From: Mrs. Jela Jovanovic Secretary General Art historian Belgrade, 25 May 1999 To: CompuSerb MEMORANDUM ON THE HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES OF NATO AGGRESSION AGAINST THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA MAY 21, 1999 UPDATE The Nato aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represents the most flagrant breach of the Charter of the United Nations, a gross violation of the Helsinki Final Act and the undermining of the very foundations of the international law and order which are primarily aimed against civilian population and structures. At the same time, this aggression which has a clear genocidal character is a crime against peace and humanity. It represents an unprecedented breach of all international conventions and covenants on human rights, as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. Over two months of NATO aerial bombardement of the FR of Yugoslavia has been endangering all basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of the entire Yugoslav population ranging from the denial of right to life to the right of information and freedom of movement. Daily destruction of bridges, railways, industrial facilities, especially chemical and pharmaceutical plants, as well as power stations has caused devastating consequences on all walks of life. The NATO aggression has also provoked enormous ecological catastrophe affecting ozone layer, polluting air, water and soil with toxic materials released from the destroyed chemical plants, and endangering wildlife in the national parks which have been regularly targeted by NATO bombers. The best proof of the contempt of NATO militarists for a political settlement of problems is their brutal bombing the FR of Yugoslavia immediately after the ministerial meeting of G-8 in Bonn on 7 May 1999, when the Embassy of the People' s Republic of China in Belgrade was destroyed. The aggressor has repeated similar bombing the same day on which the Yugoslav Army Supreme Headquarters announced the decision on a partial withdrawal of its units from Kosovo and Metohija when more than thirty towns and cities and industrial areas were struck. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has warned on time the United Nations Security Council of a possible aggression, and when the aggression started it demanded its immediate cessation and strong condemnation. Heeding this legitimate request of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would have prevented enormous human sufferings and material destruction. The most illustrative examples are given below. - I - KILLING AND PLIGHT OF THE CIVILIANS For almost two months now NATO aggressors systematically attack civilian targets in the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, directly threatening the lives and fundamental human rights of the entire Yugoslav population. By 21 May 1999, during 59 days of relentless bombing, the NATO aggressor has flown 27 000 sorties by over a thousand warplanes attacking 1 800 various targets. By the same date most of the attacks were made on Pristina, Belgrade, Prizren, Djakovica, Kraljevo, Novi Sad, Nis, Valjevo, Cacak. Furthermore, over three thousand cruise missiles have been dropped on the civilian targets thus far. Since the onset of the aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia, over ten thousand tons of explosive was dropped with the destructive effect ten times over the nuclear bomb used in the attack on Hiroshima. The NATO aggressor has killed so far more than 1 700 civilians, while over 10 thousand people sustained injuries, many of whom will remain crippled for life. At the same time, several thousand private homes and flats have been ruined, mostly in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Nis, Cuprija, Aleksinac, Kragujevac Pristina, Prizren, Valjevo, Surdulica, Kraljevo, Kursumlija, etc. (a) Killings of Civilians Caused by the Bombings of Urban and Rural Residential Areas Towns in Kosovo and Metohija: More than eight hundred civilians were killed in the bombing of Pristina, Korisa, Djakovica, Prizren, Kosovo Polje, Urosevac, Kosovska Mitrovica, Suva Reka, Istok, refugee centres in Orahovac, Djakovica, Srbica, Prizren, Vitina, etc. Belgrade: Several dozen civilians were killed and more than one hundred wounded in the bombing of various parts of the city, including its very centre: the building of Radio and Television of Serbia (16 killed and 19 wounded professional journalists and technical staff - see Chapter V-a), Embassy of the People' s Republic of China (4 employees killed and more than 50 wounded - Chapter IV), the hospital "Dragisa Misovic" (at least 3 patients were killed and several dozen wounded), the buildings of the federal and republican ministries (Chapter II-b), business centre "Usce", heating plant in Novi Beograd, hotel "Jugoslavija". Surdulica: Twenty civilians were killed (including 12 children) and over 100 wounded (including 24 seriously) during the bombing on 27 April 1999. Nis: Fifteen citizens were killed and more than 60 wounded in the bombing of the centre of the town by cluster bombs on 7 May 1999. Kursumlija: Thirteen civilians were killed and twenty-five wounded in an attack on this town on 27 April 1999. Aleksinac: Twelve civilians were killed and forty wounded in the bombing of 5 April 1999. Murino near Plav: Five civilians were killed and eight children wounded in the bombing of this village on 3 May 1999. Istok: Hundred inmates and security guards were killed and more than two hundred wounded in the bombing of the prison on 21 May 1999. There were many civilian casualties during the air strikes against Pancevo, Cacak, Vranje, Nis, Valjevo and many other cities and towns. (b) Killing of Children Children are the most vulnerable category of population most affected by war atrocities. So far several dozen hospitals were destroyed or damaged, including inter alias, the greatest maternity hospitals in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and maternity wards in other medical centres in Serbia. NATO aggressors destroyed more than 300 pre-school institutions, elementary and secondary schools and university institutions, depriving children from education. Children are forced to spend sleepless nights in shelters and deprived of elementary, health and social care. They are exposed to stresses which will permanently affect their development, by which the Convention on the rights of the child is grossly violated. Many children were killed or wounded in the bombing of civilian structures and residential areas which can be illustrated by following examples: Dozens of children were the victims of the latest attack of NATO aircraft on Albanian refugees returning to their homes in the village of Korisa when at least 87 people lost their lives. The killing of several dozen of children during the bombing of the train in Grdelica gorge on 12 April, the buss in Luzani on 1 May and buss on the Pec-Rozaje road on 3 May 1999 (See Chapter I-c). The killing of nineteen children in the refugee column near Djakovica on 14 April 1999 (Chapter I-d). The killing of twelve children during the bombing of Surdulica on 27 April 1999. The killing of nine children in the bombing of Kursumlija. The killing of seven children in Srbica from cluster bombs. The killing of six children in the bombing of a refugee centre in Djakovica. The killing of five children from the Koxa family in the village of Doganovici near Urosevac when six children were wounded by cluster bombs. Three children and two adults killed by a cluster bomb in the village of Velika Jablanica near Pec on 2 May 1999. Two children killed in Aleksinac . The killing of a three-year old girl in the Belgrade suburb of Batajnica, and many other cases. Children are most often victims of the sprinkle cluster bombs with delayed effect. The death toll on children would have been even more tragic, had the missile exploded some thirty metres from the biggest Maternity Hospital in Belgrade. (c) Killing of Passengers in Vehicles of Public Transportation Under the cynical explanation that they are hitting "moving military targets", NATO aggressors have destroyed thus far several buses and killed a great number of passengers on board. By using the most sophisticated weapons of immense destructive power against civilian population of the FR of Yugoslavia, NATO pilots have been writing down the darkest pages in the history of crimes against humanity. Listed below are some of the most loathsome crimes which they have committed. Fifty-five passengers were killed and twenty-six wounded in the Grdelica gorge during the attack on the international passenger train on the Belgrade-Thessaloniki line on 12 April 1999. Sixty passengers lost their lives and four were wounded during the bombing of the "Nis ekspres" coach near the village of Luzani. On that occasion NATO warplanes bombed also the ambulance which came to help the victims when one doctor was injured on 1 May 1999. Twenty people were killed and twenty were injured during the attack on the coach on the Pec-Rozaje line on 3 May 1999. (d) Killing and Plight of Refugees Particularly tragic is the fate of ethnic Albanian refugees, who convinced that they should not believe the propaganda ploys on the alleged "ethnic cleansing" decided to return to their homes in Kosovo and Metohija. Legal authorities of the FR of Yugoslavia encourage them every day to do so and guarantee their safety. On 14 April 1999, 75 citizens of the FR of Yugoslavia were killed and over 40 of them sustained serious injuries in the bombing of a large group of refugees on the Djakovica-Prizren road. The attack of NATO aircraft was systematically prepared and lasted for three hours. In this way, NATO has in the most brutal way "demonstrated" that innocent civilians are constantly abused for NATO interests. The NATO's bombing of ethnic Albanian refugees in the village of Korisa in early morning hours on 14 May 1999, when 87 civilians, mostly women and children were killed and 67 sustained serious injuries, was a deliberate massacre designed to prevent the return of ethnic Albanian refugees. In this brutal attack NATO used at least 8 highly destructive and incendiary termovisual bombs which develop temperature up to 2000 Centigrade . Over one hundred refugees were killed during the NATO bombing of refugee camps in which Serbs expelled from Croatia and Bosnia and Hercegovina were accommodated (Djakovica, Pristina, Kursumlija, etc). The victims were mostly the elderly, the frail and children. Thus, their tragic exodus which was brought about in the wake of the break-up of Yugoslavia was ruthlessly ended. The continuous indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets in the FR of Yugoslavia affects in various ways the entire population. In some of the hardest hit areas in Kosovo and Metohija, the facilities of social infrastructure and supply lines were destroyed. By its uninterrupted bombings the aggressor makes it impossible for those in need to get help and in many cases it has even targeted the ambulances and their emergency medical teams. Therefore, a number of citizens are forced to find shelter in a safer place. Such development recorded in all areas in the world affected by warfare, NATO propaganda has systematically blown out of proportion by a claim of alleged "humanitarian catastrophe" trying thereby to make its aggression legitimate. - II- SUFFERING AND INTIMIDATION OF CIVILIAN POPULATION (a) The Use of Graphite Bombs and Destruction of Electric Power System of the FR of Yugoslavia The use of graphite bombs, which have caused short circuits on long-distance power transmission lines and collapse of the electric power system of Serbia is an incomprehensible example of inflicting mass suffering on population. More than five million citizens of Serbia were affected by blackout following the first attack by this highly inhuman weapon on 2 May 1999 at 9.50 p.m. and thus they could not meet their elementary needs (health, hygiene, etc). The most severely affected are hospitals (particularly maternity hospitals - incubators, etc), including all patients (especially emergency cases and those in intensive care units and on life support apparatus). The power failure affected also the residents in cities who live in the high-rises, water supply systems, bakeries, frozen food stocks, etc . The graphite bombs were also used on 7 May 1999 in the evening hours. Immediately after the power failure in entire Belgrade started the most fierce bombing raid against Belgrade (bombing of the Chinese Embassy, hotel "Jugoslavija", repeated bombing of the Ministry of Defence, the headquarters of the General Staff of the Army of Yugoslavia, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the buildings of the federal and republican ministries of the interior, etc. The aggressor continued to use this inhuman weapon in line with its threat that "the switch for electricity is in its hand" and that it can cause suffering of the population whenever it likes to do so. On 22 May 1999, along with graphite bombs NATO attacked with highly powerful missiles Kolubara thermo power plant in Vreoce causing again a blackout in the large part of Serbia. On 23 May 1999 NATO struck power plants in Obrenovac, Kostolac, Bajina Basta and Djerdap. These attacks clearly indicate that NATO`s intention is not only to cause a temporary interruption of electrical power supply system but rather to deprive the entire population of the FR of Yugoslavia of electricity causing thereby a nation wide humanitarian catastrophe. The use of this type of bombs as well as the use of the prohibited weapons such as cluster bombs, land mines and uranium depleted ammunition is in contradiction with the Convention on inhuman weapons of 10 October 1980. (b) Bombing of the Government Buildings and Institutions The bombings and destruction of objects and institutions, which symbolize the State and national identity, are aimed at harassing, intimidating and terrorizing the population and injuring their national pride. Thus, the buildings of the federal and republican ministries of the interior (3 April 1999), of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija and the Provincial Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (7 April 1999), the headquarters of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (19 April 1999), the Ministry of Defense and General Staff of the Yugoslav Army (30 April and 7 May 1999), the Government of the Republic of Serbia (7 May 1999) were deliberately wantonly. The buildings of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the surrounding buildings, of great historical value were also severely damaged. The repeated bombing on 7 May of already destroyed buildings of the Ministry of Defence and General Staff of the Army of Yugoslavia, federal and republican ministries of the interior with ever greater consequences to the surrounding buildings including the building of the Federal Foreign Ministry which cannot be used for a longer period of time for normal activities represents an example of extreme brutality of NATO aggressors. - III - ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC The bombing of the residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 22 April 1999 represents an organised terrorist act without precedent in the history of modern Europe. This is not only a crime against a Head of a sovereign State, but primarily an attack on the democratically expressed will of a people and thus against the fundamental democratic values of the civilisation. This NATO attack represents a flagrant violation of the Convention on the protection and punishment of the crime committed against persons under international protection including diplomatic agents from 1973. This crime has caused abhorrence and condemnation by international public, but the United Nations Security Council failed to condemn this terrorist act as well as numerous killings of civilians and children. - IV - BOMBING OF THE EMBASSY OF THE PR OF CHINA AND THE CONSULATE OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC AND THE RESIDENCE OF THE SWEDISH AMBASSADOR In the most fierce bombing of Belgrade so far, in the night between 7 and 8 May 1999, NATO aircraft hit with three missiles the building of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in New Belgrade. Four employees were killed and more than 50 were wounded including a dozen who sustained severe injuries. This unseen crime fits into NATO strategy to undermine and discourage all on-going efforts of a constructive part of the international community, to which PR of China undoubtedly belongs, to stop the aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia and to have the problems in Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija resolved by political means. The Consulate of the Hellenic Republic in Nis was hit on 8 May 1999 during the bombing of the bridge on the Nisava river. The building of the Consulate as well as several official vehicles were badly damaged. In the attack on the nearby Belgrade hospital on 20 and 21 May 1999, the residences of the Swedish, Libyan, Swedes, Iraqui, Pakistani, Italian, Hungarian, Norwegian and Indian ambassadors were also damaged. Although the ambassadors were in the buildings at the time nobody was injured. The bombing of embassies and consulates in the FRY, as well as the headquarters of the Yugoslav diplomacy on two occasions represents a barbaric attack by NATO aggressors on diplomacy and violation of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations. - V - CRIME AGAINST THE FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA The aim of the destruction of a great number of private radio and television stations and more than two dozen TV transmitters and relay stations was to suppress the right to a different opinion and to further expand war-mongering manipulation with the world public. Clearly, the intention of NATO aggressors is to prevent the world public from learning the extensive scope of their crimes, as well as to impose on the world their totalitarian and single-minded perception. The censorship imposed by NATO generals on Western media is an illustrative example of this practice. (a) Bombing of Radio and Television of Serbia in Belgrade On 23 April 1999, NATO aggressors demolished the building of the Radio and Television of Serbia in Belgrade, the largest radio and TV company in the Balkans. On that occasion 16 employees of the Radio and Television of Serbia lost their lives while 19 sustained severe injuries. (b) Bombing of Radio and Television of Serbia in Novi Sad On 3 May 1999, NATO destroyed the building of the Radio and Television of Serbia in Novi Sad, the second largest TV centre in the FR of Yugoslavia, which broadcast programmes in the languages of all national minorities living in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Each day 56 hour programme was broadcast in the Hungarian, Slovakian, Ruthenian, Romanian and Romany languages which is in the line with the commitment of the FR of Yugoslavia to guarantee equal rights to information to all its citizens. (c) Bombing of the Business Centre "Usce" in Belgrade By the bombings of the business centre "Usce" in Belgrade on 21 and 27 April 1999, the headquarters, as well as production and broadcasting infrastructure of the three private TV stations and four private radio stations were destroyed. (d) Bombings of TV Transmitters and Relays Several dozen TV transmitters and relay stations used by State-run or private TV and radio stations were destroyed during the NATO air strikes. The TV transmitter on Mt Avala, the biggest transmitter in the FR of Yugoslavia, which according to its architectural design was unique in the world, was raised to the ground. NATO destroyed also the TV transmitters on the business centre "Usce", on Fruska Gora, Goles (Pristina) and others, as well as relay stations in Krnjaca, Borca, on Bukulja, Cer, Crni vrh, Jasterbac, Ovcar, Tornik, etc. Making good on its threat to "destroy the nerve centres of Serbia", the aggressor warplanes destroyed satellite station "Jugoslavija" near Ivanjica which transmitted PTT and TV signals world-wide. Also destroyed were telephone exchanges in Pristina (7 April 1999), Kragujevac and Uzice (7 May 1999), while many others were damaged or made inoperational in other towns of Serbia. For all champions of the freedom of speech and for all people committed to the right to freedom of expression, these destructive acts represent the last warning alarm before NATO censorship take control over all media of the so-called "free world". - VI - DESTRUCTION OF VITAL YUGOSLAV ECONOMIC FACILITIES According to the assessment of experts from Western countries, the damage done to date by NATO air strikes is well in excess of one hundred billion US dollars. By the destruction of factories, business capacities and production facilities, more than half a million people have lost their jobs and over two million of them remained without any kind of income . Destroyed are the industrial complexes in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Nis, Pancevo, Cacak, Kraljevo, Valjevo, Pristina, Vranje, Kursumlija, Kosovska Mitrovica, Krusevac, Kula, Gnjilane, Sremska Mitrovica and in other towns and cities. The petrochemical industry of the FR of Yugoslavia has been totally destroyed, as well as the largest Yugoslav factory of artificial fertilisers in Pancevo. Private entrepreneurs are a particular target of NATO aggression and the most glaring example of it is the destruction of the "Usce" business centre in Novi Beograd which housed more than a hundred private firms in full business expansion, foreign representative offices, seven private Radio and TV stations and one of the most modern private poli-clinic in the FR of Yugoslavia. Also the building of the business center is one of the landmarks of modern Belgrade. This is a serious violation of the Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights as well as the UN Declaration on the right to development. - VII - DESTRUCTION OF BRIDGES On the false pretext of "neutralising the military power of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia", the NATO aggressor started systematic destruction of Yugoslav road and rail traffic routes. So far, over fifty bridges have been demolished, damaged or made inoperational for traffic. Also, several dozen major and local roads, airports, railway tracks, railway stations, etc. have been destroyed. All ruined facilities were part of costly capital investments, into which the resources and the efforts of several generations of Yugoslav citizens were pooled and they all are strategic part of the European traffic infrastructure. It should be noted that some bridges were destroyed although they were still in the process of construction (a big bridge on the Sava river near Ostruznica), while some of them are of historical and cultural importance ("The Wailing Bridge" in Novi Sad, on which the Fascists killed several thousand Jews in the Second World War). The city of Novi Sad located on the banks of the Danube river remained without its bridges which were its landmarks and made it a unique architectural whole. About 50 bridges, overpasses and other highway facilities have been destroyed at the strategic European E-75 corridor. Also, dozens of bridges along the Ibar highway and the roads leading to Montenegro (European corridors E-60, 70 and 80) were either destroyed or made unusable for traffic, thus closing traffic on these transport routes. Destroyed were several bridges on the Belgrade-Bar, Belgrade-Thessaloniki, Belgrade-Bukarest and Belgrade-Budapest railway lines, so that any further international rail transport on these lines has been blocked. By the destruction of the bridges on the Danube river the aggressors have blocked the entire river navigation at this traffic artery of the greatest importance for European economy and the shortest link between the Northern and Mediterranean Seas (The Rhein-Mein-Danube waterway). Thus, the European shipping companies suffer a damage of over 20 million DM each day. It is not possible to list all destroyed bridges, but let us mention the most important ones: Sloboda Bridge, Wailing Bridge, Zezelj Bridge and the bridge in Beska (all in the city of Novi Sad), the bridges on the Danube river near Smederevo and Backa Palanka, etc. - VIII - ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER Concurrently with the humanitarian, NATO strikes have caused an environmental catastrophe, which is endangering not only the FR of Yugoslavia, but also the neighbouring countries and the entire European continent. The NATO aggressor is thus teetering on the brink of another Chernobyl in the heart of Europe. The destruction of petrochemical installations, the warehouses storing semi-processed and finished products of the chemical industry have already caused significant adverse effects on the health of the population of the FR of Yugoslavia and the neighbouring countries. During some of the air strikes it was pure luck that an environmental catastrophe was not provoked spreading all over Europe. The ozone layer was depleted by the exhaust gases and by large-scale fires. The Black Sea, Aegean and the Adriatic basins, practically the entire Mediterranean, are threatened by environmental pollution. Examples: Nitrogen factory in Pancevo, chemical company "Prva iskra" in Baric, the oil refineries in Pancevo and Novi Sad, warehouses and tanks of oil deviates in Smederevo, Bogutovac near Kraljevo, Pristina, Nis, Uzicka Pozega, Sombor, Bor, Pozega, Negotin, Novi Sad, Lucani, etc. In this way NATO aggressors violated all conventions on the protection of the environment, protection of the ozone layer, climate, health. The aggressors attacks destroyed large forest complexes not sparing even tourist resorts or national parks on the mountains on Serbia (Kopaonik, Zlatibor, Divcibare, Tara, Prokletije, Sara, Fruska Gora). - IX - HOSPITALS AND HEALTH INSTITUTIONS The aggressor's bombings, calculated to provoke the greatest possible confusion and panic among innocent people, have damaged many clinical and hospital centres, inflicting not only great material damage to property (destruction of buildings and expensive medical equipment), but also causing new health problems and intensifying psychological traumas among the sick people. The destruction of all the three bridges in Novi Sad totally cut off and left, without the supply of water, the largest Yugoslav centre for the treatment of cardio vascular diseases in Sremska Kamenica, to which several million people gravitate. In the night on 20 May 1999 directly hit was the Clinical centre "Dragisa Misovic" in Belgrade when Neurology and Maternity hospitals were severely damaged so that 3 patients lost their lives while several dozen sustained injuries among whom two pregnant women and eleven children. In the NATO attacks during the last days, four hospitals and two maternity hospitals in Belgrade were also damaged including the biggest hospital in the Balkans (Military Medical Academy Hospital - VMA), the hospitals in Cuprija, Aleksinac, Nis, Pristina, Valjevo and Pancevo, sanatorium in Surdulica, as well as medical centres in many other towns. The striking example is also the destruction of the Secondary Medical School in Cuprija. - X - DESTRUCTION OF PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS, SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES The NATO aggression has put a stop to the education of close to one million pupils and students in the FR of Yugoslavia. Over three hundred facilities built for the education and upbringing of children and young people of all ages were destroyed, whereby NATO has breached the Convention on the rights of the child and the Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. This will inevitably be reflected on the development and social integration of young people. Hard hit are university centre in Nis (Machine Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronic, Technical, Law and Economics faculties), in Pristina (Agricultural and Machine Engineering faculty) and Novi Sad (Faculty of Philosophy) and university centre in Belgrade. - XI - DESTRUCTION OF WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE ON THE SOIL OF THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA The entire territory of the FR of Yugoslavia and Kosovo and Metohija in particular, is a treasury of European culture and civilisation since ancient times. By violating all international conventions on the protection of civilisation and its heritage the NATO aggressors have severely damaged thus far more than 50 monasteries and churches, as well as a couple of dozen of other cultural and historic monuments, some under UNESCO protection. Severe damage was caused to the monastery of the Patriachate of Pec (12th century), Zica (13th century), Decani and Gracanica (14th century, under UNESCO protection), medieval towns of Zvecan (13th century) and Smederevo (15th century), Petrovaradin fortress (18th century), seventeen monasteries on Fruska Gora (15-18th century), monastery in Rakovica and many other priceless historical monuments. The bombs have even destroyed many cemeteries all across the FR of Yugoslavia including Orthodox cemetery in Pristina. - XII - USE OF PROHIBITED WEAPONS In NATO attacks, the state-of-the-art weapons have been used, but also those prohibited under international conventions (the so-called Convention on inhuman weapons of 10 October 1980), such as cluster bombs and slow activating bombs. In its attacks on civilian and other facilities in Serbia, NATO aircraft fired more than 100 containers with almost 20 000 cluster bombs. As many as one fourth of those cluster bombs were used in the attacks against towns in Kosovo and Metohija: Pristina, Urosevac, Djakovica, Prizren, etc, and against many other places and facilities in Serbia. The latest severe case is the bombing of the centre of Nis by cluster bombs on 7 May 1999 in broad daylight when 15 civilians were killed and several dozen were wounded, as well as the bombing of residential quarters in Nis several days later. In their numerous air strikes the enemy's warplanes used uranium depleted artillery ammunition. NATO committed thereby a very serious criminal act with unforeseeable consequences not only for the victims but also for all those who may be exposed to the released radiation therefrom (the "Gulf syndrome" of US soldiers who participated in the Operation Desert Storm). At the moment it is difficult to perceive and evaluate the entire humanitarian, economic, environmental, health and other consequences of the NATO criminal aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia. The greatest victims of the aggression are all Yugoslav citizens irrespective of their nationality or religion, as well as their material and cultural resources. At the same time, by the violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the NATO has created a precedent, which may cast a shadow over the future of all peoples and sovereign States. The cause for concern is all the greater because, by combining pressure and promises, NATO is drawing an increasing number of countries into its aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia, endangering thereby peace and security. Thus the energies are taken away from the goals of development causing enormous material losses. Attempt by NATO to justify its brutal aggression by an alleged care for the refugees may bring about an irreversible degradation of the United Nations and involve this highest international forum in the crime against a country which is one of its founding members. http://compuserb.com - Breaking the Silence