Tulips in the Hague

A Human Rights Watch report proving that ethnic Albanian civilians were murdered in the Skopje village of Ljuboten about a month ago means that Carla del Ponte could begin to seriously focus her attention on some players in the crisis in Macedonia. Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski could feel the full force of this: he who lives by The Hague, perishes by The Hague.

AIM Skopje, September 18, 2001

Since the very outset of the crisis in Macedonia seven months ago state propaganda kept threatening that the insurgents, that is members of the National Liberation Army (NLA), will one day, and maybe even sooner, have to face justice -- as defendants at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). What sort of court would it be if Macedonia, as the southernmost republic of the formerly unified country, failed to contribute? The media, backed by numerous statements coming from the highest state officials, began creating a myth about justice being served in the case of the NLA's political representative, Ali Ahmeti, and the organization's other champions. This threat was fueled by the fact that the U.S. and the EU had blacklisted certain NLA members, banning them from entering their respective territories, as well as all funding to the group. This was enough for local media to conclude that Ahmeti was already on his way to The Hague.

During his May visit to Washington President Trajkovski failed in getting the NLA listed as a terrorist organization in a State Department report on international terrorism. There is still plenty of time, the officials thought, and began compiling a so-called White Book about the NLA's crimes. Public Prosecutor Stavre Djikov said in an interview that close cooperation with the Hague court had been established and that the government was ready to fully accommodate Prosecutor Del Ponte. Djikov was probably convinced that "criminals" would be found solely on one side, among NLA fighters. Soon thereafter, an ICTY office opened in Skopje.

During a recent visit to Belgrade ICTY spokeswoman Florence Hartmann recalled in an interview with Skopje's A1 TV that Macedonia was under the ICTY's jurisdiction. "If we have indications of any crimes we will investigate and bring to justice all those who have violated international humanitarian law," she added. Immediately after the interview, the leading Skopje daily Dnevnik carried a discreet statement from NATO sources (which has not been denied) saying that what the Macedonian government is accusing the NLA of is not in the ICTY jurisdiction: ambushing and killing Macedonian security forces is cruel but is not a war crime, because it involves regular troops; genocide charges require firm evidence, and claims of ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians have been met with nothing more than puzzled glances from international representatives...

Throughout the crisis, international representatives in Macedonia have feared something else: the activities of Macedonian paramilitary units, which might be doing someone's dirty work. Without much hesitation the media fingered Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski and his VMRO-DPMNE party as being behind various paramilitary groups. Anti-Albanian violence in Bitolj and Prilep, violent demonstrations in the Macedonian capital, and other incidents that could have incited ethnic hatred were linked to precisely such groups. At the height of the fighting, Boskovski announced a mobilization of reserve police officers. It is estimated that at that time some 7,000 to 10,000 people, mostly close to the VMRO-DPMNE party, received weapons. Under pressure from the international community, Boskovski withdrew his decision but the suspicion that "questionable individuals" had kept the weapons issued to them remained.

This week a respectable international organization, Human Rights Watch, published a shocking report accusing police of murdering civilians, torching private homes and mistreating hundreds of people arrested in the Skopje village of Ljuboten during an offensive against the NLA on Aug. 12, murdering a total of 10 people. The detailed report illustrated by photographs said that a three-day operation was launched after eight Macedonian soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a land mine near Ljuboten. The report specifically named Boskovski as the organizer of the operation, which was carried out by police reservists, while reservists from nearby villages were "in charge" of mistreating civilians. The HRW findings denied Boskovski's claims that the police operation was aimed against "Albanian terrorists." It even said there were no NLA fighters in the village and that the operation was a reprisal. The report carried photographs of the killed people and one taken from a Macedonian state TV report, showing Boskovski viewing the operation only 50 meters from the street where the greatest acts of brutality were committed. HRW called on the Macedonian government to launch an unbiased investigation, saying that otherwise the case will be sent to the Hague court. It also criticized the OSCE because its observers never mentioned "the incidents that occurred during the offensive thereby corroborating the official version."

Minister Boskovski, convinced that the best defense is a good offense, responded by saying: "I have no intention of defending myself from the nonsense HRW put in its report... The report is a part of the arsenal of crime and monstrosity displayed by the biased media, and it serves biased organizations and politicians to obscure the truth and to equalize the aggressor and the victim."

Numerous reports issued first by the police and then by the Macedonian president's security council followed, rejecting the claims that paramilitary groups linked to the Macedonian Interior Ministry were operating in the country.

On the very same day when the HRW report was published, the Skopje newspaper Vest published a very interesting story on a row between NATO Secretary General George Robertson and Premier Georgijevski and Minister Boskovski last week. Vest reported that Robertson objected to their forming of paramilitary units, backing his claims with names and figures. According to the paper, the premier responded by accusing NATO of having a secret agenda, of making politicians out of terrorists and of loosing its prestige in Macedonia because of that. Robertson, allegedly, said: "Mr. Georgijevski, I was selected to this post because I am a patient and a tolerant man, but I have to tell you this: if you and your spokesman stop saying absurdities about NATO, our prestige will improve." Boskovski then joined the fight by telling Robertson: "The irony is that Ali Ahmeti will become a politician, and I am going to end up in The Hague." To this, the paper claims, Robertson bluntly responded: "Control those you call police reservists, and you will not see The Hague."

If the story is indeed true, it has yet another side to it -- use of the Hague court for political purposes and softening hardliners. And indeed, Boskovski has become somewhat softer, not too soft, but still softer... The horrible truth is that what happened in Ljuboten is a petty occurrence compared to everything that took place in the former Yugoslavia. It can be assumed, however, that the international community wants to act preventively. If nothing else, all the players in the conflict in Macedonia have been warned, maybe not too gently, but clearly enough: where there is crime, there is punishment as well.

Zeljko Bajic

(AIM)