8 MAGGIO 1999

ZAP / ARK

GAJEVA 55

10 000 ZAGREB

CROATIA zap_zg@geocities.com

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3707/

***************************************

How you can help:

- forward this message to people who might be interested

- we need translators. especially if you speak soutslavic language(s).

- if you can, print this out and send to people who don't have access to

- if you can, help us send Zaginflatch to people who usually receive paper

version. We presently can't afford to mail them out via snail mail, and we

have an international mailing list of people who regularly received this

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***************************************

... today 's day was so good. A small expedition of five of us went on our

bikes to Kamenica - a village 15 km from Kraljevo, towards the Goc mountain.

Atmosphere was very relaxed. We foulled around and without any hurry

advanced in the direction of our destination. Green forest, awakened nature

and a beautifull day, made us almost completely forget our situation, and

that because of increasing number of "accidental" mistakes of smart missiles

and even brighter NATO pilots we are potential targets just like any other

participant in traffic. We even made some jokes on that account.

A day spent in nature, in playing table tennis, with ball, dogs, listening

to music, eating some food and in a good mood brought energy back into my

ruined body which is beeing trapped between 4 walls and in front of the

computer for the last couple of days. But it was inevitable to mention the

damn bombing. Somebody asked:"what did they hit last night?" and then we

started talking about Cacak and catastrophy which has stroken that city. The

peace and innocence of newborn forest around us was destroyed in a moment.

We went back to the city very fast, as almost the whole way is downhill. We

will definitevly repeat this trip. Maybe even tommorow. I even managed to

get some sun ten, and i am glad because of that...

***************************************

Subject: Fw: McDonalds'

Date: Wed, 5 May 1999

We are horror-stricken by the magnitude of insanity that is revealing over

our country. While the planet sleeps, the felons are rubbing their hands

satisfied with their misdeeds. As we are a nation that is faithful to

justice, we believe that the ones responsible will get their punishment.

To this world here, on the west, one can say all sorts of different things,

they will accept it. Their capacity of general philanthropic activities has

been used up in relationships with animals who have an exalted place in

their lives. They are persistently trying to humanize them - convinced that

this the aim of animal evolution, and at the same time animalising

themselves, better to say demising themselves from the true human values.

Maybe they never had it at all - how would they otherwise despoil half of

our planet during the past centuries. Almost all countries joined in our

collective aggressor were colonial. Genocide was often, maybe even

regularly, their means of conquest. We all know that the wolf only changes

its fur but not his nature. Here there are today with the same dark passions

in the old never abandoned mission. As world has progressed in the meantime,

the methods should have been adjusted, but the essence has unavoidably

stayed the same: killing, terror, the denial to the right of freedom for

others. Where the corruption is not working, there are killing means to

re-educate. The law of force as an inviolable means on the international

plan, is today openly and without shame announcing itself as a general

method of the next millennium.

Why has Belgrade restored the demolished McDonalds', as we find out ? Is

that the expression of our not yet healed weakness towards the west, the

same west who is bombarding us and demolishing without a trace of bad

conscience?

Is that the indicator of our immaturity, lack of self-confidence? Are we

still doubting about who we are and how much we are worth in a moment when

we are giving the whole world a lecture about the most exalted human

behavior? Has someone sold his own dignity for a handful of dollars,

allowing even at this moment, our till now greatest enemy, to feed us with

his cheap burgers. Seems that the McDonald brothers' are enthusiastic with

the burgers and similar specialties while traveling in the Balkans, and

equipped with an enterprising spirit, have developed an unimagined

successful business through that idea. How successful? Very indeed, because

it's image is indecisive even to those who are at the moment the most

glorious representatives of the human kind.

Citizens of Belgrade, why do you support America's economy, while you don't

know whether you will live to see the next day after the flying over of her

bombers at night above your homes? It seems that the generosity of our

people sometimes is incomprehensible. The world is not that friendly and

filled with understanding and love as much we see it or imagine it to be

because we wish for it. Pure interest, above all of material kind, is

rouling as the solely means of communication in the West. However, a certain

amount of it seems necessary for survival. Pure liberality as if was

anachron, so one needs to be careful in its revealing, especially towards an

enemy. We are a strange nation for lots of people, but let us not be

imprudent and let the next generations carry our ancestry on their backs

because of some of our characteristics. Just the same as we are now facing

the weaknesses of the legacy form our ancestors.

Our wish to unselfishly help those who are in trouble, hasn't always

returned to us in the shape of an award, but almost as a punishment. Isn't

it time to start to control this urge, after we weigh it in case of a

concrete move according to the concrete implications in the present, and the

near and far future. Let not be lightly wasteful with generosity, humanity

and similar human qualities. Let's learn first and always to think what will

enable us and our children with a safer and happier future. It is not

egoistic to think about oneself first, rather an imperative of a common

sense. Maybe the world criminals do not tolerate us and punish us for our

heart and soul by which leads us. I believe that we can better equip

ourselves with caution, than they will connect with their heart and

spirituality. A long evolution is necessary for that.

Into the 21st century without McDonalds - what a victory that will be!

Vesna

***************************************

The evening of Friday, April 9, 1999

At this moment, as I am sitting on my balcony, my street seems incredibly

quiet. It is a bit before 8.00 pm and I guess, most of the people are in

their houses watching the news. As the private TV stations developed and

their evening editions of the news became more and more interesting and

worth watching, every day between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm, in our house 4

half-an-hour broadcasts are watched. It is really good and important to see

that finally, the news programmes are not just showing what happened and who

said what, but also giving their own opinions and comments. In general, I am

very happy with the development of both electronic and written media in

Macedonia.

While I am writing this, the noise of the military aircraft doesn’t stop.

Every time I hear them, I cannot help thinking whether this aircraft is

about to bomb something in Yugoslavia. I have a lot of friends in all parts

of Yugoslavia and of course I am worried. But what I feel even more than the

fear is the anger. Anger towards the NATO troops and the hypocrisy of the

European Union and the "International Community". I cannot stand the

hypocrisy on the faces of those who decide whether and how severe my friends

in Yugoslavia will be bombed or decide upon the destiny of the Kosovo

refugees. As I watch the news and I get angry, every other moment I need to

get up, walk around the room or spend a moment on the balcony. Fortunately,

I quit smoking a year ago.

It is an interesting coincidence that I found myself reading an excellent

book about Sarajevo, by the Bosnian journalist Hamza Bakshicc. The book is

called "Sarajeva vishe nema" (Sarajevo doesn’t exist anymore) and in a form

of a diary describes the events from 1992-1995. The other coincidence is

that I found this book in the flat of my friend in Belgrade that I have just

recently visited, just before the NATO ejaculation started. I go trough the

pages and I cannot help spotting the similarities in the hypocritical

behavior of the International Community (The International Lords of War) in

the case of Bosnia and now in the case of Kosovo. I also spot the similar

fear in the air, the panic and the feeling of despair between the people

here, the unbearable heaviness of being in the Balkans.

As I have already written in some other occasions, I still believe the war

is coming to Macedonia. But, at this moment, what concerns me even more is

the situation with the refugees. The refugees that had to leave their homes

and their lives behind and forced to "omnia mea mecum porto" are once again

being used in the dirty games. That is really sick. As sick as the

statements of the different world politicians and responsible for refugees.

They are saying "the refugees need to stay in the region because it will be

easier for them to return home". Only a stupid person or somebody completely

ignorant about the situation in the Balkans can say this. I am only

concerned that such people are deciding upon our destiny. Just think about

the statement of one of the "worried" about the refugees who accused the

Macedonian government for not building tennis and football playgrounds in

the refugees camps. Hey, I, who live in this country for 23 years have never

had a tennis nor football playground nearby. GET REAL!!!

But I would like to write a bit more about the statements that the refugees

should stay in the region in order to be easier for them to return home. It

is NOT the distance that prevents the refugees to come home, but the

situation in their home countries and towns! Sorry guys (and girls) but I do

not buy this. Do not try to hide the unwillingness of your countries (all of

them MUCH wealthier than Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro TOGETHER) to

house refugees by giving such statements. Nobody here believes in this!

In 1992, we had refugees from Bosnia in our house. They were Bosnjaks (the

official Bosnian name for people previously labeled as Bosnian Muslims) and

they fled from a town which is now in Republika Srpska where it is very

difficult to be even now, unless you are a Bosnian Serb. This family left

for Sweden which we all know, is quite far from Bosnia (the term "distance"

becomes a very interesting one. Politicians fly hundreds of miles every day,

just to go somewhere and talk about "distances"). The daughter returned last

year to Sarajevo and settled there after 6 years spent in Sweden. Her

parents didn’t. They do not want to go to Sarajevo, they want to go to the

town where they used to live before. But, they are afraid to do so because

of their names. The geographical distance between Bosnia and Sweden is the

same for both the daughter and the parents, and as shown IT IS NOT THE

REASON why the parents do not return to Bosnia. Should I say more?

And there is more to this. Macedonia is a very poor country and our economy

was already dead and unable to satisfy the needs of the people already

living here. How can one expect that Macedonia will be able to cover the

needs of all these refugees? The one-time support in money, blankets and

food, so much praised by the International Community is just offending me.

Why offending? Because I, as a citizen of this world, am expected to believe

that that will solve the problems. Well, I am not so stupid. These refugees

need to eat, drink, sleep, wash and go to toilet several times a day. And

what about the health care? What about some activities to help them overcome

the situation they were put in? Macedonia will never be able to provide

this.AND, even more important is the ethnic affiliation of the refugees. It

is true that a number of 100.000-200.000 (mostly Albanian) Kosovo refugees

in a country of 2 million inhabitants makes a big difference. The

Macedonians are scared as the ethnic tensions have being growing for a long

time now and this is just like oil on fire. People are scared, but the state

and the International Community again, are failing to organise activities to

promote tolerance and understanding and speak openly about this.

I went yesterday to visit my Albanian friends. There have housed a refugee

family from Kosovo. In the part where my friends live, a lot of refugees

from Kosovo have been accepted by families of Macedonian Albanians. My

friend was telling me that the Macedonians in her building were scared. I

can argue a lot whether and how much this fear is justified, but in any

case, the important thing is that THERE IS FEAR!!! And it is high time that

somebody understands that this is something on which a lot of work needs to

be done. Of course, if we want to decrease it.

The refugees in my friends’ house are afraid and feel lost. My friends are

also upset. Upset because they do not receive any financial support for the

additional costs they have now for food, water and electricity. But, what is

beven more present is the fear about their relatives that remained in

Kosovo. For a lot of them, they do not have any information, they do not

know whether they are alive and where they are, in which country.

Still, we tried yesterday to discuss other things; my anemia and the spinach

that I was eating in vain, my friends’ baby and his eating habits, as well

as, my ability to get lost everywhere. We try to discuss other things, but

all the time, all of us feel that we are working only with 30% of the brain

capacity. The remaining 70% is occupied with the war.

BUT, I do not give up. I do not let the war take the 30% still living the

"normal life". Every day I spend a lot of time sitting and reading (or

writing) on my balcony, enjoying the smell of the spring which is as

beautiful as usual. I enjoy watching the Dutch tulips in my garden, the

fruit trees my father is so worried about and the birds. The birds whose

song helps me to ignore a bit the noise of the planes. I was longing so much

for the spring in Macedonia while I was living in the rainy Amsterdam. And I

do not give it away, now that I have it.

I was writing to some friends that all the NGO work lost its meaning to me

now and it had been one raison d'être to me before. From Amsterdam, all the

NGO support groups (Indonesia, Bosnia, Nicaragua...), all that made so much

sense and I was so inspired by their work... But, I was in Amsterdam then.

Now, when I am in the war zone, all these efforts seem ridiculous and in

vain. In vain, because I receive every day loads of emails accusing the war

and the bombing. I receive them just before I hear the news reporting the

new bombings, the new killings and the new refugee crises. So, how can I

believe that all these NGO efforts make any sense? That is why I decided to

have a new mission; to make people smile. Instead of forwarding the emails

about NATO, Miloshevicc, Solana and Kosovo, I decided to forward funny and

funky emails, jokes and poems. I also decided to use all my positive energy

when I speak with people behind the counters, in the shops and on the

streets. I decided to smile. And I notice that my "mission" is successful. A

lot of people have wrote to me saying how thankful they were about the

laugh. And I notice that people react positively when I smile, so I will

continue my mission, no matter how silly and naive it may seem to some

people. The "positive energy" way, as I learned from my friends from Bosnia,

is one of the individual ways to resist the war. So, I am promoting it.

HannaH

***************************************

I am sending you the latest document from our still active NGO group. Please

distribute it as much as possible.

We are getting used to wait for the air raids at night. So one may say that

night life in Belgrade is wild, noisy and you never know what may hit you.

Sincerelly

Miljenko

LETTER TO ALBANIAN FRIENDS FROM NONGOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

Dear friends,

We are writing to you in these difficult moments of our shared suffering.

Convoys of Albanians and other citizens of Kosovo, among whom many of you,

were forced to leave their homes. The killings and expulsions, homes

destroyed and burnt, bridges, roads and industrial buildings demolished -

paint a somber and painful picture of Kosovo,

Serbia and Montenegro, as in indicating that life together is no longer

possible. We, however, believe that it is necessary and possible.

The better future of citizens of Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, of Serbs and

Albanians, as citizens of one state or closest neighbors, will not arrive by

itself, or over night. But it is something we can and must work on together,

as we have many times in the past, not so long ago. We know that it will now

be very difficult, and sometimes very

painful. The example of the German-French postwar reconciliation and

cooperation could serve as a model and stimulus.

In the sake of future life together, the pain of crime has to be revealed so

that it is, with forgiveness,remembered. This tragedy, yours and ours,

personal and collective, is a result of a long series of erroneous policies

of the most radical forces among us and in the international community. The

continuation of these policies will take both Serbs

and Albanians into abyss. Also, the road of collective guilt is a road of

frustration, continuation of hatred and endless vengeance. That is why this

road has to be abandoned.

Our first step of distancing from hatred, ethnic conflict and bloody

retaliations is a public expression of our deepest compassion and sincere

condemnation of everything that you and your fellow citizens are

experiencing. As citizens of Serbia, we today suffer destruction and

casualties as a result of NATO bombing, armed conflict in Kosovo

and long lasting economic and social tumbles under the burden of the

dictatorship's deadly policies.

Ethnic cleansing, NATO bombing and armed conflict should stop because they

are not contributing to the solution of the Kosovo crisis but are only

making it deepen. There should be no more casualties. All refugees should be

allowed to return safely to their homes and live in the manner appropriate

for free and proud people.

We are convinced that together, we will find strength and courage to step on

the road of peace, democracy, respect of human rights, mutual reconciliation

and respect. Dialogue, political negotiations and peace process have no

alternative. For all of us, it is the only way out of the war conflict. It

is the safest way to secure the return of

refugees to their homes, to renew normal life and activities and find a

solution to the status of Kosovo.

In order to make this happen, we have to join our efforts to end the war

conflict, revitalize the peace process and reconstruct, economically and

democratically, the development of Kosovo, Serbia and the entire Balkan

region. We are convinced that by joining forces we can contribute to the

reaching of a just and rational political solution to the status of Kosovo

and build confidence and cooperation between Serbs and Albanians.

Association of Citizens for Democracy, Social Justice and Support to Trade

Unions

United Branch Trade Unions NEZAVISNOST

European Movement in Serbia

Civic Initiatives

Forum for Ethnic Relations

Center for Transition to Democracy-ToD

Center for Democracy and Free Elections

Distrikt 0230 (Kikinda)

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Women in Black

Belgrade Center for Human Rights

Students Union of Serbia

VIN-Weekly Video News

Group 484

Yu Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

Foundation for Peace and Crisis Management

Urban Inn (Novi Pazar)

Belgrade Circle

Union for Truth about Antifascist Resistance

Sombor's Peace Group (Sombor)

Society for Peace and Tolerance (Backa Palanka)

Alternative Academic Educational Network

In Belgrade, April 30, 1999

***************************************

YUGOSLAV NGOs

Belgrade, April 26, 1999

STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE INTERNET BAN

We, the representatives of the Yugoslav civil society, coming together to

protest NATO bombing and ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia now have to deal

with other problem that could uncouple us from the world and practically

forbid our free expression and dissent. One threat is coming from Yugoslav

government agencies and the controlled

domestic INTERNET providers. For them it is important to shut up all

independent voices for which reason they banned the radio B92 and put under

control other independent media. For NATO it appears important to cut off

all dissenting people and groups from Yugoslavia in order to maintain the

image of Yugoslav society as if it

is totally controlled by Milosevic regime and made only of extreme

nationalists who deserve punishment by bombs.

For us who are long time activists of human rights, minority rights, union

rights, free press rights, women rights, peace and democracy activists, it

is vital to maintain Internet connection to the world in order to get

information and communicate with people about our situation. We are using

INTERNET with respect to the netiquette and urge all Yugoslav users to avoid

hostile and insulting vocabulary. We also pledge to all our international

contact people to exercise their influence on INTERNET public opinion to

avoid aggressive language and hatespeech in correspondences to people in

Yugoslavia.

PLEASE HELP US TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE WORLD!

***************************************

Dear friends,

Info about Zaginflatch is available on request.

Basically, with this newsletter we want to inform the international

community (this is you) on how antiauthoritarians in Yugoslavia and

ex-Yugoslavia feel in these moments. Also, as people who have experienced

air raids and general alerts, we want to support our friends in Yugoslavia

who are experiencing this today. We don't want to prejudice any political

solutions to Kosovo and other ex-yu problems, we just want to help our

friends, and support them in this way. All opinions published in

Zaginflatch will be just personal ones. There is no joint platform.

Zaginflatch will bring you hardly any news in the way mainstream media does

it. For this kind of info we suggest you try cnn, bbc or some other

services. They are available to you anyway.. This is meant to come from

inside... Also, if you're into alternative news sources, we suggest you try

at www.b92.net ...

Zagreb Anarchist Movement (ZAP)

********

The A-Infos News Service

********

COMMANDS: majordomo@tao.ca

REPLIES: a-infos-d@tao.ca

HELP: a-infos-org@tao.ca

WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/

INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org

2 MAGGIO 1999

ZAP / ARK

GAJEVA 55

10 000 ZAGREB

CROATIA zap_zg@geocities.com

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3707/

***************************************

How you can help:

- forward this message to people who might be interested

- we need translators. especially if you speak soutslavic language(s).

- if you can, print this out and send to people who don't have access to

- if you can, help us send Zaginflatch to people who usually receive paper

version. We presently can't afford to mail them out via snail mail, and we

have an international mailing list of people who regularly received this

newsletter since it was founded. Write to us and ask if we have a contact in

your country. It'd be great if you could send this newsletter for us...

***************************************

From: Viktor Todoroviæ

Here I am! Some criminal, cloned fascist with a deranged mind has sent me a

"little" mail bomb, which has costed me 6 days of banishment from the e-mail

community, learning the basics of Unix at an old age (for the technical

service at EUnet is charging their services! It's criminal, for they are

convincingly the most expensive provider in the world), lots of nerves and

so on. I hope it is not one of the people I bombarded the first days of the

war, and who now wants revenge, especially I hope it is not someone from

this list ;).

All in all, since the interruption till now so much has hapened as if

nothing hapened at all. Now the statement of one nazi offcial from Budapest

in '44 became clear to me: while the jew masacre was going on, just before

the soviet troups have come to Budapest. It's as follows:"If you kill one -

it's a crime. If you kill 5 million - that's statistics"

NATO has acomplishe well that the "mistake"in Aleksinac becomes a

statistics - and, it seems they've succeeded. One is shaken by the first

sight of a charred or beheaded corps, and later on it somehow becomes

benumbed - one is indifferent. The Albanians? I am afraid even to think

about it. Not even CNN speaks a lot about them anymore. All in all - it's a

tragedy. And in the end, when one makes the final account and asks "For

what?", somehow it seems to me that the who should will not be answering

this question. Fuck it! Only at times k+like this one realises the the value

of a good drink. Luckily we are a country of good beer, solid wine and an

extraordinary rakija. To all those who are in the rest parts of Yugoslavia

at the moment, one advice: You have to go to caffe's! Pick up sme good

company and go! It is better than all psychiatrists, shelters, diaries and

the Internet. There is no better feeling than pissing at some tree and look

at the stars. And to those who have (un)luckily found themselves in one of

the ex-Yu states, they should continue to send information about concerts

nad similar hapenings. It is nice to see that things are going with a more

or less natural flow. Hopefully it will dawn here as well at one point

(inspite of the tree and the stars).

Viktor Todoroviæ

***************************************

Well, good morning, people! It's 06:13 am here in Belgrade and few minutes

earlier sirens announced the end of tonight's air-raid. I don't know how

will charming anchors on CNN and BBC present what happened here, but here's

what I experianced...

I was sleeping until around 02:20 am, when ROARING sound of airplane flying

over woke me up! It was just like in the film:

ssssshhhhhiiiiiooooossssshhhhh... [small silence] BOOOOOOOOOM!

That moment I jumped from my bed and felt that whole building was shaking

(like it's at least 5 Richter scale earthquake). After that explosion I

could see only a dense cloud of white smoke growing some 3 kms from my

house. I found out later that I was wrong - it was only about 1 km far from

my building and guess what was hit?

One whole civilian block of houses on a crossing between Maksima Gorkog and

Maruliceva street was TOTALLY DEVASTATED! I live in this part of Belgrade

more than 12 years and trust me: THERE ARE NO MILITARY OBJECTS IN A CIRCLE

OF AT LEAST 4 kms FROM THAT PLACE!

There are no reports on casualties yet, but it's hard to believe that there

were no people at the time of strike in the buildings.

Couple minutes later I heard another plane flying over. Again that

shwoosh-boom sound and again and again. This time the Army HQ in Kneza

Milosa street (which is situated in Belgrade's very center) was hit. So far,

three people were killed on the spot in that attack: one policeman working

as a night guard of the building of Serbian Government (accross the street)

and two young guys in a car waiting on a semaphore in front Army HQ

building.

BTW, that building was always used for administrative army purposes and was

completely empty since this war started. In the time of attack, it was

surely not some kind of active command center...

Around 03:10 am both radio and TV Studio B went off the air. Later I heard a

news that NATO hit the transmitter of this TV, totally independent from

Milosevic's power structure. In fact, that was the only news station

Belgraders could somehow trust. Luckily, Studio B has more than one

transmitter and it's alive again... how long it will last - I don't know...

Just before the dawn, when I thought that party was finally over for

tonight, Belgrade survived GODDAMNED earthquake! No joke! According to radio

news it was a 5.5 Richter scale earthquake! GODDAMNIT, is there anything

else that can strike on us?!? Maybe a vulcano eruption or tsunami or some

bloody Godzila?!?

So, I while I'm writing this mail by the open window, breathing air smelling

like wood burning, I'm hearing a news on a radio about USA sending here some

10 more B-52s NOT equipped with cruise missile launching system. That

means - A BLOODY CARPET BOMBING like in WW2 or in Vietnam!

Oh boy, it WILL be a MAY-day soon!

Over and out,

Slobodan Markovic

***************************************

ahoj

I am alive and partly well. To be precise I slightly cracked with brains, I

don't smile much lately. I am on some psichiatric examinations right now, so

I won't be going back to Kosovo for a couple of more days. One ic certain -

I have learned how valuable is human life. All in all, it's very, very

tricky. That's all for now, just wanted to make you happy because I am still

alive (if that's something to be happy about).

bye Sicko

(Sicko is an anarchist from Kraljevo, who was drafted and sent to Kosovo,

editor.)

***************************************

Environmental NGOs Oppose Escalation of Humanitarian and Environmental

Destruction in Balkans

Environmental - Non Governmental Organisations, who are co-operating in

neighboring Balkan countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia and the Republic of Macedonia), alarm European citizens for the

long term consequences that the war causes not only in Balkans, but in the

whole Europe as well, and call for actions to stop the violence and cruelty

immediately:

"The humanitarian catastrophe, the refugees generated and the innocent

civilian victims of the ongoing war shock us, as everybody else in the

world. AS CITIZENS AND INHABITANTS OF COUNTRIES OF THE REGION which is

mainly affected, our members and we, have our own and maybe varied opinions

on the reasons which caused the war in Kosovo/a. It is not our main duty,

and we shall not try to take a position on this important and undoubtedly

crucial question. However, we all OPPOSE BOTH ETHNIC CLEANSING AND BOMBING,

we all

agree on the urgent need to STOP THE WAR IN BALKANS IMMEDIATELY.

We express our deep concerns on the escalation of both humanitarian and

environmental destruction which the ongoing war causes in our homelands and

our neighborhood. We believe that in order to resolve the recent problems

raised in the Balkans there IS an alternative to violence and cruelty.

AS ENVIRONMENTAL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS, who are ACTIVELY WORKING

AND CO-OPERATING on matters related to the conservation of natural resources

and the environment IN THE BALKANS we have the particular duty to make

everybody aware of the following serious issues:

- The very act of war has major environmental consequences, the destruction

of the natural environment and material infrastructure of Serbia and

Montenegro. At the same time, the hundred thousands of refugees generated by

the escalation of the war, flows mainly to neighboring countries, which are

obliged to host and take care of them, bearing the ensuing financial burden.

None of these countries can in the short-term cope with such numbers and,

before long could suffer severe social and political consequences. The

Republic of Macedonia especially is likely to experience an upsurge in

nationalist sentiment, which could bring war to another region. Replacement

of the material infrastructure and restoration of the natural environment

later on, will mean sucking dry all the remaining natural resources of all

countries which are mostly affected, namely the Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia.

- They are very alarming for any citizen, not only in the Balkan states, the

reports that NATO has been using depleted uranium in its attacks on Serbian

targets, both with its A10 attack aircraft and Tomahawk Cruise missiles.

Depleted uranium is pyrophoric, bursting into an intensified flameup that

releases micron-sized aerosol particles that can be ingested by military

personnel or civilians. NATO is risking prolonged contamination of the

natural vital resources and environment, putting at risk innocent civilians,

especially children, now in the Balkans as well as Iraq. Depleted uranium

has been condemned by the UN Commission on Human Rights, at its

Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of

Minorities. The Commission requested that the Secretary-General prepare a

written report on DU and certain other weapons of mass destruction

(Resolution 1997/36). We believe this weaponry is being tested with complete

lack of concern for its effects.

- Furthermore, NATO's airstrike targets are (among others) Serbian chemical

industries and refineries. Their bombing generates toxic gas-clouds, which

are dangerous not only for the civilians in Serbia, but for those in all

other Balkan countries, as well as in other European countries such as

Austria, Hungary and Italy. Given that the area which NATO forces are

bombing is at the centre of a wider geographical region in the Southeast

Europe, and given that the Serbian territory is one of the largest sources

of groundwater in Europe, the danger is really nightmarish. Severe

consequences will last for several decades long after the end of the

military action and will affect many generations of European citizens.

- Last but not least, we wish to remind that wildlife in the area is

suffering the same stress as human beings. Birds and large mammals, seeking

refuge, have been already reported by Environmental Organisations in the

Republic of Macedonia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As co-operating

Environmental Organisations who have experienced the benefits of fruitful

co-operation between our countries and peoples, we express our concern for

the new difficulties raised between Balkan peoples, under the given

circumstances.

We are convinced that the policies of dividing Balkan peoples, of

nationalistic discriminations, of racism and cultivation of hate against any

heterodox and anything different, undermine any effort of prevention of the

cultural and natural heritage of the Balkans, and deteriorate the current

problems.

We recognise that the ongoing war, the bombing and the ethnic cleansing make

more difficult any effort to encourage cultivation of the values of peace,

friendship, respect for the uniqueness of nations and minorities and of the

transborder co-operation in this multinational and sensitive area. At the

same time, we wish to express now, as in the past, our DEFINITE AND COMMON

DECISION TO CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER on the future to prevent the valuable

cultural and natural heritage of the Balkans, one of the most rich and

diverse in the world.

The future of our home, of the Balkan peoples and the Balkan's nature,

DEPENDS MAINLY ON ITS CITIZENS, on their decision to create, participate and

support active movements, societies and networks of co-operation and

solidarity. Maybe, this is the only way to reverse the process of

humanitarian, cultural and environmental destruction in our region."

This declaration was prepared and is signed by the following organisations,

which are are participating in "BALKAN-NET", the Balkan Network for

Conservation of Large Carnivores. They are also actively co-operating the

last years in the Balkans for other environmental issues:

1) "AQUARIUS" - Working for Sustainable Development (Albania)

2) "ARCTUROS" - Society for Conservation of Wildlife and the Natural

Environment (Greece)

3) "ARKA" (FR Yugoslavia)

4) "ERINA" - Journalists' Legal Environmental Center (Republic of Macedonia)

5) MUSTELA - Wildlife Conservation Society, Ecolibri Bionet Agency (FR

Yugoslavia)

6) DEM - "The Ecologists' Movement of Macedonia" (Republic of Macedonia)

7) SERM - "Society of Ecologists of the Republic of Macedonia" (Republic of

Macedonia),

8) Wilderness Fund (Bulgaria).

***************************************

NATO KILLS CIVILIANS ACCIDENTALLY AND SERBS DO IT INTENTIONALLY

It certainly seems like this from the western point of view. On the other

hand, according to Serbian official media it seems totally different: NATO

is killing civilians intentionally and Serbian military by accident. Is the

truth only on

one of these sides, or is it somewhere in between?

For example, Serbian officials from the beginning of the conflict have been

claiming that all they have been taking precausionary measures in order to

avoid any civilian casualties. In real life, in conflicts with the KLA

(which is operating usually from Albanian villages), Serbian security forces

blow up from a safe distance with grenades the houses from which the KLA are

defending and most oftenly killing much more civilians, women, children and

elderly people than the armed KLA soldiers. This is justified by the fact

that the security forces do not want to risk the lives of it's members by

sending them to fight from house to house.

On the other hand, NATO is claiming that they are bombing only military,

communication and infrastructure targets and that they are undertaking all

possible means of precaution in order to avoid any civilian casualties. In

real life, NATO pilots are bombing from high altitude and before the attack

they do not fly low so they could, for example, checked whether the target

on the road is a civilian or military. Or before hitting the rail bridge to

fly over the railway in order to check to whether a train is not near

crossing the bridge. This is justified by the fact that NATO does not want

to risk the lives of it's pilots, because if they were to fly low the bigger

is risk that the Yugoslav

Army would shoot them down. In both cases a great number of civilians are

wounded. Sometimes, NATO hits only civilian villages by accident, sometimes

not. Sometimes the Serbian forces by accident hit the houses in which only

civilians are, sometimes not.

Serbian authorities claim that they are fighting in Kosovo against the

Albanian terrorists and not against the Albanian citizens, with a

humanitarian cause to secure a peaceful life and to protect the human rights

of all the people who live there. In real life, mostly civilians are wounded

and suffer and the KLA strengthens.

On the other hand, NATO claims to be fighting against the regime of

Milosevic and not against the Serbian people, with a humanitarian cause

which was at first supposed to stop the humanitarian catastrophe and when

the catastrophe happened, to secure the return of the refugees, a peaceful

life and to protect the human rights of all the people who live there. In

real life, mostly civilians are the ones being wounded and suffer and the

regime of Milosevic is strengthening.

NATO sometimes admits, as it was the case with the Serbian TV, that they are

hitting civilian targets on purpose and causing civilian casualties

(technicians, auxiliary staff). That is justified by claim that the

television is propaganda machine and legitimate military target. When the

question of civilian casualties is raised it is said to be 'a target of

great value', so it is easier to accept civilian casualties.

By targeting strategic, infrastructure and communication targets NATO hits

civilian population in 99% of the attacks. Bridges, railways, tunnels,

factories, electric and water installations are used mainly by the civilians

and seldomly by the army. But, if NATO estimates that something has even a

slight military significance it becomes a legitimate military target. In

real life, it is not important that the civilians are being wounded and

suffer. In real life NATO is expecting that the sufferings and woundings of

the civilians come to a dissatisfaction which would result with a pressure

on authorities in Belgrade. That may help the NATO to achieve its military

and political aims. That, is obviously not working.

The authorities are claiming that the kosovar refugees are not running away

from the Serbian military but only from NATO bombing. But, anyone with a

reasonable mind can not fall for that story. But, following NATO's logic of

magnifying its military's significance, the ethnic cleansing can be viewed

from a totally different angle and may gain a positive and even a

humanitarian mean. Every successful military commander who has the aim to

oppose any ground troops shall, in case the local population is hostile

toward his forces cleans the territory. That was unofficially confirmed by

many Western experts and commentators but hardly anybody dares to say such a

'heretic' thought on the leading western media since NATO's strongest

propaganda trump-card is the disaster of the Albanian refugees by which they

are justifying their attacks on Yugoslavia. In that case, it seems that the

ethnic cleansing, from the military point of view, is legitimate. So someone

may say (for example Jamie Shea, in case he was the

spokesman of the Yugoslav Army) that the ethnic cleansing besides the

military even has a humanitarian justification since in that way the

population is protected from mass killings in case of the invasion of NATO

ground troops in Kosovo. The fact that the Serbian forces, according to

unofficial sources, kill or rape someone so the other would be in the

refugee convoys, someone could justify by the fact that it is better to

sacrifice some in order to save the majority. In real life, the fact that

the civilians are suffering and being wounded is not so important. The most

important thing is that there is a military or political justification.

In real life, the Serbian authorities are expecting that the tragedy of the

kosovar refugees shall bring to a dissatisfaction in western media which

would result with a pressure on the NATO to stop the bombing of Yugoslavia

in order to help the refugees which are still inside of Kosovo and which are

suffering the most. But obviously this is not succeeding. Nor do the Serbian

authorities nor does NATO care alot for the civilians. In real life, when

things are viewed from an objective point of view, there is not much

difference between NATO forces and the Serbian authorities.

Slobodan,

age 30, university teaching assistant

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YHRF # 11

Arrests in Pristina, 29 April 1999

On 28 April 1999, Albin Kurti was arrested in Pristina, the former leader of

the Albanian Students Union and spokesman to the former political

representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Adem Demaqi. Albins father,

an official with the Kosovo Parliamentary Party, was also arrested at this

time, as well as Albins two brothers, Nazmi Zeka, the owner of the house

where the Kurtis were temporarily residing, and Nazmis son. Witnesses claim

that the arrest was conducted in an extremely brutal manner. Twenty-four

hours later, Albins fifteen-year old brother and Nazmi Zeka were released;

they both had visible signs of beating.

The day before Albin Kurti was arrested, on 27 April 1999, the brother of a

prominent soccer player Fadil Vokrri, Adil, was arrested. No information has

been available about the destiny of the arrested persons.

On 25 April 1999, Adem Demaqi was taken in for questioning. According to his

account, he had been interrogated for two hours in relation to his attitudes

towards the solution to the Kosovo issue.

There are other developments in Pristina, which cause a feeling of

insecurity among the remaining Albanians. The police make rounds visiting

homes and compiling lists of Albanians with permanent residence in Pristina

and refugees staying with them. A number of Serb shopkeepers refuse to sell

their goods to Albanians. There are only a few Albanians in Pristina whose

telephone lines have not been cut off.