The Yugoslavian has been engaged in ethnic cleansing in Kosovo for some time. NATO has launched a military operation against Yugoslavia.
These two sentences are addressing two facts. But at the same time they also include some questions.
Racist, fascist characteristics of the Yugoslavian government are well known from the Bosnia Herzegovina war. Trials in the Hague are continuing against those who committed crimes declared as ‘crimes against humanity’ during this war. Serbian government has waged a war disregarding the rules of war. Now, the same approach and the same philosophy are used in Kosovo. Thousands of Albanian and Turkish Muslims are being deported from their lands, all kinds of atrocities are committed against civilians. What should have been done in this case? First of all, the world public opinion should have shown their sensitivity by standing up against these practices. Secondly, United Nations should have used their appropriate mechanisms to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, none of these have been done and instead of such measures, an allied power, NATO is operating on this problem. Thus, NATO has breached the authorization and functions of the UN. There is a question regarding the legitimacy and unlawful practices. While trying to protect Muslims in Kosovo, civilians in Serbia have been the target of bomb attacks. The main aim of the UN is to preserve peace in the world. But NATO has used an authority which, in fact, has not been granted. NATO is an organization which comprised of some certain states. Thus, other states have subjected to NATO threat. Only the reason that people in Kosovo are under hard conditions is not enough as a basis to launch military operations against other countries. This right can only be exercised by the UN on the authority granted by the people of the world. All the peoples should be informed on the NATO plans and the limitations of its current military operations. And this should be done by the authorization of an international organization which is recognized by all countries. Thus, one can rely on the information in related matters. However, NATO is an organization which has an information network only among its member states.
– There is no doubt that Serbian government has threatened peace in Balkans and in the world. But the military strike of NATO is also a serious threat in terms of the protection of peace in the world. Nowadays, almost the entire coverage on TV channels and world press are about those who stand behind the war. World press shows only very little interest for those whose opinions and activities are in favor of peace. Serbian demonstrators worldwide keep their silence on their governments racist and fascist atrocities and watch the murders of Muslims in –Kosovo. On the other hand, Kosovo Albanians, abroad, who in fact are oppressed, want Yugoslavia to be bombed more and more. There is no consideration for questions such as who is bombing and why they are bombing.
We wish to remind some lines from “Philosophical Essays on a Forever Peace” written by Emmanuel Kant:
“Any Treaty which implies any acceptable reason for fight cannot be considered a treaty of Peace”.
“Any independent states, be it big or small, should never be under the sovereignty of any other state by inheritance, exchange and trade or by gift”
“Permanent armies should be abolished as time passes.” “A state, should never become indebted through activities which are in support of its foreign interests”
“No state should forcibly interfere with another state’s main institutions or government.”
“No state, in a war, should act in a way which may obstruct confidence between the states for a possible peace process in the future. Some examples of such acts are as follows: To use murder, to use poison against hostile states, to act against agreements of capitulation, to incite the people of the hostile country to acts of treason against their own state etc .. ”
The Human Rights Association (HRA) is an organization which defends peace unconditionally. HRA believes that all peoples are the brothers and sisters of each other. For us, Albanians and Turks in Kosovo, and Serbian people are our brothers in terms of human dignity. Although current murders committed by Serbian forces who are acting in the name of Serbian people and by other killers are degrading and shameful for humanity, these crimes cannot be deemed as the crimes of the Serbian people.
We believe that to solve this problem: the UN should take all the initiative; Serbian war forces and criminal organizations should withdraw from Kosovo, any necessary measures should be taken to allow refugees from Kosovo to return their homes, the will of the Kosovo people should be respected, a negotiation process for a peaceful solution should be initiated. Hüsnü Ondül . Secretary General