Serbs Request UN Investigation
Kosovo Serb shot by a 7.9-mm sniper on March 17, during NATO's attack on Kosovska Mitrovica judicial workers
NATO Changes Its Story From One Minute to Another
State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija Dusan Prorokovic said late on Tuesday that authorities in Belgrade have requested an international investigation to determine what really happened during the unrest in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday, who overstepped their authority and who stands behind the entire action.
Prorokovic resolutely denied the allegations of ranking NATO and UNMIK representatives that authorities in Belgrade had anything to do with the unrest, and the latest allegation, that Serbian "policemen" were in the court building, alongside judicial workers requesting to be allowed to return to work.
The unrest occurred when UNMIK special police seized the court building where Serbs peacefully protested, demanding their jobs back. Revolted by the brutal attack, Kosovo Serbs rallied around the court building in an intention to prevent the arrested Serbs from being taken to Pristina prison and handed over to Albanians. More than 100 police officers and civilians, over 70 of them Serbs, were injured in the unrest that followed the arrest of 53 court staff.
Prorokovic said that he would not "rely too much on international officials' statements" and recalled that the first statement from NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday had been that KFOR and NATO members were not using deadly weapons.
"The second statement was that they had received the approval to use the automatic firearms, but that they did not use it and the third statement this morning was that they had shot in the air," he said.
"The consequences show that they did not shoot in the air, but that a 7.9-mm sniper was used to fire at unarmed protesters," Prorokovic said.
"Unarmed people who were standing by the bridge were shot at by snipers. We have photographs of this, pictures of the wounds, and bullets of those who were hit, and witnesses who all saw this and are ready to testify," the Kosovo-Metohia Ministry official said.
He said that the disagreement with the court employees would have been solved in a peaceful way if the international forces had not intervened.
Shot by a Sniper, Lost an Eye from Rubber Bullet...
Nebojsa Vukomanovic (36), who was shot in the head by a sniper in the Monday clashes of the UNMIK police and KFOR with Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, is still in a coma and cannot breathe independently, Tanjug learned at the intensive care unit of the Clinical and Hospital Centre in Kragujevac on Wednesday.
Over 70 Serbs were wounded in March 17 NATO attack on court building in Kosovska Mitrovica, 15 of them seriously. One UNMIK policeman lost his life, one Kosovo Serb is still in critical condition.
According to doctors on duty, Vukomanovic's cardiovascular functions are stable, but he has been unconscious for three days now.
He was admitted to hospital on Monday, he was unconscious and had serious head injuries, and immediately underwent four hours of surgery, to remove metal bullet lodged in his temple.
Ilija Cuca, 33, who was injured in Kosovska Mitrovica during Monday clashes and subsequently transferred to Belgrade has lost an eye but his life is no longer in danger, Prof. Milos Jovanovic of the emergencies center told Tanjug Tuesday.
The injury was probably caused by a rubber bullet, the doctor said.
UN Banned the Use of Rubber Bullets Last Year
UN official has told Tanjug that the United Nations might launch a serious investigation if claims that members of the international police used rubber bullets during this week's clashes in Kosovska Mitrovica prove to be true, since the use of such ammunition in UN missions was banned in July last year.
"We banned the use of rubber bullets way back in July last year, after two persons got killed from such bullets in Kosovo that very same year," said the UN official, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Serbian FM Requests UN Investigation: Absolutely Unacceptable Excessive Use of Force
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had received the letter by Foreign Minister Jeremic in which he conveys Serbia's protests against the absolutely unacceptable and excessive use of force by international troops in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday, requesting an investigation on the causes of the incident to be launched within the U.N.
In his letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, Jeremic stated that it should be determined who ordered the use of deadly force and what triggered the incident, particularly because it occurred after consultations and successful negotiations between Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic and Deputy Chief of UNMIK Larry Rossin the night before, Tanjug learned at Jeremic's cabinet.
Kosovo Serbs: American Fired his Handgun into the Protesters
"The serious incident was caused according to a scenario from Washington, Brussels and Pristina, so as to cause chaos in the north of the province," assessed in a press conference Serbian National Council (SNV) for Kosovo and Metohija president Milan Ivanovic and Community of Serbian Towns and Municipalities president Marko Jaksic.
Ivanovic said that the serious incident occurred on Monday, March 17, in the District and Municipal Court building after the unreasonable arrest of people of Serbian nationality employed in the judiciary, including women who were thrown to the ground, tied up and then escorted to Pristina.
He added that an American policeman, "who was in a jeep, fired his handgun on gathered citizens," causing a justified reaction of Serbs.
Unacceptable excessive use of force, Serbia demands UN investigation. Kosovska Mitrovica, March 17 2008, Serbia
Ivanovic said that the international forces by a brutal action "wanted to cause chaos, so that they could introduce with tanks the illegal EU mission in the north of the province."
Kosovo Serb Judicial Workers: They Treated us Like Animals
The brutal arrest on March 17 is absolutely an illegal act and violates all international and domestic laws and regulations, Public Prosecutor Milan Bigovic, Deputy District Public Prosecutor Nenad Trifunovic and Local Court President Branka Semenov told a press conference.
Bigovic said that of the 53 arrested, 26 were women, noting that UNMIK special police and the international community waited on purpose for March 17 - the fourth anniversary of the pogrom of the Serbs in Kosovo - in order to punish the Serbs further and finish their ethnic cleansing from Kosovo province.
He underscored that the arrested were taken to the Pristina jail where they were photographed, fingerprinted and their personal data filed. Bigovic stated that, contrary to NATO and UNMIK staff claims, "this proves that no person employed by the Serbian MUP [internal police] or any other structure was in the courthouse building, appart from the court workers."
Trifunovic, who was also arrested, said that the entire arrest action took 10-15 minutes, because the judicial employees did not put up even passive resistance.
Semenov, who was visibly shaken, said that the UNMIK special units treated all the arrested, including the women, "as if we are animals" and that they did not care if they were binding an older or younger woman, a girl ... Men had their hands handcuffed, while women were tied with ropes.
She said that the arrested were harassed both physically and mentally and that this continued in the Pristina district prison, where ethnic Albanian male and female guards "forced us to take off our shoes when going to the toilet, used foul language mentioning our Serb mothers, saying that 'Kosovo has taken care of us and that we will be fed' ...," Semenov said.
Comments
I am tired of words from Serbia and Serbs. It is time to act! The only language NATO understands is force so why not respond in kind. I thought Serbia sent in a 1,000 special interior ministry police, how about using them. How about getting Russia to deploy troops, c'mon the more you wait the more realization is that Kosovo and the Albanians will win.
Posted by: oxi | March 19, 2008 12:03 PM
This is not a simple matter; there are NATO troops in Kosovo. If you are frustrated by the inaction of Serbia then go punch a pillow.
Posted by: Deucaon | March 19, 2008 12:59 PM
Serb ground troops backed by Russia is the formula to defeat NATO. It happened before when Russia sent 200 troops to seize the Pristina Airport back in 1999. The mighty NATO alliance did not dare stop them or shoot at them because it risked a nuclear response. Same would hold true if just a few hundred Russian troops moved with the Serb 3rd Army towards Kosovo. It would be NATO's choice if they want a world war to start.
I do not have confidence in NATO's ground troops, why do you?
Posted by: oxi | March 19, 2008 05:25 PM
I think the Serbians and Russians are playing their cards close to their chests. They have the capability of inflicting horrendous losses on NATO and the Americans. Camp Bondsteel for example is very vulnerable. The Serbs could launch rocket attacks against it from Serbia proper and inflict very heavy casualties. The rocket batteries could be hidden and camoflouged and thus well protected from air attack. There would be no need to even assault it. What would the Americans, with their broken military, do? Not much. Are they going to send in their troops to try to locate the batteries? Not likely. They would be ambushed and destroyed. The situation would be very comparable to the Hezbollah-Israel war in the summer of 2006. The Israelis had a devil of a time trying to locate the rocket launchers. They could not stop the rocket attacks on Israel. They suffered a stinging military defeat.
The Serbs have quite a few military options. It is not necessary because of space to go into all of them. I do believe that if Kosovo Serbs were attacked and killed in relatively large numbers, the Serbian military and perhaps the Russian military would intervene directly and most of KFOR and NATO would not offer serious and organized resistance. In that case, the Serbs would be forced to act.
It seems as though the Serbs and Russians are trying to exhaust every possible diplomatic and peaceful venue before resorting to violence. On the other hand, I think that NATO and KFOR are aware of the sensitivity of the situation and are doing everything possible to avoid spilling large amounts of Serbian blood.
Posted by: stric simo | March 19, 2008 06:39 PM
Stric,
The window to act is rapidly closing, the U.S. is now set on arming the Albanians:
MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - Moscow has requested an emergency meeting with NATO to discuss Washington's authorisation for arms supplies to Kosovo, Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russia's envoy to the alliance as saying on Thursday.
By supplying weapons to Kosovo's government, the United States was arming "former terrorists" and the move could stoke violence in the region, Tass quoted Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin as saying.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday authorised arms supplies to Kosovo, saying it would "strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace", according to a document on the White House Web site.
"They (Washington) say the weapons will help fight terrorism. At the same time, it is namely former terrorists who are in power in Kosovo right now," Itar-Tass quoted Rogozin as saying in Brussels.
"How can you fight terrorism, supplying weapons to former terrorists?"
Posted by: oxi | March 20, 2008 11:20 AM
It looks to me as though the united states is trying to bolster it's security in the region by this move of providing weapons. In it's short sightedness however, it is providing an illegitimate government run by war criminals a means to further it's exploits. In an almost humorous twist of irony, these gangsters will most likely turn around and sell some of these weapons to the highest bidder which may end up back in Afghanistan to be used against the very people that sold them in the first place. Most importantly though, these weapons will be used against the legitimate governments of the region. I have a nauseating feeling that those in the highest echelons of the us government know the instability that this may cause all too well. They know this very well from their experiences in the 90's balkan wars and elsewhere in the world. If the united states and some other western nations continue down this path, WWIII is not too far off. God help us all.
Posted by: Rares H. | March 20, 2008 01:26 PM
Oxi,
Don't worry about America arming the Albanians. I have a strong feeling that the Kosovar Albanian army, such as it is, would crumble under the weight of a powerful onslaught. This so-called army is not to be taken seriously.
In fact, as I said previously, I don't think that most of the KFOR and NATO troops would offer serious resistance, if subjected to a powerful attack. The armored vehicles and helicopters that they are using, with the proper equipment, could be relatively easily destroyed.
One of the Serbian officials in Kosovo (I believe his name is Jaksic) said that all the Serbs needed was Russian weapons. And he is 100% right. Look at all the damage that Hezbollah did to the most advanced Israeli tank, the Merkava. My information is that about 20 of those tanks were knocked out. And Hezbollah used portable Russian antitank weapons.
In a tactical military sense, NATO and KFOR forces are very vulnerable.
Posted by: stric simo | March 20, 2008 03:08 PM
Time to act yes yes but come on Russia?! Putin said they would act if NATO oversteped it's bounds and the violence and assault is proof they did.I would love nothing more than to see Russia put up or shut up.Srbija cannot win a war out right but a slow drawn out bleed of NATO works well for A-stan and the Taliban and Srbija is better equipped than A-stan.Russia will do nothing.but some "tool" would help.Do Serbs strap a vest filled with ball bearings and C4 and blow ourselfs up
in south Mitrovica? or what no we value ourselfs too much but I can understand how Iraqis and Afghanis feel.
but we are past protesting i think.
Posted by: Jovan Zivkovic | March 21, 2008 02:17 AM
I agree with Oxi, NATO and KFOR forces are vulnerable, sitting ducks in fact. There is, however, good reason why the Serbs and Russians are waiting. The reason is not for a substantial Serb blood letting by the invaders, nor the move to "arm the shiptars", which, incidentally, is an immature ploy by the West to scare off the Serb dissent. The real reason is on whose terms the next major conflict is going to be fought. There is an overall agreement that the conflict is unavoidable and the only remaining question is on whose terms. A vital strategic factor is who calls the shots! This latest NATO action in Mitrovica was a deliberate provocation by the West and it failed. Both Serbs and Russians have much to gain by letting the enemy make fools of themselves by provoking such incidents. The purpose for such provocation is to force Serbia to respond and scare the Serbian electorate into voting for Tadic again in the hope that another war will be avoided.
Western strategists don't anticipate any trouble from the Russians over Kosovo or any other part of the world until it comes to their doorstep. By then, according to their reasoning, Russia will be surrounded and easy to convince that fighting it out is futile and an offer of a half eaten carrot would be enough inducement for Russians to capitulate. Should there be some miscalculation on their part they have some contingency plans to cater for any eventualities.
For anyone still believing that there is no plan in the West to conquer the world, consider this. The USA is on the brink of economic collapse, there are no prospects for reversing the trend other than usurping the natural resources belonging to other nations. They will use any means necessary to achieve this and there is no time to waste.
Russia, on the other hand, is fast regaining its former status of a world power and is in possession of vast reserves of natural wealth that will last for a long time. Russians are also clever strategists and have some impressive new inventions added to their defense arsenal. Unless the US succeeds to scare Russia's leadership into submission there is all the likely-hood that Russia will take early steps to stop the march of the new American fascism before she becomes hopelessly surrounded by it. So Kosovo might well become the battle ground of new dimensions that is as significant for the world today as it was for the Serbs and the whole Europe in 1389.
Posted by: Bozidar | March 22, 2008 03:24 AM