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GUILTY!

On Saturday, June 10, 2000, the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO 
War Crimes Against the People of Yugoslavia found U.S. and 
NATO political and military leaders guilty of war crimes.  At this 
people's tribunal meeting in New York, held before over 500 people, a 
panel of 16 judges from 11 countries rendered this verdict regarding 
the March 24-June 10, 1999 U.S./NATO assault on Yugoslavia.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the lead prosecutor at 
the International Tribunal on U.S./NATO War Crimes Against 
Yugoslavia, urged those present and those they represented from the 
21 countries participating to carry out a sentence of organizing a 
campaign to abolish the NATO military pact.

Ben Dupuy, former ambassador at large during the Aristide 
Administration in Haiti, the Rev. Kiyul Chung of Korea, and auto 
worker Martha Grevatt, who heads the AFL-CIO�s official 
constituency group Pride at Work, read the three parts of the verdict 
(included below).

Participants taking the witness stand included eyewitnesses, 
researchers who visited Yugoslavia, renowned political and 
economics analysts, historians, physicists, biologists, military experts, 
journalists and lay researchers. (A list of all the judges, and the 
witnesses and their topics is included below.)

Many of these witnesses have in the past 15 months presented to 
audiences worldwide a complete picture of the war NATO waged 
against Yugoslavia. For the tribunal, however, all limited themselves 
to a single area of expertise that made up a single part of the 
evidence against the political and military leaders of the United States 
and the other NATO countries.

Taken together, the judges decided, each single part contributed to 
construct a proof that beyond a reasonable doubt proved the guilt of 
the accused, just as the proper placing of single tiles can build a 
mosaic.

The witnesses described how NATO forces used the media to spread 
lies to demonize the Serbs and their leadership in order to prepare 
public opinion to prepare for war. Then they showed the real 
economic and geopolitical interests of the imperialist powers--the U.S. 
and Western Europe�in seizing economic control of the area from 
the Balkans to the oil-rich Caspian Sea. 

Finally they demonstrated how Washington rigged the �Racak 
massacre� and then used the so-called Rambouillet accord�in reality 
an ultimatum demanding NATO's military control of all of Yugoslavia-
-to provoke the war. Taken together this all proved a crime against 
peace. 

They also showed the use of illegal weapons, the purposeful choice of 
civilian targets and the destruction of the environment and the civilian 
infrastructure that add up to war crimes. And the expulsion of 
hundreds of thousands of people from Kosovo and Metohija that 
prove crimes against humanity.

The witnesses� presentations were accompanied in many cases by 
slides and videos displayed on a large screen on the stage of the 
auditorium at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Manhattan. This 
screen was easily visible both to the judges, who sat on the stage, and 
to the hundreds in the audience, many of whom stayed throughout the 
nine-hour day.

In addition, pictures and videos were on display in the hall outside the 
auditorium, and documentary evidence was offered in books or in 
research papers.

The International Action Center, founded by Clark in 1992, organized 
this final session of the tribunal. There was also participation by those 
who had organized similar tribunal hearings in Germany, Italy, Austria, 
Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia and Greece, where thousands declared 
U.S. President Clinton a war criminal last November in Athens.

In addition to the witnesses, there were also important guest 
presentations from representatives of the governments Yugoslavia 
and Cuba. In addition, Ismael Guadalupe from Vieques, Puerto Rico 
showed in a powerful speech how the practice runs against his small 
island laid the basis for U.S./NATO aggression around the world.

According to the IAC organizers, total registration, including justices, 
witnesses and staff was 511. Invited speakers, witnesses and judges 
came from Haiti, Spain, Turkey, Korea, Puerto Rico, India, Germany, 
United States, Canada, Italy, Yugoslavia, Russia, Britain, Belgium, 
Iraq, Greece, Austria, France, and Portugal. The U.S. government 
refused visas to four people from Ukraine, whose message was read 
from the stage.

There were also representatives of the Roma people�often referred 
to by the derisive term "gypsy." Shani Rifati, a Roma witness who 
was born in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, told how NATO occupation 
has led to the expulsion of 100,000 Romas. He pointed out that the 
verdict condemned the persecution of Roma people, the first time this 
has happened in any international tribunal. 

Five different television crews taped the entire proceedings, including 
Serbian television and a three-camera crew from Australia, as well as 
alternate media sources in the U.S. like the Peoples Video Network. 

FINAL JUDGEMENT OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO 
INVESTIGATE U.S./NATO WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE 
PEOPLE OF YUGOSLAVIA

Final Judgement

The Members of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to 
Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against the People of 
Yugoslavia, meeting in New York, having considered the Initial 
Charges and Complaint of the Commission dated July 31, 1999, 
against President William J. Clinton, Gen. Wesley Clark, Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor 
Gerhard Schroder, President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister 
Massimo D�Alema, Prime Minister Jose Maria Azmar, the 
Governments of the United States and the other NATO member 
states, former Secretary General Javier Solana and other NATO 
leaders, and Others with nineteen separate Crimes Against Peace, 
War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in violation of the Charter 
of the United Nations, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, other 
international agreements and customary international law;

Having the right and obligation as citizens of the world to sit in 
judgement regarding violations of international humanitarian law;

Having heard the testimony from Commissions of Inquiry and 
Tribunals held within their own countries during the past year and 
having received reports from numerous other Commission hearings 
which recite the evidence there gathered;

Having been provided with documentary evidence, eyewitness 
statements, photos, videotapes, special reports, expert analyses and 
summaries of evidence available to the Commission;

Having access to all evidence, knowledge and expert opinion in the 
Commission files or available to the Commission staff;

Having been provided by the Commission, or otherwise obtained, 
various books, articles and other written materials on various aspects 
of events and conditions in Yugoslavia and other countries in the 
Balkans, and in the military and arms establishments;

Having considered newspaper coverage, magazine and periodical 
reports, special publications, TV, radio and other media coverage and 
public statements by the accused, other public officials and public 
materials;

Having heard the presentations of the Commission of Inquiry in public 
hearing on June 10, 2000, and the testimony, evidence and summaries 
there presented;

And having met, considered and deliberated with each other and with 
Commission staff and having considered all the evidence that is 
relevant to the nineteen charges of criminal conduct alleged in the 
Initial Complaint, make the following findings:

FINDINGS

The Members of the International War Crimes Tribunal find the 
accused Guilty on the basis of the evidence against them and that 
each of the nineteen separate crimes alleged in the Initial Complaint 
has been established to have been committed beyond a reasonable 
doubt. These are:

1. Planning and Executing the Dismemberment, Segregation and 
Impoverishment of Yugoslavia.
2. Inflicting, Inciting and Enhancing Violence Between and Among 
Muslims and Slavs.
3. Disrupting Efforts to Maintain Unity, Peace and Stability in 
Yugoslavia.
4. Destroying the Peace-Making Role of the United Nations.
5. Using NATO for Military Aggression Against, and Occupation of, 
Non-Compliant Poor Countries.
6. Killing and Injuring a Defenseless Population throughout 
Yugoslavia.
7. Planning, Announcing and Executing Attacks Intended to 
Assassinate the Head of Government, Other Government Leaders 
and Selected Civilians in Yugoslavia.
8. Destroying and Damaging Economic, Social, Cultural, Medical, 
Diplomatic -- including the Embassy of the People�s Republic of 
China and other embassies -- and Religious Resources, Properties 
and Facilities throughout Yugoslavia.
9 Attacking Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Population of 
Yugoslavia.
10. Attacking Facilities Containing Dangerous Substances and Forces.
11. Using Depleted Uranium, Cluster Bombs and Other Prohibited 
Weapons.
12. Waging War on the Environment.
13. Imposing Sanctions through the United Nations that are a 
Genocidal Crime Against Humanity.
14. Creating an Illegal Ad-Hoc Criminal Tribunal to Destroy and 
Demonize the Serbian Leadership. The Illegitimacy of this Tribunal is 
Further Demonstrated by its Failure to Bring Any Case Regarding the 
Oppression of the Romani People, Who Have Suffered the Highest 
Rate of Casualties of Any People in the Region.
15. Using Controlled International Media to Create and Maintain 
Support for the U.S. Assault and to Demonize Yugoslavia, Slavs, 
Serbs and Muslims as Genocidal Murderers.
16. Establishing the Long-Term Military Occupation of Strategic 
Parts of Yugoslavia by NATO Forces.
17. Attempting to Destroy the Sovereignty, Right to Self-
Determination, Democracy and Culture of the Slavic, Muslim, Roma 
and Other Peoples of Yugoslavia.
18. Seeking to Establish U.S. Domination and Control of Yugoslavia 
and to Exploit Its People and Resources.
19. Using the Means of Military Force and Economic Coercion in 
Order to Achieve U.S. Domination.

The Members hold NATO, the NATO states and their leaders 
accountable for their criminal acts and condemn those found guilty in 
the strongest possible terms. The Members condemn the NATO 
bombardments, denounce the international crimes and violations of 
international humanitarian law committed by the armed attack and 
through other means such as economic sanctions. NATO has acted 
lawlessly and has attempted to abolish international law.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Members urge the immediate revocation of all embargoes, 
sanctions and penalties against Yugoslavia because they constitute a 
continuing crime against humanity. The Members call for the 
immediate end to the NATO occupation of all Yugoslav territory, the 
removal of all NATO and U.S. bases and forces from the Balkans 
region, and the cessation of overt and covert operations, including the 
�International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia� in the 
Hague, aimed at overthrowing the government of Yugoslavia. 

The Members further call for full reparations to be paid to the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia for death, injury, economic and environmental 
damage resulting from the NATO bombing, economic sanctions and 
blockades. Further, other states in the region which have suffered 
economic and environmental damage due to the NATO bombing and 
economic sanctions on Yugoslavia must also be awarded reparations. 
The Members condemn the threat or use of military technology 
against life, both civilian and military, as was used by the NATO 
powers against the people of Yugoslavia.

The Members urge public action and mobilization to stop new and 
continued sanctions and aggressions by the U.S. and other NATO 
powers against Iraq, Cuba, North Korea, the countries of Eastern 
Europe and the former Soviet Union, Puerto Rico, Asia, Sudan, 
Colombia and other countries. We ask for the immediate cessation of 
overt/covert activities by the U.S. and NATO in such countries.

The Members believe that the interests of peace, justice and human 
progress require the abolition of NATO, which has proved itself 
beyond any doubt to be an instrument of aggression for the dominant, 
colonizing powers, particularly the United States. The Pentagon, the 
central and key element of NATO and the greatest single threat to 
the people of the world, must be disbanded.

The Members urge the Commission to provide for the permanent 



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