Ivo Skoric on Sun, 28 Dec 2003 18:28:16 +0100 (CET) |
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[digested @ nettime] "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Wes vs. Slobo FW: NYC COUNCIL VOTE POSTPONED IMF and Sanader That's F***ing Beautiful! Lost Opportunities Who runs Bosnia? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:40:59 -0500 Subject: Wes vs. Slobo http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/international/europe/14BOSN.html?th Tommorow, Milosevic's gets a chance to cross-examine general Clark, a man that bombed his country. Given that Milosevic often ranted how the only true war crimes committed in the wars for Yugoslav succession were those of NATO bombing Serbia in 1999, for which general Clark holds command responsibility, a session between Milosevic and Clark may be a very interesting one. At least, that should prove the fairness of The Hague tribunal to the recalcitrant opponents. I do not recollect Goering had been able to cross-examine Eisenhower. Unfortunately, general Clark, one of Democratic presidential contenders, will give his testimony behind the close doors and flanked by two US government lawyers, making sure that most tasty details do not reach us mere mortals. ivo--------------------------------------------------------- Ivo Skoric 19 Baxter Street Rutland VT 05701 802.775.7257 ivo@balkansnet.org balkansnet.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 22:15:48 -0500 Subject: FW: NYC COUNCIL VOTE POSTPONED The capture of Saddam Hussein ended up as bad for our civil liberties! Vote on the NYC bill of rights of immigrants resolution was postponed today - because of the Saddam capture. So that noble supporters of the Bill wouldn't get misunderstood by skinheads, xenophobes, and isolationists.... ivo NYC COUNCIL VOTE POSTPONED The NYC Council postponed its vote on NYC's Bill of Rights Resolution -- Resolution 909 -- until January 21, 2004. In the morning, the Governmental Operations Committee, chaired by Bill Perkins, voted the resolution out of committee by a much larger margin than expected, 7-2. In the afternoon Speaker Gifford Miller publicly affirmed his strong support for the resolution and made a commitment to bring the resolution to a vote at the Council's first meeting of 2004. The reason given for the postponement was the breaking news regarding the capture of Saddam Hussein. Several strong supporters of the resolution expressed concerned that a vote for the resolution would be misunderstood or misrepresented, or both. We will be in touch regarding next steps to ensure passage of the resolution in January. Donna Lieberman Executive Director New York Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad St. NY 10004 212-344-3005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 10:49:26 -0500 Subject: IMF and Sanader http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-croatia- cabinet.html In yesterdays article (Reuters / New York Times) about the change of government in Croatia, Ivo Sanader is generally given a passing mark, by being called a "pragmatic technocrat" (which in the West is not an insult, like it use to be in the communist former Yugoslavia, where people in the 1970's even got jail-time for being labeled "technocrats"), albeit cautiously because Sanader is HDZ, and HDZ is Tudjman's party, and Tudjman - "the hardline nationalist" - was never considered a good guy by the NYT. More interesting is to read the article "between the lines" to see what worries does the liberal capitalist West still really have regarding Croatia. 1) The HDZ brought Croatia "to international isolation because of its defiance of the West and poor human rights" -> while I am not particularly fond of Tudjman's HDZ, I don't see how the NYT got to that conclusion, because a) Croatia was never under international isolation after 1991 - there was criticism, threats, etc. - but never isolation, b) Tudjman never defied the West - he did moves that angered the West a bit, but he always bowed to pressure when needed, c) while human rights record of Tudjman's Croatia was not exemplary, it is hard to - reading the comprehensive Human Rights Watch reports - label it POOR (particularly in light of other regional countries whose h.r. record was judged by HRW comparatively worse to Croatia's). 2) >>Political analyst Davor Gjenero said Sanader had secured his cabinet a peaceful start until the 2004 budget is passed in late March. ``Only after that, and after getting the EU's opinion on our candidacy, shall we see his administration's true face.'' An editorial in Novi List daily said the cabinet lacked ``big names. It is therefore hard to know what to expect.''<< This is trying to find reasons why Sanader would fail. A country of 4.5 million does not have many big names, so it is reasonable to expect that its administration would fall on the backs of less renowned personalities. Gjenero is right - but then, that truth holds for any government anywhere in the world. 3) >>Local media has suggested the new government will receive four new indictments from the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague in January. Cooperation with the tribunal is key to Croatia's EU candidacy and anything short of handing over the suspects will put Sanader on a collision course with Brussels.<< That's the perennial Damocle's sword over any government of Croatia. The warning is out: Sanader will have a choice between appeasing the domestic right wing constituency by hiding war crimes suspects, or appeasing the Eurocrats by sending the suspects to The Hague. Any Croatian prime minister would have the same choice. Conventional wisdom is that Sanader, because he is HDZ, will protect the war crimes suspects from The Hague. That's where his opponents wait for him to break. But we should not rush to judgement so soon - because he is HDZ, Sanader may, on the other hand, paradoxally, have easier time sending them to The Hague... He may build his right wing credentials elsewhere - civil rights activists in Croatia better be on lookout for where that is going to be! 4) >>Finance Minister Ivan Suker, a former tax expert, will have to balance election promises of higher pensions and benefits with announced tax cuts. Suker told state television this week the cabinet will most probably vote at its first session to cut value added tax to 20 percent from 22 percent -- a move seen as potentially risky by the International Monetary Fund. << Ah, the sweetest part was saved for the end of the article. Why would a bastion of laissez-faire capitalism, like IMF, find it potentially risky for a small country to cut its atrociously hight sales tax? 22%! No governor of any American state would survive passing a 22% value added tax in his legislature. People would put him in the mental institution under close observation. Croatia's and international economists widely agree that 22% VAT hampers Croatia's economy, turns away investors, slows down economic growth, increases unemployment - in general the tax should have been cut from 22% to 12%, yet the new government would do it just to 20%, and even that move is seen "potentially risky" by the IMF. The IMF should be in favor of cutting the tax if it is interested in healthy growth of Croatian economy. Sadly, the IMF is only interested in Croatia's ability to re-pay its foreign debt and interest - and those payments are largely financed by the outrageously high VAT. IMF is afraid that if the VAT is reduced, Croatia may default on the debt payments. Which may hold true in any case - given the size of the debt (big) and the size of the economy (small). That has nothing to do with VAT. It has everything to do with the lack of Marshall Plan for the Balkans. Countries devastated by wars, sanctions, and bad governance, simply cannot be expected to function well on loans. That was understood in 1945, but it seems that the West and IMF refuse to understand that now. Countries that helped precipitate the fall of former Yugoslavia and encouraged independence movements in its constitutive parts, are under moral obligation now to make this part of the world economically and politically stable. Pushing those emerging democracies in debt severally times larger than the size of their economies will not bring peace and stability to Europe. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 10:49:23 -0500 Subject: That's F***ing Beautiful! http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/24/nyregion/24BRUC.html?th Arrest the living, pardon the dead! What the story of comedian Lenny Bruce really reveals is that a man could be arrested solely for his speech in the land of the constitutional first amendement protecting that free speech as late as 1964. At that time the US vigorously protested similar arrests in the Soviet Bloc. It was shameful that he was arrested, and it is shameful that he did not win the pardon while alive. Interestingly, he could not get work following his jail time and his life ended miserably in two years after that - just as lives of many Eastern European dissidents did, once they were declared outlaws. Now, a Republican Governer pardons Lenny with a lifetime delay, only to shore up his first amendement credentials in face of his shameful support to the Patriot Act which denies the first amendement rights to the living. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> To: ed Agro <edagro@verizon.net> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 10:13:29 -0500 Zvezdan Jovanovic, man accused of killing Djindjic, now faces trial in Belgrade. Of course, he accuses authorities of mounting a political process against him. A former policeman and torturer himself, now he blames the police for beating the plea out of him, and refuses to enter the plea in the court. This all, indeed, comes politically on the eve of elections in which bad guys are supposed to win (Seselj's nationalists). 40 lawyers, defending Jovanovic et alia on trial for killing prime minister Djindjic, walked out of the courtroom in protest over the 3- panel judge handling of the case. Added to that is the UN legal observer's statement noting "the apparent meddling" of politics in the proceedings: "The chief judge is acting both as a judge and a prosecutor." Inevitably, the trial is tainted before it even begun. The only question now is - was it intentional to be this way? ivo ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Chaos Erupts at Serb Assassination Trial APO 24/12/2003 13:13 Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press. By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press Writer BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- The trial of the accused assassins of Serbia's prime minister descended into turmoil Wednesday when the alleged triggerman refused to enter a plea and defense attorneys walked out of the courtroom in protest. Zvezdan Jovanovic, former commander of an elite Serbian police unit who is charged with firing the fatal sniper shot that killed Zoran Djindjic on March 12, said he was framed by pro-Western authorities. "I have been exposed to tremendous pressure by these authorities," said Jovanovic, 38. "I have been proclaimed guilty even before the trial had started." Authorities initially said Jovanovic confessed to the slaying. But his defense attorneys claim he was pressured during the police interrogation and was not told that everything he said could be used against him in court. "I don't trust this court and the judiciary of this country," said Jovanovic, whose police unit fought in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Wednesday's courtroom proceedings were cut short when 40 defense lawyers representing the 36 suspects in Djindjic's killing walked out, claiming the three-judge panel was biased and incapable of handling the case. If they do not return Thursday, the court would have to appoint lawyers for the policemen and alleged gangsters charged with Djindjic's killing. That would jeopardize the fairness of the trial, which is considered a crucial test of the independence of Serbia's judiciary in the wake of President Slobodan Milosevic's ouster in 2000. Milosevic was ousted by Djindjic's coalition and extradited to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, to face charges stemming from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The trial began three days ago in a high-security courtroom in Belgrade. A U.N. court observer said the trial has many flaws, including "the apparent meddling" of politics in the proceedings. "The chief judge is acting both as a judge and a prosecutor," said Aleksandar Cvejic, legal adviser for the U.N. commissioner for human rights. "That is unacceptable." Jovanovic's lawyer, Nenad Vukasovic, said authorities were using the trial to boost their chances in Serbia's key parliamentary elections Sunday. Ultranationalists, who are allies of Milosevic, are predicted to win, according to pre-election polls. Djindjic was killed in a sniper attack in front of his government headquarters in Belgrade. The indictment says Jovanovic fired two shots from a window in a building close to government headquarters, one killing Djindjic and the other seriously injuring his bodyguard, Milan Veruovic. The suspects are charged with killing Djindjic in order to overthrow his pro-Western government and replace it with Milosevic allies. Thirteen men are charged with direct involvement in the attack while the remaining 23 are alleged members of their criminal group and face other charges. Twenty-two suspects are appearing in court, while 14 remain at large and are being tried in absentia. The fugitives include the alleged mastermind of the assassination and the chief suspect, Milorad Lukovic, who commanded the elite Red Berets during the Balkan wars. Jovanovic was Lukovic's deputy in the special police unit. During Milosevic's war crimes trial, Lukovic was accused by Bosnian Muslim witnesses of torturing them in a Serb-run concentration camp. ----End Forwarded Message(s)---- ------- End of forwarded message ------------------------------------- Ivo Skoric 19 Baxter Street Rutland VT 05701 802.775.7257 ivo@balkansnet.org balkansnet.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:33:09 -0500 Subject: Lost Opportunities Milorad Pupovac - quoted by BBC here - the vice-president of SDSS, the leading Serb minority party in Croatia - as one of the founders of the Society for Yugoslav Democratic Initiative in 1988, was always a part of Zagreb's left-leaning academic circle, which naturally supported Racan, and viewed HDZ with suspicion a New York Democrat would reserve for George W. So, how could it possibly be that Racan missed the opportunity to get the support of SDSS in this elections? SDSS just sought what Croatian law had promised to them, and what the international community asks from Croatia as one of the preconditions to be accepted to talks about getting into EU: return of Serb refugees. It remains puzzling why Racan could not deliver. Sanader, nevertheless, jumped on the opportunity, showing surprising statesmanship and political astuteness. Improbably, the new HDZ-led cabinet will help Serbs who fled Croatia during the 1991-1995 war to regain possession of their properties by the end of 2004. Bold promise. Sanader - the supposed right winger - will do the Croatia's left wing bidding: something that Racan was promising for years to do, but somehow always found a reason to fail, Sanader said he would do AND in just one year. Visa regime is not a big issue - Racan's government did that already - Sanader just needs to continue the policy. But if Sanader-Pupovac agreement helps return of Serb refugees to Krajina - without a major insurgency on the right in Croatia - Croatia may be one big step closer to the EU membership, which may secure Sanader's ticket to re-election, since good relationship with EU seems to be the major vote winner in Croatia, judging by the polls. Meaning, that Racan, by missing this opportunity, might have lost not just the current elections, but also the future ones. Of course, Sanader may still fail. But it is very refreshing to see a politician in the "Western Balkans" willing to take his chances. ivo __________________________ BBC News Croatian Serbs win minority rights The main ethnic Serb political party in Croatia has agreed to back the nationalist-led government in return for concessions on minority rights. Under the deal, the new HDZ-led cabinet will help Serbs who fled Croatia during the 1991-1995 war to regain possession of their properties by the end of 2004. The Serb party, SDSS, said it would also push for Croatia to scrap visa regime with Serbia-Montenegro. Croatia is under pressure to improve its minority rights to join the EU. The deal comes as the HDZ - Croatian Democratic Union - prepares to take office next week, after winning elections in November. The HDZ, which secured 66 of the 152 seats in parliament when it defeated the centre-left coalition, will depend on outside support to rule. The SDSS - Autonomous Democratic Serbian Party - has three deputies in the parliament. Political inclusion "For us, it's a good start that HDZ has agreed to work on resolving our main problems," SDSS vice-president Milorad Pupovac told reporters. "We will see how they put it into practice," Mr Pupovac added. He stressed that the main issues in the agreement were restoring the property rights of ethnic Serbs and also full political inclusion of the Serb community as guaranteed by Croatia's law on minority rights. The SDSS said it would not formally join the HDZ-led cabinet, but would support it in parliament. HDZ's leader Ivo Sanader says he will ask parliament to vote on the deal on Monday. EU ambition Analysts say the deal means that the Serb party no longer views the HDZ - which led Croatia to independence in 1991 and later into international isolation with its nationalist policies - as a threat. Mr Sanader says he has reformed and moderated the party. He says his government's priorities will be raising living standards, resolving unsettled issues with neighbours and acquiring European Union membership. Earlier this month, the EU urged the new Croatian Government to co- operate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The EU also called on Zagreb and fulfil its promises on minority rights and the return of nearly 300,000 Serb refugees. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3336257.stm Published: 2003/12/20 04:36:20 GMT © BBC MMIII ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivo Skoric 19 Baxter Street Rutland VT 05701 802.775.7257 ivo@balkansnet.org balkansnet.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:33:07 -0500 Subject: Who runs Bosnia? Sarajevo's newspaper Oslobodjenje (Liberation) published an article on December 20, 2003, about the visit of Bosnian minister of foreign affairs to Israel. Despite objections by the chief of State (which in Bosnian case means the 3-headed presidency), Mladen Ivanic, Bosnian foreign minister, proceded with his unauthorized visit to Israel, leaving an open question about the chain of command within the Bosnian government. Sulejman Tihic, a Bosnian Muslim constituent member of the presidency, and the representative of the SDA party, objected to Ivanic's visit on grounds that Ivanic, a Croat, and HDZ member, decided to meet only Israelis, refusing to meet Yaser Arafat. Tihic, probably rightfully, believes that such a visit will sour relations between Bosnia and Arab Muslim countries that helped Bosnia with money, arms, and, even, fighters, during the war 1992-1995. However, another member of presidency, Borislav Paravac, a Serb, agrees with Ivanic's visit to Israel, and with his decision not to meet with Arafat. And the Croat member of the presidency, Covic, keeps silent on the issue. This sad story underlines the sorry state of affairs in Dayton Bosnia. The reality is that the glorified peace agreement does not amount to more than a supervised cease fire between Bosnia's constituent peoples, whose political representatives continue to represent only their ethnic agendas with no regard to the national interest of the country as a whole. One country, two entities, three peoples - and three separate militaries, three separate electrical power grids, three separate foreign policies, a total of 16 squabbling governments - and millions of displaced, dispossessed, deprivileged people at their mercy. Sometimes it seems that only people devoted to preserving the country of Bosnia are foreigners. That's why office of the high representative cannot be abandoned... ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net