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OMRI Pursuing Balkan Peace, No. 18, 96-05-07
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Pursuing Balkan Peace
No. 18, 7 May 1996
CONTENTS
[01] IZETBEGOVIC PROMISES THAT ALL BOSNIA WILL "BE LIBERATED."
[02] BILDT SAYS PARTITION OF BOSNIA MUST BE PREVENTED.
[03] WHAT DO THE BOSNIAN SERBS PLAN FOR THEIR LEADERS?
[04] BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER CASTS HIS LOT WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
[05] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC BEHIND BOMBINGS.
[06] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.
[07] MUSLIMS ARREST TWO OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
[08] TADIC GOES ON TRIAL.
[09] SACIRBEY SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL PROVIDES LINK TO BELGRADE.
[10] BOSNIAN SERBS RELEASE FOUR BOSNIAN CROATS.
[11] BELGRADE FREES MUSLIM PRISONERS.
[12] REFUGEE KILLINGS TO BE INVESTIGATED.
[13] CLIMATE BETWEEN BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT AND IFOR WORSENS.
[14] MUSLIMS DENIED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
[15] UN TO ALLOW NEW ROADBLOCKS.
[16] IS IFOR BEHAVING LIKE UNPROFOR?
[17] ROW OVER NEW ELECTION RULES.
[18] ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR MOSTAR.
[19] BOSNIAN BRIDGES OPEN.
[20] OPPOSITION AGAINST RETURN OF REFUGEES FROM GERMANY ON THE RISE.
[21] BOSNIAN CULTURAL LIFE TRYING TO RECOVER.
[22] SERBS IN SARAJEVO SUBURBS: TRIAL FOR REINTEGRATION.
[01] IZETBEGOVIC PROMISES THAT ALL BOSNIA WILL "BE LIBERATED."
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic spoke in Gorazde on 4 May or the first
time since the beginning of the war, the BBC reported the next day. He said
that "history has taught us that not a single honest man of ours can be
unarmed; every single one will have a rifle to defend himself." The president
also pledged to retake lands lost to the Serbs: "they have not and they will
not expel us; we will return to all the places they have expelled us from and
our struggle will not be over until the whole of Bosnia is free. Our children
will liberate the whole of Bosnia." The speech should be seen in the context
of the ongoing election campaign, and against a background of growing anger
and frustration among Muslims over IFOR's reluctance to make the Serbs
implement key parts of the Dayton agreement, such as freedom of movement and
the right of refugees to go home (see below). -- Patrick Moore
[02] BILDT SAYS PARTITION OF BOSNIA MUST BE PREVENTED.
The international community's High Representative, for his part, said the
ethnic partition of Bosnia must be prevented if "an endless succession of
Balkan wars" is to be avoided, Reuters reported on 5 May. Carl Bildt noted
that a partition may achieve short-term stability in Bosnia but that it is "a
recipe for long-term turmoil in an important part of Europe." He added that
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb civilian leader and an indicted war
criminal, is the single greatest obstacle to reintegration. Meanwhile, George
Mitchell, a member of the International Crisis Group (ICG) charged with
monitoring the implementation of Dayton peace accord in Bosnia, said the
presence of war criminals is the biggest obstacle to peace, Reuters reported
on 4 May. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[03] WHAT DO THE BOSNIAN SERBS PLAN FOR THEIR LEADERS?
But the Bosnian Serbs continue to be unwilling to hand over key suspects on
their own volition. Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic told Beta news
agency that the Republika Srpska (RS) will not extradite Karadzic and his
military counterpart Gen. Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia, Onasa reported on 4 May. Kasagic said to a ICG
delegation that "people who hand over their leaders have no perspective."
However, he added, the entity will cooperate on all other matters. Asked by
the Hague-based court to help open an office in Banja Luka, Kasagic said the
request will be studied by Bosnian Serb authorities, AFP reported on 5 May.
Meanwhile, another Bosnian Serb official, parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik,
told Beta on 2 May that Republika Srpska leaders are ready to step down if
Serbia wants them to. "We do not want to carry out a policy which goes against
that of Serbia and Montenegro. We hope to co-operate closely with their
leaders and, if it is necessary, those of us who occupy high positions in the
RS will agree to be replaced," he said. However, Krajisnik refused to say
whether Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had called for the ousting of
Karadzic and Mladic. He is obliged to cooperate with the court under the terms
of the Dayton accord, but it is widely suspected that he will never hand over
the two top Bosnian Serbs lest they say in public what they know about
Milosevic's own involvement in the conflict. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[04] BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER CASTS HIS LOT WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
Kasagic, too, openly deferred to Milosevic in a move signaling an ever growing
rift between the premier and Karadzic. In a 2 May interview with the French
daily Le Monde, Kasagic said "I feel close to Milosevic; he is a realist."
In apparent criticism of Karadzic's leadership, Kasagic remarked that "some
people must understand that they simply cannot demand the unacceptable...[doing
so] would be suicide." Kasagic, who has in the past sided with Milosevic,
is regarded by some observers as a possible successor to Karadzic. --
Stan Markotich
[05] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC BEHIND BOMBINGS.
And the political rifts among the Bosnian Serbs continue to deepen elsewhere,
too. Dragutin Ilic, the leader of the Socialist Party that is allied to
Milosevic, accused Karadzic of being responsible for a campaign of violence
against the opposition. Karadzic allegedly is to blame for intimidation, bomb
attacks, and sabotage in the run-up to the elections slated for September,
Reuters quoted Tanjug as saying on 6 May. Meanwhile, the power struggle
between Karadzic and his loyalists in Pale on the one hand and the Banja Luka
leadership has intensified, AFP reported on 7 May. Banja Luka was known to the
UN as "the heart of darkness" during the war because of the Serbs'
ruthlessness in conducting "ethnic cleansing" and in destroying historic
mosques, but the leadership there has since tried to portray itself as a
moderate alternative to the men in Pale. Karadzic controls the police in Banja
Luka and has used death threats and intimidation against local leaders.
Finally, the Sarajevo bi-weekly magazine Slobodna Bosna said that Karadzic
held a secret meeting with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Herzegovina
last week. He was allegedly smuggled into Herzegovinian territory in a car
with Herceg-Bosna license plates. The story has not been confirmed by other
sources. -- Patrick Moore
[06] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.
And in Croatia itself, Public Prosecutor Drago Marcinel formally charged five
Bosnians with planning to kill former Bihac pocket kingpin Fikret Abdic, who
now lives in Rijeka, Novi list reported on 6 May. A sixth man, a Croat, is
accused of aiding "international terrorism." The prosecutor said that they
were acting on orders from Bihac state security chief Ejub Ikic and had been
promised DM 100,000 for the murder. The Bosnian authorities have repeatedly
denied the accusations and suggested that the Croats and Abdic manufactured
the incident as a publicity stunt to promote Abdic's political comeback. --
Patrick Moore
[07] MUSLIMS ARREST TWO OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
Returning to the issue of war crimes, the Bosnian authorities have arrested
two Muslims wanted by the tribunal, AFP reported on 2 May. It is the first
international arrest warrant to be honored by any of the Bosnian parties. The
31 year-old Hazim Delic is suspected of killing at least 14 people, plus
indulging in torture, rape, beatings and a host of other acts of inhumane
treatment. The 23 year-old Esad Landzo is wanted for murder and torture. Both
allegedly committed the crimes at the Celebici detention center near Konjic in
1992. Another Muslim, the 48 year-old Zejnil Delalic, who was arrested by the
German authorities on 18 March, was to be handed over to the tribunal. --
Fabian Schmidt
[08] TADIC GOES ON TRIAL.
Another man, whom the Germans sent to The Hague long ago, is the Serb Dusan
Tadic. He is both the first indicted criminal to go to there and the first to
be actually tried. Proceedings began on 7 May in the first international war
crimes trial since those in Nuremberg and Tokyo at the end of World War II.
The International Herald Tribune the previous day quoted a senior Western
diplomat as saying, however, that "Tadic is nothing... It is doubtful that
this trial will make much of an impact." The man in the dock is accused of
killing and torturing, but he held no major position in either the army, the
civilian apparatus, or the concentration camp system. The "biggest fish" at
The Hague from any side is the Croatian Gen. Tihomir Blaskic. Many observers
think it is doubtful that any of the key war criminals will ever be brought to
justice. This is because IFOR is reluctant to arrest them, and because most
governments are generally less than eager to honor the pledges they made at
Dayton and surrender suspects. This is partly because ultimate responsibility
for atrocities may reach quite high, particularly in Serbia. Many observers of
the regional conflict hold Milosevic himself ultimately responsible for the
conflicts and think he should go on trial. "The reputation of the court has
been badly tarnished by its refusal to indict Milosevic," a European diplomat
told the Herald Tribune -- Patrick Moore
[09] SACIRBEY SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL PROVIDES LINK TO BELGRADE.
The court did hold one man who might have been able to help prove the
connection between Milosevic and the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, but it sent
him back to Belgrade because of rapidly deteriorating health. Bosnia's UN
ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey said before the International Court of Justice on
1 May that Bosnian Serb logistics Gen. Djordje Djukic is indeed a "smoking
gun" who could demonstrate the link between Belgrade and its involvement in
Serb genocide campaigns conducted in Bosnia, Reuters reported that same day.
According to Sacirbey, Djukic is "the connection between the Belgrade regime
and the so-called Bosnian Serb army." For its part, Belgrade continues to
assert that it was never involved in the Bosnian conflict, and that the World
Court should drop Bosnia's case against Belgrade. The Bosnian government,
however, responds that rump Yugoslavia violated the 1948 Genocide Convention
by arming and encouraging the Bosnian Serbs. -- Stan Markotich
[10] BOSNIAN SERBS RELEASE FOUR BOSNIAN CROATS.
Back in Bosnia, the Serbs on 2 May released four Croats they had held as
suspected war criminals. The release took place after the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia said it was not interested in the
men. Their release followed that of two Muslims, who were also suspected of
war crimes. The men said the Serbs did not harass them during their detention.
According to the Dayton agreement all prisoners of war were to have been
released by 19 January except those suspected of war crimes. The UN notes that
the Bosnian Serbs continue to hold seven suspects and the Bosnian government
five, international media reported. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] BELGRADE FREES MUSLIM PRISONERS.
Across the Drina, Belgrade authorities finally released five Muslim refugees
on 1 May, following a series of protests from the international community,
Reuters reported that same day. The five were among some 800 refugees who fled
to Serbia from Bosnia after Bosnian Serb forces captured the "safe areas" of
Srebrenica and Zepa in the summer of 1995. According to rump Yugoslav
authorities, the refugees were held as war crimes suspects. With the release
of the five, Belgrade apparently holds no more refugees from Srebrenica and
Zepa. -- Stan Markotich
[12] REFUGEE KILLINGS TO BE INVESTIGATED.
Elsewhere, Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic and the speaker of the
Bosnian Serb Assembly Momcilo Krajisnik agreed to begin a criminal
investigation into the murder of two Muslim refugees, who were killed after
entering the Republika Srpska on 29 April. The meeting was mediated by Carl
Bildt, Onasa reported on 1 May. Bildt's office and the international police
deployed in Bosnia will meet with both sides' interior ministers soon.
Muratovic and Krajisnik also agreed to give the UNHCR full support to organize
visits of refugees to their respective home towns. IFOR, meanwhile, said that
freedom of movement is one of the crucial segments in the Dayton peace accord
and its obstruction constitutes a violation of human rights. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] CLIMATE BETWEEN BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT AND IFOR WORSENS.
Following that incident, the government's patience is running out. The local
branch of the Bosnian federal police in Trnovo near Sarajevo told IFOR and the
International Police Task Force (IPTF) that their presence is "not desirable"
in the area and that their security could not be guaranteed, Onasa reported on
2 May. The move also followed recent incidents in which Serbs prevented
Muslims from visiting their homes and gravesites during Kurban Bajram (see
OMRI Special Report, 30 April 1996). The federal police have now set up a
checkpoint in Trnovo to watch for cars with Serb license plates. The police
commander is quoted as saying: "Serbs will not be allowed freedom of
movement." He added that federal police will block the roads linking Trnovo
with Lukavica and Dobrinja and cut off "all telephone wires" within the area. -
- Fabian Schmidt
[14] MUSLIMS DENIED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
Meanwhile, freedom of movement continues to be hindered elsewhere, too. NGOs
in rump Yugoslavia have protested discriminatory actions by the Republika
Srpska and rump Yugoslav authorities against Muslims who want to travel to the
Bosnian Federation, Nasa Borba reported on 6 May. Muslims from rump
Yugoslavia transiting the Republika Srpska have either been sent back to
Serbia or taken away for interrogation. Serbs need only identification cards
to travel to the Bosnian Federation, where they enjoy freedom of movement.
Finally, rump Yugoslavia has introduced visas for Bosnian citizens at a fee of
DM 50, Dnevni avaz reported on 3 May. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[15] UN TO ALLOW NEW ROADBLOCKS.
The International Police Task Force (IPTF), for its part, has also taken
measures that could hinder freedom of movement. While paying lip-service to
the importance of free passage and while recognizing that "checkpoints are a
major factor in restriction of movement," the IPTF has at the same time agreed
to allow local police to set up roadblocks for periods of up to one hour.
Since these could turn up at intervals of as little as every two kilometers,
it will be interesting to see what more happens to freedom of movement. OMRI's
special correspondent reported the story on 7 May. -- Yvonne Badal in
Sarajevo
[16] IS IFOR BEHAVING LIKE UNPROFOR?
And questions continue to arise about what NATO is actually doing, too. Some
observers say that its troops are, in fact, behaving like those of the UN
before it. This is because of the peacekeepers' reluctance to enforce freedom
of movement and other key provisions of the Dayton agreement, claiming it is
not their job. Onasa on 3 May quoted Prof. Ivo Banac of the Central European
University and Yale as saying that it is time for the international community
to do something to make sure the treaty is carried out -- including the right
of refugees to go home. The International Herald Tribune on 6 May argued
that IFOR "should prod local military units to respect Dayton's guarantees of
free movement." There are nonetheless signs that local bullies, primarily
among the Serbs, are trying to behave with impunity toward IFOR, much as they
did to its hapless predecessor UNPROFOR. Onasa noted on 3 May that a Bosnian
Serb commander has demanded that IFOR troops provide advance notice of their
intention to carry out weapons inspections so that a doctor can be present.
The medical staff would then carry out a "short medical examination," because
the peacekeepers might be bringing in "infectious diseases." UNPROFOR had been
subjected to intimidation, and hundreds of its soldiers were taken hostage
until NATO showed the Serbs it meant business by using air strikes and the
Rapid Reaction Force. -- Patrick Moore
[17] ROW OVER NEW ELECTION RULES.
Turning to domestic politics, Oslobodjenje on 5 May ran an editorial on the
controversy over the OSCE's newly-announced election rules (see OMRI Special
Report, 30 April 1996). Most political leaders charge that the rules violate
Dayton by not insisting that all refugees be allowed to vote in their original
home areas. It is accordingly felt that ethnic cleansing will be legalized if
people can vote where they settled during the conflict or where they want to
live in the future. This view was reaffirmed in a joint declaration by Haris
Silajdzic of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rasim Kadic of the
Liberal Party. They also noted that the rules leave many questions unanswered,
such as on matters of organizing the vote itself, on financing the election
campaign, and on organizing the actual vote and counting the ballots, Onasa
reported on 6 May. That same day Oslobodjenje wrote that a possible boycott
of the upcoming Bosnian elections on the part of some political parties would
be a last attempt to prevent the country's division. Many fear that the cards
are stacked in favor of the nationalist parties under the current rules, which
also run against the Dayton agreement. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[18] ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR MOSTAR.
And local elections will soon be on in Mostar, where the new EU administrator
Ricardo Perez Casado announced elections for 31 May, Onasa reported on 1 May.
Lists of candidates are to be finalized by 10 May. Elsewhere, the
International Federation of Journalists has pledged financial aid for the
independent media in Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure accurate information
during the pre-election period. The Federation's General Manager Aidan White
said that the elections will be the best test of the quality of Bosnian
journalism. Aid will consist of technical equipment and seminars. The United
States has also donated $7.7 million to help organize and carry out the
elections which are scheduled to be held no later than mid-September. A State
Department spokesman said $4 million went to the OSCE which is organizing the
ballot. The remaining $3.7 million will help the Bosnian government administer
the election, support political parties, and provide advisors for the media.
Meanwhile, the Reporters without Borders have protested restrictions against
two journalists from Austria and Novi Sad in the Republika Srpska in late
April. -- Fabian Schmidt
[19] BOSNIAN BRIDGES OPEN.
The elections are a key component of civilian reconstruction, but that work
takes on more concrete forms as well. A reconstructed bridge over the Neretva
opened in Mostar on 30 April, Onasa reported. The DM 5 million project had
started in January 1995 and was finished 43 days earlier than expected. Perez
Casado expressed his hopes that the bridge "will be used for peace and
progress in the future." Elsewhere, IFOR opened a bridge on 2 May over the
Sava, linking the Belgrade - Zagreb highway with Banja Luka at Stara Gradiska.
The bridge was repaired by Hungarian engineers and will initially be reserved
for IFOR and humanitarian vehicles until Croatia and the Republika Srpska sign
an agreement on civilian use. The bridge -- which used to be known by the
ubiquitous "Brotherhood and Unity" tag and which has been renamed "the Bridge
of Hope" -- was destroyed by Croatian forces on 2 June 1992, AFP reported. --
Fabian Schmidt
[20] OPPOSITION AGAINST RETURN OF REFUGEES FROM GERMANY ON THE RISE.
Turning to the possible deportation of Bosnian refugees from Western Europe,
the UNHCR Representative to Germany Judith Kumin and the German Ombudsman for
Foreigners Cornelia Schmalz Jacobsen have appealed to the German government to
reconsider their plans to expel Bosnian refugees beginning on 1 July. Kumin
called the decision to oblige refugees to return "premature," adding that the
peace process has had some success, but that the country is still ethnically
divided. The conference of interior ministers decided to hold off on
finalizing its plans until shortly before the projected date of the first
deportations. It may then reconsider a possible delay, the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung reported on 3 May. -- Fabian Schmidt
[21] BOSNIAN CULTURAL LIFE TRYING TO RECOVER.
During the war cultural life kept going in the embattled republic because
people sought to live their lives as normally as possible. The conflict
nonetheless took its toll, and the national orchestra, theater, and ballet are
now so decimated that they plan to base their future on young talent still in
school. The director of the Music Academy told Onasa on 29 April that his
institution and musical life in general did not split along ethnic or
ideological lines in the course of the war, but that he now has only 90
students, compared to a prewar total of 300. Turning to books, one of the most
graphic images of the siege of Sarajevo was the sight of people burning books
to heat their flats. The tomes were generally old communist works by Marx or
Tito, but serious literature found its way into the stoves as well. To help
offset the loss -- and apparently to help promote a greater sense of national
identity among the Muslims -- Oslobodjenje wrote on 4 April that its own
publishing house and Prosveta publishers have launched a new 100-volume
collection of Bosnian Muslim literature. -- Patrick Moore
[22] SERBS IN SARAJEVO SUBURBS: TRIAL FOR REINTEGRATION.
Less than two months after the Dayton accords stipulated the reintegration of
Sarajevo under federation control, many Serbs from the city's suburbs already
expressed their lack of faith in the process. Between 50,000-60,000 Serbs left
Sarajevo during a six-day exodus in mid-February. While a fierce Pale
propaganda campaign that promised to compensate Serb refugees for their
abandoned homes and land encouraged the exodus, the inaction of the
international community and the Bosnian Federation authorities failed to
discourage it
Many of the Serbs who left came from families that had lived in Sarajevo for
200-300 years. Thousands of them are now living in barracks or dormitories in
the Republika Srpska with no prospects for jobs or permanent housing despite
the alluring promises made by Pale. A growing number are choosing to return to
Sarajevo, preferring the difficulties at home to an uncertain future in the
Republika Srpska. Milorad Kojevic, a member of the Executive Board of the anti-
nationalist Serbian Civic Council (SGV), estimates that already about 5,000
Serbs want to return. His organization is cooperating closely with the
Democratic Initiative of Sarajevo Serbs (DISS). The SGV represents Serbs who
remained loyal to the Bosnian government throughout the war. The DISS, by
contrast, primarily represents Serbs from Sarajevo suburbs who supported
Karadzic during the war but who nevertheless have decided to stay in the now
federally-controlled city. The organizations nonetheless claim the common goal
of helping Serbs who wish to return to their original Sarajevo suburbs. "In
the last 15 days, 50 families returned to the Ilidza suburb alone," Kojevic
said
The first Serbian families who decided to return to Sarajevo from RS faced
many unexpected difficulties. In Lukavica, which is the nearest town in the RS
to the Sarajevo suburbs, they had to reload their belongings onto other
vehicles because federation police would not let any truck with "unrecognized
license plates" pass over the so-called Inter-entity Borderline. SGV
subsequently requested UNHCR assistance. The UNHCR immediately assigned two
trucks with drivers to what it dubbed a repatriation project
Transportation proved to be just one of many obstacles in the reintegration.
The houses and apartments which the Serbs vacated in Sarajevo are now occupied
by other residents despite prior agreements. Kojevic said: "We [SGV] had
agreed with the Interior Ministry that all vacated flats would be sealed for
at least six months to enable the possible return of the owners and that
federation police would be in charge of fulfilling this government promise.
But none of this is happening." He said that his organization must negotiate
with the ministry on a case-by-case basis whenever a family wishes to resettle
in its occupied flat but adds that this method has not once been successful
There is a growing suspicion among many observers that this is part of Bosnian
federal authorities' silently orchestrated campaign to resettle mainly Muslim
refugees from eastern Bosnia. Some reports claim this campaign started
immediately after D+90 in late March. Others allege that nearly 10,000 people
moved into the vacated residences in the five suburbs during the seven weeks
that followed D+90. Both the federation and the new local authorities refuse
to comment on the matter. Still, no one denies that the settlers are refugees
from four places in eastern Bosnia that would be almost impossible to
return to--Srebrenica, Foca, Rogatica, and Jelac. On several occasions, bus
convoys brought these refugees from the Tuzla region to Sarajevo. To some this
has implied a calculated strategy on the part of the Bosnian officials
The bi-weekly Slobodna Bosna was the first publication in late April to
broach this issue. Its article recalled Radovan Karadzic's offer already three
years ago to exchange what was then Muslim-held Srebrenica for some of the
Serbian Sarajevo suburbs. The publication then asked whether the current
settlement of Srebrenica refugees in Sarajevo is not just the delayed
fulfillment of an old deal. Kojevic would only comment that, whatever the
reason, the current situation is contrary to prior agreements. He added:
"There should be very strong pressure on the international community and
especially on High Representative Carl Bildt, the IPTF, and the Federation
government to change their attitudes."
Political and educational representation are other issues. Not in one Sarajevo
suburb are the Serbs who have stayed represented in the local government.
Kojevic commented that "this is a very important fact. If it were changed, it
might convince even more people [Serbs] to come back." Almost all Serbian
children have stopped attending school in the city. Most teachers ignored the
fact that these children were taught a different curriculum than the other
students. On several occasions, new teachers simply provoked the children with
the Islamic greeting "Salam Alejkum." In Ilidza alone, approximately 100
children are taught at home by their parents. Current law does not permit the
existence of private schools, so Serbs have no alternatives for influencing
their children's education
Another complaint of the Serbian Sarajevo residents is that none of the 26
doctors from their community are employed. The local hospitals were
deliberately destroyed by Serbian thugs and the equipment taken away in
February. Only emergency medical service is available with several small
ambulances functioning in the five suburbs. Otherwise, patients are required
to go to the city for treatment
Kojevic summed up the situation: "The political parties are not interested in
solving problems, they just hunt for votes. Two representatives from social
democratic parties--SDP and UBSD--came to talk to us [SGV], but with no
results. Others did not even bother. The media is not interested either,
except for the independent station TV99. Actually foreign journalists show
more interest than our own. Something is wrong. It seems that neither
government [of the RS nor of the Bosnian Federation] is really interested in
reintegration. But if reintegration does not work in Sarajevo, it will also
not work anywhere else." -- Jan Urban in Sarajevo
Compiled by Patrick Moore
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected].
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