YouSaid · the spoken record

Vueic

lines on the record: 37
first: 2012-12-05
most recent: 2018-12-17
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I am telling the Council that my concerns and worries are even greater today than they were yesterday. I believe that we have acted and reacted so far in a very serious and responsible way, and we will continue in the same manner. Hopefully, one day, we will be able to reach a possible arrangement with Pristina, but recently everything that they have done has been extremely irresponsible, taking us backwards five, six or seven years. We need the Council's full support and for the United Nations to play a larger role. We will strive to that end more than ever by asking of the Council to support all processes that will lead us to a possible arrangement. I thank everyone once again for listening to us, and, hopefully, nothing worse than what has happened over recent weeks will happen in the future.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“Once again, I am profoundly grateful to all those people who have shown their support for the territorial integrity of Serbia and resolution 1244 (1999). At the same time, I am also thankful to those people who - although some of them recognized the independence of Kosovo - wanted to see things in a very objective way. They have my promise that Serbia will do its best to keep the peace and maintain tranquillity and stability. As everyone knows, the Serbian people are a very proud and dignified people, and we just want to avoid all forms of humiliation targeting us, which we would not allow anyone else in the world to suffer. It does not matter how big they are or how small we are. We will resume and carry on our dialogue as soon as they rescind their irresponsible decision involving those tariffs. I am not very optimistic.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“No, I want Pristina to do much better with regard to organized crime issues, but today that is the worst place in Europe with regard to such an important issue. Concerning the support of the Serb community and the so-called Kosovo armed forces, they were coming in tears complaining that we in Serbia were exerting great pressure on them. All 10 mayors - all of them - from all 10 Serb-inhabited municipalities in Kosovo referred to Mr. Thaci's statement and said that he was not telling the truth and that they are absolutely against the formation of the Kosovo armed forces. They see the formation of the Kosovo armed forces as a grave threat to their survival. Who knows that better than they do?”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“It used force against the chief negotiator - beating him up and trying to humiliate him - merely because he was speaking loudly about the Kosovo problem. He carried out his notifications in accordance with all our arrangements with Pristina. It seems to me that it is much easier for some countries to blame Serbia for everything. It does not matter whether or not we did something. We did not impose taxes against them. We did not create any kind of army in the north or within the Serb community. That does not exist. We did not do anything, but we have to be blamed because someone has to justify his own wrong politics. And speaking about INTERPOL, the representative of Pristina said here that only organized crime benefited from INTERPOL's wrong decision.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“At least the two representatives of Pristina and - I believe - the United Kingdom referred to the Ahtisaari plan. What is that plan about? When was that plan adopted, by whom, in which organization, by which factions and by which parties? When they do not have sufficient arguments, as they do not have enough facts on their side, they then refer to something that does not exist. It has never been put in force. Are we or are we not speaking the truth? There are no real provisions, articles, arrangements or agreements to which they can refer. Someone here mentioned the use of force. It was the Ambassador of the United Kingdom. I never mentioned that, and we did not use any kind of force, unlike the other side.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“The representative of Pristina said that terrible ethnic cleansing was committed by the Serb forces. Here are the facts. There used to be 1.4 million Albanians in the southern Serbian province. Today there are 1.7 million Albanian people in Kosovo, where there used to be 220,000 Serbs. There are still between 105,000 and 106,000 Serbs living in Kosovo. Those are the numbers. Those are the facts. Who committed ethnic cleansing? Is there anyone who can deny those numbers? I am not saying that we have always been absolutely right in everything. Not at all. I have to say, however, that that kind ofbiased approach is not only killing the truth, but it is also killing real chances for reaching a compromise between the two sides. At the same time, I heard something that I could not understand.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“Once again, I am very thankful to all participants and profoundly grateful to all those who wanted at least to listen to us. I think that it was very obvious that no one could refer to a single provision, article or paragraph from which Pristina derives its right to form its armed forces. Some people said that that was not banned by resolution 1244 (1999) but no one cited a single regulation, rule or article from which Pristina derived its right to create its own army. There is a very simple reason for that, since that article or regulation does not exist. At the same time, I am very grateful to the many people who, regardless of their political attitude towards the Kosovo issue, wanted to be objective and to analyse the reality. I want to refer to just a few arguments used by Pristina and some of the Ambassadors in the Chamber.”
2018-12-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8427 (2018) · source
“Serbia is on its road to Europe and is interested in cooperating with all peoples and countries of the region. It has undertaken to fulfil all of its international obligations. It conducts dialogue with Pristina under the oversight of the European Union, and the only thing that Serbia is asking for is justice - nothing more, nothing less. Finally, it has been my honour to address the Council today.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“The official position of Serbia relative to that issue was provided to the Security Council in October 2008. Serbia is ready to actively participate in all future discussions regarding that matter and continue its cooperation with the Security Council Informal Working Group on International Tribunals in relation to those issues. It is our belief that the accomplishment of the aforementioned aims is of exceptional importance, primarily in order to ensure that justice is done for the victims of the gruesome crimes that I have spoken about, but also for the future of the region of the Western Balkans. If the Security Council is serious about furthering reconciliation in the Balkans, it is critical now to avoid any perception of impropriety or undue influence. That is why the Security Council must remain actively involved.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“I would like to emphasize that the primary motive of this initiative is the readiness of the Republic of Serbia to assume the responsibility of the prison sentences imposed on the citizens of the Republic of Serbia convicted before the Tribunal in The Hague. In addition, it should be emphasized that the purpose of the conviction, among others, includes the resocialization of the convicts. In that context, we consider it unlikely to expect that convictions will be effective in cases when convicts serve their sentences in remote countries, without knowing the language and where Visits by family members are rare. We therefore strongly appeal to the Security Council to urgently and favourably consider that request. Also, I would like to reiterate that Serbia is highly interested in the issue of the future of the Tribunal's archives.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“With regard to the initiative to allow individuals convicted before the ICTY to serve their prison sentences in the States that emerged in the territory of the former Yugoslavia ofwhich they are citizens, I recall that the recommendation of the Secretary-General to the Security Council contained in paragraph 121 of his report dated 3 May 1993, in which he indicated that he "is of the View that, given the nature of the crimes in question and the international character of the tribunal, the enforcement of sentences should take place outside the territory of the former Yugoslavia" (S/25704, para. 121), remains in effect. Although that attitude could have been justified in 1993 during the armed conflict in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, it is clear that it has lost its validity and that the circumstances have changed.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“With regard to the activities of the Tribunal, I have to emphasize that the following issues are of the utmost importance for Serbia: the initiative to allow individuals convicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to serve their prison sentences in the States that emerged in the territory of the former Yugoslavia of which they are citizens, and the future of the archives of the Tribunal.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“We recall that the Tribunal was established for the purpose of bringing peace and maintaining peace and security in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Today, almost 20 years after the establishment of the Tribunal, the question arises as to whether the Tribunal has succeeded in that intention. The Government of the Republic of Serbia will continue to cooperate with the Tribunal at the technical level. The Republic of Serbia believes that a full understanding of the work of the Tribunal and the consequences of its decisions need to be brought to light before the entire international community so that never again can evil deeds be amnestied or glorified by those who defend them. That will only serve to incentivize their repetition, the exact opposite of the Security Council's intent when it established the ICTY.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In View of the recent judgement, the Serbian nation has therefore been singled out as the sole perpetrator of such acts and the sole people responsible for the terrible violence that engulfed the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. That is manifestly not in conformity with the facts. The Tribunal has failed to deliver justice by failing to adequately apportion blame. It is to be underlined that the wars in the former Yugoslavia were civil, ethnic and even religious. There was no innocence in the face of evil. All parties were warring parties, and there were victims and criminal acts on all sides. We say all ofthis today before the Security Council not because we expect the judgements of the Tribunal so far can be altered, but because the Tribunal was established by the Security Council.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In conclusion, the result of the Tribunal's work in relation to justice served for the numerous Serbian Victims of the armed conflicts that occurred in the territory of the former Yugoslavia can be described as grotesque - the exact same word that Judge Pocar used to describe the judgement entered by the Appeals Chamber in the case of Prosecutor v. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markae. The most important task before the Tribunal was to contribute to the reconciliation efforts in the Western Balkans. In its more than 10 years of existence, it has convicted a number of former Serbian political and military leaders for war crimes. At the same time, it has failed to convict a single senior official from Croatia or Bosnia, and failed to convict a single senior Kosovo Albanian official for war crimes or crimes against humanity.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“We have to emphasize the fact that when the results of the Tribunal's practice are summarized, it becomes clear that despite the hundreds of thousands of Serbian refugees, and thousands of dead and wounded, the Tribunal has sentenced only a few guards from the Celebici prison camp in Bosnia and two Kosovo Albanians who were direct perpetrators of lower rank. We emphasize that Serbia has never asked for symmetry in relation to the Tribunal's indictments and judgements. However, that outcome makes a case for the claim that justice in the Tribunal's proceedings has been selective, and it is clear that selective justice cannot be regarded as justice.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Among 40 Serbian children who were killed, massacred or kidnapped in Kosovo and Metojiha was also little Ana Takic from Prizren, six-years old, abducted with her 71-year old grandfather Veselin by a group of Albanians on 28 August 1999. In mid-September, Ana was found dead on the Prizren- Zur road. She had one of her arms cut off. Who killed little Ana and who is responsible for it? The Sutakovic family - Nedeljko, his wife Dara and their three sons Aleksandar, Djordje and Radoman - from Djakovica were kidnapped on their way to the church in Djakovica, where they wanted to hide from Albanian terrorists. All of them are still missing and unaccounted for.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Radunovic was also brought back to Dasinovac and killed and burned in his home, while Milica Radunovic was killed in the village of Glodjane and thrown into Lake Radonjic. Haradinaj and Balaj are suspected of committing the crime. On 18 June 1998, Vucic Vukovic, Novica Vujsic and Izet Gutic were kidnapped in the village of Glodjane and taken to the local prison, where they were killed after being tortured. Ramush Haradinaj is suspected of having committed the crime. On 14 December 1998, six young men - Ivan Obradovic, Dragan Trifovic, Zoran Stanojevic, Svetislav Ristic, Vukosav Gvozdenovic and Ivan Radevic - were killed in a terrorist attack on the Panda Cafe in Pee. The perpetrators of the crime were under the command of Ramush Haradinaj. My question today is: Who is responsible for the deaths of those people?”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Let me now give just a few examples of crimes committed against the Serbian, non-Albanian and Albanian populations in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija under the command of Ramush Haradinaj. In 1998 and 1999, Ramush Haradinaj organized and carried out terrorist attacks against members of the Army of Yugoslavia and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia, including crimes against the Serbian population and non-loyal Albanians. On 22 April 1998, Slobodan Radosevic, Milos Radunovic and Milica Radunovic from the village of Dasinovac, Municipality of Decane, were kidnapped. All of them were taken to the prison established by Ramush Haradinaj in the village of Glodjane, in the municipality of Decane, where they were abused. Radosevic was brought back to the Village, where he was killed.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In spite of the obvious problems, UNMIK provided assurances for Haradinaj's provisional release, while the UNMIK Head at the time, Mr. Petersen, publicly declared Haradinaj his friend. That decision added insult to injury, as it is well known that a significant number of eyewitnesses were killed under extremely suspicious circumstances or refused to testify after heavy pressure was placed on them. A few potential witnesses in the case died under controversial circumstances, while several of the key witnesses, according to the Office of the Prosecutor, refused to testify before the Tribunal out of fear for their personal safety. Despite the clear obligation to protect witnesses, the Tribunal failed to do so.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, which was rendered on the retrial based on the six counts ofindictment for the crimes perpetrated in the Kosovo Liberation Army camp in Jablanica in Kosovo and Metohija in 1998 had similar effects. The Trial Chamber allowed the provisional release of Haradinaj and permitted him to engage in political activities, which represents a unique case in the Tribunal's practice, even though at the time the Tribunal must have been aware of the fact that there was a problem of witness protection in the case. The attitude of the staff of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) towards the case and towards the accused Haradinaj was very strange as well.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“It should be emphasized that this is not the first time that the Tribunal has concluded in its practice that crimes took place but found that neither the indictees nor anyone else was responsible for the crimes that were perpetrated. The second decision, a retrial by the Trial Chamber, acquitted of all charges Ramush Haradinaj, a former commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj for crimes committed in the Jablanica camp in 1998 against ethnic Serbs and others in the Metohija area of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija. The judgement of acquittal in the proceedings Prosecutor v.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In assessing the effects of that judgement, we have to emphasize that, considering the results of the Tribunal's work, the Tribunal failed to sentence the perpetrators responsible for more than 1,500 Serbs from Croatia killed, for more than 250,000 Serbs from Croatia forced to leave their homes - expelled from their thresholds - and for various other crimes committed against the civilian population in Operation Storm, regardless of the fact that the Tribunal found in its judgements, with absolute certainty, that the crimes were committed during that period. I deeply thank Mr. Brammertz for confirming that today.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“It is also surprising that the majority of the judges of the Appeals Chamber - which was established by the United Nations - have little confidence in the generals and other high-ranking United Nations Member State officials who were in the field under the United Nations flag at the time of the events that were the subject of the Trial Chamber's decision and who gave testimony about the events before the Trial Chamber. All those testimonies were dismissed in the Appeals judgement. In addition, both the former and present Prosecutor of the Tribunal expressed their disappointment in the judgement and emphasized that the verdict was unjust.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“It is important to emphasize several striking facts and controversies related to the acquittal judgement. The judgement was rendered by three votes to two of the Appeals Chamber judges. The two dissenting judges explained their dissenting opinions in an unusually fierce tone. Judge Fausto Pocar, one of the dissenting judges and a former President of the Tribunal, emphasized that the verdict was contrary to any sense ofjustice, and he described it as grotesque.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In the report of the representatives of the Monitoring Mission of6 September 1995 it is stated, inter alia, that United Nations military observers inspected about 10,000 houses in 140 small villages and found that 69 per cent had been partially or completely destroyed or burned. The report proceeds to describe the looting and burning of Serbian houses at Petrovac that took place at the beginning of September, a month after Operation Storm. Those arejust a few important pieces ofinformation about the crimes committed against the Serbian people during Operation Storm. I shall end my presentation by raising the question once again: If Gotovina and Markac are not guilty of the crime, who is? The question has not been answered by the Tribunal.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Petar Lavmie and his mother Sava and Mika Pavlica were also killed and burned. Boja Mirkovie was killed in the hamlet of Poljice. On 27 August in the Village of Gosie, near Djevrska, eight civilians were killed, aged about 70, seven of them from the Borak family - Savo, Vasilj, Grozdana, Mania, Kola, Milka and Dusan. The eighth casualty was Joko Mazibrada. All of them were buried secretly at the Knin cemetery under serial numbers 550 to 557 without first or last names. The Ministry of the Interior of Croatia refused to give the bodies to the relatives, in an attempt to hide the crime. Who killed those people?”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“On 6 August 1995, Euro Borojevie, from the Village of Borojevie, in the municipality of Kostajnica, was killed in front of his house. His home was set on fire. Milos Borojevie, born in 1948, from the same village was also killed. He was slaughtered and burned with his house. Husband and wife Luka and Milica Dobre from the village of Prukljen were killed and burned with their house in the village of Josevci, in the municipality of Glina. When the old man's body was found he was decapitated and both his arms were cut off. The remains of at least four burned persons were found in a haystack. Two of them were identified as husband and wife Cvijo and Desanka Matijevie. Who killed those people? The question remains unanswered. On 6 August, Mara Ugarkovie, 74 years old and bedridden, was burned in her home in the village of Komie, near Udbina.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“One example of those crimes is the town of Kistanje, which was burned, leaving no survivors. The same fate befell the Village of Kosovo and the village of Parcice. On 10 August, United Nations forces found the decomposed bodies of seven Serbian civilians in the village of Uzdalje. A 2.5-ton refrigerated truck and an ambulance were used to ferry the bodies of killed Serbian civilians to be buried in the local cemetery near the Knin church on 10 August. The operation was once again commanded by the Puma commander. United Nations staff members were prevented from testifying about the event. The same types of crimes were committed in Sector North. Crimes against the Serbian population took place in other areas targeted by Operation Storm in the immediate aftermath of the operation.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“In Sector South, at about 10.00 a.m. the Seventh Brigade - the so-called Pumas - entered Knin and immediately blockaded United Nations forces with five tanks, and then proceeded to "mop the terrain" - meaning to liquidate the remaining Serbs. As a result, the lifeless bodies of dead civilians could be seen on 4 and 5 August 1995. They were removed by night on 5 and 6 August 1995. On 4 August 1995, at 11.15 a.m., United Nations forces tried to force their way to a hospital in five armoured personnel carriers to evacuate the wounded. They were prevented from doing so by the Pumas. The "mopping" ofthe other parts of Sector South was carried out on 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 August 1995, in an ongoing attempt to kill all remaining Serbs. Entire villages were looted and burned before the very eyes of the representatives of the United Nations.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“The decision to forbid United Nations representatives from leaving their barracks at Knin to patrol the area at the beginning of Operation Storm leads us to believe that the decision was made to prevent them from witnessing the killing and expulsion of Serbs from the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The international community was faced with the largest humanitarian catastrophe since the beginning of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, while United Nations staff reported that serious crimes were being committed against captured Serbian soldiers and civilians as well as reporting the removal of bodies and the destruction and looting of Serbs' property. I would like to bring to the Council's attention some of the crimes and murders committed against the Serbian population by the forces under the command of Mladen Markac and Ante Gotovina.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Do Serbs, too, have a right to justice? Who is responsible for the numerous killings of Serbian civilians in Croatia and for the largest and most extensive ethnic cleansing on European soil since the Second World War? The general attack on the Republic of Serbian Krajina began on 4 August 1995 at 5:06 am. with the indiscriminate bombing of military and civilian targets in Sectors North and South - the zones under the protection of United Nations forces. More than 250,000 Serbs were expelled or fled the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina taken by the Croatian military. Representatives of the United Nations and the European Union Monitoring Mission in Zagreb witnessed numerous crimes against the Serbian population during Operation Storm, which is evidenced by reports sent to their superiors.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Taking those words into account, our faith in international justice suffered the severest possible blow in the wake of the shameful judgement of acquittal rendered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's Appeals Chamber on 16 November, which absolved Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac of responsibility for the crimes committed against the Serbian civilian population in the offensive by Croatian forces code-named Operation Storm. The judgement, which provoked understandable acrimony in many parts of the world - including reactions by both officials of the Republic of Serbia and, more importantly, the people of Serbia, as well as international experts - caused great damage, first and foremost to the families of the victims of the crimes committed during Operation Storm. It is very relevant to raise some questions.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Not a single request of the Office of the Prosecutor for assistance regarding access to the State archives has been denied. The information presented clearly points out the commitment of the Republic of Serbia to determining the truth about the crimes perpetrated during the armed conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. That includes punishing those responsible for crimes regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnic origin of the Victims.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“With the arrest of Goran Hadzie in July 2011, the Republic of Serbia completed its cooperation with the ICTY in terms of handing over all fugitive indictees to the Tribunal. Among the 45 indictees that the Republic of Serbia has transferred to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal were two former Presidents of the Republic, a former Prime Minister, a former Deputy Prime Minister, three former Chiefs of Staff, a former head of the State security service and numerous military and police generals. With regard to cooperation on access to documents, archives and witnesses, I must say that the Republic of Serbia has replied to almost all the 3,200 requests for assistance received from the Office of the Prosecutor and the defence teams. Only newer requests are in the process of being met.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“For my country, Serbia, this is not an ordinary meeting. It is an opportunity for us to state, loud and clear, that international law should apply to all evenly, rather than selectively and more to some than others. For Serbia, law and justice trump politics. However, we consider that law and justice have not always been the guiding principles of the ICTY. I would like to bring to the attention ofthe Council the results that the Republic of Serbia has achieved in its cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in preceding years, not only in the course of fulfilling its international obligations but also with respect to its goodwill to contribute to achieving international justice and reconciliation in the region.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source
“Due to a lack of time, I will not read out all of my statement. I hope that members will receive it in its full written form. First of all, I would like to point out that Serbia, its President and its Government are fully committed to peace and reconciliation in the region of the Western Balkans and that we are building a modern State, ruled by law, that promotes the fundamental principles of the United Nations, one of the key aspects of which is the implementation of international law and the pursuit of justice. It appears, from the statement of the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), that this meeting is one in a series of regular meetings and that everything is as before and is following the well-known and regular bureaucratic procedure.”
2012-12-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6880 (2012) · source