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CPUSA National Board on Yugoslavia
From People's Weekly World, 14/08/01 10:38:31
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CPUSA re Yugoslavia: Protest Milosevic's
extradition; bring the real
criminals to justice
Statement of the National Board, Communist Party USA.
The CPUSA strongly condemns the undemocratic and illegal extradition of
President Slobodan Milosevic to the International Criminal Tribunal for
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. This action was in violation of
international law, including the United Nations Charter. It contravened the
Constitution of the Federal Republic (FRY), the decisions of the FRY
Parliament, and the ruling of its Constitutional Court. Even the current
Yugoslav President Kostunica, in response to mass sentiment, criticized the
abduction claiming it transpired without his knowledge.
This illegal move by various Yugoslav officials took place in the context
of long-term and intense economic and political destabilization on the part
of the U.S. government, including the earlier dismemberment of the former
Yugoslavia under U.S. pressure. It took place under economic blackmail --
the promise of loans if orders were obeyed. It took place in the context of
the unprecedented 78 day US/NATO bombing in 1999, which cost many civilian
lives and destroyed much of the infrastructure of Yugoslavia. It is an act
of vengeance and imposition of "justice" by the "winners"
of a one-sided
aggressive war.
The true targets of the extradition of President Milosevic are the Serb
people and the entire Yugoslav nation. The goal is to silence any
resistance to the U.S. military and globalization policies of the giant
corporations who seek energy and oil profits, who seek to plunder the newly
privatized Yugoslav enterprises and resources and to take advantage of
slave wages for highly skilled labor. The goal is to further open the way
for NATO expansion eastward toward the oil-rich Caspian Sea basin and
Central Asia
All of this is being carried out in an atmosphere of unprecedented media
lies and demonization aimed at the Serbs and other Yugoslavs who resisted
NATO aggression, and who continue to stand up against the attacks on their
sovereignty and the further dismantling of their nation. It is also aimed
at any country that dares to resist the imperial
"New World Order," being relentlessly pursued by the Bush
Administration.
This is the real meaning of the "show trial" of Milosevic. Already,
the
fascist-like repression by the current Yugoslav leadership, installed by
the West using hundreds of millions of dollars, is being escalated. Anyone
who speaks out is threatened with being rounded up. The mechanism used is
The Hague tribunal's "secret" list of "war criminals."
The Hague tribunal on Yugoslavia was illegally set up by the UN Security
Council in the face of great pressure by U.S. officials. It is under the
financial and political control of the U.S. and some of its NATO allies.
Gigantic corporate foundations provide a large portion of the financing. By
contrast the U.S. government has not ratified and refuses to take part in
the new International Criminal Court (ICC) currently being legally
constituted by the UN, because it wants to avoid having any U.S. citizens
tried by that court. Similarly, Washington has ignored rulings against the
U.S. arrived at by the International Court of Justice which was established
under the UN Charter.
Milosevic sits in a prison at The Hague while war criminals like Arial
Sharon who was directly responsible for 1982 massacre of thousands of
Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Chatilla camps, and Henry Kissinger, who
presided over the slaughter of thousands of civilians in Vietnam, Cambodia,
East Timor and Chile while National Security Adviser to the U.S.
government, escape justice for their "crimes against humanity." The
"war
crimes" and "crimes against humanity" involved in the bombing
and killing
of civilians and the destruction of their homes, factories, public
services, hospitals, and environment, perpetrated by the leaders of the
U.S. and its NATO allies two years ago should be prosecuted.
It is certain that President Milosevic can never receive a fair trial at
The Hague tribunal. The ICTY has no respect for any of the basic principles
of law including the presumption of innocence until proved guilty. The
pending "trial" of Milosevic promises to trample on elementary
democratic
rights and due process and will lead to greater suffering and to a
dangerous escalation of conflicts not only in Yugoslavia but throughout the
Balkans.
The CPUSA calls for the immediate release of President Milosevic. It also
demands that no other Yugoslav nationals be sent to The Hague.
The CPUSA calls on the Yugoslav and Serbian authorities to cease the
arbitrary kidnapping, arrest, harassment and persecution of former Yugoslav
leaders, soldiers, and working people. It calls for the immediate release
of the 250 members of the Socialist Party of Serbia and United Left who
have been arrested on trumped up political charges.
Furthermore, the CPUSA demands that the Bush administration cease
financial, political, economic, military and all other forms of
interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, in accordance with the
United Nations Charter.
The NATO leaders themselves who inflicted a brutal aggression against the
people of Yugoslavia, and who are continuing those crimes today in
Macedonia, using Albanian mercenaries and other surrogate and private
armies, should be brought to justice.
