APRIL 1, 1999

HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN GROUPS CALL FOR USE OF FORCE TO PREVENT GENOCIDE IN KOSOVO

According to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, genocide is unfolding in Kosovo. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide obliges those countries which have ratified it, including the United States, to "undertake to prevent and to punish" genocide.

We the undersigned representatives of human rights, humanitarian, and religious organizations demand that the international community uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention by taking immediate action to prevent and punish genocide in Kosovo. The targeted execution of the ethnic Albanians' civil society leaders (including political figures, journalists, doctors, human rights advocates, and humanitarian workers), the rounding up and execution of large numbers of ethnic Albanian men, the use of terror to force a third of the population from their homes, and the physical destruction of homes, villages, and cultural sites are the means by which President Milosevic's forces are destroying the ethnic Albanian people of Kosovo. These actions are a clear indication of his intention to swiftly destroy the Albanian community in Kosovo, and are the elements of genocide. The NATO bombing campaign may have the welcome result of limiting President Milosevic's ability to wage war in the future, but bombing a

lone is not sufficient to prevent or stop genocide in Kosovo.

Therefore, we strongly appeal to the Clinton Administration and to allied governments to immediately deploy a NATO protection force:

* to remove all Serb police and military forces from Kosovo before they execute those Kosovar Albanian civil society leaders who are still alive and kill or forcibly displace the remaining population from their homes and villages;

* to create a safe zone for refugees and displaced to return home and to aid local and international humanitarian organizations to assist them in rebuilding their homes and communities;

In addition, in keeping with the United States' treaty obligation to punish those responsible for genocide, we call upon the Clinton Administration to immediately provide the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia with all available intelligence information that reveals evidence of atrocities in Kosovo, specifically imagery collected by satellites, aircraft, and unmanned air vehicles. This evidence should be presented in a form that may be used at trial for purposed of securing the indictment of President Milosevic and Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj.

Physicians for Human Rights

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights Refugees International

International Crisis Group

Network Bosnia

Coalition for International Justice

Institute for the Study of Genocide

Network of East-West Women

Freedom House

Balkan Action Council