Letter to Serbian NGOs


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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 19:52:40 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: Letter to Serbian NGOs

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <[email protected]>

Letter to Serbian NGOs


Re: Letter to Serbian non-governmental organizations regarding the
Appeal of 6 April by Belgrade NGOs from the Norwegian Helsinki
Committee and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
 
Dear colleagues,
 
In the situation of radicalization of nationalism in the Eastern
Europe, red, brown and other coloured danger for the fragile stability
in these countries, the very dangerous tendention appeared, to replace
the systematic work on the daily strengthening of human rights
movement and democratic institutions by the forcible solutions. First
time I have faced that in Russia of October 1993, when the Russian
leader Yeltsin fired the "pink" Parliament (and got the new, "red"
one). Nobody in West was against, everyone appreciated that as a
"choice of lesser of two evils". Many Russian dissidents and human
rights activists welcomed the killing of first imperfect Parliament of
independent Russia.
 
Something similar I see in the propagandist campaign around the
bombing Serbia. There is an ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, it's necessary
to prevent that. NATO has a clear goal to overthrow Milosevic and use
the Kosovo events as a reason. Ok, we would support that. Let there
would be innocent victims in Beograd, it would be the lesser evil:
 
"Faced with  preparations for grave crimes, how should one respond?
That was the dilemma faced by the international community in March,
and in our view you also should recognize - even though you do not
support it - that, in principle, the NATO intervention was not an
arbitrary act of aggression".
 
Of course, the aggression was not arbitrary, it was forced by the
permanent struggle against Russia, by permanent desire of hawkes to
pull the Russian ears.
 
I can't include myself into this "international community" which bombs
the Serbian children in Beograd for save the Albanian children in
Pristin, which destroys the military and economic potential of entire
Serbia but avoids from disarmament the KLA fighters, which consider as
something indecent to mention about the terror of KLA against the
ethnic Serbians and even against the moderate Albanian separatists,
etc. I feel that I am as well as many people of my circle from other
"world".
 
Why such a simple measure as a full economic and military blocade was
forgotten? Why clever Yankees who could kidnap the Panama President,
can't deal with Serbian one? Why the lives of NATO soldiers preventing
from the land operations are considered as more precious than the
lives of bombed Serbian children or massacred Albanian civilians?
 
So, I can agree with IHF statement that "unless the western states
recognize the need for this kind of policy, it will be difficult to
describe the current NATO actions as a  humanitarian intervention".
 
But how idealistic are the people who states: "It is our hope and aim
that the enormous responsibility the NATO states have taken on by
initiating the military intervention, will entail a far more
whole-hearted support of the civil sector in the Serbian society,
which more than ever, is crucial to Serbia�s restoration into Europe".
 
Yankees bombed the Japs: "Ok guys, it must be whole-hearted supported
by the Japan civil society, because the ash of Hiroshima is the best
soil for your restoration into civilized world. We sorry for the
victims, but it wasn't an arbitrary action, isn't it?"
 
Among the Azeri sayings is the sad one: "The killed one is guilty
itself".  Russians say that "victors won't be judged". It seems, it's
something that NATO is waiting from the mentioned "international
community". And the planning role of Serbian suppressed and repressed
civil society is to clean the ash of NATO bombings and to hallow its
"humanitarian intervention".
 
But why do you wait that our Serbian colleagues would agree with the
role of silent collaborators of NATO intervents?
 
The Serbian NGOs themselves warned: "It is obvious that this is a road
to catastrophe, and the peaceful and  fair solution to the Kosovo
problem, through international mediation we have supported for years,
is now more distant than ever".
 
Indeed, it would be (if so) the fragile peace at the edge of NATO
bayonets, new "green line" like in Cyprus, Lebanon, Bosnia. It's a way
not to peace but toward the global governance of the NATO soldiery.
And the Serbian NGOs as a part of the same civil society who must
"whole-hearted support" the bombings is now protesting:
 
"NATO military intervention has undermined all results we have
achieved and endangered the very survival of the civil sector in
Serbia".
 
Because every bomb and military action is a challenge to the
peace-making and democratic movement.

When the Nazis attacked the Commies in Russia, Russians attacked the
Afganis, Americans fighted aganst Viet-Nam, etc. was it arbitrary or
justified aggression?
 
The results of Hitler's aggression stimulating by Western "strange
war" against Germany in 1939-1940 were  consolidation the Russian
society around the dictator, strengthen the "red" imperialism, and
long period of Cold War. But the end of all of these horrors was
reached by strengthening of civil society of Soviet Union, not by the
bombings of Moscow.
 
Forgotting the lessons of history, the brave "international community"
risks to repeat the tragedy. League of Nations... excuse me, UN became
the new talking-shop, the negotiations in Muenchen... excuse me, in
Rambouillet promises the peace to Europe, while Russian and Western
politicians demonstrate that they don't fear the Third World War...
What would be tomorrow?
 
Be careful, friends! Away the double standards of Moscow and Brussels!
 
Eldar Zeynalov,
Azerbaijan.

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