Call for Bosnia Serb referendum
By Neil MacDonald Published: May 30 2006 03:00 Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00
In the wake of Montenegro's vote to separate from Serbia, the prime minister of the ethnic-Serb mini-state inside neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina says his republic should also be allowed to hold a referendum for independence. Milorad Dodik said the Serb republic, which takes up almost half of Bosnia-Herzegovina's territory, should form a two-part "federal union" with the patchwork federation of Croat and Bosniak-Muslim cantons that cover the rest. This way, Bosnian Serbs could break away peacefully, just as Montenegrins have chosen to do from Serbia, he argued. But the republic Mr Dodik leads from the northern city of Banja Luka had no prior existence until ethnic-Serb soldiers and militiamen carved it out through intimidation and mass murder against the other two ethnic groups during the 1992-95 war.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4e8e7a72-ef79-11da-b435-0000779e2340.html
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Good gravy, now anyone who doesn't criticize the Serbs is going to be persecuted! Better watch out....
German politicians to block prize for Milosevic sympathizer
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
German politicians said they would not allow an important literature prize to go to Austrian writer Peter Handke because of his Serbian nationalist sympathies.
The coalition heading the city council in Duesseldorf, western Germany, plans next week to vote down a decision to give Handke the Heinrich Heine prize, according to Greens member of the council, Karin Trepke.
Handke was named as the winner by a jury last week but the council, which gives the prize money of 50,000 euros (64,000 dollars), must approve their decision.
The move to honour Handke came just a month after France's foremost theater company decided not to stage one of his plays because of a eulogy he delivered for late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The renowned Austrian writer paid tribute to Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president and alleged war criminal who died earlier this year, as "a man who defended his people".
It has sparked a heated debate in Germany.
The leader of the Greens in the federal parliament, Fritz Kuhn, has said it was a "scandal" to give the prize to Handke and a slap in the face of those who suffered under Milosevic.
The Social Democrats, which is part of Germany's ruling coalition, have agreed.
The administrator of the Paris theater Comedie Francaise, Marcel Bozonnet, cancelled the 2007 season of the Handke play "Voyage to the Sonorous Land or the Art of Asking" in response to the author's eulogy.
Bozonnet's decision was condemned in art circles in France, where Handke lives, and farther afield, including by German publishing house Suhrkamp and one of Berlin's foremost theaters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060530/en_afp/afpentertainment_060530152002
German politicians to block prize for Milosevic sympathizer
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
German politicians said they would not allow an important literature prize to go to Austrian writer Peter Handke because of his Serbian nationalist sympathies.
The coalition heading the city council in Duesseldorf, western Germany, plans next week to vote down a decision to give Handke the Heinrich Heine prize, according to Greens member of the council, Karin Trepke.
Handke was named as the winner by a jury last week but the council, which gives the prize money of 50,000 euros (64,000 dollars), must approve their decision.
The move to honour Handke came just a month after France's foremost theater company decided not to stage one of his plays because of a eulogy he delivered for late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The renowned Austrian writer paid tribute to Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president and alleged war criminal who died earlier this year, as "a man who defended his people".
It has sparked a heated debate in Germany.
The leader of the Greens in the federal parliament, Fritz Kuhn, has said it was a "scandal" to give the prize to Handke and a slap in the face of those who suffered under Milosevic.
The Social Democrats, which is part of Germany's ruling coalition, have agreed.
The administrator of the Paris theater Comedie Francaise, Marcel Bozonnet, cancelled the 2007 season of the Handke play "Voyage to the Sonorous Land or the Art of Asking" in response to the author's eulogy.
Bozonnet's decision was condemned in art circles in France, where Handke lives, and farther afield, including by German publishing house Suhrkamp and one of Berlin's foremost theaters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060530/en_afp/afpentertainment_060530152002
Independence for Kosovo means trouble, Serbia says
By Douglas HamiltonTue May 30, 11:21 AM ET
Granting independence to Serbia's southern province of Kosovo against the will of Serbia would destabilize the Balkans, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic warned on Tuesday.
The United Nations is mediating talks on Kosovo's future status, which Western diplomats say are likely to conclude with a form of independence by the end of the year. Serbia is adamantly opposed to such an outcome.
"I am very afraid of the possible imposed solution against the will of Belgrade of turning Kosovo into a state," Draskovic told a news conference. "The whole region would inevitably face turbulence."
The warning comes in the wake of Montenegro's vote on May 21 to end its union with Serbia, which the European Union last year opposed, fearing further fragmentation in the Balkans.
On Monday there were signs its fears were not unjustified. Serb nationalists seeking independence for the Bosnian Serb republic from Bosnia said the Montenegro referendum was a precedent and possible template for their own campaign.
The demand was quickly rejected by Western officials, who warned that major powers would not tolerate any threat to Bosnia's integrity as a state. Bosnian Serb premier Milorad Dodik was chastised for seeming to consider the idea.
NO LEGAL PARALLEL
Legally, the cases of Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Bosnian Serb Republic are different.
Montenegro's vote for independence dissolved what was left of Yugoslavia, destroyed by war in the 1990s. Montenegro was one of six federal republics with a legal right to secession, which it retained in the looser Serbia-Montenegro union that was formed with EU encouragement in 2003.
If nationalist feelings were aroused, Draskovic warned, the legal distinctions might be ignored.
Dodik's office on Tuesday again blamed the media for playing up remarks by him linking Kosovo and the Bosnian Serb Republic. An aide it was a "theoretical" comment and the issue was closed.
But after talks with the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency in Sarajevo on Monday, it was the turn of Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic to insist there was a clear parallel.
"How can a national minority be given the right to self-determination but a 'constituent people' a solution which is less than that?" Ivanovic demanded, referring to the Albanians of Kosovo versus the Serbs of Bosnia.
Kosovo has been policed by NATO's largest peacekeeping force and run by the United Nations since 1999, when a bombing war by the alliance drove Serb forces out to halt killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbs in their war against Albanian separatists.
Its population of 2 million is 90 percent Albanian. They are impatient after years in limbo and want independence this year.
Serbia is offering Kosovo Albanians a 20-year deal under which it would retain control over foreign policy, borders and customs, human rights, monetary policy and religious sites.
Western diplomats say the Serbian government is in denial, unable or unwilling to grasp the realities of the Kosovo situation and the will of 90 percent of its people.
But Draskovic said granting independence could bring ultranationalists to power and turn Serbia against the EU.
"The European lights in Serbia may be extinguished only by a forcible decision to declare an internationally recognized state of Kosovo within ... the borders of Serbia," he said.
Creating "yet another Albanian state in the Balkans" was a dangerous scenario that Serbia hopes will be "thwarted" at the last minute, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060530/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_kosovo_dc_2
By Douglas HamiltonTue May 30, 11:21 AM ET
Granting independence to Serbia's southern province of Kosovo against the will of Serbia would destabilize the Balkans, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic warned on Tuesday.
The United Nations is mediating talks on Kosovo's future status, which Western diplomats say are likely to conclude with a form of independence by the end of the year. Serbia is adamantly opposed to such an outcome.
"I am very afraid of the possible imposed solution against the will of Belgrade of turning Kosovo into a state," Draskovic told a news conference. "The whole region would inevitably face turbulence."
The warning comes in the wake of Montenegro's vote on May 21 to end its union with Serbia, which the European Union last year opposed, fearing further fragmentation in the Balkans.
On Monday there were signs its fears were not unjustified. Serb nationalists seeking independence for the Bosnian Serb republic from Bosnia said the Montenegro referendum was a precedent and possible template for their own campaign.
The demand was quickly rejected by Western officials, who warned that major powers would not tolerate any threat to Bosnia's integrity as a state. Bosnian Serb premier Milorad Dodik was chastised for seeming to consider the idea.
NO LEGAL PARALLEL
Legally, the cases of Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Bosnian Serb Republic are different.
Montenegro's vote for independence dissolved what was left of Yugoslavia, destroyed by war in the 1990s. Montenegro was one of six federal republics with a legal right to secession, which it retained in the looser Serbia-Montenegro union that was formed with EU encouragement in 2003.
If nationalist feelings were aroused, Draskovic warned, the legal distinctions might be ignored.
Dodik's office on Tuesday again blamed the media for playing up remarks by him linking Kosovo and the Bosnian Serb Republic. An aide it was a "theoretical" comment and the issue was closed.
But after talks with the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency in Sarajevo on Monday, it was the turn of Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic to insist there was a clear parallel.
"How can a national minority be given the right to self-determination but a 'constituent people' a solution which is less than that?" Ivanovic demanded, referring to the Albanians of Kosovo versus the Serbs of Bosnia.
Kosovo has been policed by NATO's largest peacekeeping force and run by the United Nations since 1999, when a bombing war by the alliance drove Serb forces out to halt killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbs in their war against Albanian separatists.
Its population of 2 million is 90 percent Albanian. They are impatient after years in limbo and want independence this year.
Serbia is offering Kosovo Albanians a 20-year deal under which it would retain control over foreign policy, borders and customs, human rights, monetary policy and religious sites.
Western diplomats say the Serbian government is in denial, unable or unwilling to grasp the realities of the Kosovo situation and the will of 90 percent of its people.
But Draskovic said granting independence could bring ultranationalists to power and turn Serbia against the EU.
"The European lights in Serbia may be extinguished only by a forcible decision to declare an internationally recognized state of Kosovo within ... the borders of Serbia," he said.
Creating "yet another Albanian state in the Balkans" was a dangerous scenario that Serbia hopes will be "thwarted" at the last minute, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060530/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_kosovo_dc_2
Monday, May 22, 2006
Montenegro voted by a slim margin to secede from Serbia and form a separate nation, erasing the last vestiges of the former Yugoslavia, according to the results Monday of its referendum.
With nearly all ballots counted, 55.4 percent of voters chose to dissolve Montenegro's 88-year union with its much larger and sometimes overbearing Balkan neighbor. That is just over the 55 percent threshold needed to validate Sunday's referendum under rules set by the European Union.
The pro-Serb camp in Montenegro demanded a recount. "The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double-checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted," said a statement signed by four main leaders of the unionist bloc.
Hours before the official results were announced, independence supporters flooded streets of the capital Podgorica and other towns, even though their victory did not appear at all certain at that point.
"I congratulate you on your state," said the pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic. "Today, the citizens of Montenegro voted to restore their statehood."
In Podgorica, people fired celebratory shots in the air and drove up and down the main street, honking and waving the eagle-emblazoned flag used when Montenegro last enjoyed independence, from 1878-1918.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, officials urged calm. Ethnic Serbs make up 30 percent of the population and many strongly oppose separation from Serbia. Serbia did not want separation, but has said it will respect the decision.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060522/ap_on_re_eu/montenegro_referendum_11
With nearly all ballots counted, 55.4 percent of voters chose to dissolve Montenegro's 88-year union with its much larger and sometimes overbearing Balkan neighbor. That is just over the 55 percent threshold needed to validate Sunday's referendum under rules set by the European Union.
The pro-Serb camp in Montenegro demanded a recount. "The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double-checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted," said a statement signed by four main leaders of the unionist bloc.
Hours before the official results were announced, independence supporters flooded streets of the capital Podgorica and other towns, even though their victory did not appear at all certain at that point.
"I congratulate you on your state," said the pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic. "Today, the citizens of Montenegro voted to restore their statehood."
In Podgorica, people fired celebratory shots in the air and drove up and down the main street, honking and waving the eagle-emblazoned flag used when Montenegro last enjoyed independence, from 1878-1918.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, officials urged calm. Ethnic Serbs make up 30 percent of the population and many strongly oppose separation from Serbia. Serbia did not want separation, but has said it will respect the decision.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060522/ap_on_re_eu/montenegro_referendum_11
Friday, May 12, 2006
FINALLY, a voice of reason--and from the NYT, of all places....the whole editorial is excellent, so here it is. I just hope someone listens to this man.
May 12, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Why Insist on the Surrender of Ratko Mladic?
By TIMOTHY WILLIAM WATERS
I DON'T think Europe should insist on arresting Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of war crimes. That's hardly the side of the debate one wants to be assigned, because General Mladic — described as the engineer of ethnic cleansing at Srebrenica and Sarajevo in the 1990's — should be arrested and handed over to the United Nations' war crimes tribunal. But why might it not be a good idea for Europe to insist on it?
There are good arguments for linking Serbia's entry into the European Union to General Mladic's arrest, but the union isn't making them. Instead of having an open-eyed debate about the benefits and costs of arrest, Europe is making three lazy assumptions about the role of international justice in transforming societies.
The first is that arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. But try this out: not arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. The difference is who pays. If Europe wants integration, it could help Serbia make progress on reforms by not insisting on linkage.
Linkage might compel General Mladic's arrest and jump-start normal politics in Serbia, but it also risks backlash and delay; in fact, talks have now been suspended. How important is General Mladic's arrest balanced against the integration of 8 million people in a region that badly needs stability? Against the decisions that must be made regarding independence and constitutional reform in Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia, in which Serbia's role is critical? It is possible that insisting on "Mladic or bust" will make bust more likely.
The second assumption: General Mladic's arrest is necessary to prove that Serbia is serious about transforming itself. But is extracting General Mladic under pressure going to change Serbian values?
Rather than linking talks to one arrest, the European Union should ask if a deeply brutalized society like Serbia's is a worthy partner for integration, regardless of the disposition of any one war criminal. Making General Mladic a totem for what Europe really needs — Serbia's transformation — stunts the union's ability to understand and encourage that process.
Fixation on General Mladic is of a piece with the naïve thinking behind much Western foreign policy from the Balkans to Baghdad. Similarly optimistic claims were made when former President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested, but five years later, Serbia's politics still haven't advanced enough. Oh — maybe that's because we haven't gotten General Mladic.
Then there are the advantages to not insisting. Negotiated reforms could begin in earnest, and integration might make the Serbs eventually turn their backs on General Mladic and what he represents. How much better for reconciliation if the Serbs spit out General Mladic on their own, in shame and disgust, not because they see his surrender to The Hague as the only way to get their hands on 30 euros of silver.
A third assumption underlies the other two: that Europe's demands are natural and uncontroversial and only recalcitrant Serbian nationalists don't get it.
But denying the discretionary nature of these demands stifles debate about real costs. Europe claims that it is Serbia that is choosing isolation and stagnation, but these costs are determined by Europe. For reasons most Europeans do not agree with, General Mladic's arrest is controversial in a Serbia otherwise eager to integrate. Is one war criminal's arrest really worth pushing Serbia back into the dark? There's no easy formula for deciding where to draw the line, but the calculation is not helped by soporifically pious pronouncements about the necessity of linking a nation's fate to one man's, nor by pretending that Europe is not imposing the terms, however just.
Serbia's integration into Europe is vital, and that is precisely why Europe needs a rational debate about what it should and should not ask of Serbia. The effect of the present policy is uncertain: Serbia's normalization might be set back by General Mladic's arrest or, as has now happened, by a too hasty insistence on it by outsiders. Precisely because Serbia's integration is vital, both to Serbia and to Europe, Europe should consider if it really must be delayed.
The mania for General Mladic partly comes of our need for a war criminal because the last one, Mr. Milosevic, so recently and inconveniently died. General Mladic's arrest had already been on the agenda, but the chief Balkan butcher's departure added a certain frisson to calls for the next-worst-thing's incarceration. It's not clear what that has to do with changing Serbia, but it's worth asking what we want General Mladic for.
Because we want a war criminal, badly. And it doesn't matter what it might cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/opinion/12waters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
May 12, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Why Insist on the Surrender of Ratko Mladic?
By TIMOTHY WILLIAM WATERS
I DON'T think Europe should insist on arresting Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of war crimes. That's hardly the side of the debate one wants to be assigned, because General Mladic — described as the engineer of ethnic cleansing at Srebrenica and Sarajevo in the 1990's — should be arrested and handed over to the United Nations' war crimes tribunal. But why might it not be a good idea for Europe to insist on it?
There are good arguments for linking Serbia's entry into the European Union to General Mladic's arrest, but the union isn't making them. Instead of having an open-eyed debate about the benefits and costs of arrest, Europe is making three lazy assumptions about the role of international justice in transforming societies.
The first is that arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. But try this out: not arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. The difference is who pays. If Europe wants integration, it could help Serbia make progress on reforms by not insisting on linkage.
Linkage might compel General Mladic's arrest and jump-start normal politics in Serbia, but it also risks backlash and delay; in fact, talks have now been suspended. How important is General Mladic's arrest balanced against the integration of 8 million people in a region that badly needs stability? Against the decisions that must be made regarding independence and constitutional reform in Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia, in which Serbia's role is critical? It is possible that insisting on "Mladic or bust" will make bust more likely.
The second assumption: General Mladic's arrest is necessary to prove that Serbia is serious about transforming itself. But is extracting General Mladic under pressure going to change Serbian values?
Rather than linking talks to one arrest, the European Union should ask if a deeply brutalized society like Serbia's is a worthy partner for integration, regardless of the disposition of any one war criminal. Making General Mladic a totem for what Europe really needs — Serbia's transformation — stunts the union's ability to understand and encourage that process.
Fixation on General Mladic is of a piece with the naïve thinking behind much Western foreign policy from the Balkans to Baghdad. Similarly optimistic claims were made when former President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested, but five years later, Serbia's politics still haven't advanced enough. Oh — maybe that's because we haven't gotten General Mladic.
Then there are the advantages to not insisting. Negotiated reforms could begin in earnest, and integration might make the Serbs eventually turn their backs on General Mladic and what he represents. How much better for reconciliation if the Serbs spit out General Mladic on their own, in shame and disgust, not because they see his surrender to The Hague as the only way to get their hands on 30 euros of silver.
A third assumption underlies the other two: that Europe's demands are natural and uncontroversial and only recalcitrant Serbian nationalists don't get it.
But denying the discretionary nature of these demands stifles debate about real costs. Europe claims that it is Serbia that is choosing isolation and stagnation, but these costs are determined by Europe. For reasons most Europeans do not agree with, General Mladic's arrest is controversial in a Serbia otherwise eager to integrate. Is one war criminal's arrest really worth pushing Serbia back into the dark? There's no easy formula for deciding where to draw the line, but the calculation is not helped by soporifically pious pronouncements about the necessity of linking a nation's fate to one man's, nor by pretending that Europe is not imposing the terms, however just.
Serbia's integration into Europe is vital, and that is precisely why Europe needs a rational debate about what it should and should not ask of Serbia. The effect of the present policy is uncertain: Serbia's normalization might be set back by General Mladic's arrest or, as has now happened, by a too hasty insistence on it by outsiders. Precisely because Serbia's integration is vital, both to Serbia and to Europe, Europe should consider if it really must be delayed.
The mania for General Mladic partly comes of our need for a war criminal because the last one, Mr. Milosevic, so recently and inconveniently died. General Mladic's arrest had already been on the agenda, but the chief Balkan butcher's departure added a certain frisson to calls for the next-worst-thing's incarceration. It's not clear what that has to do with changing Serbia, but it's worth asking what we want General Mladic for.
Because we want a war criminal, badly. And it doesn't matter what it might cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/opinion/12waters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
And what does SHE have to say about all this? Hasn't this court already been cited for being ineffective its own wonderful self?
Speaking after being briefed by telephone by chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said her assessment was negative.
"It is disappointing that Belgrade has been unable to locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague," Rehn said. "The Commission therefore has to call off the negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
Del Ponte said Serbia had misled her.
"The obvious conclusion is that I have been misled when I was told at the end of March that the arrest of Mladic was a matter of days or weeks," Del Ponte told a news conference.
If you can do better, come and try, why don' you, C? You seem to have all the answers from up there in the Hague....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060503/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_eu_dc_4
Speaking after being briefed by telephone by chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said her assessment was negative.
"It is disappointing that Belgrade has been unable to locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague," Rehn said. "The Commission therefore has to call off the negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
Del Ponte said Serbia had misled her.
"The obvious conclusion is that I have been misled when I was told at the end of March that the arrest of Mladic was a matter of days or weeks," Del Ponte told a news conference.
If you can do better, come and try, why don' you, C? You seem to have all the answers from up there in the Hague....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060503/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_eu_dc_4
Here we go again....of course, this issue makes the NYT. Other stuff isn't important; only that information which reinforces how "bad" the "Serbs" are....
Europe Cancels Talks With Serbia Over Fugitive
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: May 3, 2006
The European Union called off negotiations today on closer ties with Serbia because it failed to find, arrest and transfer the former military chief Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"This issue is about the rule of law," Olli Rehn, enlargement commissioner for the European Union, said in a statement. "Serbia must show that nobody is above the law, and that anyone indicted for serious crimes will face justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/world/europe/03cnd-serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Europe Cancels Talks With Serbia Over Fugitive
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: May 3, 2006
The European Union called off negotiations today on closer ties with Serbia because it failed to find, arrest and transfer the former military chief Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"This issue is about the rule of law," Olli Rehn, enlargement commissioner for the European Union, said in a statement. "Serbia must show that nobody is above the law, and that anyone indicted for serious crimes will face justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/world/europe/03cnd-serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Serbia's Mladic deadline remains the same
April 26 2006 at 05:47PM
The Hague - A deadline for Serbia to deliver former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic to The Hague by the end of April has not changed despite media reports of a later date, a spokesman for the chief UN prosecutor said.In early April, Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said Serbia had promised her that Mladic would be delivered to the Hague tribunal before the end of April.Some media reports have said Serbia may be given until early or mid-May to deliver Mladic, but Del Ponte's spokesperson dismissed these reports."I have read about other dates ... May 3 or May 11, but the promise was end of April," he told journalists on Wednesday. "We will publish an assessment after that, in the beginning of May."
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_World&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=qw1146057840988B262
April 26 2006 at 05:47PM
The Hague - A deadline for Serbia to deliver former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic to The Hague by the end of April has not changed despite media reports of a later date, a spokesman for the chief UN prosecutor said.In early April, Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said Serbia had promised her that Mladic would be delivered to the Hague tribunal before the end of April.Some media reports have said Serbia may be given until early or mid-May to deliver Mladic, but Del Ponte's spokesperson dismissed these reports."I have read about other dates ... May 3 or May 11, but the promise was end of April," he told journalists on Wednesday. "We will publish an assessment after that, in the beginning of May."
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_World&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=qw1146057840988B262
Thursday, April 20, 2006
And now, the backlash begins....
Polls: Serbia extremists lead democrats
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONALWorld Peace Herald
Published April 20, 2006
Serbia's ultra-nationalists and former communists could oust the ruling Democrats if elections were held this week, an opinion poll indicated Thursday. In the polls the Serbian Radical party had 38 percent, followed by the Democratic Party of Serbia's President Boris Tadic with 28 percent.
The Serbian Democratic Party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the Serbian Socialist Party, mostly former communists, tied for third with 7.6 percent each. The Radical and Socialist parties, with a total of 45.6 percent support, would be able to form a coalition government and govern for four years, said officials of the Center for Free Election and Democracy, or CESID agency which sponsored the poll.
The two parties got Serbia into four ethnic wars -- against Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo -- when it was called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- between 1991 and 1995. The Serbs lost then all.
Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Radicals, is currently awaiting trial on war crime charges at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.
Slobodan Milosevic, who died of a heart attack last month while on trial in The Hague, was the leader of the Socialists.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060420-013510-9259r
Polls: Serbia extremists lead democrats
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONALWorld Peace Herald
Published April 20, 2006
Serbia's ultra-nationalists and former communists could oust the ruling Democrats if elections were held this week, an opinion poll indicated Thursday. In the polls the Serbian Radical party had 38 percent, followed by the Democratic Party of Serbia's President Boris Tadic with 28 percent.
The Serbian Democratic Party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the Serbian Socialist Party, mostly former communists, tied for third with 7.6 percent each. The Radical and Socialist parties, with a total of 45.6 percent support, would be able to form a coalition government and govern for four years, said officials of the Center for Free Election and Democracy, or CESID agency which sponsored the poll.
The two parties got Serbia into four ethnic wars -- against Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo -- when it was called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- between 1991 and 1995. The Serbs lost then all.
Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Radicals, is currently awaiting trial on war crime charges at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.
Slobodan Milosevic, who died of a heart attack last month while on trial in The Hague, was the leader of the Socialists.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060420-013510-9259r
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Think this is the end? I don't....
Milosevic “died of natural causes” 15:41 April 05 B92
THE HAGUE -- An independent investigation confirms that Slobodan Milosevic died of natural causes. According to the investigation conducted by the Dutch Government, the former Yugoslav president died of natural health problems and that is was not the result of any kind of “criminal activity.” The Tribunal has also stated that it is conducting an “internal investigation,” which is still ongoing, focusing on the medical treatment which Milosevic was receiving while in custody. The Tribunal stated that the investigation is nearing its end.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34365&style=headlines
WTF?????
The Tribunal, a successful experiment 12:49 April 05 Beta
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Former Hague President Theodore Meron said that the work of the Tribunal has proven to be successful. Meron said that, regardless of the questions raised against the Tribunal’s legitimacy and objectivity, he believes that it has shown to be a successful judicial experiment. He added that he sees no reason to bring the Tribunal’s effectiveness into question following the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. “The fact that one of the indictees died while his trial was reaching its end does not call into question the dozens of others in which the international tribunal showed that the international law can be respected objectively and implemented and that those who does not abides by these laws, cannot expect to go unpunished.” Meron said. “The Tribunal took great measures to ensure that the Milosevic trial was fair, to give attention to his medical needs and his desire to represent and defend himself. More than anything, these were the reasons why the trial lasted so long.” Meron said. He added that the number of indictees extradited to The Hague increased by 50 per cent in 2005, and that there are currently 96 indictees in custody. Meron, however, made sure to mention his disappointment in the fact that Bosnian Serb military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic have yet to be arrested and extradited.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=34345&order=priority&style=headlines
Milosevic “died of natural causes” 15:41 April 05 B92
THE HAGUE -- An independent investigation confirms that Slobodan Milosevic died of natural causes. According to the investigation conducted by the Dutch Government, the former Yugoslav president died of natural health problems and that is was not the result of any kind of “criminal activity.” The Tribunal has also stated that it is conducting an “internal investigation,” which is still ongoing, focusing on the medical treatment which Milosevic was receiving while in custody. The Tribunal stated that the investigation is nearing its end.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34365&style=headlines
WTF?????
The Tribunal, a successful experiment 12:49 April 05 Beta
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Former Hague President Theodore Meron said that the work of the Tribunal has proven to be successful. Meron said that, regardless of the questions raised against the Tribunal’s legitimacy and objectivity, he believes that it has shown to be a successful judicial experiment. He added that he sees no reason to bring the Tribunal’s effectiveness into question following the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. “The fact that one of the indictees died while his trial was reaching its end does not call into question the dozens of others in which the international tribunal showed that the international law can be respected objectively and implemented and that those who does not abides by these laws, cannot expect to go unpunished.” Meron said. “The Tribunal took great measures to ensure that the Milosevic trial was fair, to give attention to his medical needs and his desire to represent and defend himself. More than anything, these were the reasons why the trial lasted so long.” Meron said. He added that the number of indictees extradited to The Hague increased by 50 per cent in 2005, and that there are currently 96 indictees in custody. Meron, however, made sure to mention his disappointment in the fact that Bosnian Serb military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic have yet to be arrested and extradited.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=34345&order=priority&style=headlines
Saturday, March 25, 2006
NATO bombing commemorated 09:44 -> 10:28 March 24 B92, Beta
BELGRADE -- On today’s date seven years ago, NATO began its bombing mission in Yugoslavia, which lasted 78 days. The air raids began at about 7:30 pm, with the then government, head by Slobodan Milosevic, proclaiming a state of war. The bombing ended on June 9 with the signing of the Kumanovski Agreement and the adoption of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1244. The air strikes resulted in the Yugoslav Army retreating from Kosovo, and international forces entering the region. Many industrial buildings, schools, health centres, media buildings and monuments were damaged or destroyed in the bombings and, according to estimates, in between 1,200 and 2,500 people were killed. In 43 locations around Serbia, excluding Kosovo, NATO projectiles can still be found. There are two bombs that have not exploded still in Belgrade today, according to the Defence Ministry. In order for one bomb to be removed, 100,000 euros and the hiring of an expert team for one month would be necessary.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34128&style=headlines
BELGRADE -- On today’s date seven years ago, NATO began its bombing mission in Yugoslavia, which lasted 78 days. The air raids began at about 7:30 pm, with the then government, head by Slobodan Milosevic, proclaiming a state of war. The bombing ended on June 9 with the signing of the Kumanovski Agreement and the adoption of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1244. The air strikes resulted in the Yugoslav Army retreating from Kosovo, and international forces entering the region. Many industrial buildings, schools, health centres, media buildings and monuments were damaged or destroyed in the bombings and, according to estimates, in between 1,200 and 2,500 people were killed. In 43 locations around Serbia, excluding Kosovo, NATO projectiles can still be found. There are two bombs that have not exploded still in Belgrade today, according to the Defence Ministry. In order for one bomb to be removed, 100,000 euros and the hiring of an expert team for one month would be necessary.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34128&style=headlines
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
And the OTHER major issue--the one that the US is only interested in, regardless of the consequences...
Milosevic death jeopardises Mladic handover The death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and the outbursts of nationalism during his funeral in Serbia, make it unlikely that General Ratko Mladic will soon be handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal, Europe’s top security agency said in a report today.The EU has said that if Mladic was not handed over to the tribunal by March 31, the EU would suspend its negotiations with Serbia on joining the bloc. The next round of the negotiations was set for April 5.“Recent events do not increase the prospects that General Mladic will be delivered to The Hague by the EU-imposed deadline,” the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in the report.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=75591506&p=7559y8x8&n=75591886#
Milosevic death jeopardises Mladic handover The death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and the outbursts of nationalism during his funeral in Serbia, make it unlikely that General Ratko Mladic will soon be handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal, Europe’s top security agency said in a report today.The EU has said that if Mladic was not handed over to the tribunal by March 31, the EU would suspend its negotiations with Serbia on joining the bloc. The next round of the negotiations was set for April 5.“Recent events do not increase the prospects that General Mladic will be delivered to The Hague by the EU-imposed deadline,” the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in the report.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=75591506&p=7559y8x8&n=75591886#
And here is what we REALLY need to be concerned about....
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Unity Will Prevail, Kostunica Says
2006-03-21 20:01:52
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that the idea of unity will win and be stronger than the demand of dividing the country, because breaking up the unified community that keeps Serbia and Montenegro together represents the wrong path which cannot lead to any good. In a statement to the news agency Tanjug, Kostunica said that the idea of a common state, a common life and a common European future is a big idea that can provide long term security, stability and better life to people of different ethnic origins and all citizens of Serbia-Montenegro. “I am convinced that the idea of unity will win, be above and stronger than the demand of dividing the country and breaking up the natural community that has been created by a long history,” said Kostunica. He said that hundreds and thousands of families are connected with the state-union or, more exactly, probably there is no citizen of Serbia who does not have relatives in Montenegro or citizen of Montenegro who does not have family in Serbia. He added that that shared life, in the proper sense of the word, determines that we safeguard the state-union in which, in all truth, there is place for everyone and no one is discriminated against. Establishing an interstate border, introducing passports, dividing the country and thus breaking up the unified community that keeps Serbia and Montenegro together represents the wrong path which cannot lead to any good, said Kostunica. “The interest in breaking up the country, in establishing interstate borders between us, and division, can neither be sincere nor in the long term interest of the peoples and citizens of Serbia-Montenegro.” Kostunica stressed that it is not all the same, and it is not the same if we live in two states or in a single unified one, because that has important long term consequences in all spheres of life. “States are not made for temporary use and the decision of living together was brought a long time ago, and was affirmed by many generations, leaving it to future generations,” said Kostunica adding that from the previous unified life a lot of good was gained and no one can say that anyone lost anything because of it. “There is no doubt that a common state is where the best interests of Serbia and Montenegro can be realised,” concluded Kostunica. Source: www.reporter.gr
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=58235&LangID=1
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Unity Will Prevail, Kostunica Says
2006-03-21 20:01:52
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that the idea of unity will win and be stronger than the demand of dividing the country, because breaking up the unified community that keeps Serbia and Montenegro together represents the wrong path which cannot lead to any good. In a statement to the news agency Tanjug, Kostunica said that the idea of a common state, a common life and a common European future is a big idea that can provide long term security, stability and better life to people of different ethnic origins and all citizens of Serbia-Montenegro. “I am convinced that the idea of unity will win, be above and stronger than the demand of dividing the country and breaking up the natural community that has been created by a long history,” said Kostunica. He said that hundreds and thousands of families are connected with the state-union or, more exactly, probably there is no citizen of Serbia who does not have relatives in Montenegro or citizen of Montenegro who does not have family in Serbia. He added that that shared life, in the proper sense of the word, determines that we safeguard the state-union in which, in all truth, there is place for everyone and no one is discriminated against. Establishing an interstate border, introducing passports, dividing the country and thus breaking up the unified community that keeps Serbia and Montenegro together represents the wrong path which cannot lead to any good, said Kostunica. “The interest in breaking up the country, in establishing interstate borders between us, and division, can neither be sincere nor in the long term interest of the peoples and citizens of Serbia-Montenegro.” Kostunica stressed that it is not all the same, and it is not the same if we live in two states or in a single unified one, because that has important long term consequences in all spheres of life. “States are not made for temporary use and the decision of living together was brought a long time ago, and was affirmed by many generations, leaving it to future generations,” said Kostunica adding that from the previous unified life a lot of good was gained and no one can say that anyone lost anything because of it. “There is no doubt that a common state is where the best interests of Serbia and Montenegro can be realised,” concluded Kostunica. Source: www.reporter.gr
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=58235&LangID=1
Once again, they make it sound as if the whole country is in mourning....
Posted on Sun, Mar. 19, 2006
Serbs glorify Milosevic at his hometown burial
FORMER PRESIDENT IS CALLED A HERO AND MAN OF PEACE
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post
POZAREVAC, Serbia-Montenegro -- Tens of thousands of Serbs gave former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic a hero's farewell and pronounced him a victim of the U.N. war-crimes tribunal, in whose custody he died a week ago.
About 15,000 supporters gathered at his burial site in Pozarevac, his hometown, and about 50,000 attended a commemoration in Belgrade, the capital. The mourners praised Milosevic, who oversaw Serbia's role in the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, as a defender of the nation and man of peace and love...
Milosevic died in his cell of a heart attack, according to a forensic examination. Milosevic's die-hard followers have accused the tribunal of murder.
``They couldn't stand Milosevic's defense of himself,'' said Bozidar Delic, head of a Serbian group that campaigned to free Milosevic from The Hague, where he was being tried on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Saturday, Milosevic's political associates fashioned a legend of him as steadfast champion of Serbia and victim of the West.
``We are bidding farewell to the best one among us,'' said Milorad Vucelic, a Socialist Party official.
``American aggression put under occupation,'' said Alexander Vucic, head of the Serbian Radical Party, which has inherited much of the nationalist support that once belonged to the Socialists. The leader of the Radical Party, Vojislav Sesel, who is on trial at The Hague on war-crimes charges, also sent a message: ``Our Serbia will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.''
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, fresh from participation on Saddam Hussein's defense team in the war-crimes trial in Baghdad, praised Milosevic, saying ``He was a man for the ages.''
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14136768.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_world
Posted on Sun, Mar. 19, 2006
Serbs glorify Milosevic at his hometown burial
FORMER PRESIDENT IS CALLED A HERO AND MAN OF PEACE
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post
POZAREVAC, Serbia-Montenegro -- Tens of thousands of Serbs gave former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic a hero's farewell and pronounced him a victim of the U.N. war-crimes tribunal, in whose custody he died a week ago.
About 15,000 supporters gathered at his burial site in Pozarevac, his hometown, and about 50,000 attended a commemoration in Belgrade, the capital. The mourners praised Milosevic, who oversaw Serbia's role in the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, as a defender of the nation and man of peace and love...
Milosevic died in his cell of a heart attack, according to a forensic examination. Milosevic's die-hard followers have accused the tribunal of murder.
``They couldn't stand Milosevic's defense of himself,'' said Bozidar Delic, head of a Serbian group that campaigned to free Milosevic from The Hague, where he was being tried on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Saturday, Milosevic's political associates fashioned a legend of him as steadfast champion of Serbia and victim of the West.
``We are bidding farewell to the best one among us,'' said Milorad Vucelic, a Socialist Party official.
``American aggression put under occupation,'' said Alexander Vucic, head of the Serbian Radical Party, which has inherited much of the nationalist support that once belonged to the Socialists. The leader of the Radical Party, Vojislav Sesel, who is on trial at The Hague on war-crimes charges, also sent a message: ``Our Serbia will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.''
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, fresh from participation on Saddam Hussein's defense team in the war-crimes trial in Baghdad, praised Milosevic, saying ``He was a man for the ages.''
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14136768.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_world
Monday, March 20, 2006
Nation & World Views From London: Lesson of Milosevic simple: Never again
Slobodan Milosevic will not be much mourned across the former Yugoslavia that he tore apart. His vision of Serb nationalism brought bloodshed from Croatia to Bosnia and then Kosovo, first through the tanks of the Yugoslav National Army, then through Belgrade-backed Serb paramilitaries and, finally, through the police squads of the Ministry of the Interior. In a few brutal years, more than a quarter-of-a-million people died in Milosevic's failed wars. But while Milosevic and his Bosnian Serb ciphers - Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic - must bear the bulk of the responsibility for the killing, an assessment of the career of Europe's last mass murderer poses uncomfortable questions for a world that let him prosecute his crimes. ...
But if Milosevic's death brings memories of a shameful period, it is also a powerful reminder of how, in belated response to political thuggery, a new doctrine of humanitarian intervention emerged. ... It was led at first by President Clinton over Bosnia, and again in Kosovo. The rationale behind those interventions was then invoked for the invasion of Iraq.
But the principle that a brutal regime does not have inalienable rights to do as it pleases within its borders, that the international community can bring an incumbent dictator to justice, is a good one. It is possible, as history has shown in the Balkans, to intervene justly in the affairs of a sovereign state. ... The international community will again need to confront charismatic leaders with inflammatory agendas. It will again be tempted to appease them. Milosevic's death is a timely reminder of the lesson burned into an older generation of Europeans scarred by genocide: never again.
-- The Observer, London, March 12
Slobodan Milosevic will not be much mourned across the former Yugoslavia that he tore apart. His vision of Serb nationalism brought bloodshed from Croatia to Bosnia and then Kosovo, first through the tanks of the Yugoslav National Army, then through Belgrade-backed Serb paramilitaries and, finally, through the police squads of the Ministry of the Interior. In a few brutal years, more than a quarter-of-a-million people died in Milosevic's failed wars. But while Milosevic and his Bosnian Serb ciphers - Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic - must bear the bulk of the responsibility for the killing, an assessment of the career of Europe's last mass murderer poses uncomfortable questions for a world that let him prosecute his crimes. ...
But if Milosevic's death brings memories of a shameful period, it is also a powerful reminder of how, in belated response to political thuggery, a new doctrine of humanitarian intervention emerged. ... It was led at first by President Clinton over Bosnia, and again in Kosovo. The rationale behind those interventions was then invoked for the invasion of Iraq.
But the principle that a brutal regime does not have inalienable rights to do as it pleases within its borders, that the international community can bring an incumbent dictator to justice, is a good one. It is possible, as history has shown in the Balkans, to intervene justly in the affairs of a sovereign state. ... The international community will again need to confront charismatic leaders with inflammatory agendas. It will again be tempted to appease them. Milosevic's death is a timely reminder of the lesson burned into an older generation of Europeans scarred by genocide: never again.
-- The Observer, London, March 12
everyone is all in a tizzy because of the people who turned out for the funeral--they see it as support for Milosevic. Who goes to the funeral of someone he/she DOESN'T like? Also, there were far fewer people there than expected; that's one positive aspect.
Can Serbia deal with the past? 15:33 March 19 FoNet, Beta
WASHINGTON, BELGRADE -- Sunday - Daniel Server from the US Institute of Peace says it still remains to be seen whether Serbia is willing to part ways with the policies of the past. “People have the right to demonstrate in the streets, attend Milosevic’s funeral and declare loyalty to him, but the real issue here is whether Serbia as a whole is willing to part ways with the policies of the past. This is not yet very clear, because Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has purposefully made this issue vague, owing to the fact that his government depends on the support of the Socialists and the Radicals”, Server said. “I don’t see why Belgrade has less to lose after Milosevic’s death in dealing with the Hague Tribunal. I can understand why a verdict in the Milosevic had caused anxiety. He would probably have been found guilty for genocide, and this would have, in turn, had repercussions on the process in front of the International Criminal Court, but now that there is no verdict, is seems that one of the obstacles for co-operation should be out of the way. However, we have witnessed an emotional reaction in Serbia, accusing the Tribunal for Milosevic’s death, which I don’t comprehend. The best thing that Serbia can do for itself is to arrest Mladic and Karadzic”, Server concluded.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=34085&order=priority&style=headlines
From William Montgomery, a fairly reasonable voice in all of this mess...
I am convinced that the worst possible alternative in Milosevic’s view was a completion of the trial with the inevitable guilty verdicts and a lifetime prison sentence far from home and far from the public spotlight...The ICTY is fully responsible for how this mess has turned out. It took less than one year at Nuremberg to try 22 Nazi defendants. Slobodan Milosevic’s trial was into its fifth year with a cost that has been put at around $200 million. Three decisions in particular were devastating: indicting Milosevic on 66 different charges, thereby requiring that each be proved by an endless list of witnesses and documentary evidence; joining the indictments for events in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia together rather than having separate trials for each; and permitting him to conduct his own defense. While each of these three critical decisions had its own logic, the end result is a trial that was never finished and that due to its length and nature had done little to bring reconciliation to the Balkans and had actually increased Milosevic’s popularity in Serbia. It is not only Milosevic who died. So did the original Chief Judge, Sir Richard May, more than one year ago...
The biggest disservice that Milosevic did to the Serbian people was to take their legitimate concerns and fears and instead of advocating them in a pro-active, positive, moderate way, he inflamed them for his own political benefit. Instead of helping to quell the flames of hatred and nationalism, he deliberately used the media and government information channels to throw fuel on the fire. This has had two radically different, equally negative results. First of all, because of the violent methods which were used and counter-productive tactics (such as the shelling of Dubrovnik), the world lost sympathy for Serbia, the Serbs, and their concerns. It is worth noting that this was not initially the case. In 1990 and 91, the U.S. Administration and many Europeans were sympathetic to keeping Yugoslavia together.
Secondly, an uncomfortably large percentage of the Serbian people to this day have sympathy for Milosevic because they perceive that he was defending Serbian interests. Far too few of the Serbian political leadership has had the courage to try to separate those legitimate Serbian concerns and fears and the totally illegitimate crimes which Milosevic supported and encouraged in their “defense.” Until this link is understood and broken, the true democratic transition in Serbia cannot be completed.
http://www.b92.net/feedback/misljenja/press/william.php
Can Serbia deal with the past? 15:33 March 19 FoNet, Beta
WASHINGTON, BELGRADE -- Sunday - Daniel Server from the US Institute of Peace says it still remains to be seen whether Serbia is willing to part ways with the policies of the past. “People have the right to demonstrate in the streets, attend Milosevic’s funeral and declare loyalty to him, but the real issue here is whether Serbia as a whole is willing to part ways with the policies of the past. This is not yet very clear, because Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has purposefully made this issue vague, owing to the fact that his government depends on the support of the Socialists and the Radicals”, Server said. “I don’t see why Belgrade has less to lose after Milosevic’s death in dealing with the Hague Tribunal. I can understand why a verdict in the Milosevic had caused anxiety. He would probably have been found guilty for genocide, and this would have, in turn, had repercussions on the process in front of the International Criminal Court, but now that there is no verdict, is seems that one of the obstacles for co-operation should be out of the way. However, we have witnessed an emotional reaction in Serbia, accusing the Tribunal for Milosevic’s death, which I don’t comprehend. The best thing that Serbia can do for itself is to arrest Mladic and Karadzic”, Server concluded.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=34085&order=priority&style=headlines
From William Montgomery, a fairly reasonable voice in all of this mess...
I am convinced that the worst possible alternative in Milosevic’s view was a completion of the trial with the inevitable guilty verdicts and a lifetime prison sentence far from home and far from the public spotlight...The ICTY is fully responsible for how this mess has turned out. It took less than one year at Nuremberg to try 22 Nazi defendants. Slobodan Milosevic’s trial was into its fifth year with a cost that has been put at around $200 million. Three decisions in particular were devastating: indicting Milosevic on 66 different charges, thereby requiring that each be proved by an endless list of witnesses and documentary evidence; joining the indictments for events in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia together rather than having separate trials for each; and permitting him to conduct his own defense. While each of these three critical decisions had its own logic, the end result is a trial that was never finished and that due to its length and nature had done little to bring reconciliation to the Balkans and had actually increased Milosevic’s popularity in Serbia. It is not only Milosevic who died. So did the original Chief Judge, Sir Richard May, more than one year ago...
The biggest disservice that Milosevic did to the Serbian people was to take their legitimate concerns and fears and instead of advocating them in a pro-active, positive, moderate way, he inflamed them for his own political benefit. Instead of helping to quell the flames of hatred and nationalism, he deliberately used the media and government information channels to throw fuel on the fire. This has had two radically different, equally negative results. First of all, because of the violent methods which were used and counter-productive tactics (such as the shelling of Dubrovnik), the world lost sympathy for Serbia, the Serbs, and their concerns. It is worth noting that this was not initially the case. In 1990 and 91, the U.S. Administration and many Europeans were sympathetic to keeping Yugoslavia together.
Secondly, an uncomfortably large percentage of the Serbian people to this day have sympathy for Milosevic because they perceive that he was defending Serbian interests. Far too few of the Serbian political leadership has had the courage to try to separate those legitimate Serbian concerns and fears and the totally illegitimate crimes which Milosevic supported and encouraged in their “defense.” Until this link is understood and broken, the true democratic transition in Serbia cannot be completed.
http://www.b92.net/feedback/misljenja/press/william.php
Thursday, March 16, 2006
ROME, March 15 — Frustrated and filled with skepticism about Slobodan Milosevic's litany of medical complaints, the tribunal at The Hague at times failed to investigate them adequately, several doctors who had recently examined Mr. Milosevic, the former Serbian leader, said this week.
"His medical condition was not good, so we asked for additional tests to evaluate his cardiac situation," said Dr. Florence Leclercq, a French cardiologist who examined Mr. Milosevic for about three hours in November. "But these investigations were never performed, and now that's a problem." A tribunal official said it was not possible to comment while an inquiry was under way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/international/europe/16case.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
"His medical condition was not good, so we asked for additional tests to evaluate his cardiac situation," said Dr. Florence Leclercq, a French cardiologist who examined Mr. Milosevic for about three hours in November. "But these investigations were never performed, and now that's a problem." A tribunal official said it was not possible to comment while an inquiry was under way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/international/europe/16case.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
At least they aren't going to try and convict him posthumously, much as they might like to....
THE HAGUE, March 14 — The court convened Tuesday for the last time in the war crimes trial of the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. The court, said the presiding judge, Patrick Robinson, had been advised of the death of the accused. "His death," he said, "terminates these proceedings."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/europe/15milosevic.html
THE HAGUE, March 14 — The court convened Tuesday for the last time in the war crimes trial of the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. The court, said the presiding judge, Patrick Robinson, had been advised of the death of the accused. "His death," he said, "terminates these proceedings."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/europe/15milosevic.html
I don't believe--they actually convicted some Muslims....however, read carefully; they were convicted not of war crimes, but of failing to discipline their men for mistreating and abusing Croats and Serbs....
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.N. war crimes judges found two former Bosnian Muslim army commanders guilty on Wednesday of atrocities committed by their troops on Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb civilians during the 1992-95 war.
Judges at the Hague tribunal found former General Enver Hadzihasanovic, 56, and Brigadier Amir Kubura, 42, guilty of failing to prevent or punish atrocities by troops under their command, including foreign Islamic mujahideen fighters.
The men are among the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to stand trial in The Hague.
Hadzihasanovic was sentenced to five years jail and Kubura to two and a half years. Prosecutors had requested 20 years for Hadzihasanovic and 10 years for Kubura.
The tribunal said prosecutors had failed to convince the court that the men had full knowledge of the abuses and effective control over the perpetrators, in particular the mujahideen, many of whom came from North Africa and the Middle East to support fellow Muslims during the bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Hadzihasanovic and Kubura were charged with commanding forces that murdered and abused at least 200 Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat civilians during Muslim attacks on Croat forces in central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.
Prosecutors said captives were forced to dig trenches under fire or used as human shields.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-warcrimes-bosnians.html
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.N. war crimes judges found two former Bosnian Muslim army commanders guilty on Wednesday of atrocities committed by their troops on Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb civilians during the 1992-95 war.
Judges at the Hague tribunal found former General Enver Hadzihasanovic, 56, and Brigadier Amir Kubura, 42, guilty of failing to prevent or punish atrocities by troops under their command, including foreign Islamic mujahideen fighters.
The men are among the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to stand trial in The Hague.
Hadzihasanovic was sentenced to five years jail and Kubura to two and a half years. Prosecutors had requested 20 years for Hadzihasanovic and 10 years for Kubura.
The tribunal said prosecutors had failed to convince the court that the men had full knowledge of the abuses and effective control over the perpetrators, in particular the mujahideen, many of whom came from North Africa and the Middle East to support fellow Muslims during the bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Hadzihasanovic and Kubura were charged with commanding forces that murdered and abused at least 200 Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat civilians during Muslim attacks on Croat forces in central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.
Prosecutors said captives were forced to dig trenches under fire or used as human shields.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-warcrimes-bosnians.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
