NATO AGRESSION ON FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA IS A CRIME WHICH CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN

Abstract

Before anything else, the aggression of NATO alliance on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a crime against peace and it is defined by the Statute of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1945 as „planning, preparation, beginning of or making aggressive acts and the war breaking international treaties, agreements and guaranties, and involvement in some joint plan or conspiracy to carry out any of the abovementioned acts.” Real meaning of the strategy of the NATO in bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was revealed by the main commander of air force operations Michael Short, who used to say during the aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: „It is not possible to win the war if we don’t destroy the possibilities for normal life for the majority of the population. We have to deprive them of the water, electricity, food and even fresh air”. The beginning of the aggression started in 7:41 PM on March 24th 1999 and the whole territory of the FRY, mainly the air forces and its objects and anti-aircraft defence forces, was attacked until 4 AM on March 25th 1999. At that time around 250000 of children refugees from former Yugoslav republics Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina who had earlier found the refuge in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were exposed to the war horror once again. According to the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The NATO Crimes in Yugoslavia – Documents and Proofs 24 March – 1 June it is possible to conclude without doubt that the civilians were the target of the NATO bombs and that the NATO conducted a crime against civilians in its aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. By its actions from the airspace the NATO murdered 462 civilians, injured 819 people and among them seriously injured 564 people and lightly injured 255 people. Majority of the seriously injured people became invalids with the burns of highest degree, amputated limbs and permanently damaged internal body organs. During eleventh week of the NATO aggression on the FRY there were killed 524 members of the Yugoslav Army and 114 members of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. During the aggression there were destroyed 1109 military objects, or 24% of „whole total usable area of the objects which were hit ", as well as 18 tanks, 10 armored combat vehicles and 13 artillery pieces By the intensive and continuous bombing of the villages and towns in Kosovo and Metohija only in the period of several days there was caused a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecented proportions. Almost 800 000 civilians, among them mostly women, children, elderly and disabled persons, were forced to leave Kosovo and Metohija due to the fear of the bombing, while 200 000 people found refuge in Šumadija, Vojvodina and other regions in the Republic of Serbia. Due to the complete destruction of industrial facilities across the state, more than 600000 workers lost their jobs. As a consequence of that, more than 2.5 million people were left without any means of subsistence. The total material damage has been enormous and it is estimated at about one hundred billion dollars. Two thousand civilians were killed and more than six thousand people suffered serious injuries which in many cases caused their permanent disability. Children accounted for 30 % of all the killed people and 40 % of the total number of injured people, while 10 % of the total number of the children in Yugoslavia (about 300 000 of them) suffered serious psychological trauma.