Subject: U.S./NATO found guilty of war crimes against Yugoslavia
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 21:42:52 -0400
From: iacenter@...
To: "International" <iacenter@...>
GUILTY!
On Saturday, June 10, 2000, the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO
War Crimes Against the People of Yugoslavia found U.S. and
NATO political and military leaders guilty of war crimes. At this
people's tribunal meeting in New York, held before over 500 people, a
panel of 16 judges from 11 countries rendered this verdict regarding
the March 24-June 10, 1999 U.S./NATO assault on Yugoslavia.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the lead prosecutor at
the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO War Crimes Against
Yugoslavia, urged those present and those they represented from the
21 countries participating to carry out a sentence of organizing a
campaign to abolish the NATO military pact.
Ben Dupuy, former ambassador at large during the Aristide
Administration in Haiti, the Rev. Kiyul Chung of Korea, and auto
worker Martha Grevatt, who heads the AFL-CIO's official
constituency group Pride at Work, read the three parts of the verdict
(included below).
Participants taking the witness stand included eyewitnesses,
researchers who visited Yugoslavia, renowned political and
economics analysts, historians, physicists, biologists, military
experts,
journalists and lay researchers. (A list of all the judges, and the
witnesses and their topics is included below.)
Many of these witnesses have in the past 15 months presented to
audiences worldwide a complete picture of the war NATO waged
against Yugoslavia. For the tribunal, however, all limited themselves
to a single area of expertise that made up a single part of the
evidence against the political and military leaders of the United States
and the other NATO countries.
Taken together, the judges decided, each single part contributed to
construct a proof that beyond a reasonable doubt proved the guilt of
the accused, just as the proper placing of single tiles can build a
mosaic.
The witnesses described how NATO forces used the media to spread
lies to demonize the Serbs and their leadership in order to prepare
public opinion to prepare for war. Then they showed the real
economic and geopolitical interests of the imperialist powers--the U.S.
and Western Europe-in seizing economic control of the area from
the Balkans to the oil-rich Caspian Sea.
Finally they demonstrated how Washington rigged the "Racak
massacre" and then used the so-called Rambouillet accord-in reality
an ultimatum demanding NATO's military control of all of Yugoslavia-
-to provoke the war. Taken together this all proved a crime against
peace.
They also showed the use of illegal weapons, the purposeful choice of
civilian targets and the destruction of the environment and the civilian
infrastructure that add up to war crimes. And the expulsion of
hundreds of thousands of people from Kosovo and Metohija that
prove crimes against humanity.
The witnesses' presentations were accompanied in many cases by
slides and videos displayed on a large screen on the stage of the
auditorium at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Manhattan. This
screen was easily visible both to the judges, who sat on the stage, and
to the hundreds in the audience, many of whom stayed throughout the
nine-hour day.
In addition, pictures and videos were on display in the hall outside the
auditorium, and documentary evidence was offered in books or in
research papers.
The International Action Center, founded by Clark in 1992, organized
this final session of the tribunal. There was also participation by
those
who had organized similar tribunal hearings in Germany, Italy, Austria,
Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia and Greece, where thousands declared
U.S. President Clinton a war criminal last November in Athens.
In addition to the witnesses, there were also important guest
presentations from representatives of the governments Yugoslavia
and Cuba. In addition, Ismael Guadalupe from Vieques, Puerto Rico
showed in a powerful speech how the practice runs against his small
island laid the basis for U.S./NATO aggression around the world.
According to the IAC organizers, total registration, including justices,
witnesses and staff was 511. Invited speakers, witnesses and judges
came from Haiti, Spain, Turkey, Korea, Puerto Rico, India, Germany,
United States, Canada, Italy, Yugoslavia, Russia, Britain, Belgium,
Iraq, Greece, Austria, France, and Portugal. The U.S. government
refused visas to four people from Ukraine, whose message was read
from the stage.
There were also representatives of the Roma people-often referred
to by the derisive term "gypsy." Shani Rifati, a Roma witness who
was born in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, told how NATO occupation
has led to the expulsion of 100,000 Romas. He pointed out that the
verdict condemned the persecution of Roma people, the first time this
has happened in any international tribunal.
Five different television crews taped the entire proceedings, including
Serbian television and a three-camera crew from Australia, as well as
alternate media sources in the U.S. like the Peoples Video Network.
FINAL JUDGEMENT OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO
INVESTIGATE U.S./NATO WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE
PEOPLE OF YUGOSLAVIA
Final Judgement
The Members of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to
Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against the People of
Yugoslavia, meeting in New York, having considered the Initial
Charges and Complaint of the Commission dated July 31, 1999,
against President William J. Clinton, Gen. Wesley Clark, Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor
Gerhard Schroder, President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister Jose Maria Azmar, the
Governments of the United States and the other NATO member
states, former Secretary General Javier Solana and other NATO
leaders, and Others with nineteen separate Crimes Against Peace,
War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in violation of the Charter
of the United Nations, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, other
international agreements and customary international law;
Having the right and obligation as citizens of the world to sit in
judgement regarding violations of international humanitarian law;
Having heard the testimony from Commissions of Inquiry and
Tribunals held within their own countries during the past year and
having received reports from numerous other Commission hearings
which recite the evidence there gathered;
Having been provided with documentary evidence, eyewitness
statements, photos, videotapes, special reports, expert analyses and
summaries of evidence available to the Commission;
Having access to all evidence, knowledge and expert opinion in the
Commission files or available to the Commission staff;
Having been provided by the Commission, or otherwise obtained,
various books, articles and other written materials on various aspects
of events and conditions in Yugoslavia and other countries in the
Balkans, and in the military and arms establishments;
Having considered newspaper coverage, magazine and periodical
reports, special publications, TV, radio and other media coverage and
public statements by the accused, other public officials and public
materials;
Having heard the presentations of the Commission of Inquiry in public
hearing on June 10, 2000, and the testimony, evidence and summaries
there presented;
And having met, considered and deliberated with each other and with
Commission staff and having considered all the evidence that is
relevant to the nineteen charges of criminal conduct alleged in the
Initial Complaint, make the following findings:
FINDINGS
The Members of the International War Crimes Tribunal find the
accused Guilty on the basis of the evidence against them and that
each of the nineteen separate crimes alleged in the Initial Complaint
has been established to have been committed beyond a reasonable
doubt. These are:
1. Planning and Executing the Dismemberment, Segregation and
Impoverishment of Yugoslavia.
2. Inflicting, Inciting and Enhancing Violence Between and Among
Muslims and Slavs.
3. Disrupting Efforts to Maintain Unity, Peace and Stability in
Yugoslavia.
4. Destroying the Peace-Making Role of the United Nations.
5. Using NATO for Military Aggression Against, and Occupation of,
Non-Compliant Poor Countries.
6. Killing and Injuring a Defenseless Population throughout
Yugoslavia.
7. Planning, Announcing and Executing Attacks Intended to
Assassinate the Head of Government, Other Government Leaders
and Selected Civilians in Yugoslavia.
8. Destroying and Damaging Economic, Social, Cultural, Medical,
Diplomatic -- including the Embassy of the People's Republic of
China and other embassies -- and Religious Resources, Properties
and Facilities throughout Yugoslavia.
9 Attacking Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Population of
Yugoslavia.
10. Attacking Facilities Containing Dangerous Substances and Forces.
11. Using Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs and Other Prohibited
Weapons.
12. Waging War on the Environment.
13. Imposing Sanctions through the United Nations that are a
Genocidal Crime Against Humanity.
14. Creating an Illegal Ad-Hoc Criminal Tribunal to Destroy and
Demonize the Serbian Leadership. The Illegitimacy of this Tribunal is
Further Demonstrated by its Failure to Bring Any Case Regarding the
Oppression of the Romani People, Who Have Suffered the Highest
Rate of Casualties of Any People in the Region.
15. Using Controlled International Media to Create and Maintain
Support for the U.S. Assault and to Demonize Yugoslavia, Slavs,
Serbs and Muslims as Genocidal Murderers.
16. Establishing the Long-Term Military Occupation of Strategic
Parts of Yugoslavia by NATO Forces.
17. Attempting to Destroy the Sovereignty, Right to Self-
Determination, Democracy and Culture of the Slavic, Muslim, Roma
and Other Peoples of Yugoslavia.
18. Seeking to Establish U.S. Domination and Control of Yugoslavia
and to Exploit Its People and Resources.
19. Using the Means of Military Force and Economic Coercion in
Order to Achieve U.S. Domination.
The Members hold NATO, the NATO states and their leaders
accountable for their criminal acts and condemn those found guilty in
the strongest possible terms. The Members condemn the NATO
bombardments, denounce the international crimes and violations of
international humanitarian law committed by the armed attack and
through other means such as economic sanctions. NATO has acted
lawlessly and has attempted to abolish international law.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Members urge the immediate revocation of all embargoes,
sanctions and penalties against Yugoslavia because they constitute a
continuing crime against humanity. The Members call for the
immediate end to the NATO occupation of all Yugoslav territory, the
removal of all NATO and U.S. bases and forces from the Balkans
region, and the cessation of overt and covert operations, including the
"International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia" in the
Hague, aimed at overthrowing the government of Yugoslavia.
The Members further call for full reparations to be paid to the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia for death, injury, economic and environmental
damage resulting from the NATO bombing, economic sanctions and
blockades. Further, other states in the region which have suffered
economic and environmental damage due to the NATO bombing and
economic sanctions on Yugoslavia must also be awarded reparations.
The Members condemn the threat or use of military technology
against life, both civilian and military, as was used by the NATO
powers against the people of Yugoslavia.
The Members urge public action and mobilization to stop new and
continued sanctions and aggressions by the U.S. and other NATO
powers against Iraq, Cuba, North Korea, the countries of Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union, Puerto Rico, Asia, Sudan,
Colombia and other countries. We ask for the immediate cessation of
overt/covert activities by the U.S. and NATO in such countries.
The Members believe that the interests of peace, justice and human
progress require the abolition of NATO, which has proved itself
beyond any doubt to be an instrument of aggression for the dominant,
colonizing powers, particularly the United States. The Pentagon, the
central and key element of NATO and the greatest single threat to
the people of the world, must be disbanded.
The Members urge the Commission to provide for the permanent
preservation of the reports, evidence and materials gathered to make
them available to others, and to seek ways to provide the widest
possible distribution of the truth about the U.S./NATO war on
Yugoslavia.
We urge all people of the world to act on recommendations developed
by the Commission to hold power accountable and to secure social
justice on which lasting peace must be based.
Done in New York this 10th day of June, 2000
TRIBUNAL SCHEDULE AND LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
10 a.m. Doors open. Registration, if possible, show videos in the
cafeteria or auditorium.
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m Catrin Schuetz and Anya Mukarji-Connolly
introduce judges and prosecutors: List of judges for the International
Tribunal on U.S./NATO War Crimes against Yugoslavia--New York,
June 10, 2000
LIST OF 16 JUDGES
1. Ben Dupuy--Haiti--Former Ambassador at Large for Haiti under
the first government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and currently
secretary general of the Popular National Party (PPN) of Haiti.
2. Angeles Maestro Martin--Spain--Elected member of Spanish
parliament from Madrid and a leader in the movement to end
sanctions against Iraq .
3. Cimile Cakir --Turkey; journalist for newspaper serving Kurdish
community and member of Turkish Human Rights Association.
Imprisoned four years in Turkey for human rights activity..
4. Rev. Kiyul Chung--Korea--Rev. Ki Yul Chung, chairperson of the
Executive Committee of the Congress for Korean Unification in
North America.
5. John Nickels--Roma--U.S. representative of the International
Romani Union and also a judge in the Romani community in the U.S.
6. Jorge Farinacci--Puerto Rico--leader of the Socialist Front of
Puerto Rico and a long-time leader of the independence movement in
Puerto Rico.
7. Ray Laforest--Haitian-American--labor unionist in the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and a leader of
the Haitian Coalition for Justice, an organization that fights police
brutality in New York.
8. Uma Cutwal -originally from India, Uma Cutwal is president of
Local 375 of the Civil Service Technical Union District Council 37 of
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
9. Dr. Christa Anders--Germany--doctor of medicine and an
organizer of the German/European Tribunal.
10. Raniero La Valle--Italy--Former senator who has served 14 years
in the Italian parliament and an anti-war leader in Catholic circles and
spokesperson for the Italian War Crimes Tribunal movement.
11. Dr. Wolfgang Richter--Germany--Chairperson of the Society for
the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity and a leader of the
War Crimes Tribunal movement in Germany.
12. Martha Grevatt--United States--National Secretary of the AFL-
CIO for Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans Labor Organization called Pride at
Work, and active in the United Auto Workers.
13. Michael Ratner--United States--Civil Rights Attorney on the
National Board of the Center for Constitutional Rights and he took the
U.S. government to court for violating the War Powers Act in its
undeclared war against Yugoslavia.
14. Yole Stanesic--Yugoslavia, Russia--Montenegrin poet and writer
living in Russia, member of the tribunals in Yaroslav, Kiev and
Belgrade.
15. John Black--United States--retired President of the Health and
Hospital Workers Union in Pennsylvania, responsible for bringing
many thousands of hospital workers into the union. As a teenager in
Germany he was active in the anti-Nazi underground resistance.
16. Dr. Berta Joubert--Puerto Rico--psychiatrist working in public
health and organizer of Puerto Rican and African American anti-
racist activities in Philadelphia.
The Prosecutor team:
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general and founder of the
International Action Center;
Pat Chin--originally from Jamaica, International Action Center
spokesperson for solidarity with Haiti and Yugoslavia and other issues;
Sara Flounders, International Action Center national co-director,
participant in numerous tribunal hearings;
Gloria La Riva, a leader of the Peace for Cuba Committee, producer
of video NATO Targets.
(All were in Yugoslavia either during the war or participating in
seminars or meetings after the war.)
Short opening remarks by Ramsey Clark, who will be lead prosecutor.
Opening greetings from Mikhail Kuznetsov of the International
Peoples Tribunal organized from Russia and Ukraine and other
former Soviet countries.
Part I: Crimes against peace. (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)
Our first witness is Lenora Foerstel (Maryland) of Women for Mutual
Security. She has recently edited a book War, Lies and Videotape;
about the control of the media.
Jared Israel (Massachusetts). Jared Israel produced a film called
Judgement showing how the corporate media distorted a picture to
produce a Big Lie.
Jean Hatton (Great Britain), from the anti-war movement in Britain.
Spoke of how massacre stories were used to justify the war.
Christopher Black (Canada), one of a group of Canadian attorney's
who filed a suit charging NATO with war crimes at what is called the
International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia at the Hague.
Speaks on ICFTY, how the Hague Tribunal was a part of the
preparation for war.
Monica Moorehead (U.S.) of Millions for Mumia and contributing
editor to Workers World newspaper, an expert on the prison-industrial
complex in the United States.
Michel Collon, (Belgium) author of two books on the Balkans, Liar's
Poker, and Monopoly; and contributor to the weekly newspaper,
Solidaire, on the geo-political aims of the war, the Caspian pipelines.
Kadouri Al Kaysi an Iraqi American who has organized to expose the
impact of sanctions on Iraq.
Stratis Kounias, vice-president of the Greek Committee for Peace
and Professor at the University of Athens on NATO's role in Greece
and the Greek anti-war movement.
John Catalinotto (New York), journalist and researcher who has
represented the International Action Center at tribunals in Vienna and
Belgrade, on Washington's premeditated plan regarding NATO and
the attack on Yugoslavia.
Roland Keith (Canada), a monitor for the Observer Mission that was
supposed to maintain the peace in Kosovo in 1998, before the war, on
the real role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe's Observer mission in Kosovo and Metohija.
Preston Wood (California), who participated in hearings in Novi Sad
and who organized opposition to the war in Los Angeles, especially in
the Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans community to present to the tribunal the
truth about the supposed massacre in Racak, Kosovo, used to justify
the attack on Yugoslavia.
Richard Becker (California), who has written and spoken extensively
on the role of the talks held in Rambouillet, France in February and
March 1999. Rambouillet ultimatum as provocation.
Gregor Kneussel (Austria), from the Austrian tribunal about the role
of Constitutionally neutral Austria regarding Yugoslavia and in
delivering this NATO ultimatum.
Part II. War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity
La Riva, Gloria Prosecutor (California), used the video she produced,
NATO Targets, to show how the U.S./NATO bombs hit civilian
targets, from hospitals to bridges to factories.
Sarah Sloan (New York), IAC Commission of Inquiry researcher on
NATO claim it tried to minimize damage to civilian facilities in
Yugoslavia. She used a March 15, 2000 Newsweek article that
exposed that NATO hit very few military targets.
Ellen Catalinotto (New York) is a midwife who has delivered over
1,200 babies to mostly poor women in the New York City. She also
cares for HIV infected women and is involved in research on ways to
prevent the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to their
babies. She reported on NATO's bombing of 33 hospitals including
damage to the maternity ward at Dragisa Micovic hospital in
Belgrade.
Prof. Ivan Yatsenko (Russia), former Soviet officer and foreign
representative, now teaches law in Moscow. He described damage to
Yugoslav industrial infrastructure and how it cost a half-million jobs.
Admiral Elmar Schmaehling (Germany), former admiral and leading
spokesperson for the German tribunal movement. He spoke on the
aggressive posture of NATO since the collapse of the USSR and its
illegal attack on Yugoslavia.
Judi Cheng (New Jersey), IAC researcher. She showed how
unreasonable it was to believe that the bombing of Chinese embassy
in Belgrade was an accident.
Dr. Janet Eaton (Canada), biologist and environment expert Dr. Janet
Eaton to the stand, on destruction of the environment in Yugoslavia,
especially the damage from attacks on the petrochemical plant at
Pancevo and other industrial targets.
Dr. Carlo Pona (Italy) A physicist who attended a conference in
Belgrade about depleted uranium and has written about this subject,
Pona explained why DU is dangerous to humans and how it was used
in Yugoslavia.
Fulvio Grimaldi (Italy), video maker and journalist. Grimaldi, who has
just completed edited a film on sanctions in Iraq and Yugoslavia,
described the combined impact of impact of bombing and sanctions on
the population of Yugoslavia.
Deirdre Griswold (New York) has recently visited sites of U.S. war
crimes in south Korea, is editor in chief of Workers World
newspaper. She spoke about the pattern of criminal conduct of the
U.S. military and how the 1950 war crimes led to a continuing 50-
year occupation of Korea.
Shani Rifati (Roma), originally from the Romani community in
Kosovo, publishes an English-language newsletter about Romani
affairs named Voice of Roma. He spoke of the horrors the Roma
people faced in Kosovo under K-FOR and KLA occupation.
Milos Raickovich Serb-American composer and anti-war activist,
spoke on the destruction of churches and cultural sites in occupied
Kosovo and Metohija.
Professor Michel Chossudovsky (Canada), an expert historian and
economist, showed the role of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
and its ties to U.S. and German intelligence services, ties to NATO
and the United Nations Rep. Bernard Kouchner.
Scott Taylor (Canada), former soldier, who now publishes the Ottawa-
based magazine, Espirit de Corps, celebrated for its unflinching
scrutiny of the Canadian military. He also appears regularly in the
Canadian media as a military analyst. He witnessed the expulsion of
the Serb population from the Krajina in Croatia by an army led by
KLA General Ceku.
Professor Barry Lituchy (New York), who has recently returned
from a trip to Yugoslavia, described how the NATO occupying forces
known as K-FOR have participated in expelling parts of the
population from Kosovo.
Professor Greg Elich (United States), has recently visited the
Balkans. He spoke on the un-humanitarian nature of . NATO's
occupation of Kosovo.
Gilles Troude (France), on the editorial board of Balkans-Info, a pro-
Yugoslavia, anti-NATO monthly published in Paris, France since
1996. He described France's role in the war and in suppressing
dissent at home.
Professor Jorge Cadima (Portugal), a regular contributor on NATO-
related subjects to to Avante, the weekly newspaper of the
Portuguese Communist Party, spoke on the role of NATO in Portugal
since 1949 and on popular resistance to the war.
5:30-6:15 Messages of solidarity and struggle
Ismael Guadalupe (Puerto Rico) The Committee for the Rescue and
Development of Vieques on the relationship of Vieques to
Yugoslavia. He showed how the U.S. used Vieques for target
practice to prepare for the war against Yugoslavia, and they do so for
all foreign aggression.
Representative of Cuban Interest Section, spoke on Cuba's suit
against U.S. for the costs of the embargo.
UN Ambassador Jovanovic of Yugoslavia, gave evidence of his own
government's charges against the U.S. and NATO for war crimes.
His talk was in fact a summary of much of the day's proceedings.
Brian Becker, co-director of the IAC, spoke on the need to form a
worldwide movement to abolish NATO.
Ramsey Clark reiterated some of the main points developed during
the day and stressed the need to come to a unified conclusion that
would find NATO guilty over a broad spectrum of charges-the 19
charges included in the original indictment-and lead to a struggle to
abolish NATO.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@i...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
http://www.workers.org
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 15, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
Hague tribunal denounced for exonerating NATO war criminals
By John Catalinotto
Anti-war organizations and individuals around the world reacted in
indignation to the announcement June 2 that the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was exonerating NATO of all charges
of war crimes committed against Yugoslavia.
Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the tribunal at The Hague, said
that the court had examined charges brought against NATO by various
forces. She said that after considerable study the court decided there
was no reason to pursue any of these charges.
Lawyers' groups in Canada, Russia, Greece, France, Yugoslavia and the
United States had brought charges before the court. Charges included the
use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium weapons, as well as dropping
bombs on civilian targets. The civilian targets included the Serb
television station, the Chinese Embassy, a train crossing a bridge and a
convoy of refugees in Kosovo--most of which have been reported in the
mainstream media.
International Action Center co-director Sara Flounders said Del Ponte's
announcement shows that "a people's court has to bring charges against
U.S. and NATO leaders if we want to preserve the truth of this war for
history."
The IAC initiated such a people's tribunal on July 31, 1999, and will
hold its final hearing this June 10 in New York. Flounders said anti-war
activists, elected representatives and prominent personalities from 18
nations will participate in the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO War
Crimes against Yugoslavia.
Flounders noted that "Del Ponte made her announcement just as people's
tribunals were taking place in Rome and Berlin that were finding NATO
leaders guilty of war crimes. And we were preparing our final tribunal
for the following week. In the Netherlands, lawyers are bringing charges
against government leaders on June 9.
"There is no doubt U.S. and NATO leaders planned the aggressive war
against Yugoslavia over a long period, that they purposely bombed
civilian targets, and that they used weapons illegal under international
treaties. And there is no doubt Del Ponte was told to make this
announcement now in an attempt to counter the success of these people's
tribunals in bringing U.S./NATO crimes to the light of day," charged
Flounders.
"We note that the article in the June 3 New York Times on Del Ponte's
announcement described the lawyers who brought charges to the ICTFY
court as 'paid by Yugoslavia.' We know for a fact that the lawyers in
many different countries--including Canada, France, Russia and
Greece--do their work out of their personal conviction. They often do
this at great personal sacrifice, and they have succeeded in exposing
the ICTFY as a corrupt court in the pay of the U.S. and other NATO
powers."
'A corrupt tribunal is worse than none at all'
Workers World spoke with Prof. Michael Mandel, one of a group of
Canadian attorneys who had brought charges to the ICTFY court.
Mandel said that Del Ponte's decision was no surprise to him, and that
his group had denounced the tribunal as a farce and a disgrace in March.
"The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is a
corrupt institution," said Mandel. "It declared its own corruption with
the announcement by the prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, that she is
completely satisfied that NATO did not commit war crimes in Yugoslavia
and for that reason is not going to open an inquiry.
"You might want to ask how she became satisfied of their innocence
without an inquiry.
"NATO committed every crime from mass murder on down in front of the
world and it confessed its guilt in every press conference of Jamie
Shea," said Mandel.
"A corrupt tribunal is worse than no tribunal at all. This one should be
shut down and Del Ponte fired, to find work in some other department of
the Pentagon," said Mandel. He noted that the first prosecutor of the
tribunal, Canadian Louise Arbour, was rewarded with a life appointment
to the Supreme Court of Canada by Premier Jean Chretien.
In Italy, former senator and religious philosopher Raniero La Valle
denounced the ICTFY as a "victor's tribunal" that was set up
specifically to persecute the Milosevic government in Yugoslavia. La
Valle said that "it is important that justice be found also outside of
its traditional seats and be proclaimed before the tribunal of public
opinion." He was referring specifically to the tribunals to be held June
3 in Rome and June 10 in the U.S. inspired by former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark.
La Valle will participate at the June 10 tribunal in New York, which
will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King High
School Auditorium at 66th Street and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan. The
doors open at 10 a.m.
---
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Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 21:42:52 -0400
From: iacenter@...
To: "International" <iacenter@...>
GUILTY!
On Saturday, June 10, 2000, the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO
War Crimes Against the People of Yugoslavia found U.S. and
NATO political and military leaders guilty of war crimes. At this
people's tribunal meeting in New York, held before over 500 people, a
panel of 16 judges from 11 countries rendered this verdict regarding
the March 24-June 10, 1999 U.S./NATO assault on Yugoslavia.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the lead prosecutor at
the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO War Crimes Against
Yugoslavia, urged those present and those they represented from the
21 countries participating to carry out a sentence of organizing a
campaign to abolish the NATO military pact.
Ben Dupuy, former ambassador at large during the Aristide
Administration in Haiti, the Rev. Kiyul Chung of Korea, and auto
worker Martha Grevatt, who heads the AFL-CIO's official
constituency group Pride at Work, read the three parts of the verdict
(included below).
Participants taking the witness stand included eyewitnesses,
researchers who visited Yugoslavia, renowned political and
economics analysts, historians, physicists, biologists, military
experts,
journalists and lay researchers. (A list of all the judges, and the
witnesses and their topics is included below.)
Many of these witnesses have in the past 15 months presented to
audiences worldwide a complete picture of the war NATO waged
against Yugoslavia. For the tribunal, however, all limited themselves
to a single area of expertise that made up a single part of the
evidence against the political and military leaders of the United States
and the other NATO countries.
Taken together, the judges decided, each single part contributed to
construct a proof that beyond a reasonable doubt proved the guilt of
the accused, just as the proper placing of single tiles can build a
mosaic.
The witnesses described how NATO forces used the media to spread
lies to demonize the Serbs and their leadership in order to prepare
public opinion to prepare for war. Then they showed the real
economic and geopolitical interests of the imperialist powers--the U.S.
and Western Europe-in seizing economic control of the area from
the Balkans to the oil-rich Caspian Sea.
Finally they demonstrated how Washington rigged the "Racak
massacre" and then used the so-called Rambouillet accord-in reality
an ultimatum demanding NATO's military control of all of Yugoslavia-
-to provoke the war. Taken together this all proved a crime against
peace.
They also showed the use of illegal weapons, the purposeful choice of
civilian targets and the destruction of the environment and the civilian
infrastructure that add up to war crimes. And the expulsion of
hundreds of thousands of people from Kosovo and Metohija that
prove crimes against humanity.
The witnesses' presentations were accompanied in many cases by
slides and videos displayed on a large screen on the stage of the
auditorium at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Manhattan. This
screen was easily visible both to the judges, who sat on the stage, and
to the hundreds in the audience, many of whom stayed throughout the
nine-hour day.
In addition, pictures and videos were on display in the hall outside the
auditorium, and documentary evidence was offered in books or in
research papers.
The International Action Center, founded by Clark in 1992, organized
this final session of the tribunal. There was also participation by
those
who had organized similar tribunal hearings in Germany, Italy, Austria,
Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia and Greece, where thousands declared
U.S. President Clinton a war criminal last November in Athens.
In addition to the witnesses, there were also important guest
presentations from representatives of the governments Yugoslavia
and Cuba. In addition, Ismael Guadalupe from Vieques, Puerto Rico
showed in a powerful speech how the practice runs against his small
island laid the basis for U.S./NATO aggression around the world.
According to the IAC organizers, total registration, including justices,
witnesses and staff was 511. Invited speakers, witnesses and judges
came from Haiti, Spain, Turkey, Korea, Puerto Rico, India, Germany,
United States, Canada, Italy, Yugoslavia, Russia, Britain, Belgium,
Iraq, Greece, Austria, France, and Portugal. The U.S. government
refused visas to four people from Ukraine, whose message was read
from the stage.
There were also representatives of the Roma people-often referred
to by the derisive term "gypsy." Shani Rifati, a Roma witness who
was born in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, told how NATO occupation
has led to the expulsion of 100,000 Romas. He pointed out that the
verdict condemned the persecution of Roma people, the first time this
has happened in any international tribunal.
Five different television crews taped the entire proceedings, including
Serbian television and a three-camera crew from Australia, as well as
alternate media sources in the U.S. like the Peoples Video Network.
FINAL JUDGEMENT OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO
INVESTIGATE U.S./NATO WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE
PEOPLE OF YUGOSLAVIA
Final Judgement
The Members of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to
Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against the People of
Yugoslavia, meeting in New York, having considered the Initial
Charges and Complaint of the Commission dated July 31, 1999,
against President William J. Clinton, Gen. Wesley Clark, Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor
Gerhard Schroder, President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister Jose Maria Azmar, the
Governments of the United States and the other NATO member
states, former Secretary General Javier Solana and other NATO
leaders, and Others with nineteen separate Crimes Against Peace,
War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in violation of the Charter
of the United Nations, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, other
international agreements and customary international law;
Having the right and obligation as citizens of the world to sit in
judgement regarding violations of international humanitarian law;
Having heard the testimony from Commissions of Inquiry and
Tribunals held within their own countries during the past year and
having received reports from numerous other Commission hearings
which recite the evidence there gathered;
Having been provided with documentary evidence, eyewitness
statements, photos, videotapes, special reports, expert analyses and
summaries of evidence available to the Commission;
Having access to all evidence, knowledge and expert opinion in the
Commission files or available to the Commission staff;
Having been provided by the Commission, or otherwise obtained,
various books, articles and other written materials on various aspects
of events and conditions in Yugoslavia and other countries in the
Balkans, and in the military and arms establishments;
Having considered newspaper coverage, magazine and periodical
reports, special publications, TV, radio and other media coverage and
public statements by the accused, other public officials and public
materials;
Having heard the presentations of the Commission of Inquiry in public
hearing on June 10, 2000, and the testimony, evidence and summaries
there presented;
And having met, considered and deliberated with each other and with
Commission staff and having considered all the evidence that is
relevant to the nineteen charges of criminal conduct alleged in the
Initial Complaint, make the following findings:
FINDINGS
The Members of the International War Crimes Tribunal find the
accused Guilty on the basis of the evidence against them and that
each of the nineteen separate crimes alleged in the Initial Complaint
has been established to have been committed beyond a reasonable
doubt. These are:
1. Planning and Executing the Dismemberment, Segregation and
Impoverishment of Yugoslavia.
2. Inflicting, Inciting and Enhancing Violence Between and Among
Muslims and Slavs.
3. Disrupting Efforts to Maintain Unity, Peace and Stability in
Yugoslavia.
4. Destroying the Peace-Making Role of the United Nations.
5. Using NATO for Military Aggression Against, and Occupation of,
Non-Compliant Poor Countries.
6. Killing and Injuring a Defenseless Population throughout
Yugoslavia.
7. Planning, Announcing and Executing Attacks Intended to
Assassinate the Head of Government, Other Government Leaders
and Selected Civilians in Yugoslavia.
8. Destroying and Damaging Economic, Social, Cultural, Medical,
Diplomatic -- including the Embassy of the People's Republic of
China and other embassies -- and Religious Resources, Properties
and Facilities throughout Yugoslavia.
9 Attacking Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Population of
Yugoslavia.
10. Attacking Facilities Containing Dangerous Substances and Forces.
11. Using Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs and Other Prohibited
Weapons.
12. Waging War on the Environment.
13. Imposing Sanctions through the United Nations that are a
Genocidal Crime Against Humanity.
14. Creating an Illegal Ad-Hoc Criminal Tribunal to Destroy and
Demonize the Serbian Leadership. The Illegitimacy of this Tribunal is
Further Demonstrated by its Failure to Bring Any Case Regarding the
Oppression of the Romani People, Who Have Suffered the Highest
Rate of Casualties of Any People in the Region.
15. Using Controlled International Media to Create and Maintain
Support for the U.S. Assault and to Demonize Yugoslavia, Slavs,
Serbs and Muslims as Genocidal Murderers.
16. Establishing the Long-Term Military Occupation of Strategic
Parts of Yugoslavia by NATO Forces.
17. Attempting to Destroy the Sovereignty, Right to Self-
Determination, Democracy and Culture of the Slavic, Muslim, Roma
and Other Peoples of Yugoslavia.
18. Seeking to Establish U.S. Domination and Control of Yugoslavia
and to Exploit Its People and Resources.
19. Using the Means of Military Force and Economic Coercion in
Order to Achieve U.S. Domination.
The Members hold NATO, the NATO states and their leaders
accountable for their criminal acts and condemn those found guilty in
the strongest possible terms. The Members condemn the NATO
bombardments, denounce the international crimes and violations of
international humanitarian law committed by the armed attack and
through other means such as economic sanctions. NATO has acted
lawlessly and has attempted to abolish international law.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Members urge the immediate revocation of all embargoes,
sanctions and penalties against Yugoslavia because they constitute a
continuing crime against humanity. The Members call for the
immediate end to the NATO occupation of all Yugoslav territory, the
removal of all NATO and U.S. bases and forces from the Balkans
region, and the cessation of overt and covert operations, including the
"International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia" in the
Hague, aimed at overthrowing the government of Yugoslavia.
The Members further call for full reparations to be paid to the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia for death, injury, economic and environmental
damage resulting from the NATO bombing, economic sanctions and
blockades. Further, other states in the region which have suffered
economic and environmental damage due to the NATO bombing and
economic sanctions on Yugoslavia must also be awarded reparations.
The Members condemn the threat or use of military technology
against life, both civilian and military, as was used by the NATO
powers against the people of Yugoslavia.
The Members urge public action and mobilization to stop new and
continued sanctions and aggressions by the U.S. and other NATO
powers against Iraq, Cuba, North Korea, the countries of Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union, Puerto Rico, Asia, Sudan,
Colombia and other countries. We ask for the immediate cessation of
overt/covert activities by the U.S. and NATO in such countries.
The Members believe that the interests of peace, justice and human
progress require the abolition of NATO, which has proved itself
beyond any doubt to be an instrument of aggression for the dominant,
colonizing powers, particularly the United States. The Pentagon, the
central and key element of NATO and the greatest single threat to
the people of the world, must be disbanded.
The Members urge the Commission to provide for the permanent
preservation of the reports, evidence and materials gathered to make
them available to others, and to seek ways to provide the widest
possible distribution of the truth about the U.S./NATO war on
Yugoslavia.
We urge all people of the world to act on recommendations developed
by the Commission to hold power accountable and to secure social
justice on which lasting peace must be based.
Done in New York this 10th day of June, 2000
TRIBUNAL SCHEDULE AND LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
10 a.m. Doors open. Registration, if possible, show videos in the
cafeteria or auditorium.
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m Catrin Schuetz and Anya Mukarji-Connolly
introduce judges and prosecutors: List of judges for the International
Tribunal on U.S./NATO War Crimes against Yugoslavia--New York,
June 10, 2000
LIST OF 16 JUDGES
1. Ben Dupuy--Haiti--Former Ambassador at Large for Haiti under
the first government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and currently
secretary general of the Popular National Party (PPN) of Haiti.
2. Angeles Maestro Martin--Spain--Elected member of Spanish
parliament from Madrid and a leader in the movement to end
sanctions against Iraq .
3. Cimile Cakir --Turkey; journalist for newspaper serving Kurdish
community and member of Turkish Human Rights Association.
Imprisoned four years in Turkey for human rights activity..
4. Rev. Kiyul Chung--Korea--Rev. Ki Yul Chung, chairperson of the
Executive Committee of the Congress for Korean Unification in
North America.
5. John Nickels--Roma--U.S. representative of the International
Romani Union and also a judge in the Romani community in the U.S.
6. Jorge Farinacci--Puerto Rico--leader of the Socialist Front of
Puerto Rico and a long-time leader of the independence movement in
Puerto Rico.
7. Ray Laforest--Haitian-American--labor unionist in the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and a leader of
the Haitian Coalition for Justice, an organization that fights police
brutality in New York.
8. Uma Cutwal -originally from India, Uma Cutwal is president of
Local 375 of the Civil Service Technical Union District Council 37 of
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
9. Dr. Christa Anders--Germany--doctor of medicine and an
organizer of the German/European Tribunal.
10. Raniero La Valle--Italy--Former senator who has served 14 years
in the Italian parliament and an anti-war leader in Catholic circles and
spokesperson for the Italian War Crimes Tribunal movement.
11. Dr. Wolfgang Richter--Germany--Chairperson of the Society for
the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity and a leader of the
War Crimes Tribunal movement in Germany.
12. Martha Grevatt--United States--National Secretary of the AFL-
CIO for Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans Labor Organization called Pride at
Work, and active in the United Auto Workers.
13. Michael Ratner--United States--Civil Rights Attorney on the
National Board of the Center for Constitutional Rights and he took the
U.S. government to court for violating the War Powers Act in its
undeclared war against Yugoslavia.
14. Yole Stanesic--Yugoslavia, Russia--Montenegrin poet and writer
living in Russia, member of the tribunals in Yaroslav, Kiev and
Belgrade.
15. John Black--United States--retired President of the Health and
Hospital Workers Union in Pennsylvania, responsible for bringing
many thousands of hospital workers into the union. As a teenager in
Germany he was active in the anti-Nazi underground resistance.
16. Dr. Berta Joubert--Puerto Rico--psychiatrist working in public
health and organizer of Puerto Rican and African American anti-
racist activities in Philadelphia.
The Prosecutor team:
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general and founder of the
International Action Center;
Pat Chin--originally from Jamaica, International Action Center
spokesperson for solidarity with Haiti and Yugoslavia and other issues;
Sara Flounders, International Action Center national co-director,
participant in numerous tribunal hearings;
Gloria La Riva, a leader of the Peace for Cuba Committee, producer
of video NATO Targets.
(All were in Yugoslavia either during the war or participating in
seminars or meetings after the war.)
Short opening remarks by Ramsey Clark, who will be lead prosecutor.
Opening greetings from Mikhail Kuznetsov of the International
Peoples Tribunal organized from Russia and Ukraine and other
former Soviet countries.
Part I: Crimes against peace. (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)
Our first witness is Lenora Foerstel (Maryland) of Women for Mutual
Security. She has recently edited a book War, Lies and Videotape;
about the control of the media.
Jared Israel (Massachusetts). Jared Israel produced a film called
Judgement showing how the corporate media distorted a picture to
produce a Big Lie.
Jean Hatton (Great Britain), from the anti-war movement in Britain.
Spoke of how massacre stories were used to justify the war.
Christopher Black (Canada), one of a group of Canadian attorney's
who filed a suit charging NATO with war crimes at what is called the
International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia at the Hague.
Speaks on ICFTY, how the Hague Tribunal was a part of the
preparation for war.
Monica Moorehead (U.S.) of Millions for Mumia and contributing
editor to Workers World newspaper, an expert on the prison-industrial
complex in the United States.
Michel Collon, (Belgium) author of two books on the Balkans, Liar's
Poker, and Monopoly; and contributor to the weekly newspaper,
Solidaire, on the geo-political aims of the war, the Caspian pipelines.
Kadouri Al Kaysi an Iraqi American who has organized to expose the
impact of sanctions on Iraq.
Stratis Kounias, vice-president of the Greek Committee for Peace
and Professor at the University of Athens on NATO's role in Greece
and the Greek anti-war movement.
John Catalinotto (New York), journalist and researcher who has
represented the International Action Center at tribunals in Vienna and
Belgrade, on Washington's premeditated plan regarding NATO and
the attack on Yugoslavia.
Roland Keith (Canada), a monitor for the Observer Mission that was
supposed to maintain the peace in Kosovo in 1998, before the war, on
the real role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe's Observer mission in Kosovo and Metohija.
Preston Wood (California), who participated in hearings in Novi Sad
and who organized opposition to the war in Los Angeles, especially in
the Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans community to present to the tribunal the
truth about the supposed massacre in Racak, Kosovo, used to justify
the attack on Yugoslavia.
Richard Becker (California), who has written and spoken extensively
on the role of the talks held in Rambouillet, France in February and
March 1999. Rambouillet ultimatum as provocation.
Gregor Kneussel (Austria), from the Austrian tribunal about the role
of Constitutionally neutral Austria regarding Yugoslavia and in
delivering this NATO ultimatum.
Part II. War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity
La Riva, Gloria Prosecutor (California), used the video she produced,
NATO Targets, to show how the U.S./NATO bombs hit civilian
targets, from hospitals to bridges to factories.
Sarah Sloan (New York), IAC Commission of Inquiry researcher on
NATO claim it tried to minimize damage to civilian facilities in
Yugoslavia. She used a March 15, 2000 Newsweek article that
exposed that NATO hit very few military targets.
Ellen Catalinotto (New York) is a midwife who has delivered over
1,200 babies to mostly poor women in the New York City. She also
cares for HIV infected women and is involved in research on ways to
prevent the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to their
babies. She reported on NATO's bombing of 33 hospitals including
damage to the maternity ward at Dragisa Micovic hospital in
Belgrade.
Prof. Ivan Yatsenko (Russia), former Soviet officer and foreign
representative, now teaches law in Moscow. He described damage to
Yugoslav industrial infrastructure and how it cost a half-million jobs.
Admiral Elmar Schmaehling (Germany), former admiral and leading
spokesperson for the German tribunal movement. He spoke on the
aggressive posture of NATO since the collapse of the USSR and its
illegal attack on Yugoslavia.
Judi Cheng (New Jersey), IAC researcher. She showed how
unreasonable it was to believe that the bombing of Chinese embassy
in Belgrade was an accident.
Dr. Janet Eaton (Canada), biologist and environment expert Dr. Janet
Eaton to the stand, on destruction of the environment in Yugoslavia,
especially the damage from attacks on the petrochemical plant at
Pancevo and other industrial targets.
Dr. Carlo Pona (Italy) A physicist who attended a conference in
Belgrade about depleted uranium and has written about this subject,
Pona explained why DU is dangerous to humans and how it was used
in Yugoslavia.
Fulvio Grimaldi (Italy), video maker and journalist. Grimaldi, who has
just completed edited a film on sanctions in Iraq and Yugoslavia,
described the combined impact of impact of bombing and sanctions on
the population of Yugoslavia.
Deirdre Griswold (New York) has recently visited sites of U.S. war
crimes in south Korea, is editor in chief of Workers World
newspaper. She spoke about the pattern of criminal conduct of the
U.S. military and how the 1950 war crimes led to a continuing 50-
year occupation of Korea.
Shani Rifati (Roma), originally from the Romani community in
Kosovo, publishes an English-language newsletter about Romani
affairs named Voice of Roma. He spoke of the horrors the Roma
people faced in Kosovo under K-FOR and KLA occupation.
Milos Raickovich Serb-American composer and anti-war activist,
spoke on the destruction of churches and cultural sites in occupied
Kosovo and Metohija.
Professor Michel Chossudovsky (Canada), an expert historian and
economist, showed the role of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
and its ties to U.S. and German intelligence services, ties to NATO
and the United Nations Rep. Bernard Kouchner.
Scott Taylor (Canada), former soldier, who now publishes the Ottawa-
based magazine, Espirit de Corps, celebrated for its unflinching
scrutiny of the Canadian military. He also appears regularly in the
Canadian media as a military analyst. He witnessed the expulsion of
the Serb population from the Krajina in Croatia by an army led by
KLA General Ceku.
Professor Barry Lituchy (New York), who has recently returned
from a trip to Yugoslavia, described how the NATO occupying forces
known as K-FOR have participated in expelling parts of the
population from Kosovo.
Professor Greg Elich (United States), has recently visited the
Balkans. He spoke on the un-humanitarian nature of . NATO's
occupation of Kosovo.
Gilles Troude (France), on the editorial board of Balkans-Info, a pro-
Yugoslavia, anti-NATO monthly published in Paris, France since
1996. He described France's role in the war and in suppressing
dissent at home.
Professor Jorge Cadima (Portugal), a regular contributor on NATO-
related subjects to to Avante, the weekly newspaper of the
Portuguese Communist Party, spoke on the role of NATO in Portugal
since 1949 and on popular resistance to the war.
5:30-6:15 Messages of solidarity and struggle
Ismael Guadalupe (Puerto Rico) The Committee for the Rescue and
Development of Vieques on the relationship of Vieques to
Yugoslavia. He showed how the U.S. used Vieques for target
practice to prepare for the war against Yugoslavia, and they do so for
all foreign aggression.
Representative of Cuban Interest Section, spoke on Cuba's suit
against U.S. for the costs of the embargo.
UN Ambassador Jovanovic of Yugoslavia, gave evidence of his own
government's charges against the U.S. and NATO for war crimes.
His talk was in fact a summary of much of the day's proceedings.
Brian Becker, co-director of the IAC, spoke on the need to form a
worldwide movement to abolish NATO.
Ramsey Clark reiterated some of the main points developed during
the day and stressed the need to come to a unified conclusion that
would find NATO guilty over a broad spectrum of charges-the 19
charges included in the original indictment-and lead to a struggle to
abolish NATO.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@i...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
http://www.workers.org
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 15, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
Hague tribunal denounced for exonerating NATO war criminals
By John Catalinotto
Anti-war organizations and individuals around the world reacted in
indignation to the announcement June 2 that the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was exonerating NATO of all charges
of war crimes committed against Yugoslavia.
Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the tribunal at The Hague, said
that the court had examined charges brought against NATO by various
forces. She said that after considerable study the court decided there
was no reason to pursue any of these charges.
Lawyers' groups in Canada, Russia, Greece, France, Yugoslavia and the
United States had brought charges before the court. Charges included the
use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium weapons, as well as dropping
bombs on civilian targets. The civilian targets included the Serb
television station, the Chinese Embassy, a train crossing a bridge and a
convoy of refugees in Kosovo--most of which have been reported in the
mainstream media.
International Action Center co-director Sara Flounders said Del Ponte's
announcement shows that "a people's court has to bring charges against
U.S. and NATO leaders if we want to preserve the truth of this war for
history."
The IAC initiated such a people's tribunal on July 31, 1999, and will
hold its final hearing this June 10 in New York. Flounders said anti-war
activists, elected representatives and prominent personalities from 18
nations will participate in the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO War
Crimes against Yugoslavia.
Flounders noted that "Del Ponte made her announcement just as people's
tribunals were taking place in Rome and Berlin that were finding NATO
leaders guilty of war crimes. And we were preparing our final tribunal
for the following week. In the Netherlands, lawyers are bringing charges
against government leaders on June 9.
"There is no doubt U.S. and NATO leaders planned the aggressive war
against Yugoslavia over a long period, that they purposely bombed
civilian targets, and that they used weapons illegal under international
treaties. And there is no doubt Del Ponte was told to make this
announcement now in an attempt to counter the success of these people's
tribunals in bringing U.S./NATO crimes to the light of day," charged
Flounders.
"We note that the article in the June 3 New York Times on Del Ponte's
announcement described the lawyers who brought charges to the ICTFY
court as 'paid by Yugoslavia.' We know for a fact that the lawyers in
many different countries--including Canada, France, Russia and
Greece--do their work out of their personal conviction. They often do
this at great personal sacrifice, and they have succeeded in exposing
the ICTFY as a corrupt court in the pay of the U.S. and other NATO
powers."
'A corrupt tribunal is worse than none at all'
Workers World spoke with Prof. Michael Mandel, one of a group of
Canadian attorneys who had brought charges to the ICTFY court.
Mandel said that Del Ponte's decision was no surprise to him, and that
his group had denounced the tribunal as a farce and a disgrace in March.
"The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is a
corrupt institution," said Mandel. "It declared its own corruption with
the announcement by the prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, that she is
completely satisfied that NATO did not commit war crimes in Yugoslavia
and for that reason is not going to open an inquiry.
"You might want to ask how she became satisfied of their innocence
without an inquiry.
"NATO committed every crime from mass murder on down in front of the
world and it confessed its guilt in every press conference of Jamie
Shea," said Mandel.
"A corrupt tribunal is worse than no tribunal at all. This one should be
shut down and Del Ponte fired, to find work in some other department of
the Pentagon," said Mandel. He noted that the first prosecutor of the
tribunal, Canadian Louise Arbour, was rewarded with a life appointment
to the Supreme Court of Canada by Premier Jean Chretien.
In Italy, former senator and religious philosopher Raniero La Valle
denounced the ICTFY as a "victor's tribunal" that was set up
specifically to persecute the Milosevic government in Yugoslavia. La
Valle said that "it is important that justice be found also outside of
its traditional seats and be proclaimed before the tribunal of public
opinion." He was referring specifically to the tribunals to be held June
3 in Rome and June 10 in the U.S. inspired by former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark.
La Valle will participate at the June 10 tribunal in New York, which
will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King High
School Auditorium at 66th Street and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan. The
doors open at 10 a.m.
---
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