From: Franklin Wayne Poley 
Subject: SNET: [PublicLabor] 50 Schools Hit By US/NATO Bombing (fwd)
Date: 18 Apr 1999 12:42:55 -0400
To: HumanRights@onelist.com


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Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 23:10:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Mellor 
Reply-To: PublicLabor@onelist.com
To: publiclabor@onelist.com
Subject: [PublicLabor] 50 Schools Hit By US/NATO Bombing

From: aactivist@igc.org (Richard Mellor)

 Human and Trade Union Rights
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 WAR IN KOSOVO


     31 March 1999: letter from the Teachers' Union of Serbia to EI
     1 April 1999: reply from Education International to the Teachers'
     Union of Serbia
     2 April 1999: letter from the Education workers' union of Serbia
     (Nezavisnost) to EI
     9 April 1999: second letter from the Teachers' Union of Serbia to
     EI


Communication between the Teachers' Union of Serbia and Education
International

     TEACHERS UNION OF SERBIA
     Belgrade, 31 March 1999

     Colleague Van Leeuwen,

     Dear Colleague,

     The brutal attack on Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO forces
     is an attack on the ideals, objectives and principles of United
     Nations as well.  Human reason commands to put the ideals of peace
     and good future for young generation in front of other ideals.  Is
     it possible that someone has decided to bomb youth and future of
     small but sovereign country?  Our young people are dying in
     defence of our homeland, during an attack without precedent in
     comtemporary history.  That attack is a direct support to
     separatism and terrorism in Kosovo and Metochia.

     Be sure that at the end truth and justice will win over fascism,
     and blood of innocent victims will fall on the conscience of the
     few who decide about the future of the world.   Teachers in Serbia
     want to work in peace and educate the young generation as other
     teachers in the world do.

     The false presentation on your Internet site about alleged
     killings of teachers and schoolchildren is one more way of
     manipulating international public opinion.  I believe that during
     your stay in Yugoslavia you could have seen the truth personally.

     NATO agression has led to material but to spiritual catastrophy as
     well, taking into consideration that it destroyed more than 50
     schools and interrupted teaching process all over Yugoslavia.

     We ask you to appeal on mighty ones to stop the aggression against
     the innocent civil population of Serbia and Yugoslavia.  It will
     be a small but important step towards humane solutions and
     realisation of ideals of the United Nations.

     Sincerely yours

     Jagos Bulatovic

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

     EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL
     General Secretary's Office

     Brussels, 1 April 1999

     Teachers' Union of Serbia
     Mr. Jagos Bulatovic

     Dear Jagos:

     We share your deep concern over casualties that current military
     action may cause to innocent civilians and we very much regret
     that more than 50 schools have been hit. If possible, please give
     us names and locations of these schools. We would like to urge
     NATO to make every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties.

     I should remind you, however, that the NATO strike against
     Yugoslavia is the result of the refusal of your government to stop
     violating the human rights of the Albanian people of Kosovo and to
     sign the Rambouillet Agreement. Suffice it to say that all
     military action will stop as soon as your President wants it to
     stop.

     On numerous occasions during the last nine years Education
     International has appealed to the United Nations and its agencies
     and to the international community in general, to help ensure the
     rights of the Albanian people in Kosovo to retain autonomous
     status in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. We were particularly
     concerned by the situation in the education sector where Albanians
     in Kosovo were forced to operate a parallel system of education in
     order to educate their children in their own language. The appeals
     made by the Albanian Kosovars were largely ignored by the
     international community until non-violent resistance gave way to
     armed struggle. The situation has been allowed to deteriorate to
     the extent that the world is once again horrified at the ethnic
     cleansing being carried out by troops and police under authority
     of the government of your country. We have information of the
     murder and mutilation of 20 teachers in front of primary school
     pupils. This savagery cannot be explained under any circumsta
     nces. These twenty teachers are not the only ones to have been
     singled out in the last few months. Since January we now know of
     seventy-three teachers who have been murdered. We watch in horror
     the plight of refugees being forced to flee. We are equally
     concerned with the reports of refugees that indicate, once again,
     that men and boys are separated from the others and no information
     is available of their fate.

     You speak of  "an attack on the ideals, objectives and principles
     of the United Nations", of  "aggression against the innocent civil
     population of Serbia and Yugoslavia", and of a decision "to bomb
     the youth and future of a small but sovereign country". We do not
     see the NATO intervention as an act of aggression against Serbia
     civilians, nor do we consider it an attack on the UN principles
     and ideals. On the contrary, the action is aimed at protecting
     those principles and ideals, as they have been consistently
     violated by your own government. Let me also say that in my view
     the application of human rights standards should prevail over the
     principle of national sovereignty. The international community has
     a moral duty to intervene whenever crimes against humanity are
     being committed, whether it is in Rwanda, Somalia or Kosovo.

     It is hopeful indeed that, as you say, "the teachers of Serbia
     want to work in peace and educate the young generation as other
     teachers in the world do". It is unfortunate, however, that in the
     past nine years, while the teachers and children of Kosovo were
     suppressed, while they were not allowed to teach and to be taught
     in their mother language, that you have been silent. Although we
     would not expect you to stand up against your government, we are
     very surprised that apparently you feel you should support its
     policy and even to use its appalling rhetoric.

     I have been several times in Serbia and in Kosovo as have many
     other representatives of the Education International. We have
     witnessed gross violations of human rights. We have been witnesses
     of ethnic cleansing and we have seen with our own eyes the
     injustices done to the Albanian people. We have also been able to
     meet with members of your government who flatly denied any
     wrongdoing and who lied and violated the truth without blinking
     their eyes. I fully agree with you when you state that "in the end
     truth and justice will win over fascism", although I am not
     certain whether you know the meaning of these terms.
     Totalitarianism, violence, intolerance, deceit - these are the
     main ingredients of the "ideology" that we call fascism. And there
     is no doubt in our mind that these are also the ingredients that
     make up Mr. Milosovic's recipe for the Balkan.

     Isn't it about time that you wake up, that you open up your eyes,
     and that you speak out! Teachers and their unions have a very
     important role to play in revealing the truth - no matter how ugly
     that truth may be, and in promoting human rights and peace. In
     that respect we are willing to provide any possible assistance to
     your organisation and to the teachers of Serbia.

     To avoid any misunderstanding, we do sympathize with you and we
     certainly will convey your message to other members of Education
     International.

     Wishing you courage and strength, I remain

     Sincerely

     Fred VAN LEEUWEN
     General Secretary

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

     NEZAVISNOST
     Friday 2 April 1999

     Dear Colleagues,

     Education workers of Serbia are shocked by the vicious attack of
     NATO armed forces at the people and children of our country.

     We are appealing to our colleagues in the Western Europe and the
     USA in the name of all children and citizens of Serbia to sternly
     protest against the policies of the governments in question, and
     to request urgent stoppage of all attacks currently undergoing
     against our country.

     The attacks of the NATO airforces are killing young soldiers just
     finished highschool, for only one person, being that the citizen
     of Serbia cannot accept Albanian fascistic illegal efforts in
     separating Kosovo and Metohia from Serbia, its past, presence and
     future.

     For the Teachers' Union of Serbia
     Aleksander Dukic
     President

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

     TEACHERS UNION OF SERBIA
     Belgrade, 9.4.1999.

     Dear colleague Van Leeuwen,

     We ask you to remain faithful to principles of democracy and
     righteousness and after having read this letter to send it to all
     members of the International of Education. Since our last letter
     the number of schools destroyed in attacks went up to 150. We
     cannot give you for the moment a complete list with their names,
     but as soon as bombings stop we shall send it to you adding
     details and estimated damages.

     We feel obliged to answer to some of statements and claims you
     expressed in your letter using mostly political vocabulary.

     First of all, the NATO's attack on Yugoslavia was consequence of
     our state's struggle against terrorism (foreign support for
     terrorists being considerable) and our refusal to accept military
     aspects of Rambouillet agreement (this being unintentionaly or
     deliberately omited by you). Our opinion is that hardly anyone in
     this country was willing to sign it. In connection with the fact
     that you warry about violations of human rights of Albanians in
     Kosovo and Metochia and lack of possibility for them to learn in
     their own language, I must remind you that they have not been
     recognizing any institution of the Republic of Serbia (not even
     census and education) but instead were always ready to speak about
     repression by the regime and violation of human rights. Such
     reaction of Albanians was not provoked by behaviour of Serbian
     authorities. Albanians in fact never fought for some kind of
     autonomy but exclusively for independence.If anyone of them was
     killed in Kosovo and Metochia it was because he or she was in
     uniform of KLA-terrorist organization to which a part of
     international community has given legitimacy in spite of the fact
     it not only attacked policemen and soldiers but threw bombs into
     pubs full of young people. Besides, you did not take into account
     the ethnic cleansing of Serbs who were expelled from Kosovo and
     Metochia in period between 1981-1989 (not to mention period
     following the Second World War).

     Your alleged preoccupation for hundreds of thousands of refugees
     from Kosovo and Metochia seems to us highly insincere as it did
     not exist in 1995 when 300 000 Serbs persecuted by NATO and
     Croatian forces (in operation "Storm") left Croatia and Bosnia and
     fled to Yugoslavia. It seems that for you the ethnic cleansing of
     Serbs was in conformity with norms of international law.

     You may assert that NATO aggression is not the violation of UN
     ideals and principles, but please explain us why NATO has attacked
     a sovereign country without a decision made by Security Council of
     the OUN,an event without precedent in history.If you are of the
     opinion that human rights are more important than sovereignty of
     states, why don t you raise your voice against persecutions of
     Kurds in Turkey or Greeks in Nother Cyprus? Is it because Turkey
     is member of NATO?

     At the and, taking into consideration a huge number of victims
     Serbs had in war against fascism, it is offending to hear you
     expressing doubts about our knowledge of fascism. I suppose you
     don't know that during last war, only in Sumarice by Kragujevac,
     hundreds of teachers and pupils were shot in just one day.

     We simply asked you to help us to tell truth to everybody. If you
     don t want to help us, please don't give us lectures in history,
     politics and international law because Serbia is neither Somalia
     nor Rwanda nor Iraq the examples of which you have quoted. We are
     people with long and rich tradition in which struggle for
     liberation and justice was always of great importance.

     Jagos Bulatovic
     President

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Education International
     Boulevard Emile Jacqmain 155 (8th floor) - 1210 Brussels, Belgium
  For more information please contact: EI Department of Trade Union Rights
   Tel. 32.2.224.06.11 ~ Fax: 32.2.224.06.06 ~ E-mail: educint@ei-ie.org
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Education International - http://www.ei-ie.org


----------------- End Forwarded Message -----------------

Richard Mellor
2nd VP
AFSCME Local 444
Oakland CA



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