NEW YORK CITY INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF INQUIRY HEARING
TO
INVESTIGATE U.S./NATO WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF
YUGOSLAVIA
Over 700 people participated in the July 31 New York City Independent
Commission of Inquiry Hearing to Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against
the People of Yugoslavia. The hearing was the first of scores of meetings
that will be held in cities throughout the United States, other NATO countries,
and elsewhere to collect evidence, eyewitness testimony, expert testimony
and analysis of Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity.
The featured presentation at the July 31 hearing was Ramsey Clark’s
19-count indictment of
William J. Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger, William Cohen,
Tony Blair, Gerard
Schroeder, and other high officials in NATO and NATO countries.
We are offering with this communication the full text of the 19-count
indictment.
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general; Brian Becker,
Co-Director, Commission of
Inquiry; Gloria La Riva, editor of "NATO’s Targets";
Elombe Brath, Patrice Lumumba
Coalition; Vladislav Jovanovic, Ambassador, Permanent
Mission of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia to the UN; Dr. Saeed Hasan, Ambassador,
Permanent Mission of Iraq to the UN;
Michel Chossudovsky, economist and author; Roland
Keith, OSCE monitor in Kosovo;Dr.
Sapphire Mann Ahmed, International Health Care Activist;
taped message from Mumia
Abu-Jamal; Maude Le Blanc, Haiti Progres; Kani, Kurdish
American Information Center;
Freddie Marrero and Carlos Rovira, Vieques Support
Committee; Preston Wood, International
Action Center—Los Angeles; John Kim, attorney, Veterans
for Peace (NYC); John Parker,
International Action Center—Los Angeles; Monica Moorehead,
Workers World newspaper and
Mumia Awareness Week; Shani Rifati, Roma activist
from Kosovo; Felix Wilson, Cuban Interests
Section; Michael Parenti, author; Prof. Michael Mandel,
York University Law School, Canadian
lawyers group; Gregory Elich, Journalist and Researcher;
Vondora Jordan, Workfairness; David Jacobs,
attorney, Canadian lawyers group; Will Harrell, Representative
of International Association of
Democratic Lawyers; Ruba Fakhoury & Milos Petrovic;
Ulrich Dost, attorney, German lawyers
group; King Downing, attorney; Barry Lituchy, Director,
Jasenovic Research Institute; Gloria
Rubac, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty;
Sladjana Dankovic, Investigator,
Commission of Inquiry (Washington, D.C.); Tamara Bedic,
attorney; John Catalinotto, Co-editor
of Depleted Uranium: Metal of Dishonor; Pat Chin;
Lenore Foerstel, author; Bill Doares,International Action Center; Frank
Kovac; Deirdre Sinnott; Karen Talbot, International Center for Peace and
Justice; Herb Foerstel, author; Heather Cottin, Serbian-Jewish Friendship
Committee; Sarah Sloan; Jane Cutter, International Action Center—Ann Arbor.
Following is the text of the indictment prepared by Ramsey Clark.
THE INDICTMENT
Submitted to the Independent Commission of Inquiry to Investigate U.S./NATO
War Crimes
Against the People of Yugoslavia
by Ramsey Clark
July 30, 1999
Complaint
Charging William J. Clinton, The Government Of The United States, NATO
And Others With
International Crimes And Violations Of International And Domestic Laws
Causing Deaths,
Destruction, Injury And Suffering.
The Charges
(1)Planning and Executing the Dismemberment, Segregation and Impoverishment
of Yugoslavia.
(2)Inflicting, Inciting and Enhancing Violence Between and Among Muslims
and Slavs.
(3)Disrupting Efforts to Maintain Unity, Peace and Stability in Yugoslavia.
(4)Destroying the Peace Making Role of the United Nations.
(5)Using NATO for Military Aggression Against, and Occupation of, Non
Compliant Poor
Countries.
(6)Killing and Injuring a Defenseless Population Throughout Yugoslavia.
(7)Planning, Announcing and Executing Attacks Intended to Assassinate
The Head of
Government, Other Government Leaders and Selected Civilians.
(8)Destroying and Damaging Economic, Social, Cultural. Medical, Diplomatic
and Religious
Resources, Properties and Facilities Throughout Yugoslavia.
(9)Attacking Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Population
of Yugoslavia.
(10)Attacking Facilities Containing Dangerous Substances and Forces.
(11)Using Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs and Other Prohibited Weapons.
(12)Waging War on the Environment.
(13)Imposing Sanctions Through The UN That Are A Genocidal Crime Against
Humanity.
(14)Creating An Illegal Ad-Hoc Criminal Tribunal To Destroy And Demonize
Serb Leadership.
(15)Using Controlled International Media To Create and Maintain Support
For the U.S. Assault
And To Demonize Yugoslavia, Slavs, Serbs and Muslims As Genocidal Murderers.
(16)Establishing The Long term Military Occupation Of Strategic parts
of Yugoslavia By
NATO Forces.
(17)Attempting to Destroy the Sovereignty, Right to Self Determination,
Democracy and Culture
of the Slavic and Other Peoples of Yugoslavia.
(18)The Purpose Of The U.S. Being To Dominate, Control and Exploit Yugoslavia,
Its People
and Its Resources.
(19)The Means Of The U.S. Being Military Force and Economic Coercion.
Complaint
This Complaint Is Presented To End The Scourge of War, Prevent Future
Violations of
Fundamental Human Rights, Protect International and National Organizations,
Governments and
Institutions and To Hold Those Convicted of the Violations Alleged
Accountable for Their Acts.
The Governments, Organizations and Individuals Named Herein Are :
Charged
With Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity And Other
Offenses In
Violation Of The Principles of The Nuremberg Tribunal (Nuremberg),
the Hague Regulations
(Hague) and Geneva Conventions (Geneva) and Other International and
National Laws;
With Grave Violations of the Charter of the United Nations (UN Charter),
the North Atlantic
Treaty (NAT), other international treaties, International Law, the
Federal Constitution and
Domestic Laws of the United States, the Basic Laws of Other Nations
Including the United
Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands,
Hungary, Italy, Spain and
other Governments of NATO members and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
With Grave Violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant
on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Genocide Convention, and Other
International
Covenants, Conventions, Treaties, Declarations and Domestic Laws named
herein.
(A)Defendants
1. President William J. Clinton, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, Secretary of
Defense William Cohen and Commanding Generals, Admirals,
U.S. personnel
directly involved in designating targets, flight
crews and deck crews of the U.S.
military bomber and assault aircraft, U.S. military
personnel directly involved in
targeting, preparing and launching missiles at Yugoslavia,
the government of the
United States personnel causing, condoning or failing
to prevent violence in
Yugoslavia before and during NATO occupation and
Others to be named.
2. The United Kingdom, Prime Minister Tony Blair,
the Foreign Minister, the Defense
Minister and Commanding Generals, Admirals, U.K.
personnel directly involved in
designating targets, flight crews and deck crews
of the U.K. military bomber and
assault aircraft, U.K. military personnel directly
involved in targeting, preparing and
launching missiles at Yugoslavia, the government
of the United States personnel
causing, condoning or failing to prevent violence
in Yugoslavia before and during
NATO occupation and Others to be named.
3. The Federal Republic of Germany, Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, the Foreign
Minister, the Defense Minister and Commanding Generals,
Admirals, German personnel directly involved in designating
targets, flight crews and
deck crews of the German military bomber and assault
aircraft, German military
personnel directly involved in targeting, preparing
and launching missiles at
Yugoslavia, the government of the United States
personnel causing, condoning or
failing to prevent violence in Yugoslavia before
and during NATO occupation and
Others to be named.
4. The Government of every NATO country that participated
directly in the assaults
on Yugoslavia with aircraft, missiles, or personnel
and Commanding Generals,
Admirals, NATO personnel directly involved in designating
targets, flight crews and
deck crews of the NATO military bomber and assault
aircraft, NATO military
personnel directly involved in targeting, preparing
and launching missiles at
Yugoslavia, the government of the United States
personnel causing, condoning or
failing to prevent violence in Yugoslavia before
and during NATO occupation and
Others to be named.
5. The Governments of Turkey, Hungary, Italy and
others who permitted the use of
airbases on their territory to be used by U.S.,
or other military aircraft and missiles
for direct assault on Yugoslavia.
6. The North American Treaty Organization (NATO),
Secretary General Javier
Solano, Supreme Commander, General Wesley K. Clark
7. For Condemnation: Each NATO member that voted
to authorize military assaults on
Yugoslavia.
B. The Charges
1. Planning And Executing the Dismemberment, Segregation
and Impoverishment of
Yugoslavia.
The United States, Germany, NATO and other defendants
engaged in a course of
conduct beginning in, or before 1981 intended to
break the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia into many parts, segregate different
ethnic, religious and other groups
among and within newly balkanized borders, weaken
the Slav, Serb, Muslim and
other populations by causing and prolonging internal
violence and by direct assaults
by the United States and certain NATO members. As
a consequence Yugoslavia
which had 25 million people in an integrated society
and economy is now comprised
of many small nations, the largest of which is Serbia.
Defendants intend to divide
Yugoslavia until all parts of Yugoslavia have fewer
than 5 million people, each to be
overwhelmingly of a single ethnic origin and religion,
to have severely impaired
economies largely dominated by foreign interests,
in which two groups, Orthodox
Christian Serbs and Muslims suffer severest casualties,
most extensive property
damage, a vast reduction of productivity now down
by 3/4s, or more, and a generation
of impoverishment. U.N. Charter; Declaration on
the Inadmissibility of Intervention In
The Domestic Affairs Of States And The Protection
Of Their Independence and
Sovereignty (Non Intervention Decl.), 1965 USGA
Res. 2131.
2. Inflicting, Inciting and Enhancing Violence Between
Muslims and Slavs.
The United States and other defendants engaged in
a course of conduct beginning in or
before 1981, to cause Muslims and Orthodox Christian
Slavs to engage in protracted
fratricidal violence, in wars of attrition, similar
to conflicts in Afghanistan and
Chechnya between Muslims and Russian Slavs, which
caused death, destruction and
division in Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere between
the groups and dangerous
frictions and enmity between two major enemies of
the U.S., Slavic peoples and
Muslims, in other regions, weakening both. Tactics
included both providing and
depriving select Muslim groups of arms to attack
others, or adequately defend
themselves in Bosnia; motivating, training and supplying
KLA with arms to attack
Yugoslavia police and military to seize control
of Kosovo during NATO occupation
and attack Serbs and others; preventing outside
efforts to prevent and control the
violence; committing, causing and condoning violence
against persons displaced by
U.S. and NATO bombing campaigns, and by KLA and
Yugoslav police and military
ground actions; causing and supporting clashes between
Yugoslavia
military/police/civilian groups and KLA/Kosovar
paramilitary/civilian groups;
condoning and failing to prevent assaults on displaced
persons returning to and
persons who remained in Kosovo, both before and
after the NATO/U.S. occupation of
Kosovo. In 1999, the U.S. caused the largest numbers
of deaths, injuries and
destruction by aerial and missile assaults against
all elements in the population and its
life support systems. U.N. Charter, Art. 2; Non
Intervention Decl.; Resolution on the
Definition of Aggression (Res. on Aggression), 1997
UNGA Res. 3314.
3. Preventing and Disrupting Efforts to Maintain
Unity, Peace and Stability in
Yugoslavia.
From the beginning of its efforts to implement its
plans for dismemberment and
destruction of Yugoslavia, the U.S. acted to prevent
any interference, negotiation, or
other efforts within Yugoslavia, or by other nations,
leaders, or individuals to prevent
the accomplishment of its intended purposes. Its
techniques included political,
military and economic threats and control of highly
publicized peace negotiations
much like those at Dayton, Ohio, during the Bosnia
struggle, at Rambouillet, France,
in 1988 which created an appearance of earnest peace
negotiations, but offered
Yugoslavia only two choices, agree to foreign military
occupation, or expect a
devastating military assault. U.N. Charter; Non
Intervention Declaration; Resolution
on Aggression; Pact of Paris 1928, Art I and II
.
4. Destroying the Peace Making Role of the United
Nations.
The United States acted and coerced other nations
to act to block the United Nations
from performing its duties under the U.N. Charter
to prevent conflict, control violence
and maintain peace in Yugoslavia in violation of
the Charter of the U.N. and
threatening its viability as a international institution
capable of maintaining peace and
ending the scourge of war. U.N. Charter; Non Intervention
Decl.; Resolution on
Aggression, Pact of Paris 1928, Art I and II.
5. Using NATO for Military Aggression Against and
Occupation of Non-Compliant
Poor Countries.
The United States acted and coerced other nations
to act to cause NATO to authorize
direct military assaults on Yugoslavia in violation
of the U.N. Charter and the North
Atlantic Treaty relying overwhelmingly on U.S. weaponry
and military technology
and to cause NATO members to provide and finance
the majority of the military
forces to occupy Kosovo for the foreseeable future
thereby employing the wealth and
power of the rich former colonial powers of Europe
against the poor and defenseless
people of Yugoslavia. United Nations Charter; North
Atlantic Treaty 1949, Art.I.
6. Killing and Injuring a Defenseless Population
Throughout Yugoslavia.
Beginning on, or before March 24, 1999, the United
States, without a declaration of
war by the Congress, aided and abetted by certain
NATO members, including the
United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Spain and the Netherlands,
as well as Hungary,
Croatia, Italy and others, commenced a war of missile
and aerial bombing assaults,
often indiscriminate in its targeting, against the
populations of Yugoslavia
intentionally killing and injuring many thousands
of Serbs, Kosovars, Romas,
Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, foreign
nationals throughout
Yugoslavia with malice aforethought. Hague, Art.
22 and 23; Geneva 1949, Art. 19;
Nuremberg, Principle VI a, b and c; U.S. Constitution,
Art. I, Sec. 8, cl.II.
7. Planning, Announcing and Executing Attacks Intended
to Assassinate
The Head of Government, Other Government Leaders
and Selected Civilians.
The United States planned, announced and carried
out missile and aerial
bombardment attacks intended to assassinate the
Head of Government of Yugoslavia,
members of his family, other government leaders
and selected civilians to destroy
existing government leadership and terrorize it
and its closest personal support into
submission. U.N. Charter, Art. 2, Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of
Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons
(Protected Persons Convention);
U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10; U.S. Presidential
Executive Order 12333 (Ex.Order
12333); Geneva Conventions 1977, Protocol I Additional
(Geneva 1977), Art. 48, 51.
8. Destroying and Damaging Economic, Social, Cultural,
Medical, Diplomatic and
Religious Resources, Properties and Facilities Throughout
Yugoslavia.
Beginning on, or before March 24, 1999, the United
States, aided and abetted by
certain NATO members, including United Kingdom,
Germany, Turkey, Spain and the
Netherlands and others including Croatia, Hungary
and Italy, commenced a systematic
missile and aerial bombing assault on resources,
properties and economic, social,
cultural, medical, diplomatic and religious facilities
intentionally destroying and
damaging them throughout Yugoslavia to crush the
productive, economic, social,
cultural, diplomatic and religious viability of
the whole society. Hague, Art. 22 and
23; Geneva 1949, Art. 19; Geneva 1977, Protocol
I, Additional, Art. 48, 52, 53; U.N.
Charter, Art. 2; Protected Persons Convention; U.S.
Army Field Manual 27-10; Exec.
Order 12333; Geneva 1977, Art. 48, 51; ICESCR.
9. Attacking Objects Indispensable to the Survival
of the Population of Yugoslavia.
Beginning on or before March 24, 1999, the United
States, aided and abetted by
others, for the specific purpose of depriving the
population of Yugoslavia of food,
water, electric power, food production, medicines,
medical care and other essentials
to their survival, engaged in the systematic destruction
and damage by missiles and
aerial bombardment of food production and storage
facilities, drinking water and
irrigation works for agriculture, fertilizer, insecticide,
pharmaceutical, hospitals and
health care facilities, among other objects essential
to human survival. Hague 1907,
Art. 22 and 23; Geneva 1949, Art. 19; Nuremberg
1970, Principles Via, b and c;
Geneva 1977, Art. 48, 54.
10. AttackingFacilities Containing Dangerous Substances
and Forces.
The United States attacked chemical plants and storage
facilities, petroleum and
natural gas refining, processing and storage facilities,
fertilizer plants and other
facilities and locations for the specific purpose
of releasing and scattering toxic,
radioactive and other dangerous substances and forces
into the atmosphere, soil,
ground water and food chain to poison the environment
and injure the population.
Nuremberg Principle VI, Hague, Art. 22 and 23, Protocol
for the Prohibition of the
Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases,
Geneva 1925 (Poisonous
Substances Protocol); Geneva 1977, Protocol I Additional,
Art. 48, 51, 56.
11. Using Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs and Other
Prohibited Weapons.
The United States used prohibited weapons capable
of mass destruction and inflicting
indiscriminate death and suffering against the population
of all Yugoslavia. Despite
knowledge of its deadly long term effect on life
and warnings of the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, the U.S. attacked Yugoslavia
with depleted uranium
missiles, bombs and bullets spreading radioactive
matter into the atmosphere, soil,
ground water, food chain and solid objects
hit by depleted uranium missiles, bombs
and bullets placing the Yugoslav population at risk
of death, genetic damage, cancers,
tumors, leukemia and other injuries for generations.
Cluster bombs were used
extensively spraying deadly razor sharp metal shards
over wide areas against
hospitals, churches, mosques, schools, apartment
developments and other heavily
populated places inflicting death, injury and property
damage. The use of other illegal
weapons is under continuing investigation. Hague,
Art. 22 and 23, Geneva 1977, Art.
48, 51, 54, 55, POONA Indictment for the Subversion
of Science and technology 1978
(POONA Indictment).
12. Waging War on the Environment.
The United States aerial and missile assault intentionally
created a widespread, long
term and severe environmental disaster in Yugoslavia.
Air pollution from overflights
alone multiplied normal impurities in the atmosphere.
Thousands of tons of explosives
unleashed enormous quantities of chemicals into
the air, raised clouds of dust and
debris from places hit and started fires that often
raged for days. Chemical,
petrochemical, oil and gas refinery, storage and
transmission facilities purposely
targeted in the vicinity of Belgrade, Novi Sad,
Nis and other major cities exposed
huge populations to dangerous and noxious pollution.
Depleted uranium scattered
across Kosovo and the remainder of Serbia will threaten
life for generations. Hague,
Art. 22 and 23; Geneva 1977, Art. 48, 51, 54, 55;
Stockholm Declaration of the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
1972; Principles I, II, (U.N.
Conf. on Human Environment), et al.
13. Imposing Sanctions Through The UN That Are A
Genocidal Crime Against
Humanity To Achieve Impoverishment And Debilitation
Of The People Of
Yugoslavia.
The United States began an economic attack on Yugoslavia
designed to break it up
politically and tear it down economically before
1989. It caused the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to use its strongest shock therapy
to attack Yugoslav
productivity, add to its foreign debt burden and
expose national wealth to foreign
capital by forcing removal of trade barriers and
privatizing vital public industry,
commerce, utilities and facilities. In May 1991
U.S. Secretary of State Baker stopped
all U.S. aid programs to all six Yugoslav Republics
and vetoed future IMF credits,
creating an enormous economic incentive and powerful
political argument for
political opposition to Belgrade to separate other
Republics from Serbia. The U.S.
forced U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia, but relieved
Republics which seceded from
Yugoslavia of sanctions. Such sanctions devastated
the entire economy of Yugoslavia
to the degree that a normal growth rate free of
U.S. coercion would require 30 years
to return Yugoslavia to its 1989 levels of productivity.
Per capita production value
for all six Republics of Yugoslavia in 1989 was
$6220. Today for Serbia and
Montenegro, the remaining Republics of Yugoslavia,
it is $1510. Ninety percent of all
trade was among the six republics before the break-up.
All former republics have
suffered economically, but Yugoslavia now, with
barely 40% of its 1990 population,
including Kosovo, has had a far greater decline
economically than the favored
northern Republics of Slovenia and Croatia which
are today more overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic than before their secession. The
sanctions against Yugoslavia
continue and Serbia, excluding Kosovo, is barred
from receiving any planned
reparations and aid to rebuild from bomb damage
and economic attrition. The
sanctions have had a far more damaging effect on
life, health, the economy and the
quality of life in Yugoslavia than the military
assault, increasing death rates, lowering
life expectation, reducing nutrition and health
care and driving production down. As
in Iraq, and elsewhere, the sanctions are an economic
crime, a crime against humanity
and genocide. Nuremberg, Principle VI c, Crimes
Against Humanity; Genocide
Convention; Geneva 1977, Art. 48, 54, 55.
14. Creating An Illegal Ad-Hoc Criminal Tribunal
To Destroy And Demonize Serb
Leadership.
The United States acting through defendant Madeleine
Albright coerced the U.N.
Security Council to create ad hoc criminal tribunals
for Yugoslavia and Rwanda in
violation of the U.N. Charter to destroy and demonize
enemy leaders in those two
countries and threaten leaders elsewhere. The U.N.
Charter does not authorize
creation of criminal tribunals. The U.S. strongly
opposes the International Criminal
Tribunal treaty approved by 120 nations at Rome
in July 1998 and in the process of
ratification by nations now, because it does not
intend to subject its leaders, or
military forces to the jurisdiction of an independent
international Court and the rule of
international law. By targeting individual enemies
in ad hoc courts and charging them
with genocide, it achieves their isolation internationally,
pressures their own
countries to remove them from power, corrupts and
politicizes justice and uses the
appearance of neutral international law to adjudicate
and punish enemies as war
criminals and establish itself as an innocent champion
of justice. U.N. Charter, Statute
of the International Court of Justice (Statute ICJ);
UDHR; ICCPR.
15. Using Controlled International Media To Create
Support For U.S. Assaults
Anywhere And To Demonize Yugoslavia, Slavs, Serbs
and Muslims As Genocidal
Murderers.
The United States defendants have systematically
controlled, directed, manipulated,
misinformed and restricted press and media coverage
concerning Yugoslavia and the
U.S. assaults on it to gain public support for the
massive bombardment of a
defenseless Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, as had
been done in Libya, Iraq,
Afghanistan, the Sudan and elsewhere. The international
media has supported and
celebrated U.S. political goals of further fragmentation
of Yugoslavia and other areas,
segregating each region; demonizing selected government
officials, other leaders,
generals, military officers and soldiers as genocidal
murderers; controlling other
nations by the threat of popularly supported missile
and air assaults and crippling
economic sanctions and stimulating acceptance and
support from the U.S. public for
future operations against other nations and to increase
military budgets to support an
expanding global role for U.S. military presence
and control.
16. Establishing The Long term Military Occupation
Of Strategic Parts of Yugoslavia
By NATO Forces.
The United States has coerced defendant NATO members
and others to provide and
support military occupation forces for the occupation
of Kosovo, as it did in Bosnia,
in order to physically control key parts of Yugoslavia
to enforce permanent separation
and segregation of States and peoples, to further
injure the populations, to create
barriers to immigration from Asia Minor, Arab states
in the Middle East, North
Africa, and former southern republics of the USSR,
and elsewhere; to provide a
buffer between Europe and the regions described
by controlling the territory of
divided, segregated and impoverished Slavs, Serbs,
Orthodox Christian, Kosovars,
and others; to exploit the resources of the region;
and to prepare and condition NATO
members for future participation against other nations.
U.N. Charter; NAT, Art. I; Non
Intervention Decl.
17. Attempting to Destroy the Sovereignty, Right
to Self Determination, Democracy
and Culture of the Slavic, Muslim, Christian and
Other Peoples of Yugoslavia.
The United States has attempted to destroy the Sovereignty
of Yugoslavia, the rights of
its people to self determination, the democratic
institutions it has developed and its
culture which defines the heritage, values and traditions
of its people. The United
States overthrew the democratically elected Mossadegh
administration in Iran in 1953
which it replaced with the Shah of Iran who ruled
absolutely for 25 years; the
democratically elected Arbeny government of Guatemala
which was followed by
forty years of brutal governments; the democratically
elected Lumumba government of
the Congo in 1962, which was followed by violent
dictators to this day; the
democratically elected Allende government of Chile
which promised health,
education, social and economic justice which was
replaced by a reign of terror and
military dictatorship under General Pinochet now
sought by Spain and other nations
for human rights violations; popularly elected leaders
in Vietnam, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Panama, Haiti and elsewhere were replaced
by U.S. surrogates. The U.S.
has opposed, assaulted and blockaded Cuba and all
its people for forty years. The
U.N. General Assembly voted 155 to 2 to condemn
the U.S. for its blockade of Cuba
in December 1998. The U.S. has maintained repressive
governments on five
continents in too many countries to name; all seeking
to destroy the cultures that define
the people, their history, character, values, arts,
literature, music, with commercially
exploitive products having no substantive worth
and one overriding purpose B profits
from the poor. A goal of U.S. policy is to entrench
the belief that only one system
works, capitalism, that only one culture has value,
that of the U.S. and western
European, and that history will end with the globalization
of U.S. culture. UDHR;
ICCPR; ICESCR.
18. The Purpose of the U.S. Being To Dominate, Control
and Exploit Yugoslavia, Its
People and Its resources.
The long term purpose of all the acts complained
of is to dominate, control and
exploit the poor nations of the world and the poor
people of the U.S. and other rich
countries to further enrich and empower concentrations
of wealth and neutralize the
whole population of poor, overwhelmingly darker
skinned people with fear,
powerlessness, poverty, bread and circus.
19. The Means of the U.S. Being Military Power and
Economic Coercion.
The United States with a near monopoly on nuclear
weapons, military aircraft,
missiles, advanced armored vehicles, firepower,
equipment, and highly sophisticated
technology continuously expands its physical power
to destroy, expending more on its
military power than the rest of the UN Security
Council combined. This year U.S.
military expenditures will be near 300 billion dollars.
The demonized Peoples
Republic of China will spend 34 billion dollars,
acquiring far less in destructive
power for each dollar. The U.S. sells more destructive
arms to other governments and
groups seeking to overthrow governments than the
rest of the arms selling countries
combined. Often the intention is that they kill
each other, a preferred means of
achieving domination. The U.S. does not sell arms
it cannot destroy without incurring
significant casualties. The U.S. uses its enormous
economic power to coerce foreign
governments to comply with its wishes, without regard
to the interests of the people of
those foreign countries. The threat of economic
sanctions alone coerces countries to
meet U.S. demands contrary to their sovereignty
and self interest.
ReliefSought
1. Freedom for all Balkan peoples to form a federation of their choice
to provide political,
civil, social, economic and cultural independence and viability for
all the peoples of the region.
2. Comprehensive efforts to create mutual respect, common interests
and bonds of friendship
among and between Muslims, Slavs and all national, ethnic and religious
groups in the Balkans.
3. Strict prohibition on all forms of foreign interference with or disruption
of efforts to establish
unity, peace and stability in the Balkans.
4. Restoration of peace making functions of the U.N. and reform of the
UN to make it effective.
5. The abolition of NATO.
6. Full accountability by individuals and governments for criminal and
other wrongful military
assaults and economic injustice, including sanctions inflicted on all
the people of Yugoslavia,
their lives, resources, properties and environment to include criminal
prosecutions an
reparations sufficient to place all the population in the condition
it would be in had it not
suffered the wrongs inflicted on it, together with resources with which
to build a better future of
the peoples choice.
7. Abolition Of the illegal ad hoc international criminal tribunal for
Yugoslavia and reliance on
a legal international tribunal of worldwide non discriminatory jurisdiction
capable of equal
justice under the law.
8. Providing adequate media access to inform the world of the human
destructiveness of the use
of high technology weapons by the U.S. against poor and defenseless
people and the practice of
genocide by sanctions.
9. Removing all foreign troops from the Balkans at the earliest feasible
moment and U.S. troops
from NATO countries and elsewhere immediately.
A broader range of relief and reform may be found in Chapter 12 of The
Fire This Time. It is
drawn from the experiences and recommendations of the Commission of
Inquiry and the
International War Crimes Tribunal which heard evidence in 20 countries
concerning the assault
on Iraq in 1991, the continuing assaults on Iraq thereafter and the
genocidal sanctions which
continue to this day.
Scope of the Inquiry
The Commission of Inquiry will focus on U.S. criminal conduct, aided
and abetted by NATO,
because of the dominant U.S. role in the military and other wrongful
acts against Yugoslavia,
without its incurring a single casualty while causing thousands of
deaths in Yugoslavia, the peril
of continuing U.S. conduct to all the people of Yugoslavia and the
risk of aerial and missile
strikes against other nations in view of the recidivist record of the
U.S. The Commission of
Inquiry will seek and accept evidence of criminal acts by any person
or government, related to
the conflict, because it believes international law must be applied
uniformly. It believes that a
"victors’ justice" is not law, but the extension of war by force of
the prevailing party. U.S.
propaganda and international media coverage has demonized Yugoslavia,
its leadership, Serbs
and Muslims to fit its purposes, but rarely noticed the criminal destruction
of Yugoslavia by
U.S. acts as set forth in this complaint. Comprehensive efforts to
gather and evaluate evidence,
objectively judge all the conduct that constitutes crimes against peace,
war crimes and crimes
against humanity and to present these facts for judgment to the court
of world opinion requires
that any serious fair effort focus on the United States. The Commission
of Inquiry believes its
focus on U.S. criminal acts is important, proper, and the only way
to bring the whole truth, a
balanced perspective and impartiality in application of legal process
to this great human
tragedy.
Ramsey Clark
July 30, 1999
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
|