Human Rights: Hostage To the State's Regression - Helsinki ...

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Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Flying in the face of detractors of both publishing and sale of such a literature, editor-in-chief of Zrennjanin's “Art-projekt”, Ivan Danikov maintains that his publishing venture aimed at underpinning Davidovic's right to freedom of expression. Thus in the name of alleged freedoms, anew are published the books, whose themes are at least morally dubious, if not outright condemnable. But since the competent authorities don't think that such publishing ventures are in violation of laws, the country shall continue to shoulder the problems from recent past, though the once wild, rampant nationalism has now emerged in a more presentable, decent shape. In such a general mood some printing office refused to recieve manuscripts dealing with the aformentioned themes, but not on moral grounds. In fact they needleesly feared possible legal consequences of such ventures. Thus the feeling of discomfort of some printers is the most we can expect at this moment of time in this highly desensitized milieu. In other well-ordered countries publishing of such books would be considered more than scandalous. However when likened to Collected Works of Radovan Karadzic, the writing of which neared completion in 2006, the aforementioned books may appear to us as something similar to school textbooks for the young neo-Nazis. While the international forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina organize sporadic raids in Pale or rather direct hunts for Radovan Karadzic, thus apparently demonstrating their resolve to arrest him and bring him to the face of justice, indirect presence of that Hague indictee is very much felt in the cultural scene of Serbia. As if the ICTY indictment for genocide and crimes against humanity were an accidental, to-be-quickly-resolved, misunderstanding, Karadžić keeps cranking out novels, memoirs and satires, ridiculing in his dramas both the international community and the incumbent Serb leaders. His works are published in Serbia, in Belgrade, by his former wartime Information Minister, Miroslav Toholj, but not in his native Montenegro or in Bosnia and Herzegovina where he spent most of his adult life. Karadžić's books are not only published, but are also widely read: the whole circulation of his novel „Wondrous Chronicle of the Night” was an immediate sell-out. Underway are preparations for the staging his drama „Sitovacija” in a Belgrade theatre. Number of published political works of the author has also increased. In 2006 the International Committee for the Truth about Radovan Karadzic published his “Interviews and Speeches”, thus rounding the six-volume edition of Karadzic's selected manuscripts. Those who have no stomach for Karadžić's meditations on war, contained in over 1,000 pages of the last two volumes, were notheless “encouraged” to do that by National Squad believes in biological inequality and geographical segregation, favours official banning of abortions, substance abuse, paedophillia, homosexualism, and placing all media under the national state control. National Squad is a member of “International Association of White Nazis.” Stormfront, whose motto is: “White Pride Across the World”. Human Rights: Hostage To the State's Regression slogans heard during the books promotion: “Serbs are divided into Hajduks and accomplies of enemies” and that “as long as God exists our brother Radovan shall live and produce new books.” President of that Association, Kosta Čavoški, like many times before intrigued the public by a remark, that Radovan Karadžić himself helped make the right choice of interviews and speeches. Cavoski, on earlier occasions, also confused the audience by maintaining that Karadžić had been informed of the promotion, that he might even turn up at the presentation of his work, or that he might be already in their midst. Such statements consequently prompted many to start turning around in a bid to spot Karadzic among the present, while Cavoski kept mysteriously smiling. But leaving aside Pale jokes, which only Karadzic's war friends find funny, the fact remains that Karadzic's protectors in Serbia proper never hid the fact that they kept in touch with their protégé. They openly spoke about pigeons-couriers, mentioned stones, high up in the mountains, under which were placed Radovan's messages, and unidentified human couriers bringing in the middle of the night Karadžić's manuscripts to his accomplices, living in downtown Belgrade. After warning of prosecutor for the war crimes, Vladimir Vukčević, that “all those who in any way communicate, orally, in writing by e-mail or pigeons-couriers, with fugitives from the Hague justice, shall be prosecuted”, human and animal couriers started giving a wide berth to the aforementioned Belgrade flats. And those concerned stopped mentioning stones, under which, in the depth of some gorges, Karadžić's messages were left. Karadžić's ideological pals stopped bragging about their ties with the fugitive, but nonetheless enabled their spiritual leader to expose once again his notorious theses in recently published, two-volume, “Interviews and speeches”. And here is a summary of those thesis: war in Bosnia was imposed to Serbs, for Muslims wanted to create a unified Bosnia; Serbs just defended themselves from a new genocide; it was a civil war in which everyone hated everyone else; at play was settling of scores from the WW2, it was retaliation for old crimes; Muslims themselves staged the bombardment of Sarajevo, to create a media spectacle; war crimes charges are part of propaganda and campaign against Serbs; International Court for War Crimes, if it is a genuine court, shall deal more with crimes against Serbs, then with crimes committed by Serbs; leadership of Republika Srpska is ready to condemn all criminal offences committed by Serbs; engineered ethnic cleansing has never happened, it was not a feature of our policy, it was just an integral part of war; Muslims and Croats left voluntarily their houses in order to get welfare or refugees money in Germany; gang rapes have never happened because thanks to their Communist education generals of the Army of Republika Srpska are very conservative; top brass of the ARS strictly observed basic ethical, decency and morale principles; if some psychopaths raped women, they did it singlehandedly, etc. 62 63
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia What Radovan Karadžić fails to do is to mention the Serb crimes in Srebrenica, Bijeljina, Bratunac, Bosanski Šamac, Brčko, Doboj, Foča... in detention camps, four-year long siege of Sarajevo and destruction of many cities. “Interviews and speeches” only confirmed what had been already wellknown, namely Karadžić's persistent denial of crimes committed by the Serb side, the ideas which had found a wide following in Serbia. In every single text in that new book Karadzic reiterates that the war goal is unification of all Serbs living in the Balkans, “therefore I cannot not understand why anyone would oppose the creation of a great Serb state...even if it were called Greater Serbia...with its capital Belgrade, with one government and one President.” All the foregoing indicates that Karadzic was very familiar with the plans of Serb forces in the 90's. Of course Radovan Karadžić is not the only criminal who published books while facing the charges of grave crimes. Some fifty years ago memoirs of the Armament Minister in Hitler's cabinet, Albert Speer, became best-sellers in the post-war Germany, but in contrast to Karadzic the principal architect of the Third Reich served his twenty year prison term to which he had been sentenced by an international court. But such scruples of course don't exist in Serbia. When Karadzic’s drama, „Sitovacija,” was covertly promoted in the premises of Faculty of Philosophy in Pale, none of competent employees of that institution had the courage to admit what had happened, despite the media coverage of that, for Bosnia, unusual event. In Serbia promotions of Karadžić's books, either political manuscripts or fiction, have become a regular part of cultural happenings. In this country International Committee for the Truth about Radovan Karadžić works incessantly in defense of the war criminal, by organizing panel discussions which glorify him, by printing, distributing and affixing posters with the words „Every Serb is Radovan” and taking similar actions. In such a mood the general public in Serbia sees nothing wrong in publishing of Karadžić's books. Only sporadically a critical voice dares observe that the said phenomenon is like “someone publishing “Mein Campf” in Germany 10 ten years after the war.” However no-one calls into question the mere act of publishing of such works, since it belongs to the sphere of moral issues. Added to that in the society not overtly sensitive to moral dilemmas, it would be too unrealistic to expect the publishers to morph into -censors. Last year saw the official instituting of group of writers frequently taking part in panel discussions devoted to Karadžić, meetings of various farright organizations and rallies of the Serb Radical Party. Members of that group are Gojko ðogo, Rajko Petrov Nogo, Branislav Crnčević, Radoslav Bratić, Momo Kapor and Momir Lazić. Lazić himself at a panel discussion of the Serb Radical Party threatened openly “all traitors of Serbhood” Namely he railed that they would be dealt with in the IRA style, for in Ireland, allegedly, “first the eldest child of the traitor is killed, and then the traitor himself is shot in both knees...so when you see an Irishman limping, you will immediately Human Rights: Hostage To the State's Regression know that he is a traitor. I fear that some people here shall start limping soon.” In recent years Lazic had become the most vocal and threatening firebrand of the Serb Radical Party in Serbia: he insulted Jews on Krusevac TV, branded his political opponents “idiots”, reiterated in paid-for TV spots that “Vatican is a Masonic lodge”, “Croatia is an Ustashi state”, and “William Walker is a fascist.”. He also unveiled that “hundred of Albanian women are giving birth in Novi Sad, so that another part of Serbia may be taken from this country” and harangued against “Satanic and non-Christian authorities”. Together with his spiritual brothers, Lazić cursed “domestic scum”, “servile and cowardly citizens” and other “Western servants cum stooges”. The number of such rallies would have increased, if followers of Radicals had not become terrified of the enormity of their task. Namely it is easy to loudly threaten people, to drive people out of their homes by brute force, and aim pistols at students, but it is not easy to stage a major action against the opponents, since the latter, “the traitors”, are more numerous than those who would like to try them. While Karadzic's spiritual defenders are getting entrenched in Serbia, and Radovan himself hides in gorges and sporadically publishes literary works, a group of his ideological followers, rallied around the Centre “Most” is still trying to dramatize in a Belgrade theatre his play “Sitovacija”. The intent to establish the fugitive from The Hague justice as a great playwright to date has failed, which by extension saved the domestic theatres from the trap of heavy compromising, laid by some circles. But despite that lesser victory, theatre people should not feel too proud of their achievements in 2006, for in the year which marked the anniversary of birth of Jovan Sterija Popovic, no theatre director remembered to stage his play “Patriots” which lays bare all the evils of national mythomania. Such a staging was much needed by the country tottering under the heavy burden of the 90's, but theatre directors instead turned their attention to Sterija's play “Lies and Super Lies”, as if Serbia were a thoroughly ordered society, troubled only by minor social deviations. Rare were plays dealing with the current social events. One of such plays was “A Paradox” by Nebojša Romčević (staged in Sombor National Theatre by Egon Savin.) Savin via Romčević spoke about something of momentous importance: the missed chances during the 5 October changeover, which was one of the last opportunities for this country to effectuate a showdown with the war legacy. While “A Paradox” deals with moral downfall of intellectuals, the play “Orange Peel,” directed in Belgrade's Atelje 212 by Goran Marković, tackles another kind of social pathology, namely the pursuit of moneyed man by young, nubile females, and describes a symbiotic relationship between the wealth and spiritual emptiness, one of ancillary pillars of social hypocrisy. For want of domestic plays dealing with social problems, Sarajevo director Dino Mustafić revived in Belgrade's Yugoslav Dramatic Theatre, the scenes of rising and strident Fascism, that is, Thomas Bernhard's play “On the Eve of Pension”, but due primarily to some 64 65
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