<nettime> Fwd: Letter of Appeal from Belgrade Intellectuals

[Martha Michailidou <enp01mm@gold.ac.uk>]

     [42 lines of forward headers + 2 levels of quoting cleaned up--tb]

i thought this might be of interest - apologies for cross posting

martha

>
>
>                          LET CIVILITY PREVAIL
>
approved: 2000bUg
>                A STATEMENT OF CONCERNED SERBIAN CITIZENS
>
>As long time proponents of and activists for a democratic and
>anti-nationalist Serbia, who have chosen to remain in
>Yugoslavia during this moment of crisis and who want to
>see our country reintegrated into the community of world nations,
>we state the following:
>
>
>
>        1. We strongly condemn the NATO bombings which have hugely
>exacerbated violence in Kosovo and
>have caused the displacement of people outside and throughout
>Yugoslavia. We strongly condemn the
>ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population perpetrated by any
>Yugoslav forces. We strongly condemn the
>Kosovo Liberation Army’s (KLA) violence targeted against
>the Serbs, moderate Albanians and
>other ethnic communities in Kosovo. The humanitarian catastrophe
>in Kosovo - death, grief and extreme
>suffering for hundreds of thousands of Albanians, Serbs and
>members of other ethnic communities - has to
>be ended now. All refugees from Yugoslavia must immediately and
>unconditionally be allowed to return to
>their homes, their security and human rights guaranteed, and aid
>for reconstruction provided. Perpetrators
>of crimes against humanity whoever they are must be brought to
>justice.
>
>
>        2. The fighting between Serbian forces and KLA has to be
stopped
>immediately in order to start a new
>round of negotiations. All sides must put aside their maximalist
>demands. There are (as in other numerous
>similar conflicts such as Northern Ireland) no quick and easy
>solutions. We all must be prepared for a long
>and painstaking process of negotiation and normalization.
>
>        3. The bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO causes destruction and
>growing numbers of civilian victims (at
>least several hundred, maybe a thousand, by now). The final
>outcome will be the destruction of the
>economic and cultural foundations of Yugoslav society. It must be
>stopped immediately.
>
>        4. The UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the founding
document
>of NATO, as well as the constitutions
>of countries such as Germany, Italy, Portugal, have been violated
>by this aggression. As individuals who
>have devoted their lives to the defense of basic democratic
>values, who believe in universal legal norms we
>are deeply concerned that NATO’s violation of these norms
>will incapacitate all those struggling for
>the rule of law and human rights in this country and elsewhere in
>the world.
>
>        5. NATO’s bombings have further destabilized the
southern
>Balkans. If continued this conflict can
>escalate beyond Balkan borders and, if turned into land military
>operations, thousands of NATO and
>Yugoslav soldiers, as well as Albanian and Serbian civilians,
>will die in a futile war as in Vietnam. Political
>negotiations toward a peaceful settlement should be reopened
>immediately.
>
>        6. The existing regime has only been reinforced by
NATO’s
>attacks in Yugoslavia by way of the
>natural reaction of people to rally around the flag in times of
>foreign aggression. We continue our
>opposition to the present anti-democratic and authoritarian
>regime, but we also emphatically oppose
>NATO’s aggression. The democratic forces in Serbia have
>been weakened and the democratic
>reformist Government of Montenegro threatened by NATO’s
>attacks and by the regime’s
>subsequent proclamation of the state of war and now find
>themselves between NATO’s hammer and regime’s anvil.
>
>        7. In dealing with the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia the
>leaders of the world community have in the
>past made numerous fatal errors. New errors are leading to an
>aggravation of the conflict and are
>removing us from the search for peaceful solutions.
>
>We appeal to all: President Milosevic, the representatives of the
>Kosovo Albanians, NATO, EU and US leaders to stop
>all violence and military activities immediately and
>engage in the search for a political solution.
>
>Belgrade, April 16, 1999
>
>                                     SIGNATURES:
>
>                                      (ABC order)
>
>     1. Stojan Cerovic, “Vreme” columnist and journalist
>
>     2. Jovan Cirilov, Belgrade International Theater Festival
(BITEF)
>selector and former director of the Yugoslav
>     Drama Theater; Theater History Center Director
>
>     3. Sima Cirkovic, Member Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,
>Professor, Belgrade University, Dept. of
>     History
>
>     4. Mijat Damnjanovic, Former Professor, Belgrade University,
>Faculty of Political Sciences, Center for Public
>     Administration and Local Government (PALGO) Director
>
>     5. Vojin Dimitrijevic, Former head of the Department of
>International Law, Belgrade Law School; The Belgrade
>     Center for Human Rights Director; UN Human Rights Committee
>former Vice Chairman
>
>     6. Dasa Duhacek, Director Women Studies Center, Board Member of
>Alternative Academic Educational
>     Network (AAEN)
>
>     7. Milutin Garasanin, Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences
>and Arts; Vice President of The
>     Association for Research of South-Eastern Europe (UNESCO)
>
>     8. Zagorka Golubovic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department
>of Sociology; Chair Social Sciences
>     Department of AAEN
>
>     9. Dejan Janca, Professor, Novi Sad University, Law School
>
>     10. Ivan Jankovic, Belgrade lawyer, human rights activist, Board
>President of Center for Anti-War Action
>
>     11. Predrag Koraksic, Belgrade cartoonist
>
>     12. Mladen Lazic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department of
>Sociology, AAEN Board member
>
>     13. Sonja Licht, President, Fund for an Open Society Executive
>Board
>
>     14. Ljubomir Madzar, Professor Belgrade University, Faculty of
>Economy, Member Group-17
>
>     15. Veran Matic, Editor in Chief, Belgrade Radio B92, President
>Alternative Network of Electronic Media
>     (ANEM)
>
>     16. Jelica Minic, Secretary General, European Movement in Serbia
>
>     17. Andrej Mitrovic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department
>of History
>
>     18. Radmila Nakarada, Senior Reserach Fellow, Belgrade Institute
>for European Studies
>
>     19. Milan Nikolic, Director, Center for Policy Studies
>
>     20. Vida Ognjenovic, Theater director, playwrite
>
>     21. Borka Pavicevic, Director, Center for Cultural
>Decontamination
>
>     22. Jelena Santic, Anti-war 487 group, human rights activist
>
>     23. Nikola Tasic, Associate member of the Serbian Academy of
>Sciences and Arts, Member European
>     Academy
>
>     24. Ljubinka Trgovcevic, Senior Research Fellow, Belgrade
>University, Department of History
>
>     25. Srbijanka Turajlic, Professor, Belgrade University, Faculty
>of Electrical Engineering, Board President
>     AAEN
>
>     26. Ivan Vejvoda, Fund for an Open Society Executive Director,
>
>     27. Branko Vucicevic, translator
>

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