Do you like the "A-ha!" experience?

- US State Department puts $5 million reward on Slobodan Milosevic's head. He is accused of 340 murders and rousting 250,000 from their homes. -CNBC, 25 Jun 1999, ~ 7:08:01 AM EST

- Slobodan Milosevic has filed suit in The Hague, claiming that NATO is in violation of international law in it's bombing of Yugoslavia. -Wolf Blitzer [to Al Gore], CNN, 04-29-99,10:23am EDT

The NATO action in Yugoslavia is in violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly according to "the definition of agression adopted by the General Assembly of The United Nations in 1974, and I quote, 'No considerations of any kind whether political, economic, military, or any other considerations can serve to justify agression.' End quote." -Russian UN Ambassador Sergey Lavrov to UN General Assembly, CNN, 24 Mar 1999, ~5:56 PM EST

"In helping maintain international peace and security, Chapter 7 of the UN Charter assigns an important role to regional organizations [like NATO], but, as Secretary General, I have many times pointed out, and not just in relation to Kosovo, that under the [UN] Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and this is explicitly acknowledged in the North Atlantic Treaty [founding document of North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- NATO]. Therefore the [UN Security] Council should be involved in any decision to resort to force." -United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, 24 Mar 1999, ~4:13:29 PM EST

"The security council alone can take a decision as to which measures, including the use of force, should be taken in order to maintain or restore international peace and security. These decisions, with regard to Yugoslavia, were not taken by the Security Council of the United Nations." -Russian President Boris Yeltsin, statement read to UN General Assembly, 24 Mar 1999, ~6:02:42 PM EST

-Casualty reports indicate the NATO bombing resulted in the death of approximately 5000 Serb military personnel and 2000 Serb civilians, not to mention the displacement of nearly 1 million refugees and the deaths of an uncounted number of Kosovar civilians killed by NATO bombs. -LRW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 9, 1999 9:00 a.m.
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Evidence of Nato Crimes Presented to Prosecutor
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(The Hague, 9 June 1999) Legal representatives from Canada, Greece, Norway and the United Kingdom met today for two and a half hours with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour and senior members of her legal staff in The Hague. The lawyers presented what they believe to be compelling evidence of war crimes committed by Nato in its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. Arbour reaffirmed that the tribunal has jurisdiction over any crimes committed by individual Nato leaders in Yugoslavia and welcomed the submissions as useful to the Tribunal in carrying out its mandate. Arbour did not disclose the nature of any ongoing investigation of NATO crimes citing a firm rule of the Tribunal against doing so before it is ready to announce an indictment.
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The lawyers charged Nato leaders with grave violations of international criminal law in causing civilian death, injury and destruction. They underlined that ample evidence was available to justify prosecution of indivdual Nato leaders and promised to continue providing the Prosecutor with evidence to further substantiate the charges.
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Appearing before the tribunal were Alexander Lykouzeros of Greece, Andr?avik of Norway, Glen Rwangala of the United Kingdom and Alejandro Teitelbaum of the American Association of Jurists and professor Michael Mandel of Canada. 'We told the Prosecutor that the tribunal's credibility was on the line,' said Mandel. 'This is a historic opportunity to demonstrate the even-handedness of international justice. A failure to indict Nato leaders would be a severe blow to international law.
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Contacts:

Michael Mandel (Canada): mmandel@yorku.ca

Alexandros Lykourezos (Greece): lykourez@otenet.gr

Alejandro Teitelbaum (France): assamjur@alo.com

Glen Rangwala (UK): gr10009@cam.ac.uk

Andr?avik (Norway): balkan@balkan.cc
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http://news.beograd.com/saopstenja/evidence_of_nato_crimes_presented.html [my server cannot find this URL -LRW] (and thanx to Biophilos@flinet.com)

Perhaps it would be in order for those who think NATO leaders ALSO committed "crimes against humanity" to show support. E-MAIL the above representatives (and the so-called "International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia", particularly Louise Arbour, and tell them what you think. -LRW

No indictments were brought against any of NATO's "individual leaders" -- nor any charges whatsoever against NATO. -LRW, November 4, 2001, 05:18:59

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