Germany sued for war crimes in Yugoslavia
By John Catalinotto
The Hague, Netherlands, is not the only place where people
are charged with war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
Berlin is another. But there is a big difference.
In The Hague, the main defendant is Slobodan Milosevic. His
crime was defending his country against NATO attack and U.S.
domination.
In Berlin, the German government faces a civil suit for war
crimes committed against Yugoslavia. Germany is responsible for
active participation in the U.S.-led NATO war and the German
government supported all NATO's actions.
After more than a year of preparation, Berlin anti-war
lawyer Ulrich Dost filed civil charges Dec. 24 in the Berlin
state court against his government. The suit demands
compensation for war crimes against Yugoslavs victimized by the
May 30, 1999, bombing of a bridge in the town of Varvarin,
about 125 miles south of Belgrade.
On June 2-3, 1999, Dost served as prosecutor for the
European War Crimes Tribunal. That body found NATO leaders
guilty of war crimes against Yugoslavia--including planning and
starting the 1999 war.
Dost intends to show that there were no military targets in
Varvarin, that NATO forces knew it and that they purposely
targeted Yugoslav civilians. Two NATO jets launched rockets and
bombs at the bridge. Then they came back a little later and
struck again at those who had gone to rescue the first victims.
The bombing killed 10 and wounded 30 others--17 of them
severely. Some suffered severe burns or lost limbs.
As the Washington Post admitted in a series of articles
Sept. 19-21, 1999, NATO and U.S. generals purposely ordered
civilian targets bombed in an attempt to demoralize the
civilian population.
Reprinted from the Jan. 17, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page