US and NATO are responsible
for the destruction of the former Yugoslavia and death of Milosevic in prison!
Issued by the Office of the Chairperson
International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples' Struggle
The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) condemns the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for the death under suspicious circumstances of Slobodan Milosevic while in its custody. This kangaroo court created by the US and its NATO allies is guilty at the minimum of criminal neglect. There are strong indications that Milosevic was poisoned. The ILPS joins the international call for an impartial and thorough investigation into the death of Milosevic by an independent body.
The ICTY had earlier arrogantly dismissed a request by Milosevic for treatment for his heart condition which was diagnosed by doctors as critical. The UN Security Council also turned a deaf ear to the appeal of a group of respected personalities including former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark for Milosevic to be treated in a Russian hospital.
Does the US have a motive to kill Milosevic? Yes. The trial of Milosevic which was originally intended to be a show trial to justify the wrecking operations of the US and NATO was turning into an exposure of the criminal subversion and aggression by the US and NATO. Milosevic had succeeded in turning the tables on his accusers. The trial was becoming a great embarassment for the imperialists.
The US and NATO demonized Milosevic in order to create a pretext to destroy Yugoslavia. Germany used subversion to undermine the unity of the former federal republic. The US put the finishing touches by using NATO to launch an all out war of aggression. Yugoslavia had to be destroyed because under Milosevic Yugoslavia stood as an obstacle to the repartitioning of the countries in the Balkans into the spheres of influence of the US and its NATO allies.
The US and its imperialist allies painted Milosevic as an autocratic dictator. The question of democracy in Yugoslavia is for the people to determine and decide without outside interference, especially from imperialist powers. In fact, what is more authoritarian than the US superpower imposing its will on weaker countries like Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq among others through wars of aggression? What is more authoritarian than launching wars of aggression despite the broad opposition of the peoples of the world to such wars and the arrogant disregard of the United Nations Charter?
The US government has a long history of sponsoring dictators like Park Chung Hee, Marcos, Mobutu, Videla and Pinochet for its imperialist purposes. It has blood in its hands for sponsoring and supporting these dictators responsible for the most heinous crimes, massacres, torture and disappearances. The US government has no moral authority to point an accusing finger on anyone. The US and its puppets in Iraq and Afghanistan are flagrantly engaged in gross human rights violations far exceeding than those alleged against Saddam Hussein and the Taleban.
In 1998, Amnesty International said: "Throughout the world, on any given day, a man, woman or child is likely to be displaced, tortured, killed or 'disappeared' at the hands of governments or armed political groups. More often than not, the United States shares the blame."
The recent UN report of continuing atrocities being committed by US forces in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other detention centers despite the international outrage generated by earlier revelations punctures any democratic pretensions of the US imperialists.
We call on all peace-loving and freedom-loving people throughout the world to condemn the US and its imperialist allies for their latest crime. We must expose their hypocrisy. We must condemn their crimes against humanity. We may not get justice in any court anywhere in the world that is today dominated by the imperialist powers. But, we can expose and condemn their crimes in the court of international public opinion. #
Distributed by
ILPS General Secretariat
15 March 2006