Kosovo

War Resisters' International is in contact with women peace activists in the former Yugoslavia, who are feminist, pacifist and anti-nationalist in ideology. They have been campaigning against war and ethnic cleansing throughout the decade, at great personal risk and sacrifice. We preserve their anonymity.

March 28, 1999

The massive air strikes against Yugoslavia do not only destroy army installations. They also take human lives and ruin the economic infrastructure of our impoverished country. In the long run, however, the biggest collateral damage will be the shattered possibilities for democracy in Serbia. We fear that the only durable result of the undeclared war will be a permanent state of emergency, legal and spiritual, this time with the support of the bewildered majority, which has always sided with the government in times of extreme adversity and danger.

WRI, 26 de marzo, 1999

La Internacional de Resistentes a la Guerra (WRI), una red internacional de más de setenta grupos pacifistas distribuidos por más de treinta países (entre los que se encuentran la República Federal de Yugoslavia y Croacia), condena los bombardeos de la OTAN y la hipocresía de los gobiernos que constituyen esta institución, puesto que ellos han contribuido a aumentar la presión para que estallara la guerra.

Las razones originales para amenazar con una actuación militar eran obligar

War Resisters' International, an international pacifist network with affiliates in over 30 countries, discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Kosovo/a at its Triennial conference in Porec, Croatia, 20-26 September 1998.

WRI has been working on the question of Kosovo (or Kosova as Albanians prefer to say) since its loss of autonomy in 1989-90. In 1990 we discussed forming an international contingent to join in some of the events being organised by the new nonviolent movement among the Albanian population there, and in 1992 we planned to hold a seminar in Kosovo with the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Prishtina on "nonviolent action for human rights". Unfortunately this was aborted as the Council felt it would be too dangerous to proceed.

The War Resisters' International, an international pacifist network with affiliates in over 30 countries, discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Kosovo/a at its Triennial conference in Porec, Croatia, 20-26 September 1998

The conference criticised the handling of the situation by intergovernmental bodies and by individual states:
their failure to provide space for negotiations during the prolonged period when the Albanians of Kosovo/a pursued a disciplined policy of nonviolent action their treatment of Milosevic as a guarantor of peace in the region rathe

by autonomous Women’s Groups in Belgrade, Serbia

Women’s autonomous groups in Belgrade are communicating publicly in order to condemn the Serbian regime’s violence in Kosova. The war in Kosova has begun. The violence of the Serbian regime is the continuation of the apartheid policy which the regime has applied for the past ten years. And the present situation shows that territory is sacred, not human life.

As we remember imprisoned peacemakers, Xabi Agirre Aranburu argues the case for imprisoning those responsible for war crimes as a necessary step in preventing war.

The town of Stolac's position on the front-line had made it an obvious target of Serbian artillery ever since the war In Bosnia begun. One particular morning In the summer of 1992 began with the usual Serbian bombardment. This time, the shells landed, but did not explode.

While the powers sees former-Yugoslavia at peace, the Balkan Peace Teams in both Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been witnessing the tensions. Otvorene Oci ("Open Eyes" - the team in Croatia) still has an office in Split and has moved the other office from Zagreb to Karlovac. The Karlovac office has reported three explosions aimed against Serbs: on 24 February (this only made page 4 of the local newspaper!), and two others on 28 February and 2 March after a demonstration against Serbs returning from FRY to Vojnic.

"MOTRAT QIRIAZI" is a woman's group in Kosova which is working on the empowerment of rural women, changing traditions and responding to educational needs. We would be very happy to correspond women working on similar issues by email and to hear your comments, suggestions or about your experiences.

"MOTRAT QIRIAZI", the Society for Education of Women in Prishtina, Kosova, was named after the two sisters Qiriazi, who founded the first school for girls in Korca (Albania) 100 years ago.

Representatives of some of the main anti-war groups in former-Yugoslavia met in St Johan, Salzburg, Austria this April. One of the documents they produced was an Open Letter to Peace Movements, written in a private capacity, rather than in the name of their groups.

On 4-6 March, 19 people from 10 European countries met to discuss the situation of draft resisters and deserters seeking asylum. This has become a major issue in Europe with the large numbers of refugees from the war in former-Yugoslavia, especially as several governments insist that Croatia and Serbia are not part of the war zone.