Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-05-28

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT REDUCED THE RADIO AND TV FREQUENCY FEES

[02] ILLEGAL USE OF RADIOACTIVE AMMUNITION

[03] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WILL MONITOR CROATIA'S FULFILMENT OF OBLIGATIONS

[04] LASTING SOLUTIONS MUST BE FOUND FOR REFUGEES

[05] YUGOSLAVIA AND JORDAN DISCUSS COOPERATION IN SPORTS

[06] YUGOSLAVIA AND AUSTRIA SIGN A PROGRAMME ON CULTURAL COOPERATION

[07] SEVERAL DEMANDS FOR CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION

[08] SERBIAN EDUCATION MINISTER ABOUT THE LAW ON UNIVERSITY

[09] COOPERATION BETWEEN YUGOSLAV AND SLOVAK LEGAL INSTITUTIONS

[10] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER REPORTS SUCCESS IN PARLIAMENT WORK

[11] BULATOVIC: YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT WILL AFFIRM UNITY IN THE COUNTRY

[12] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION PARTICIPATES AT THE CONFERENCE 'CUSTOMS VERSUS DRUGS'

[13] OSCE TO SEND 120 OBSERVERS TO PARLIAMENTARY POLLS IN MONTENEGRO

[01] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT REDUCED THE RADIO AND TV FREQUENCY FEES

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

At its Wednesday session chaired by Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, the Yugoslav Government adopted a number of draft laws and international agreements, which were submitted to the Federal Parliament, a Government statement said. Under a draft law on the ratification of the framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will formally join other European countries that have signed the Convention as the first legally binding international instrument on the protection of national minorities. The Yugoslav regulations in this field have been coordinated with the principles of the Convention and even exceed them on some points.

The Government decided to reduce fees for the use of radio-TV frequencies by 75% in order to ensure better conditions for the work of electronic media in Yugoslavia. The decision, which will take effect on May 30, is to make order in the field of telecommunications and to make frequencies available to all users under equal conditions in the entire country. Also, basic preconditions would be ensured that the radio and television stations realise their rights and obligations which all electronic media in the world have. The Yugoslav Government has thus expressed its commitment to stimulating the freedom of the media and public expression. In the field of international cooperation, the Yugoslav Government reviewed and adopted a number of draft agreements and platforms for talks, the statement said.

[02] ILLEGAL USE OF RADIOACTIVE AMMUNITION

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

The bombing of civilian facilities and the use of ammunition containing impoverished uranium in NATO air raids on Republika Srpska (RS) during operation 'Resolute Response', from late August to September 1995, is contrary to numerous international conventions and declarations on war law and conduct in war, is the joint assessment of a number of Yugoslav experts. The experts said that "those who gave orders, the direct and indirect participants of the bombing in RS, have violated many norms of International Law and should answer for this individually." The law experts set out that the participants of these events should be aware and "should bear in mind that there is a no statute of limitation for war crimes." The experts told Tanjug that according to the Statute of the Hague Tribunal, all persons committing criminal acts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, should be held responsible regardless of their nationality.

This means that, apart from the citizens of the former Yugoslavia, the citizens of other countries can not avoid criminal responsibility, including members of NATO, IFOR, SFOR and other international forces and organizations if they violated the norms of International Law. "We believe that the violation of these international declarations, also signed by NATO members whose aircraft bombed RS without approval by the U.N. Security Council, represents a solid legal basis for the Belgrade Association of Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina to rise charges with the Hague Tribunal against responsible persons from 16 NATO countries," the Yugoslav experts said.

They set out that one of the major international documents "violated" by most of the then signatories, now NATO members, who participated in operation 'Resolute Response', is the 1868 Petersburg Declaration on the Prohibition of the Use of Certain Missiles in War. Combined with the basic use of this cannon ammunition for the destruction of armoured vehicles and fortified points, its radioactive effect is not to be ignored and has been recorded by measuring the scattered parts of missiles found in the field after the air raid. The legal experts said that radioactivity does not "differentiate" between civilians and soldiers, nor between friends or enemies and that this violated the basic postulates of International Law. "Another major document violated by those who took part in the bombing of RS, are the 1992 Hague Regulations whose Article 24. says that "air bombardment is legal only if it is directed against military facilities whose partial or entire destruction brings military advantage to the warring side," the experts said. They said that the document precisely named military facilities and that these do not include facilities targeted in RS by NATO planes, such as houses, roads, pharmacies, pig farms, bridges or dams. "The regulations also stipulate that if military facilities are located in such a manner that their bombardment could not be carried out without harming the civilian population, the aircraft must refrain from bombing," the legal experts said pointing out that the bombardment of the Technical-Repairing Institute in Hadzici, which is surrounded by civilian facilities, is an example of the violation of these regulations signed by the United States whose A-10 bombers carried out the attack. Despite recent claims by SFOR spokesman Peter Clark that ammunition made out of impoverished uranium, which was used in RS, is not "atomic ammunition' but just like all other types of ammunition "with a minimum health risk," the facts speak differently. In the bombed regions in RS, there is an increased number of people suffering or dead from malignant diseases, and there were cases of the mass death of livestock or the birth of freaks. Also, changes on plants have been recorded.

[03] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WILL MONITOR CROATIA'S FULFILMENT OF OBLIGATIONS

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Spokesman for the UN liaison office in Belgrade Jay Carter told a press conference on Wednesday that the international community would continue monitoring Croatia's fulfilment of obligations and implementation of refugee repatriation procedures and propose the imposition of sanctions on Croatia should there be no progress in this field.

The U.N. Security Council statement of May 21 clearly said that Croatia had to guarantee safety to all of its citizens, regardless of their nationality or religious affiliation. The Article 11 commission expressed concern, after visiting Vukovar, over an increase of threats to Serbs and their moving out from Eastern Slavonia, Carter said.

He said that Article 11 commission, comprising the European and U.S. ambassadors to Croatia and OSCE and UNHCR representatives, would continue monitoring the implementation of repatriation procedures and that it had already informed the Croatian Government that it had to issue documents to all refugees upon request. If Croatian authorities fail to do this soon, the commission will propose that sanctions be imposed on Croatia, Carter said.

[04] LASTING SOLUTIONS MUST BE FOUND FOR REFUGEES

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

The Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Bratislava Morina discussed on Wednesday with UNHCR envoy for the former Yugoslavia Nicholas Morris future joint activities in the quest of lasting solutions for the nearly 700,000 refugees in Yugoslavia. Commissioner Morina set out that a mass return of refugees from Yugoslavia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia had not practically even begun. She voiced dissatisfaction at the international community's failure to put effective pressure on Croatia to that end and its predominant concern in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the return of Croats and Muslims to Republika Srpska. Morina reiterated that the Serbia Commission for Refugees had upheld the UNHCR idea about "open towns" in Bosnia and Herzegovina but said that Sarajevo, Mostar and Tuzla, the key towns for the return of Serbs, had not been given the status yet. Morina initiated the convening of a conference of donors of aid for Yugoslavia, being that Yugoslavia has the largest number of refugees in Europe and that the state does not have the necessary funds for the integration of this quite a large number of refugees. She pointed out that more than 14,000 refugees were still living in schools and other totally inadequate facilities in Kosovo and Metohija, since there was nowhere to move them to. The Serbia official suggested that the UNHCR help secure donors to aid the building of housing facilities for refugees in Kosovo and Metohija. UNHCR envoy Morris said that a regional strategy for the return of refugees would be presented at a meeting of the Working Group for Humanitarian Issues which opens in Geneva on June 26. He said that the UNHCR was concerned over the new procedure for the return of refugees introduced by the Croatian Government, and set out that the UNHCR considered that one document was enough to prove a person had lived in Croatia. Morris said that the UNHCR would take steps for concrete discussions on the subject to be held with competent Croatian authorities, so that details of the procedure for the return of refugees would be clarified. The UNHCR official reiterated the specialized organizations position that the return of refugees was the basic lasting solution for the largest number of refugees and that their integration in Yugoslavia should not be overemphasized. He, however, said that UNHCR would continue to assist projects for the construction of settlements in Serbia which would provide permanent residence for a smaller number of refugees.

[05] YUGOSLAVIA AND JORDAN DISCUSS COOPERATION IN SPORTS

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Jordanian Minister for Youth and Sports Talal al Hassan received a Yugoslav sports delegation visiting Amman as part of a Program of bilateral sports cooperation. Talal al Hassan said Jordan was interested to learn about Yugoslavia's achievements and experiences in sports. He said that development of cooperation in sports was conducive to renewal and expansion of bilateral ties and overall relations. During a recent visit of Yugoslav sports minister Zoran Bingulac to Amman, special attention was devoted to concrete forms of cooperation in sports. Bingulac then invited his Yugoslav counterpart to visit Yugoslavia. Talal al Hassan said he planned to return the visit soon. A delegation of the Jordanian Olympic Committee is also expected to visit Yugoslavia soon. Jordan hosts a pan-Arab sports event next year, in which athletes from about 30 countries will take part.

[06] YUGOSLAVIA AND AUSTRIA SIGN A PROGRAMME ON CULTURAL COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Yugoslavia and Austria signed on Wednesday a Programme on cooperation in the field of culture, science and education between 1998 and 2001. The programme was signed by Milenko Kasanin, Director of the Directorate for Cultural, Educational and Sports Cooperation of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry, and Christian Zeileissen, plenipotentiary minister with the Austrian Foreign Ministry. The Programme refers to the organisation and financing of the cultural, scientific and educational cooperation and concrete projects and forms of bilateral cooperation.

Speaking after the signing, Kasanin told Yugoslav reporters in Vienna that this document had been awaited for ten years. Contacts were agreed on between the two countries' academies of sciences and arts, institutions of higher education and youth and sports organisations. Kasanin said that he was satisfied with the signing of the agreement and that he expected a speedy realisation and reciprocal exchange between the two countries. He stressed the Programme's importance in placing the education of Serbian children in Austria on a higher level.

[07] SEVERAL DEMANDS FOR CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

The district Public Prosecutor of Pec submitted on Tuesday to the District Court several demands for conducting an investigation of a number of members of the Albanian national minority in Kosovo and Metohija on charges of committing the act of terrorism. The Public Prosecutor demanded an investigation of Avni Salja (36), from the village of Brocnje, Srbica district, who is charged with acting together with several members of the terrorist organization the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) and on April 24, 1998 launching from an ambush an armed attack on a column of vehicles of the Serbian Interior Ministry. During this terrorist attack a police officer Milan Tenic was killed, while another officer suffered serous injuries. Charges of preparing and carrying out the act of terrorism were also raised against Mahir Kasi (29), from Pec, Ganija Dalaveraj (23), from the village of Stupelj, Klina district, Bedrija Manaji (32), from Klina and Arbon Deskaj (32), from Klina. The above mentioned prepared an attack on a column of Serbian Interior Ministry vehicles driving along the Pec-Pristina road. The attack was, however, prevented by a timely police action. A large quantity of bombs and explosive devices was seized during the arrest. An investigation will also be carried out on Arten Imeraj (26), from the village of Crkolez, Istok district, on charges of carrying out a terrorist attack, together with a large group of terrorists, on Serbian Interior Ministry members on May 18 near the village of Padaliste.

[08] SERBIAN EDUCATION MINISTER ABOUT THE LAW ON UNIVERSITY

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Serbian Education Minister Jovo Todorovic said on Wednesday that the recently adopted Law on University did not jeopardise the universities' autonomy. "This great achievement - the autonomy of the university - has recently been exploited and abused by those who are least informed about the etymological meaning of the word," Todorovic told reporters in a break of the Serbian Parliament session. According to him, autonomy is embodied and reaffirmed by the law. Todorovic believes that the law is a step forward in the resolution of the questions of the organisation, administration, finance and autonomy of the University. The minister said that the law had "resulted from certain negative consequences of the previous laws as well as the need to have an act coordinated with similar regulations of the developed countries." The organisation and administration are adjusted to world trends. The law precisely defines the administration of the University and the founders' rights, the minister said and added that the Government would appoint rectors, deans and administrative boards, consisting solely of professors. Students will also be represented in the administrative boards and thus regain a long lost right. Todorovic said that some provisions had been improved in order to ensure a more efficient and selective studying. "The law represents a step forward and enables a speedier development and more rational organisation of the University," Todorovic said and added that as a rule big universities were inert and opposed changes.

[09] COOPERATION BETWEEN YUGOSLAV AND SLOVAK LEGAL INSTITUTIONS

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the Slovak Republic, Veljko Curcic, visited on Wednesday the President of the Slovak High Court, Dr. Stefan Harabin, the Federal Foreign Ministry has said.

Curcic and Harabin positively assessed the successful revival and development of cooperation between the two countries' top legal institutions and expressed belief that this will be further boosted by Dr. Harabin's forthcoming visit to Yugoslavia at the invitation of the President of the Yugoslav Federal Court, Borivoje Vukicevic, the statement said.

[10] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER REPORTS SUCCESS IN PARLIAMENT WORK

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Serbian Parliament Speaker Dragan Tomic told Tanjug after the close of the spring session's third sitting on Wednesday that Parliament had completed a great job in the best possible way. Tomic said that Parliament had a very constructive two-day debate, focusing especially on the laws on university and income tax. He said that Parliament had passed amendments to the Law on income tax, which were very significant as they eased the burden on the economy.

He said that the Law on University was also very important and that it would be implemented as of the next academic year. He said that under the law, a difficult and complex situation at the universities and faculties would be resolved. Tomic said that the Serbian Government had regulated the universities' administrative rights without encroaching on their autonomy. Under the law, a principle of free university education, to which the Socialist Party of Serbia has always been committed, was retained, said Tomic. He added that the accepted solutions would improve the quality of education received and stimulate the students not to miss examinations and not to prolong their studies unduly.

[11] BULATOVIC: YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT WILL AFFIRM UNITY IN THE COUNTRY

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic has said that his Cabinet's first task is to coordinate the republics' Constitutions with Yugoslavia's Constitution, which will help the federation start performing its duties successfully.

The Government will propose measures, procedures and laws which will affirm the Yugoslav unity, while observing the special qualities and equality of the republics, Bulatovic told the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti during an interview. The unification of the State Security Service, as part of the defence function which is in the federation's jurisdiction, is also one of the priorities, he said. Explaining his election to the office of Yugoslav Prime Minister, Bulatovic said that this had been an attempt to defend the Federal Government from unsubstantiated attacks coming from Montenegro. "The Montenegrin Government and Mr Djukanovic wanted to create a delusion that Montenegro had no future in Yugoslavia. Mr Kontic did not respond to this criticism and since we regarded that Yugoslavia was jeopardised from within, we decided to make this move", Bulatovic said. He said that he saw his office as the position from which he could best "help preserve and promote the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Speaking about the need to put an end to crime, Bulatovic said that this operation would be led in all of Yugoslavia.

[12] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION PARTICIPATES AT THE CONFERENCE 'CUSTOMS VERSUS DRUGS'

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

A Yugoslav customs delegation headed by Director Mihalj Kertes will in Budapest on Thursday attend an international conference titled 'Customs Versus Drugs', at the invitation of the Hungarian Financial and Customs Administration. The two-day conference, to be attended by representatives from the European Union and countries in transition, will focus on new methods for fighting illicit drug trade. The Yugoslav delegation will inform the conference of the results of its activities in checking drug trafficking, said a statement released by the Customs Office.

The results would improve if Yugoslavia were allowed to take part in the work of international organizations fighting against illegal drug trafficking, the statement said It is most unfair that Yugoslavia is not allowed to take part in the joint battle against drug abuse, the biggest evil of today, the statement said, but Yugoslavia will continue to do its utmost in the detection and prevention of illicit drug trafficking.

[13] OSCE TO SEND 120 OBSERVERS TO PARLIAMENTARY POLLS IN MONTENEGRO

Tanjug, 1998-05-27

The May 31 parliamentary elections in Montenegro will be monitored by 120 international observers, Office of democratic institutions and human rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Wednesday. The OSCE mission, which will also include 20 observers from its Office of democratic institutions and human rights, will be headed by Spanish diplomat Javier Ruperez, who presides over the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly.

The first press release by the OSCE monitoring mission will be at 3 p.m. on June 1.

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