Declaration

29 octobre 2004

The military intervention of 24 March 1999 in Yugoslavia, the so-called Allied Forces' Operation, has been presented to us as a humanitarian operation aimed at preventing ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. But since the deployment of the NATO forces (KFOR) in June 1999 and the setting up of the UN provisional administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), a wall of silence has come down to conceal the terrible reality that prevails in that province.

The general elections of 23 October, set up under mighty surveillance, shouldn't fool anyone; they are meant principally to give the impression of an harmonious democratic transition highlighting the action the international community - whilst the situation on the ground is quite other. Under the ceaseless sweep of military helicopters, the territory is literally criss-crossed by the military and police forces of KFOR, UNMIK and UCK, on top of the secret services agents from each of the powers involved. As for the ethnic minorities populations that weren't thrown out during the entry of the NATO forces, they survive in ghettos, without work, without future - forced to find armoured vehicles if they move. The unemployment figure is over 60% whilst there are daily electricity failures in this province that used to export its electricity before the 1999 intervention.
We the undersigned:

1. consider that the existence of ethnic ghettos in Kosovo in the 21Ist Century, on a territory under UN administration, is unacceptable;

2. denounce the policy of silence which has attempted to camouflage this situation for more than five years; and that this represents a real abdication of responsibility whilst the HCR recalls that Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10th June 1999 "mentions quite specifically the safe and unimpeded return of all displaced persons and refugees 'to their Kosovo homes' " ;

3. are opposed to the expulsion of the refugees in that province as long as the security of their lives and goods, as well as their liberty of movement, have not been assured;

4. remind our authorities that the cost of some hundreds of refugees, whom some people would be glad to see the back of, is nothing compared to the cost of the 228,000 other persons (official ICRC figures) expelled from Kosovo in the wake of the NATO intervention in 1999 and who found refuge in Serbia and Montenegro;

5. demand that the legitimate claims from the whole of the victims of the 1999 military intervention be taken into account : their right to security in the first place, but also their right to compensation from those powers either responsible or complicit in this intervention initiated without the agreement of the UN Security Council;

6. demand that the negotiations about the status of this province should take into account the legitimate interests of the whole of the populations concerned in order to obtain the restoration of their democratic sovereignty in the shortest delays;

7. recall that the responsibility for this falls to our governments via our UN membership and our participation into the KFOR military machine under NATO command;

8. denounce the policy of systematic interference from the powers and the superpowers that have become party to the conflict ; a policy representing, de facto, one of the main obstacles to direct negotiations between all the populations really concerned.

First signatory organisations:

Comité de Surveillance OTAN (Bruxelles)
Comité pour la paix en Yougoslavie (Genève)
Home Hope Active Network (Genève)
Belgrade forum, ARTEL (Belgrade)
Les communistes (Genève)
Association Ibar / Union des Rroms de l'ex-Yougoslavie en diaspora (U.R.Y.D.)
Udruzenje i zastitu prava Roma na Kosmetu (Leposavic, Kosovo),
Fond Humanitaire "Saint-Sava" (Genève, Suisse)
Stop United States of Aggression (Stop.USA - Bruxelles, Belgique)
Association Sar Phirdem (Villardonnel, France)
HHAN - Home Hope Active Network (Genève)

Personnalities:

Christian Brunier (député, Genève, Suisse)
Michel Collon (writter, Bruxelles, Belgique)
Franz Weber (Montreux, Suisse)
André Hédiger, (Conseiller administratif de la Ville de Genève)
Alexandre Anor (député, Genève, Suisse)
Véronika Janjic (Genève)
Claude Reymond, secrétaire syndical CGAS (Communauté genevoise d'action syndicale, Suisse)
Oscar Gimeno (Genève)
Ljubica et Michel Berthet (Genève)
Philippe Stauffer (Lausanne)
Philippe Velickovic (Lausanne)
François Truan(Prévessin-Moëns, France)