The chauvanist mentality which prevaded Serbia throughout the genocidal campaign against non-Serbs in the former Yugoslavia continues:
Human Rights Watch reports:
Yugoslavia: Harassment by Extreme Nationalists--
Serb Government Stands By
(New York, August 28, 2002) Authorities of the Yugoslav republic of
Serbia should take measures against extreme nationalists who unlawfully
harass and threaten civic activists, Human Rights Watch said today.
The New York-based group criticized the Serbian government's passivity
in the face of repeated attempts by extreme nationalists to disrupt an
exhibition of war photographs by American artist Ron Haviv, organized by
local activists. The exhibition mostly consists of photographs
documenting war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
"By failing to respond to this kind of harassment, the authorities
essentially condone it," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of
the Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. "The problem
stems from the government's reluctance to seriously confront the issue
of war crimes against non-Serbs in the former Yugoslavia. Those who wish
to talk or learn about the crimes face intimidation, and the government
tacitly consents."
In the latest incident on August 25, 2002, supporters of former Bosnian
Serb leader and war crime indictee Radovan Karadzic prevented an opening
of the exhibition in the central Serbian city of Kragujevac. The
protesters shouted nationalist slogans and insulted visitors, leading
exhibition organizers to suspend the opening. The incident in Kragujevac
follows similar events in the towns of Uzice and Cacak. Ron Haviv's
exhibition in Uzice closed on June 5, 2002, five days ahead of schedule,
when a group of nationalists took photos off the wall as the police
stood idly by. In Cacak, on July 15, protesters physically attacked one
of the organizers and injured his head; the organizers were forced to
move the exhibition from the city's Cultural Center to a smaller, less
suitable space.
Serbian law prohibits and provides for punishment for
disruption of the public peace, as well as physical attacks. To date,
the Serb authorities have failed to denounce the nationalist actions or
launch any investigations into possible criminal responsibility for the
incidents. The government has also failed to react to threats received
by human rights activists campaigning for public debate on war crimes.
In a statement published in Belgrade newspapers on August 11, 2002, an
association of Serb nationalists threatened that "in order to prevent
the anti-Serb activities of the non-governmental organizations, [the
association of Serb nationalists] will use all permissible civilized
means, and, if necessary, those that are not." The statement singled out
Natasa Kandic, director of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Center,
and also referred to other individuals involved in the campaign.
"The extremists have free rein, because the government stands aside and
does not respond," said Andersen. She said the government's dismal
record in domestic war crimes trials, and its half-hearted efforts to
cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY), made it clear why Serbian nationalists feel free to
intimidate those who seek debate on war crimes.
Since the fall of former President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000,
Yugoslavia's domestic courts have convicted only one person on war
crimes charges.
The new authorities in Belgrade have transferred five ICTY indictees to
the custody of the Hague tribunal; eight more indictees have surrendered
voluntarily. Human Rights Watch attributes the government's limited
cooperation with the ICTY to international pressure, rather than a
genuine commitment by Serb officials to uphold human rights and the rule
of law. Seventeen indictees are believed still to be at large within the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
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