A STATEMENT OF CONCERNED SERBIAN CITIZENS

      As long time proponents of and activists for a democratic and
      anti-nationalist Serbia, who have chosen to remain in Yugoslavia
during
      this moment of crisis and who want to see our country reintegrated
into
      the community of world nations, we state the following:

        1. We strongly condemn the NATO bombings which have hugely
      exacerbated violence in Kosovo and have caused the displacement of

      people outside and throughout Yugoslavia. We strongly condemn the
      ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population perpetrated by any
      Yugoslav forces. We strongly condemn the Kosovo Liberation Army's
      (KLA) violence targeted against the Serbs, moderate Albanians and
      other ethnic communities in Kosovo. The humanitarian catastrophe
in
      Kosovo - death, grief and extreme suffering for hundreds of
thousands of
      Albanians, Serbs and members of other ethnic communities - has to
be
      ended now. All refugees from Yugoslavia must immediately and
      unconditionally be allowed to return to their homes, their
security and
      human rights guaranteed, and aid for reconstruction provided.
      Perpetrators of crimes against humanity whoever they are must be
      brought to justice.
        2. The fighting between Serbian forces and KLA has to be stopped

      immediately in order to start a new round of negotiations. All
sides must
      put aside their maximalist demands. There are (as in other
numerous
      similar conflicts such as Northern Ireland) no quick and easy
solutions.
      We all must be prepared for a long and painstaking process of
      negotiation and normalization.
        3. The bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO causes destruction and
      growing numbers of civilian victims (at least several hundred,
maybe a
      thousand, by now). The final outcome will be the destruction of
the
      economic and cultural foundations of Yugoslav society. It must be
      stopped immediately.
        4. The UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the founding document
of
      NATO, as well as the constitutions of countries such as Germany,
Italy,
      Portugal, have been violated by this aggression. As individuals
who have
      devoted their lives to the defense of basic democratic values, who

      believe in universal legal norms we are deeply concerned that
NATO's
      violation of these norms will incapacitate all those struggling
for the rule
      of law and human rights in this country and elsewhere in the
world.
        5. NATO's bombings have further destabilized the southern
Balkans. If
      continued this conflict can escalate beyond Balkan borders and, if

      turned into land military operations, thousands of NATO and
Yugoslav
      soldiers, as well as Albanian and Serbian civilians, will die in a
futile war
      as in Vietnam. Political negotiations toward a peaceful settlement

      should be reopened immediately.
        6. The existing regime has only been reinforced by NATO's
attacks in
      Yugoslavia by way of the natural reaction of people to rally
around the
      flag in times of foreign aggression. We continue our opposition to
the
      present anti-democratic and authoritarian regime, but we also
      emphatically oppose NATO's aggression. The democratic forces in
      Serbia have been weakened and the democratic reformist Government
      of Montenegro threatened by NATO's attacks and by the regime's
      subsequent proclamation of the state of war and now find
themselves
      between NATO's hammer and regime's anvil.
        7. In dealing with the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia the
leaders of
      the world community have in the past made numerous fatal errors.
New
      errors are leading to an aggravation of the conflict and are
removing us
      from the search for peaceful solutions.

      We appeal to all: President Milosevic, the representatives of the
Kosovo
      Albanians, NATO, EU and US leaders to stop all violence and
military
      activities immediately and engage in the search for a political
solution.

      Belgrade, April 16, 1999

      1. Stojan Cerovic, "Vreme" columnist and journalist
      2. Jovan Cirilov, Belgrade International Theater Festival (BITEF)
selector and
      former director of the Yugoslav Drama Theater; Theater History
Center Director
      3. Sima Cirkovic, Member Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,
Professor,
      Belgrade University, Dept. of History
      4. Mijat Damnjanovic, Former Professor, Belgrade University,
Faculty of Political
      Sciences, Center for Public Administration and Local Government
(PALGO)
      Director
      5. Vojin Dimitrijevic, Former head of the Department of
International Law, Belgrade
      Law School; The Belgrade Center for Human Rights Director; UN
Human Rights
      Committee former Vice Chairman
      6. Dasa Duhacek, Director Women Studies Center, Board Member of
Alternative
      Academic Educational Network (AAEN)
      7. Milutin Garasanin, Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences
and Arts; Vice
      President of The Association for Research of South-Eastern Europe
(UNESCO)
      8. Zagorka Golubovic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department
of Sociology;
      Chair Social Sciences Department of AAEN
      9. Dejan Janca, Professor, Novi Sad University, Law School
      10. Ivan Jankovic, Belgrade lawyer, human rights activist, Board
President of
      Center for Anti-War Action
      11. Predrag Koraksic, Belgrade caricaturist
      12. Mladen Lazic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department of
Sociology, AAEN
      Board member
      13. Sonja Licht, President, Fund for an Open Society Executive
Board
      14. Ljubomir Madzar, Professor Belgrade University, Faculty of
Economy, Member
      Group-17
      15. Veran Matic, Editor in Chief, Belgrade Radio B92, President
Alternative
      Network of Electronic Media (ANEM)
      16. Jelica Minic, Secretary General, European Movement in Serbia
      17. Andrej Mitrovic, Professor, Belgrade University, Department of
History
      18. Radmila Nakarada, Senior Reserach Fellow, Belgrade Institute
for European
      Studies
      19. Milan Nikolic, Director, Center for Policy Studies
      20. Vida Ognjenovic, Theater director, playwrite
      21. Borka Pavicevic, Director, Center for Cultural Decontamination

      22. Jelena Santic, Anti-war 487 group, human rights activist
      23. Nikola Tasic, Associate member of the Serbian Academy of
Sciences and
      Arts, Member European Academy
      24. Ljubinka Trgovcevic, Senior Research Fellow, Belgrade
University, Department
      of History
      25. Srbijanka Turajlic, Professor, Belgrade University, Faculty of
Electrical
      Engineering, Board President AAEN
      26. Ivan Vejvoda, Fund for an Open Society Executive Director,
      27. Branko Vucicevic, translator