Albanians because they didn't work well.''
>
>The women do not understand why KFOR refuses to let at least the children
go.
>Until now only one convoy of 155 Serbs was allowed to leave town. Guarded
by
>Dutch troops, it was attacked by a large crowd of Albanians in the vicinity
>of Pec. After that UNHCR, the refugee-agency of the United Nations, stopped
>its humanitarian evacuations in Kosovo. Natasha and Simka both tried
several
>times to take the children of their relatives back to Serbia. Without
>success.
>
>"Can children also be war criminals?'' asks Natasha. "I've cried and I've
>screamed'', says Simka. "But this Dutch officer just stood there and looked
>at me as through a mask. He didn't show any emotion. Nothing. It was just
not
>allowed.'' Simka recently returned from a visit to Orahovac. She says the
>situation there is worse than a couple of weeks ago. Many times there are
>days without electricity, she says. The Serbs cannot buy food in Albanian
>shops They rely on humanitarian organisations to help them. Albanians block
>the road to Pristina, to stop a Russian batallion from entering the town
(the
>Russians are scheduled to replace the Dutch), so all kinds of shortages
>exist.
>
>Simka: "With winter coming, the Serbs are in panic. They're afraid
everybody
>will forget about them. Now they can still drive to Velika Hoca, where many
>Serbs live, but the road is in bad condition and nobody clears up the snow.
>They'll be stuck.''
>
>A visit to Orahovac is only possible with KFOR protection. Visitors have to
>leave the same day. The Serbs in Orahovac are allowed to use a Red Cross
>satellite telephonefor one minute a week. According to the women, the phone
>is bugged. Mirjana: "The line is cut the moment someone says something
>negative about life in Orahovac."
>
>Mail can be delivered to the Red Cross, but the letters are first examined
by
>a censor. Relatives in Serbia get them with thick black lines through the
>text.
>
>Since the arrival of the Dutch soldiers more than 20 Serbs from Orahovac
have
>been kidnapped and 136 Serbian houses have been burned to the ground. One
of
>the missing Serbs is the husband of a translator who worked for the Yellow
>Riders. In none of these cases have the Dutch started an investigation, let
>alone succeeded in bringing someone back, says Simka.
>
>In 1998, some 50 Serbs were kidnapped. Nobody has heard from them since.
She
>asks why the Dutch, who arrested 11 Serb war crimes suspects, have never
>arrested an Albanian for war crimes. The Albanian Ismet Tara is Orahovac's
>KLA-commander. He would be the biggest criminal. Simka: "His uncle had the
>reputation in 1941 of being the worst fascist in town. My uncle, who was a
>Partizan, told me that.'' Mirjana mentions Sebajdin Cena, her teacher at
>school. "My parents and I were at his wedding. My father gave him his first
>job. He was recognized as one of the organizors of the kidnappings last
>year.''
>
>The Dutch, conclude the women, are one-sided, anti-Serb and don't do a
thing
>to improve the situation for the Serbs in Orahovac. Natasja: "With them,
>every day is worse than the day before''. Mirjana: "I don't think this
[Dutch
>Col.] Van Loon will ever sleep well again."
>
>***
>
>Note # 1 - The above article is second in a series by Trouw. The first
>consisted of an interview with Dutch KFOR (NATO) Commander Col. Tony van
>Loon. Excerpts from that article with comments by Simca and Natasha can be
>read by clicking on The Women of Orahovac Answer the Colonel or going to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/trouw.htm
>
>Note # 2 - To read interviews with the women from Orahovac, click on Save
the
>families: The women of Orahovac speak or go to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/savethe.htm
>
>Enjoyed this article? Send it to a friend!
>
>To read more... please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Group Moderator: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.
>page at http://www.egroups.com/list/sorabia
>for more informations about current situation in Serbia
http://www.sorabia.home.dhs.org
>
>
---
-----Original Message-----
From: NATODOC <natodoc@...>
To: NATODATA@...
<NATODATA@...>
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 8:47 AM
Subject: KFOR Press Update, 21 February 2000
>KFOR
>Press Update
>Delivered by Lieutenant Commander Philip Anido
>KFOR Spokesman
>
>PRISTINA - Monday, 21 February 2000
>KFOR Search Operation in Mitrovica
>KFOR soldiers, supported by UNMIK police, began a second day of searches in
>several neighbourhoods in Mitrovica this morning at 7 a.m. They are looking
>for small and large caches of illegal and dangerous weapons.
>Owners of the weapons will be detained and turned over to UNMIK police, and
>those who are suspected for having been involved in the recent violent
>actions will be arrested.
>Yesterday, 11 arrests were made, all for weapons violations. The men
>included 10 Albanians and one Serb. Following identification and
>interrogation, nine were released. One Albanian and one Serb remain in
>custody.
>The latest report of weapons confiscated includes:
>* 22 rifles
>* 8 blocks of plastic explosive
>* 1 heavy machine gun
>* 18 rifle magazines loaded with ammunition; 30 bullets per
>* 1 hunting rifle
>* 1000's of rounds of ammunition
>* 2 automatic pistols
>* 4 hand grenade
>The search operation will continue until General Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, the
>Commander of KFOR, is satisfied that illegal activities have been stopped
>and dangerous weapons are banned from Mitrovica.
>KFOR and UNMIK will not allow any illegal activities that perpetuate the
>cycle of violence or hold up the process of peace and reconciliation in
>Kosovo to continue.
>Approximately 2,500 KFOR troops from 12 nations are supporting the
operation
>in Mitrovica.
>Demonstration
>Twenty thousand Albanian citizens from Pristina and other communities are
>marching to Mitrovica today to protest the situation in that troubled city.
>The men, women and children are marching on foot and driving in cars, vans
>and busses.
>UNMIK police are following the parade and KFOR soldiers are monitoring the
>progress along the route using foot patrols, vehicles and helicopters.
>The organizers have called for a peaceful demonstration and have agreed
that
>the protesters will stop in Vucitrn south of the city. From there, 12
>representatives will be allowed to deliver a letter to UN officials in
>Mitrovica.
>By 4 p.m. the crowds on foot will be picked up by bus for the return trip
to
>Pristina.
>Incidents During the Past 24 Hours
>Searches and Weapons Confiscations
>Multinational Brigade East
>Yesterday in Kravarica, a KFOR patrol confiscated two rifles
>and a quantity of ammunition.
>Incidents and Injuries
>Multinational Brigade Centre
>Yesterday evening, KFOR Norwegian troops reported that a
>home-made bomb was thrown into an occupied Serb house. There were no
>injuries but there was damage to the house. KFOR are using specially
>trained dogs in their investigation.
>Arrests
>Multinational Brigade West
>Yesterday morning in Pec, KFOR Military Police and UNMIK
>police arrested a Montenegrin man in connection with the shooting of an
>Albanian on 19 February in Vitomirica.
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
[Finally, a headline has been assigned to this story
from the New York Times - by the Florida Sun Sentinel
- that doesn't grotesquely distort the truth.
For those who have been following the current state of
"Kosovo peacekeeping," in a province overrun by 50,000
NATO occupation troops an equal number of ethnic
Albanians "just happen" to gather in the capital city,
Pristina, and march 25 miles to Mitrovica.
Waving Albanian (that is, the nation of Albania's) and
American flags, the marchers - organized by whom, if
not the KLA? - are able to converge on Mitrovica
unhindered and ostensibly unnoticed by General
Reinhardt and his Balkans Korps, who are busy
ransacking Serb quarters in that city for non-existent
arms caches.
And then this from General Reinhardt: "They have
demonstrated how they want to live" - as they're
forcing their way through K-For cordons and
threatening God-knows-what violence should they
succeed - "and are demonstrating for a better future.
They want a united city."
They want a united city, indeed. United like Warsaw
became after Reinhardt's countrymen attacked the
Warsaw Ghetto some sixty-five years ago.
Beginning to sound surreal? No more than the entire
false rationale for NATO aggression and occupation in
the first place.]
_____________________________________________________
Thousands of Albanians rally to oust Serbs from city
in Kosovo
By CARLOTTA GALL
Web-posted: 10:55 p.m. Feb. 21, 2000
MITROVICA, Yugoslavia -- Thousands of ethnic Albanians
from throughout Kosovo marched on this divided city on
Monday and clashed with NATO-led troops who used tear
gas and fists to keep them from reaching the Serbian
district.
An estimated 25,000 protesters tried to cross the
main bridge that divides the Serb and Albanian
sections of this mining town, but were turned back as
thousands of Serbs stood watching from the other side.
The Albanians repeatedly pushed against the lines of
British and Canadian soldiers and French gendarmes as
fights broke out and demonstrators were hauled away.
Monday's showdown came as tensions continued to
build in the ethnically divided city of 90,000 people.
The violence of the past two weeks has left 11 people
dead and dozens wounded, including two French soldiers
who were shot in gun battles.
Wave after wave of protesters arrived Monday on
foot from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province, 25
miles away, and from the western towns of Pec and
Srbica among others. Young men strode up the main
street waving red Albanian flags and banners as they
tried to breach the military lines.
Across the River Ibar, Serbs held the Serbian
tricolor aloft and played Serbian nationalist songs on
loudspeakers. For several hours peacekeepers struggled
to contain the crowd and French police resorted to
volley after volley of tear gas over the heads of the
British and Canadians, often leaving the soldiers
choking and retching along with the demonstrators.
By nightfall the protesters, some of whom had
walked for 10 hours, grew tired and drifted away. The
commander of the peacekeeping force, German Gen. Klaus
Reinhardt, climbed atop a British tank to talk to the
crowd. He praised his troops for their restraint and
said they had prevented any serious injuries or
consequences.
He also said he understood the demonstrators.
"They have shown the way they want to live and are
demonstrating for a better future. They want a united
city," he said.
But his words underlined the intractable problem
the city presents for the peacekeepers and the U.N.
administration. The Albanians all speak of liberating
the city, by which they mean moving back into the Serb
district en masse, which in turn would force the Serbs
to flee.
---
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
BRUTAL AND BARBARIC ACT BY KFOR
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, February 21 (Tanjug) - Jovica Jovanovic, a member of
the subcommittee for administration and legislature of the Yugoslav
committee for cooperation with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and
Metohija province, said on Sunday that the search of apartments and
institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica by international force KFOR
U.S. and German troops was a brutal, barbaric and uncivilized act.
Jovanovic told reporters he had been present during a search of the
Faculty of Technology. He saw troops break down with axes the doors of a
laboratory and other premises.
Jovanovic also toured the school of technology which had also been a
target of KFOR's barbaric activities.
He said it was not by accident that the barbaric action was carried out by
U.S. and German troops. The presence of numerous foreign reporters and TV
crew at the very time when the action took place, and their on-the-spot
reporting is proof that this was all stage-managed, Jovanovc said.
The leading players in this action - U.S. and German troops - were not
picked at random, because there are no more Serbs in the parts of Kosovo
and Metohija where these troops are deployed, he said.
Jovanovic said it was an act of ultimate cynicism when French troops
brought the principal of the School of Technology about a dozen cylinder
locks and padlocks to compensate for the incurred damage.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
I SOCIALISTI NELLE ELEZIONI IN CROAZIA
Le recenti elezioni politiche in Croazia, vinte dai socialdemocratici di
Racan, sono state le prime cui ha partecipato la Socijalisticka Radnicka
Partija Hrvatske [SRP], formazione nata del 1997. Diversamente dagli altri
raggruppamenti, la SRP non e' entrata in alcuna coalizione con altre forze
politiche perche' - nelle parole del suo presidente Stipe Suvar - "noi siamo
per il socialismo del XXI secolo, mentre gli altri non vogliono sentir
nemmeno parlare di qualche tipo di socialismo".
La SRP ha ottenuto una percentuale di voti prossima all'uno per cento,
raccogliendo consensi soprattutto in Istria e nelle zone costiere. Sulla
base dell'analisi dello stesso Suvar, sotto riportata, alla SRP
auguriamo una crescita costante ed un piu' forte radicamento territoriale
ed organizzativo per il futuro. CRJ
---
Lettera del presidente del Partito Socialista Operaio della
Croazia Stipe Suvar alle organizzazioni ed agli iscritti
Zagreb, 5. sijeènja 1999.
Pismo predsjednika organizacijama i èlanovima
SRP je na izborima prošao relativno
dobro, kad se uzme u obzir da su u Sabor
ušle samo dvije koalicije koje æe preuzeti
vlast (dvojka + èetvorka), oèerupani i
pokunjeni HDZ, koji æe se ubrzano
dezintegrirati i dvojac s bukaèke desnice
(Ðapiæ - Veselica).
A nisu ušle stranke s desnice koje su
buèno najavljivale osvajanje mnoštva
mandata, Merèepova HPS i Prkaèinova NH.
ASH se prikljuèio “èetvorki”, ali njihov nijedan
kandidat nije se domogao mandata. SDU je
dobio minimalan broj glasova u tri izborne
jedinice, u kojima je nastupao.
Mjesta u Saboru takoðer nije osvojila ni jedna
regionalna stranka, osim onih koje su
zastupljene u dvije pobjednièke koalicije, ili
stranka nacionalnih manjina (ni Srpska
samostalna demokratska stranka).
Po izbornim rezultatima, SRP se probio na
treæe ili èetvrto mjesto meðu 31 stranke i 20
nezavisnih lista koje nisu ušle u Sabor (više
glasova od SRP-a dobile su jedino Hrvatska
stranka umirovljenika, Merèepova Hrvatska
puèka stranka i Paragina Hrvatska stranka
prava 1861).
Na izbore smo išli bez ikakvih para, osim
dobrovoljnih priloga naših èlanova, pa nismo
mogli plaæati ni reklame, ni prevoziti ljude
autobusima, ni prireðivati koncerte, ni tiskati i
masovno lijepiti plakate.
Naše su organizacije i èlanovi iskazali veliki
entuzijazam i požrtvovanje u animiranju ljudi,
prireðivanju predizbornih skupova, tiskanju,
dijeljenju i lijepljenju plakata koje su sami, iz
svojih sredstava tiskali, te u skupljanju priloga
za plaæanje dvorana. Naši su kandidati
sami sebi plaæali putne troškove, itd. Sve
to raduje i ohrabruje.
Stekli smo dragocjena iskustva za
iduæe izbore. Najteže je prvi puta izaæi pred
biraèe, zar ne?
Prema SRP-u postoji još mnogo predrasuda, a i
strah kod mnogih da nam pristupe ili da se
odazovu na naše skupove. No, nadajmo se da
æe i to jenjavati.
Naši istupi u predizbornoj kampanji bili su u
pravilu dobri. Pokazalo se da imamo mnogo
sposobnih ljudi koji mogu u ime stranke
istupati, i tumaèiti njezin program i politiku.
U cjelini, SRP je izašao iz poluilegale, u kojoj su
ga drugi držali i predstavio se najširoj hrvatskoj
javnosti kao stranka ozbiljnih namjera!
Kada smo osnivali SRP u listopadu 1997.
godine, u Hrvatskoj se gotovo nije smjelo
izjašnjavati za bilo kakav socijalizam, pa makar
i u buduænosti. Valjda æe u godinama pred
nama sve više ljudi i u Hrvatskoj shvaæati da
zalaganje za socijalizam 21. stoljeæa nije
donkihotsko. A tome bi trebala pridonijeti i
smjena na vlasti, premda se SDP ne izjašnjava
za socijalizam i premda se neæe i sam ponašati
kao istinska lijeva stranka.
Za SRP je sada najvažnije da pridobija mlade i
posebno da se širi Mlada demokratska ljevica
Hrvatske.
U toku veljaèe ili ožujka 2000. godine održat
æemo izborno-izvještajnu skupštinu SRP-a,
ponovo birati naša rukovodeæa tijela, dopuniti
Porgramsku deklaraciju, izvršiti neke izmjene
Statuta, pa æe to biti prilika i da vidimo što je
SRP postigao u dvije godine postojanja i što
mu je èiniti u iduæe dvije godine.
Mnogi ljudi koji su po svojim uvjerenjima na
liniji SRP-a i kojima je on blizak ovaj put su
glasali za koaliciju SDP-HSLS, želeæi time
pridonijeti HDZ-ovom silasku s vlasti. A ako se
ta koalicija ne pokaže vjerodostojna i ako se u
praksi ne potvrdi da odluèno raskida sa ZNA SE
politikom, ljudi æe sve više prilaziti SRP-u, tim
više ako budemo kao stranka agilni, ako se
budemo pravovremeno oglašavali i izlazili sa
svojim prijedlozima i zahtjevima u
odnosu na novu vlast.
Možda uskoro doðe i do izvanrednih izbora, a u
tom æe sluèaju SRP, nema nikakve sumnje,
mnogo bolje proæi!
Prema tome, na izlazak SRP-a na izbore 3.
sijeènja 2000. trebamo gledati kao na poèetak
naše jaèe prisutnosti na hrvatskoj politièkoj
sceni i našeg veæeg utjecaja, a ne kao na
nekakav (relativni) neuspjeh.
Po svoj prilici, ostat æemo jedina lijeva stranka
u Hrvatskoj, jer se druge neæe potvrditi kao
takve ili æe se ugasiti.
Moramo se širiti, osnivati nove organizacije
SRP-a, pridobijati nove èlanove i potvrðivati
svoju prisutnost u dnevnom pulsiranju
politièkog života.
U to ime sve vas pozdravljam i svima
želim sretnu 2000. godinu!
Stipe Šuvar, v.r.
http://srp.hr
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Le recenti elezioni politiche in Croazia, vinte dai socialdemocratici di
Racan, sono state le prime cui ha partecipato la Socijalisticka Radnicka
Partija Hrvatske [SRP], formazione nata del 1997. Diversamente dagli altri
raggruppamenti, la SRP non e' entrata in alcuna coalizione con altre forze
politiche perche' - nelle parole del suo presidente Stipe Suvar - "noi siamo
per il socialismo del XXI secolo, mentre gli altri non vogliono sentir
nemmeno parlare di qualche tipo di socialismo".
La SRP ha ottenuto una percentuale di voti prossima all'uno per cento,
raccogliendo consensi soprattutto in Istria e nelle zone costiere. Sulla
base dell'analisi dello stesso Suvar, sotto riportata, alla SRP
auguriamo una crescita costante ed un piu' forte radicamento territoriale
ed organizzativo per il futuro. CRJ
---
Lettera del presidente del Partito Socialista Operaio della
Croazia Stipe Suvar alle organizzazioni ed agli iscritti
Zagreb, 5. sijeènja 1999.
Pismo predsjednika organizacijama i èlanovima
SRP je na izborima prošao relativno
dobro, kad se uzme u obzir da su u Sabor
ušle samo dvije koalicije koje æe preuzeti
vlast (dvojka + èetvorka), oèerupani i
pokunjeni HDZ, koji æe se ubrzano
dezintegrirati i dvojac s bukaèke desnice
(Ðapiæ - Veselica).
A nisu ušle stranke s desnice koje su
buèno najavljivale osvajanje mnoštva
mandata, Merèepova HPS i Prkaèinova NH.
ASH se prikljuèio “èetvorki”, ali njihov nijedan
kandidat nije se domogao mandata. SDU je
dobio minimalan broj glasova u tri izborne
jedinice, u kojima je nastupao.
Mjesta u Saboru takoðer nije osvojila ni jedna
regionalna stranka, osim onih koje su
zastupljene u dvije pobjednièke koalicije, ili
stranka nacionalnih manjina (ni Srpska
samostalna demokratska stranka).
Po izbornim rezultatima, SRP se probio na
treæe ili èetvrto mjesto meðu 31 stranke i 20
nezavisnih lista koje nisu ušle u Sabor (više
glasova od SRP-a dobile su jedino Hrvatska
stranka umirovljenika, Merèepova Hrvatska
puèka stranka i Paragina Hrvatska stranka
prava 1861).
Na izbore smo išli bez ikakvih para, osim
dobrovoljnih priloga naših èlanova, pa nismo
mogli plaæati ni reklame, ni prevoziti ljude
autobusima, ni prireðivati koncerte, ni tiskati i
masovno lijepiti plakate.
Naše su organizacije i èlanovi iskazali veliki
entuzijazam i požrtvovanje u animiranju ljudi,
prireðivanju predizbornih skupova, tiskanju,
dijeljenju i lijepljenju plakata koje su sami, iz
svojih sredstava tiskali, te u skupljanju priloga
za plaæanje dvorana. Naši su kandidati
sami sebi plaæali putne troškove, itd. Sve
to raduje i ohrabruje.
Stekli smo dragocjena iskustva za
iduæe izbore. Najteže je prvi puta izaæi pred
biraèe, zar ne?
Prema SRP-u postoji još mnogo predrasuda, a i
strah kod mnogih da nam pristupe ili da se
odazovu na naše skupove. No, nadajmo se da
æe i to jenjavati.
Naši istupi u predizbornoj kampanji bili su u
pravilu dobri. Pokazalo se da imamo mnogo
sposobnih ljudi koji mogu u ime stranke
istupati, i tumaèiti njezin program i politiku.
U cjelini, SRP je izašao iz poluilegale, u kojoj su
ga drugi držali i predstavio se najširoj hrvatskoj
javnosti kao stranka ozbiljnih namjera!
Kada smo osnivali SRP u listopadu 1997.
godine, u Hrvatskoj se gotovo nije smjelo
izjašnjavati za bilo kakav socijalizam, pa makar
i u buduænosti. Valjda æe u godinama pred
nama sve više ljudi i u Hrvatskoj shvaæati da
zalaganje za socijalizam 21. stoljeæa nije
donkihotsko. A tome bi trebala pridonijeti i
smjena na vlasti, premda se SDP ne izjašnjava
za socijalizam i premda se neæe i sam ponašati
kao istinska lijeva stranka.
Za SRP je sada najvažnije da pridobija mlade i
posebno da se širi Mlada demokratska ljevica
Hrvatske.
U toku veljaèe ili ožujka 2000. godine održat
æemo izborno-izvještajnu skupštinu SRP-a,
ponovo birati naša rukovodeæa tijela, dopuniti
Porgramsku deklaraciju, izvršiti neke izmjene
Statuta, pa æe to biti prilika i da vidimo što je
SRP postigao u dvije godine postojanja i što
mu je èiniti u iduæe dvije godine.
Mnogi ljudi koji su po svojim uvjerenjima na
liniji SRP-a i kojima je on blizak ovaj put su
glasali za koaliciju SDP-HSLS, želeæi time
pridonijeti HDZ-ovom silasku s vlasti. A ako se
ta koalicija ne pokaže vjerodostojna i ako se u
praksi ne potvrdi da odluèno raskida sa ZNA SE
politikom, ljudi æe sve više prilaziti SRP-u, tim
više ako budemo kao stranka agilni, ako se
budemo pravovremeno oglašavali i izlazili sa
svojim prijedlozima i zahtjevima u
odnosu na novu vlast.
Možda uskoro doðe i do izvanrednih izbora, a u
tom æe sluèaju SRP, nema nikakve sumnje,
mnogo bolje proæi!
Prema tome, na izlazak SRP-a na izbore 3.
sijeènja 2000. trebamo gledati kao na poèetak
naše jaèe prisutnosti na hrvatskoj politièkoj
sceni i našeg veæeg utjecaja, a ne kao na
nekakav (relativni) neuspjeh.
Po svoj prilici, ostat æemo jedina lijeva stranka
u Hrvatskoj, jer se druge neæe potvrditi kao
takve ili æe se ugasiti.
Moramo se širiti, osnivati nove organizacije
SRP-a, pridobijati nove èlanove i potvrðivati
svoju prisutnost u dnevnom pulsiranju
politièkog života.
U to ime sve vas pozdravljam i svima
želim sretnu 2000. godinu!
Stipe Šuvar, v.r.
http://srp.hr
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Jugocoord su Telegram
Jugocoord su Facebook