Posted on 04/11/2002 6:07:13 PM PDT by Spar
International observer testifies about Kosovo massacre that led to NATO intervention
Thu Apr 11,12:50 PM ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) A former British general Thursday testifying at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) described the aftermath of a massacre in a Kosovo village in 1999 that outraged the world and hastened NATO (news - web sites) intervention.
Retired British Gen. Karol Drewienkiewicz visited the town of Racak a day after 45 ethnic Albanians predominantly men were shot from close range.
The Racak killings on Jan. 15, 1999, which were observed from across the valley by witnesses, became a milestone in the disputed province.
World outrage eventually led to the 78-day air campaign that drove Serb fighters out of the province months later.
The indictment against Milosevic blamed Serb forces for the assault, and said the Yugoslav president bore ultimate responsibility for their actions.
Drewienkiewicz said he traveled from Pristina to Racak together with William Walker, an American diplomat, and international reporters after they had heard a massacre had taken place.
He said there was no indication that the victims had fought back.
He testified that all victims were wearing civilian clothing and most were dressed in slippers. They were shot in the head or neck.
"There was a body of an elderly man who had his head chopped off," he said.
Deputy prosecutor Geoffrey Nice showed the court a video of Drewienkiewicz visiting the village. In the hills around Racak, dozens of corpses lay in piles.
On Wednesday, the U.N. court ordered prosecutors to conclude their case against Milosevic within one year. He is charged with 66 counts of war crimes in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.
(mrh/am)
Want to read what was said about Albanian eye witness testimony in regards to Racak (the major crime Milosevic is on "trial" for)?
In the article Amnesty International and UN staff accuse Kosovo war crimes tribunal of ethnic bias A senior UN legal official said the Stanojevic trial reflected weaknesses throughout the Kosovo judicial process. "The quality of evidence is very very poor and relies on testimony for which there is very little supporting evidence. No one hesitates to make things up.
What is Gen. Karol Drewienkiewicz? Polish? (Sorry could not resist!
The Spanish magazine El Pais is the source of the story.
clinton's Serbian bombing campaign is the largest stain he left behind. It covers our entire country.
I get dyslexic when contemplating emperors.
Yes, he is. Same as Zbigniew Brzezinski and Tadeusz Mazowiecki (another "impartial" observer).
VRN
See the Finnish team peer-reviewed scientific publication on their forensic study of 40 Racak bodies.
This publication agrees with the EU autopsy report from which Spar quotes (although Spar's link to the source article is not working).
Note also that the allegation that "... 45 ethnic Albanians ... were shot from close range" is explicitly contradicted by the above authoritative study, where it is stated that "close-range or contact discharge" (i.e. close-range shooting) was noted in only one out of 40 examined cases (relevant evidence was explicitly sought for by the team - see Table 3).
DREWIENKIEWICZ WAS PROBABLY A HIGH RANKING SPY
According to OSCE Kosovo monitor Pascal Neuffer (in interview with Swiss paper La Liberte), Gen. Karol Drewienkiewicz was the director of "'The Fusion' [... ], a section in the headquarters of the OSCE in Pristina [...which was understood by Neuffer and others to be ...] a center for the co-ordination of information going into the hands of American and British military personnel".
According to OSCE Kosovo monitor Pascal Neuffer (in interview with Swiss paper La Liberte), Gen. Karol Drewienkiewicz was the director of "'The Fusion' [... ], a section in the headquarters of the OSCE in Pristina [...which was understood by Neuffer and others to be ...] a center for the co-ordination of information going into the hands of American and British military personnel".
Fusion! Finally, you got unmasked. Are you still there on FR?
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