>=========================== >The Committee for National Solidarity >Tolstojeva 34, 11000 Belgrade, YU > >APPEAL TO THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD >REGARDING THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS BY NATO FORCES ON THE >TERRITORY OF FR OF YUGOSLAVIA > >Although anti-armour weapons containing depleted uranium undoubtedly produce >severe consequences to human health and environment, they were used in the >course of NATO military operations against FR of Yugoslavia. Additionaly, a >recent documents and articles have revealed reasons to believe that depleted >uranium might not have only been used in anti-armour shells, but also in >larger projectiles. > >I - Established facts about the use of depleted uranium > >Since the beginning of hostilities, on March 24, 1999, officials of the >North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have, on many occasions, admitted >that certain types of aircraft involved in the operation were using bullets >made of depleted uranium (DU) against armoured units of the Yugoslav >Army.[1] > >Depleted uranium is a by-product from the production of enriched fuel for >nuclear reactors and weapons, and represents one of the largest categories >of radioactive waste.[2] DU is highly toxic to humans both chemically as a >heavy metal and radiologically as an alpha-particle emitter. That is why >weapons made of this material are inhumane and have an indiscriminate >effect.[3] The use of such weapons is contrary to international law >regarding the rules and customs of war, the protection of civilian persons >in time of war and the protection of environment.[4] United Nations >Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the former >Sub-Commisssion on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of >Minorities), the main subsidiary body of the United Nations Commission on >Human Rights, had condemned the use of weaponry containing DU together with >the use of other weapons of mass destruction and with indiscriminate >effect.[5] > >By firing DU bullets during the most recent bombardments, NATO also >disregarded the results of numerous expert analyses indicating that the use >of DU shells during operation the Desert Storm in Kuwait and Southern Iraq >was related to a specific illness, the so-called Gulf War Syndrome, >afflicting probably more than 90.000 allied soldiers, as well as inflicting >serious long-lasting damage to the health of the local population.[6] The >most severe reported consequences to the health of contaminated persons were >the initiation of new or promotion of existing cancers, as well as changes >in the genetic material, the latter ones influencing the offspring.[7] It >appears that official institutions of the United States of America have not >seriously denied such reports.[8] Today, similar effects can be observed in >Republic of Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where DU weapons had been >used by NATO during 1995. [9] > >The danger of the use of DU to human health and to the environment lies in >the fact that DU burns when piercing the target, [10] releasing >uranium-oxide, a radioactive aerosol, which contains alpha-particles. This >aerosol is light, thus able to travel by air and be carried by wind over >long distances, contaminating the air, water, agricultural areas, and, >consequently, the food-chain. A particularly dangerous threat to health lies >in the possibility that such particles are inhaled or ingested, in which >case they could even penetrate tissues and enter the bloodstream, directly >irradiating organs and blood. [11] > >II - The possibility that a new kind of DU weapons was used in FRY > >A number of recent documents and articles revealed reasons to believe that >depleted uranium might not have only been used in anti-armour shells, but >also in larger projectiles (e.g. cruise missiles or bombs). > >In that case, the use of weapons containing DU, although forbidden even >against military targets, would not have been limited to Kosovo and Metohija >only, the region which was the only battlefield where NATO was trying to >neutralize Yugoslav armoured units. NATO airplanes bombed various structures >throughout FRY. For example, continous attacks on industrial plants, >buildings, bunkers and airports had been taking place in Belgrade. > >If the weapons used to destroy buildings, industrial plants, bridges, roads, >bunkers, airports and other structures in FRY did contain DU, then much >larger quantities of this material could have contaminated highly populated >areas and thus ???pardized the health of numerous Yugoslav citizens. > >III Grounds > >The above stated possibility is based on the following documents and >reports: > >1. The article NATO using depleted uranium weapons, by Felicity Arbuthnot >and Darran Gardner, published on April 4, 1999, in Sunday Herald Glasgow, >Scotland: ...Both Tomahawk cruise missiles and munitions rounds used by >American Warthog bombers (A-10) contain the radioactive waste material... > >2. The statement of the Russian foreign minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, of April >8, 1999, that ...NATO is using new types of missiles with radioactive >components. [12] > >3. The article posted on the website of Coghill Research Labaratories, The >use of depleted uranium bullets and bombs by NATO forces in Yugoslavia, of >April 8, 1999: The public at large, both in UK and in Yugoslavia, are >unaware that 30 mm bullets being fired by A-10 anti-tank aircraft and >probably all Tomahawk cruise missiles in this action contain depleted >uranium (DU)... [13] > >4. The statement of Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, denouncing that cruise >missiles used in operations of NATO forces in FRY contained depleted >uranium. [14] > >5. The article Is NATO using Depleted Uranium in Yugoslavia?, by Mr. Peter >Johnson, Editor of the Socialist Labor Magazine, April 12, 1999: ...But >even more unsettling is the significant evidence that laser and >satellite-guided bombs and missiles may also be produced using D.U. [15] > >6. Reports on increased radioactivity in neighbouring countries, one of >which is the statement of Prof. Zerefos, an environmental chemist from the >Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, of April 13, 1999: the first >three days of bombing above Yugoslavia released a large amount of hazardous >toxic, carcinogenic and radioactive substances. [16] Prof. Zerefos >precisely referred to radioactivity measured after the first three days of >bombing, when there could not have been any low flying anti-tank >engagements. > >7. Another report on increased radioactivity was broadcast by the London TV >station Channel 4 on May 15, 1999. The news was that radioactivity in the >Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), a neighbouring country of >Serbia, was measured to be eight times the normal. The Channel 4 report >linked the increased radioactivity to NATO`s use of the depleted uranium >bombs. > >8. Major General Boris Alekseyev, chief of the Russian Army`s environmental >safety department, stated on May 27, among other things, that NATO planes >had rather extensively used shells with cores made of depleted uranium, and >that such shells were used against tanks and concrete installations >(Itar-TASS). > >9. The Yugoslav news agency Beta reported on June 27, 1999, of an article >published in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, about increased >alpha-ray radioactivity in Southern Hungary. In the vicinity of the towns >Pecuj and Segedin, along the border with FRY, this kind of radioactivity was >measured to be thirty to fifty times higher than in Budapest. Magyar Nemzet >also found out that Hungarian scientists were conducting examinations in the >area, focusing on the possible presence of uranium-oxide. > >According to the official NATO press releases, ?nti-armour missions at low >altitudes usually have not been conducted outside the territory of the >Kosovo and Metohija region during the campaign. Therefore, as it would be >highly unlikely that such a large concentration of uranium-oxide could have >travelled across whole Serbia, over approximately 400 kilometres of >mountainious terrain, from Kosovo and Metohija in the south to Hungary in >the north, the most probable explanation for increased radioactivity in >Hungary should not be connected to armour piercing ammunition, but to some >other kind of weapons which NATO used throughout FRY, i.e. at least in its >northern parts. > >IV Appeal > >It is our moral duty > >to bring to attention of the world`s public the fact that radioactive and >poisonous depleted uranium weapons were used on the territory of the Federal >Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) by armed forces of the countries - members of >the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), from March 24 to June 10, >1999, > >to warn the public of the world about a possibility that depleted uranium >was used during NATO military operations against FRY not only in >armour-piercing bullets, but also in warheads of larger projectiles, >especially cruise missiles and bombs, >and to appeal to the world`s conscience that use of such illegitimate and >illegal means of warfare never again become possible to any warring party. > >We would also like to appeal to all universities, academic and scientific >institutions and organizations, professors, lecturers and academics, as well >as to all the governments, political parties, professional associations and >unions, writers` and artists` associations, writers, artists and >intellectuals, and to all people of good will > >to condemn the use of depleted uranium weapons against FR of Yugoslavia, > >to support thorough research on the effects these weapons have produced on >the population and environment of FRY, as well as to neighbouring states, >under the auspicies of the United Nations. > >Finally, we suggest that authorities of the FR of Yugoslavia start >collecting all evidence and reports on forbidden methods of warfare used by >NATO, especially depleted uranium weapons, and that all the material >collected be open to the public. > >Notes: > >[1] - NATO announcement in Europe, March 30, 1999; - Alex Kirby, Pentagon >confirms depleted uranium use, Aftermath of a raid: Is depleted uranium >adding to the hazards?, report on BBC, May 7, 1999. > >[2] Depleted uranium is composed mainly of the uranium isotope U-238 and is >called "depleted" because it has a lower content of the isotope U-235 than >normal. DU is 2.5 times denser than steel, and 1.7 times denser than lead. >Until now, it was generally known that following weapons in NATO possession >contain DU: >1. 120 mm cal. cannon shells, used by US M1A1 Abrams and Britain`s >Challenger tanks (as well as 155 mm cal. cannon shells for fixed and mobile >artillery pieces); >2. 30 mm and 20 mm cal. bullets for: - GAU-8 A/B Avenger cannon mounted >on A-10 Warthog (Thunderbolt II) aircraft (30 mm cal); - US and British Navy >Phalanx gun systems (20 mm cal); - cannons carried by AH-64 A/D Apache (30 >mm cal) and AH-1 Cobra (20 mm) helicopters. >For the same reason, its high density, DU is probably used also in the >production of armour. Similar effects can be obtained by a more expensive >alternative to DU - tungsten alloy. > >[3] - Dr Rosalie Bertell, War in Kosovo: Use of depleted uranium, posted >on URL: http://www.flora.org/flora.mai-not/10957 , March 31, 1999; - Dr >Helen Caldicott, A New Kind of Nuclear War, in Metal of Dishonor: >Depleted Uranium How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU >Weapons, New York City: International Action Center, 1997. > >[4] Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and >Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts >(Protocol I of 1977) prohibits employment of weapons, projectiles and >material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or >unnecessary suffering (Article 35, paragraph 2), as well as employment of >methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to >cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment >(Article 35, paragraph 3; also: Article 55). The use of DU weapons also >violates provisions of the same Protocol, regarding the protection of >civilian population against effects of hostilities (Article 48; Article 51, >paragraphs: 1, 4-c, 5-b; Article 57, paragraph 2-a-ii). See also: Convention >with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, July 29, >1899 (Hague, II); Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, >The Hague, October 18, 1907 (Hague, IV); Protocol for the Prohibition of the >Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological >Methods of Warfare, Geneva, June 17, 1925; Convention Relative to the >Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 1949; Declaration of >the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972; >Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling >of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons, and on their Destruction, >1972; Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Report of the United >Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June >1992, Annex I). > >[5] UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of >Minorities Resolution 1996/16, August 29, 1996, E/CN.4/SUB.2/RES/1996/16; UN >Press Release, September 4, 1996, HR/CN/755; UN Sub-Commission on Prevention >of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Resolution 1997/36, August >28, 1997, E/CN.4/SUB.2/RES/1997/36. > >[6] At least 300 tons of DU particles and dust have been scattered over >Kuwait and Southern Iraq, according to studies published in the book Metal >of Dishonor..., New York: IAC, 1997. > >[7] - Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium How the Pentagon Radiates >Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons, New York City: International Action >Center, 1997; - Dr Rosalie Bertell, op. cit.; - Health and Environmental >Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the US Army, Army Environmental >Policy Institute (AEPI), June 1995; - Operation Desert Storm: Army Not >Adequately Prepared to Deal With Depleted Uranium Contamination, US General >Accounting Office (GAO/NSIAD-93-90), January 1993, pp. 17-18.; - Christine >Abdelkrim-Delanne, "Ces armes si peu conventionneles", Le Monde >Diplomatique, Juin 1999, URL - >http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1999/06/ABDELKRIM_DELANNE/12106.html > >[8] - Kathleen Sullivan, Uranium bullets on NATO holsters, San Francisco >Examiner, April 1, 1999; - Nick Cohen, Depleted uranium: deadly weapon, >deadly legacy?, Guardian, May 9, 1999. > >[9] The denunciation to the Prosecutor of ICTY, in the Hague, filed by the >Association of Serbs from B.&H, concerning the use of DU by NATO in >Republika Srpska, in 1995. > >[10] This is why anti-armour DU shells do not contain any explosives. > >[11] Dr Rosalie Bertell, op. cit. > >[12] Alex Kirby, Uranium weapons fear in Kosovo A-10 can fire depleted >uranium shells, report on BBC, April 9, 1999 > >[13] Coghill Research Labaratories, Lower Race, Pontypool, Gwent NP4 5UH, >UK, http://www.cogreslab.demon.co.uk/WEBDU.htm > >[14] Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Impacts of NATO`s Humanitarian Bombings, >The Balance Sheet of Destruction in Yugoslavia, Ottawa, April 11, 1999. > >[15] In Defense of Marxism magazine - >http://www.marxist.com/Europe/uranium.html > >[16] Natasha Dokovska, A New Chernobyl in the Balkans, Environment News >Service (ENS), 1999, posted on >http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr99/1999L-04-13-01.html > >Signatories: > > 1. Prof. Oliver Antic, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of >Belgrade > 2. Prof. Dimitrios Papasteriou, Dean of the Law School, Aristotle >University of Thessaloniki > 3. Prof. Jana Kativali Tsiptsiou, Law School, Aristotle University of >Thessaloniki > 4. Prof. Haralambos Papastatis, Law School, Aristotle University of >Thessaloniki > 5. Prof. Ratko Markovic > 6. Prof. Miodrag Orlic > 7. Prof. Du?an Jakovljevic > 8. Academician Vlajko Brajic > 9. Prof. Milan Paunovic > 10. Prof. Borivoje ?underic > 11. Academician Slobodan Perovic > 12. Prof. Dragoljub Stojanovic > 13. Prof. Milan Pak > 14. Prof. Mirko Vasiljevic > 15. Prof. Zoran Stojanovic > 16. Prof. ?orde Ignjatovic > 17. Prof. Jugoslav Stankovic > 18. Prof. Mirjana Todorovic > 19. Miljko Valjarevic, General Secretary of the Faculty of Law > 20. Prof. Vladeta Stankovic > 21. Prof. Miroljub Labus > 22. Prof. Sima Avramovic > 23. Prof. Veroljub Rajovic > 24. Prof. Jovica Trkulja > 25. Prof. Kosta Cavo?ki > 26. Prof. Danilo Basta > 27. Prof. ?orde Lazin > 28. Prof. Svetislav Taboro?i > 29. Prof. Emilija Vukadin > 30. Prof. Stevan Lilic > 31. Slobodan Rakitic, writer, President of the Association of Writers of >Serbia > 32. Daniel Schiffer, philosopher, France > 33. Tanasije Mladenovic, writer > 34. Radomir Andric, writer > 35. Predrag R. Dragic Kijuk, writer > 36. Milorad R. Blecic, writer > 37. Academician Adam Puslojic > 38. Dr Nadja Teshich, writer > 39. Moma Dimic, writer > 40. Milica Jeftimijevic Lilic, writer > 41. Radoslav Bratic, writer > 42. Ratko Adamovic, writer > 43. ?orde J. Janic, writer > 44. Predrag Bogdanovic Ci, writer > 45. Academician Nedjo ?ipovac > 46. Gordana Pavicevic, assistant professor > 47. Prof. Dejan Popovic > 48. Branko Lubarda, assistant professor > 49. Marko ?urdevic, assistant > 50. Momcilo Ristic, assistant > 51. Aleksandra Rabrenovic, ?ssistant > 52. Slobodan Panov, assistant professor > 53. Prof. Dragan Mitrovic > 54. Gordana Ilic Popov, assistant professor > 55. Marinka Cetinic, assistant professor > 56. Milan ?kulic, assistant professor > 57. Prof. Vladimir Milic > 58. Prof. Dragutin ?o?kic > 59. Milan Parivodic, assistant > 60. Branko Rakic, assistant > 61. Mihajlo Grozdanovic, attorney > 62. Branislav Crncevic, writer > 63. Academician Rajko Petrov Nogo > 64. Du?ka Vrhovac, writer > 65. Prof. Nada Milo?evic ?ordevic > 66. Dobrosav Smiljanic, writer > 67. Alek Vukadinovic, writer > 68. ?arko Komanin, writer > 69. Srba Ignjatovic, writer > 70. Marko Radulovic, Ph.D. > 71. Prof. Mirko Zurovac > 72. Branislav Cirlic, writer > 73. Tiodor Rosic, writer > 74. Zoran Kostic, writer > 75. Cedomir Mirkovic, writer > 76. Miroslav Josic Vi?njic, writer > 77. Prof. Rado? Lju?ic > 78. Ljubica Miletic, writer > 79. Academician Matija Beckovic > 80. Petar Cvetkovic, writer > 81. Academician Milorad Ekmecic > 82. Academician Dragoljub Nedeljkovic > 83. Zoran Milic, writer > 84. Dimitrije Tasic, writer > 85. Jovan Delic, writer > 86. Jovan Bukelic, M.D, psychiatrist > 87. Branko Popovic, writer > 88. Prof. Vaso Milincevic > 89. Ljubi?a Jeremic, Ph.D, writer > 90. Predrag Protic, writer > 91. Milivoje Majstorovic, writer > 92. Academician Stevan Raickovic > 93. Milisav Savic, Ph.D, writer > 94. Du?anka S. Subotic Homen, attorney > 95. Milan Mikovic, attorney > 96. Prof. M. Vartabedijan, artist > 97. Predrag Konstantinovic > 98. Olga Turcinovic > 99. Irena Ristic >100. Du?an Rakitic >101. Juna Moric, writer , Russia >102. Vitaly Sentalinski, writer , Russia >103. Bogdan Jamedzija, Ph. D, President of the Association of Serbs from B.& >H. in Serbia >104. Viacheslav Kyprianov, writer , Russia >105. Ranko Jovovic, writer > >Signing began on June 28, 1999, in Belgrade > >Secretary General >Mrs. Jela Jovanovic >Art historian >=========================== <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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