RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 151, 99-08-05

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 151, 5 August 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] GEORGIAN, ABKHAZ LEADERS MEET IN MOSCOW

[02] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SETS DATE FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

[03] KAZAKHSTAN SLASHES FUNDING FOR STATE PUBLICATIONS

[04] KAZAKHSTAN'S COSSACKS AGAIN THREATEN TO EMIGRATE EN MASSE

[05] KYRGYZ HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO BE REREGISTERED

[06] KYRGYZSTAN DRAFTS NEW LANGUAGE LAW

[07] KYRGYZSTAN TO ABOLISH VISA REQUIREMENT FOR WTO STATES

[08] TAJIKISTAN REINFORCES BORDER WITH AFGHANISTAN

[09] TURKMENISTAN'S GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE CRITICIZED

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] DJINDJIC SAYS MILOSEVIC OUT BY NOVEMBER

[11] DRASKOVIC: KFOR PLAYS INTO MILOSEVIC'S HANDS

[12] GELBARD MEETS WITH SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS

[13] BELGRADE ATTACKS OPPOSITION OVER GELBARD MEETINGS

[14] SERBIAN STUDENT GROUP CALLS FOR ELECTIONS

[15] MILOSEVIC FAILS TO EXPAND GOVERNMENT'S BASE

[16] BULATOVIC WANTS 9,600 POLICE FOR KOSOVA

[17] KOSOVAR SERBS DISAPPOINTED BY RUSSIAN 'IDLENESS'

[18] KOUCHNER VISITS MASS GRAVE SITE...

[19] ...WARNS KOSOVA CONFLICT IS NOT OVER

[20] SHOOT-OUT BETWEEN ALBANIANS, FLEEING SERBS

[21] TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR WARNS UCK

[22] GANG WAR BREAKS OUT IN NORTHERN ALBANIA

[23] POLICE SEARCH ANGERS ALBANIAN OPPOSITION

[24] CROATIAN MINISTER APPEALS TO HAGUE COURT

[25] TUDJMAN SACKS TRANSPORT MINISTER

[26] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER REPUDIATES BORDER AGREEMENT

[27] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC IN ROMANIA

[28] ROMANIAN LIBERAL LEADER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT IN 2001

[29] MOLDOVAN POLITICIANS REBUFF PRESIDENT

[30] SHARP DROP IN MOLDOVAN FOREIGN TRADE

[31] SENIOR BULGARIAN POLICEMAN CAUGHT TAKING BRIBE

[C] END NOTE

[32] CRIMES OF WAR

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] GEORGIAN, ABKHAZ LEADERS MEET IN MOSCOW

State Vazha Lortkipanidze and Abkhaz leader Vladislav

Ardzinba met in Moscow on 4 August in the presence of Russian

Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin to discuss the repatriation

to Abkhazia of an estimated 200,000 ethnic Georgians who fled

the republic during the 1992-1993 war. Russian Foreign

Minister Igor Ivanov subsequently told journalists that

although the two sides failed to sign a protocol on

repatriation, they succeeded in narrowing differences, and

will continue talks on that issue, according to ITAR-TASS.

Both ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported that the two sides

agreed that the mandate of the CIS peacekeeping force

currently deployed along the border between Abkhazia and the

rest of Georgia should be renewed. That mandate expired on 31

July. At a meeting earlier on 4 August of the Russian-

Georgian intergovernmental economic commission, which

Lortkipanidze attended, the two sides agreed to a 12-point

plan for rebuilding the Abkhaz economy, Interfax reported,

quoting Russian First Deputy Premier Nikolai Aksenenko. LF

[02] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SETS DATE FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

parliamentary elections for 31 October, Caucasus Press

reported. That date coincides with the Ukrainian presidential

poll and may therefore create logistical problems for the

OSCE and other organizations intending to monitor both

elections. To date, 60 parties have registered with the

newly-appointed Georgian Central Electoral Commission to

contend the poll. The new parliament, like the outgoing

legislature elected in November 1995, will consist of 235

deputies, of whom 150 will be elected from party lists and

the remaining 85 in single-mandate constituencies, according

to Reuters. LF

[03] KAZAKHSTAN SLASHES FUNDING FOR STATE PUBLICATIONS

of Information and Social Concord Altynbek Sarsenbaev has

issued a decree abolishing state funding for 23 publications,

RFE/RL correspondents in Almaty reported on 5 August, citing

"Komsomolskaya pravda." The decree has not been published in

the Kazakh press. The staff of the publications affected have

been advised to take a one-month vacation without pay, during

which their editors are to secure new sources of funding. In

future only three newspapers--"Egemen Qazaqstan,"

"Kazakhstanskaya pravda" and "Zhas Alash"--will receive state

funding. LF

[04] KAZAKHSTAN'S COSSACKS AGAIN THREATEN TO EMIGRATE EN MASSE

Vladimir Ovsyannikov, one of the leaders of the Zhetysu

(Semirechie) Cossacks, again said that the entire Cossack

community may leave Kazakhstan and seek political asylum

elsewhere if the Kazakh authorities "continue to oppress

their traditions and culture," RFE/RL's bureau in the former

capital reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 April 1999). He

estimated that community as numbering 140,000. Recalling that

both Canada and China had welcomed Cossack immigrants at the

beginning of the 20th century, Ovsyannikov added that the

Zhetysu Cossacks may choose to resettle either in Canada or

in Moldova's Transdniester Republic. LF

[05] KYRGYZ HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO BE REREGISTERED

Justice Minister Erkin Mamyrov said in Bishkek on 4 August

that the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), led by

Ramazan Dyryldaev, will be re-registered soon, RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau reported. Mamyrov spoke after meeting with

representatives of both the KCHR and the Human Rights

Movement of Kyrgyzstan (HRMK), from which the KCHR split in

1995. The Justice Ministry revoked the registration of the

KCHR in September 1998 and has refused to re-register it

since, despite the Kyrgyz parliament's recommendation to do

so (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 and 27 May 1999). LF

[06] KYRGYZSTAN DRAFTS NEW LANGUAGE LAW

secretary of the National Commission on the State Language,

told an RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek on 4 August that the

commission has prepared a new law draft on the state

language, which he added has been submitted to the

government. According to Toktomambetov, the draft enhances

the role of the state language (Kyrgyz), which would have to

be used for all official documentation. Proposals made in

1997 to give Russian the status of either an official

language or the language of inter-ethnic communication were

rejected. Russians currently account for approximately 15

percent of the country's population of 4.8 million. LF

[07] KYRGYZSTAN TO ABOLISH VISA REQUIREMENT FOR WTO STATES

a presidential decree published on 3 August and scheduled to

take effect on 1 October, citizens of World Trade

Organization member states will no longer need a visa to

enter Kyrgyzstan, Reuters and RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau

reported the following day. President Askar Akaev told

Kyrgyzstan's state television that the decision is aimed at

encouraging tourism and foreign investment in the Kyrgyz

economy. LF

[08] TAJIKISTAN REINFORCES BORDER WITH AFGHANISTAN

intensifying fighting in northern Afghanistan between the

Taliban and the Northern Alliance, President Imomali

Rakhmonov gave orders on 4 August to dispatch Tajik frontier

troops to reinforce the Russian border guards deployed along

the Tajik-Afghan frontier, Russian agencies reported.

Rakhmonov also called on the UN Security Council and the

countries of the Six plus Two group to take urgent action to

bring about a peaceful settlement of the Afghan civil war,

according to Reuters. Afghanistan's ambassador in Dushanbe,

Muhaeddin Mehdi, said the same day that an estimated 200,000-

300,000 Afghan refugees have fled the Taliban advance and are

now concentrated in the Afghan province of Badakhshan, which

borders on Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast.

LF

[09] TURKMENISTAN'S GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION COMMITTEE CRITICIZED

officials on 3 August, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat

Niyazov instructed the country's geological exploration

committee to "radically restructure its working style" and to

intensify prospecting for commercial deposits of hydrocarbons

and mineral deposits, Interfax reported. Among the sector's

priorities Niyazov named the chemical industry and the

construction of three fertilizer plants that will have a

planned combined annual capacity of 800,000 tons. Niyazov

fired committee chairman Ezismukhamet Abdyllaev, appointing

Orazmukhamet Atageldiev to replace him. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] DJINDJIC SAYS MILOSEVIC OUT BY NOVEMBER

Party leader Zoran Djindjic told Reuters on 5 August that "by

mid-September, rallies across Serbia will gain momentum, and

[Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic will probably call

for elections in November." Djindjic added that Milosevic in

the meantime is unlikely to use force against the

demonstrators lest he drive still more people into the ranks

of the opposition. This year's elections will be for a

transition government to replace Milosevic, Djindjic noted.

He stressed that neither he nor the Serbian Renewal

Movement's Vuk Draskovic nor any other prominent politician

should serve in the transitional government. Djindjic

suggested that such a government should hold office for one

year, after which new elections should take place. PM

[11] DRASKOVIC: KFOR PLAYS INTO MILOSEVIC'S HANDS

that any transitional government should include both

supporters and opponents of Milosevic, the Frankfurt-based

Serbian daily "Vesti" reported on 5 August. He appealed to

members of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia to reach an

agreement with opposition parties on forming such a

government. In Rome, Draskovic said on 4 August that KFOR's

failure to protect Serbian civilians in Kosova "gives

ammunition to [anti-Western] forces in Serbia, first of all

to President Milosevic," Reuters reported. Draskovic stressed

that "there is not a single Serbian policeman or Serbian

soldier" in Kosova. The result has been "the exodus of the

Serbs, the ethnic cleansing of Serbs," he concluded. PM

[12] GELBARD MEETS WITH SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS

envoy Robert Gelbard met in a Montenegrin coastal town on 4

August with Djindjic and other prominent opposition leaders.

They included the Alliance for Change's Vladan Batic, the

Social Democrats' Vuk Obradovic, the Civic League's Goran

Svilanovic, and senior banker Dragoslav Avramovic, "Vesti"

reported. Gelbard also held a separate meeting with

Draskovic, who has repeatedly refused to form a coalition

with the other opposition parties. The theme of Gelbard's

talks was that all opposition parties should sink their

differences and concentrate on removing Milosevic from

office. PM

[13] BELGRADE ATTACKS OPPOSITION OVER GELBARD MEETINGS

state-run television said in a broadcast on 4 August that the

opposition leaders who met with Gelbard are "traitors...bent

on completing the job NATO failed to accomplish in 78 days"

of air strikes. The official Tanjug news agency called the

leaders "quislings...[and] NATO's extended hand in Serbia and

Yugoslavia." Tanjug added that the opposition wants "to

topple the legally elected Yugoslav and Serbian leaderships

[and replace them] with stooges of the Western military

alliance." In response, Social Democratic spokesman Slobodan

Orlic told "Vesti" that the opposition is willing to meet

with anyone if it is "in the interest of Serbia and its

citizens" to do so. PM

[14] SERBIAN STUDENT GROUP CALLS FOR ELECTIONS

student organization Otpor (Resistance) issued a "Declaration

for the Future of Serbia" on 4 August. The manifesto calls

for free and fair elections "under the control" of the OSCE.

The text stressed that all democratic forces should unite to

oust Milosevic, who must be "held accountable for the

policies he has conducted over the past 10 years," AP

reported. PM

[15] MILOSEVIC FAILS TO EXPAND GOVERNMENT'S BASE

Minister Mirko Marjanovic failed on 4 August to convince

leaders of Draskovic's party and of the League of Vojvodina

Hungarians to join his government, RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported. In Podgorica, Montenegro's governing

Democratic Socialist Party said in a statement that it will

not take part in similar talks that Yugoslav Prime Minister

Momir Bulatovic has slated for 5 August. Bulatovic told

"Vesti" that the opposition should outline its program if it

thinks it can run the country better than his government has.

PM

[16] BULATOVIC WANTS 9,600 POLICE FOR KOSOVA

Belgrade that he hopes that Serbian police can begin to

return to Kosova in September, "Vesti" reported on 5 August.

He noted that there are "2,400 Serbian holy places" in the

province and wants four policemen to guard each of them.

There were some 9,600 police in Kosova before the fighting

began, he added. PM

[17] KOSOVAR SERBS DISAPPOINTED BY RUSSIAN 'IDLENESS'

Serb, whose brother was killed by ethnic Albanians in

Kamenica recently, told "The Daily Telegraph" of 5 August

that the Russian KFOR soldiers "sit behind their checkpoints

and oil their engines" but offer little protection to local

Serbs. A Canadian doctor of Serbian origin said that "the

Serbs were waiting for the Russians as though it were the

Second Coming and when they arrived nothing happened, the

situation only got worse." Since the deployment of KFOR, 17

Serbs have been kidnapped in the Kamenica region alone, while

nine others have been found dead. Those who were kidnapped

are believed to have been killed by ethnic Albanians. FS

[18] KOUCHNER VISITS MASS GRAVE SITE...

Bernard Kouchner visited a mass grave site near Mitrovica on

4 August, AP reported. Kouchner said that it was the first

time he had been confronted with "the reality of mass

murder." He added that the experience helped him understand

the level of animosity that still exists in the province.

Investigators have identified 72 graves in and close to an

existing cemetery and have retrieved 40- 50 bodies for

autopsies since late July. The bodies appeared to have been

transported to the site between April and June. A spokesman

for the Hague-based war crime tribunal said that "some of

them appear to have been tortured." Most were shot at close

range, and about a third of the corpses were those of women.

FS

[19] ...WARNS KOSOVA CONFLICT IS NOT OVER

Mitrovica on 4 August that "people believe all over the world

that now the war [in Kosova] is over.... That is not true,

because of the families' suffering.... It's a long story.

It's always a long story." Kouchner acknowledged that his

earlier estimate of 11,000 ethnic Albanian bodies in Serbian

mass graves was inaccurate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August

1999). He added that there are no reliable or official

figures because investigations are far from finished. FS

[20] SHOOT-OUT BETWEEN ALBANIANS, FLEEING SERBS

in a convoy of refugees leaving Kosova and an ethnic Albanian

were killed in a shoot-out near the Kosova-Serbian border

southeast of Prishtina on 4 August, Reuters reported. The

exchange of fire began after ethnic Albanians threw rocks at

the convoy, which was guarded by U.S. forces. Elsewhere, in

Viti three armed Albanians killed a 39-year-old Serbian man

in his bed and beat up his mother, Beta reported, citing

sources in the Serbian Orthodox Church. FS

[21] TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR WARNS UCK

who is the war crimes tribunal's deputy chief prosecutor,

warned the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) that it will "fall

into the tribunal's jurisdiction" if it conducts an "ethnic

cleansing campaign." He added: "I am saying that in the hope

that it may act as a deterrent," Reuters reported. FS

[22] GANG WAR BREAKS OUT IN NORTHERN ALBANIA

attackers blew up a car on a bridge between Valbona and

Bajram Curri on 4 August, killing two people and injuring

three. Less than an hour later, two people died in a shoot-

out in Bajram Curri. Local police chief Veli Myftari told an

RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent that "a gang

organized the ambush of a rival [criminal] group with a

remotely controlled explosive device.... The situation is

under control, and special forces from Kukes and Tirana have

arrived." He did not release the identity of the victims

pending an investigation. Albanian police officials pledged

last week to launch a campaign against armed gangs in that

northern region. FS

[23] POLICE SEARCH ANGERS ALBANIAN OPPOSITION

Deputy leader Genc Pollo told Reuters on 4 August that police

searched the home of legislator Myslim Murrizi the previous

day and seized two licensed hunting rifles. As a legislator,

Murrizi enjoys immunity from such searches. Meanwhile in

Johannesburg, South Africa, the trial of Leka Zogu, who is

the pretender to the Albanian throne, began. He is charged

with illegal arms possession, dpa reported. FS

[24] CROATIAN MINISTER APPEALS TO HAGUE COURT

Zvonimir Separovic said in Zagreb on 4 August that he has

written to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal regarding

Croatia's role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict. He asked

that the court allow the Croatian government to present its

response to a court prosecutor's recent statement alleging

President Franjo Tudjman is responsible for war crimes in

Bosnia (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 27 July 1999). PM

[25] TUDJMAN SACKS TRANSPORT MINISTER

removed Zeljko Luzavec from his post as minister of

transportation, maritime affairs, and communications. The

President's Office said in a statement that Tudjman holds

Luzavec responsible for the recent "collapse" of the

transportation system to and from the island of Pag at the

height of the tourist season. PM

[26] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER REPUDIATES BORDER AGREEMENT

Radisic, who is the ethnic Serbian member of the Bosnian

joint presidency, told a press conference in Banja Luka on 4

August that he does not endorse the recent border delineation

agreement between Bosnia and Croatia (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

4 August 1999). He said that he signed the agreement only

"because the signing was part of the scheduled events" at the

29-30 July Balkan summit in Sarajevo. PM

[27] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC IN ROMANIA

August announced that a meningitis epidemic has broken out

in Iasi, Suceava, Botosani, Bacau, and Neamt Counties,

Romanian Radio reported. The previous day, Iasi Mayor

Constantin Simirad declared the town an "epidemic zone" in

order to force the water utility company to renew supplies

to homes that have been disconnected owing to unpaid bills.

Doctors in the northwestern city of Baia Mare reported the

outbreak of 350 cases of hepatitis, while three people in

Buzau were reported to have died of letospirosis, a disease

transmitted to humans by animals. Poverty, malnutrition,

and poor hygiene are the main causes of the illnesses,

Reuters reported on 3 August. Meanwhile, Bucharest garbage

collectors went on strike on 4 August, and doctors say the

epidemic may now spread to the capital. MS

[28] ROMANIAN LIBERAL LEADER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT IN 2001

Party chairman, announced on 3 August that he will step

down at the next party congress, which is scheduled for

2001, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Ionescu-Quintus

also said he will propose that the mandate of the PNL

chairman be limited to two four-year terms. On 4 August,

the PNL chairman said Justice Minister Valeriu Stoica, who

is now PNL first deputy chairman, is "best placed" to

succeed him. But he added that "there will surely be more

than one candidate" for the party leadership. MS

[29] MOLDOVAN POLITICIANS REBUFF PRESIDENT

Mircea Snegur, leader of the Party of Revival and

Conciliation, told RFE/RL on 4 August that the draft

project on instituting a presidential system in Moldova

indicates that President Petru Lucinschi wants to introduce

an "authoritarian system." Deputy parliamentary chairman

Iurie Rosca told journalists in Chisinau that Lucinschi

intends to "institute a presidential dictatorship." Rosca

said that "Lucinschi and his camarilla...[intend] to do

away with the division of powers and transform the

judiciary...and the legislature into mere decorative

artifacts." He added that the draft worked out by the

presidential commission shows that the mentalities

inherited from the previous regime have survived behind a

pro-European and democratic facade, RFE/RL's Chisinau

bureau reported. MS

[30] SHARP DROP IN MOLDOVAN FOREIGN TRADE

trade volume dropped by 52.1 percent in the first half of

1999, compared with the same period last year, RFE/RL's

Chisinau bureau reported on 3 August, citing data released

by the Economy and Reform Ministry. The total value of

trade in this period was $447.3 million. The ministry said

that the drop is largely attributable to the sharp

reduction in trade with CIS countries, which dropped by

56.6 percent. Trade with other countries dropped by 46.8

percent, owing to a major reduction in imports. Moldovan

exports to CIS countries from January-June increased by 5.4

percent. MS

[31] SENIOR BULGARIAN POLICEMAN CAUGHT TAKING BRIBE

Dimitrov, head of Sofia's Economic Police, was caught on 4

August taking a $75,000 bribe from a local businessman,

Reuters reported. Kiril Radev, chief of the Central Service

on Fighting Organized Crime, told Bulgarian Radio that

Dimitrov had been under surveillance. MS

[C] END NOTE

[32] CRIMES OF WAR

Four years ago, the name "Srebrenica" became known to

the world as the site of one of the most gruesome atrocities

of the Bosnian war. Some 8,000 men and boys--Bosnian Muslims-

-had been rounded up and slaughtered by Bosnian Serb troops.

More recently in Kosovo, the world learned of new place

names--Bela Crkva, Djakovica, Izbica, and Velika Krusa--in

which the latest round of war-time horrors has occurred,

allegedly at the hands of Serbian military and paramilitary

forces during the conflict with NATO.

International authorities estimate that more than 10,000

civilians may have been killed in Kosovo. In the month since

the NATO bombing ended, the international peacekeeping force

that entered Kosovo has been confronted with another cycle of

atrocities, apparently committed in revenge by ethnic

Albanians, against Serbian civilians who have chosen to

remain in the province. Thus, while the names of the towns

have changed in former Yugoslavia, the barbaric methods used

to redress grievances have not.

Last month in New York City, a panel of journalists and

authors assembled to discuss the subject of war crimes during

an event organized by the Freedom Forum at the Newseum/NY.

The occasion for this meeting was the publication of a

new book entitled "Crimes of War: What the Public Should

Know." This work, a collaborative effort of more than 90

authors and photographers, defines the major war crimes and

provides a range of important information for journalists and

the public on international humanitarian law. "The goals of

the book are to recover from five decades of obscurity the

standards for judging what is permitted in conflict from what

is criminal", said Roy Gutman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for

his work uncovering Serb-run concentration camps during the

Bosnian war and is co-editor of the book as well as director

of the Crimes of War Project.

The "Crimes of War" book has been published within the

framework of the broader Crimes of War Project. According to

Gutman, the project, a non-profit charity, intends to build

on the basis of the book a series of educational and training

programs. The organizers of this effort intend to hold a

seminar for reporters in Washington DC on war coverage and

war crimes and then possibly take it on the road to regions

of conflict.

In addition, there will be a web site--located at

www.crimesofwar.org--associated with the Crimes of War

project. At first, this site will contain mainly highlights

of the book but eventually will include articles about

Kosovo, major rulings by the Hague tribunal, and other

important international humanitarian topics, such as the

Pinochet case.

The hope of a "New World Order" envisioned in the

aftermath of the Berlin Wall's collapse has been dampened by

the outbreak of regional conflicts, many of which have been

characterized by their ferocity and impact on civilian

populations.

Gutman notes that "in the early 1990s we saw a wholesale

regression to barbaric practices in war--barbarism in Bosnia

and Rwanda, uncontrolled and continuing conflict in Sudan,

revived and savage conflict in Angola and other places, to

name a few. [That is] not to say this didn't occur during the

Cold War era, but this time around, the major powers, instead

of attempting to curb the violence by influencing their

clients or in some cases encouraging their clients, turned

away, closed their eyes, or even denied what was going on."

The recent panel discussion in New York devoted

attention to both the advances and weaknesses of the evolving

institutional framework on war crimes since the start of this

decade. In the absence of a permanent International Criminal

Court, two ad-hoc tribunals have been established, one for

the former Yugoslavia, the other for Rwanda.

Gutman observes that "until the Hague and Rwanda

tribunals were set up by the UN Security Council after the

two genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, there

had been no place to investigate judicially the allegations

nor to indict, try, or convict violators. And even though

these two instances are ad hoc and region-specific, there may

well be an international criminal court in the next decade."

The tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has, in fact,

indicted a considerable number of alleged war criminals,

including Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and other

leading figures.

But while the tribunal has produced a significant number

of indictments, some of the panelists at the Freedom Forum

discussion questioned whether there is an unequal application

of resources and political attention devoted to crises on the

European continent, as compared with those in other parts of

the world, such as Africa.

Other participants questioned the resolve of the

Tribunal. Kati Marton, former chairman of the board of the

Committee to Protect Journalists, criticized the failure of

the international community to arrest indicted Bosnian war

criminals Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

In the final analysis, sufficient public awareness is

crucial to the determination and effectiveness with which

international judicial bodies carry out their obligations to

the world community.

And as Gutman points out, "in a state of ignorance, the

public will hardly be likely to insist that the laws be

observed."

The author is a New York-based analyst specializing in East

European affairs (intrel@aol.com)

05-08-99

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article