PressInfo

PressInfos 1999 No 83 (December 31, 1999)Time For Forgiveness. End of the Year Statement No 82 (December 16, 1999)Preventing Peace – New Report No 81 (November 22, 1999)Questions to Clinton in Kosovo No 80 (November 22, 1999)A Bouquet of Ideas for Peace in Macedonia…and Kosovo No 79 (October 31, 1999)Your Ideas for Peace in Macedonia Wanted No 78 (October 3, 1999)Misleading UN Report on Kosovo (B) No 77 (October 3, 1999)Misleading UN Report on Kosovo (A) No 76 (August 20, 1999)The World Needs Reconciliation Centres (Serbo-Croatian version) No 75 (July 30, 1999)NATO’s Psychological Projection (Serbo-Croatian version) No 73 and 74 (July 14 and July 30, 1999)Some Ethical Aspects on NATO’s Intervention in Kosovo. Part A.andPart B. (Serbo-Croatian version – No 73) (Serbo-Croatian version – No 74) No 72 (June 18, 1999)NATO in Kosovo – Failed Peacekeeping (Serbo-Croatian version) No 71 (June 18, 1999)Read UN Resolution 1244 and Watch NATO in Kosovo(Serbo-Croatian...

“This is yet another publication from TFF – ‘Violence,Postwar Reconstruction and Civil Society – Theory andYugoslavia.’ It’s main focus is civil society in war andpeace. It relates this concept to the economicglobalisation, to international conflict-management and tothe case of Yugoslavia and the Dayton agreement,” says JanOberg, TFF director and author of the study. It reflects the fact that everything TFF does is based ontriple-thinking: We have three types of activities –academic analyses, field work and advocacy. We do threethings in conflict regions – conflict analysis/earlywarning, conflict-mitigation and peace and reconciliationeducation. We offer three perspectives – analyses, criticismand constructive alternatives. We believe that conflictsdeserve three steps – diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.And we work with three conflict regions – former Yugoslavia,Georgia in the Caucasus and one more conflict,” saysOberg. The first chapter deals with civil society andviolence-prevention; the second discusses various conceptsof ‘civil society’ and relates it to various types of power.It...

“There cannot be just one way to describe the problem with Iraq. Or one way to handle it. However professional CNN is, it exposes the American foreign policy and security establishment to an extent that borders on monopolising“truth.” We need more than American media to cover the bombings of Iraq. We need more than bomb coverage, we need an understanding of that the underlying conflict is about. War and violence IS not the same as the conflict but the result of conflicts mismanaged by the parties and the so-called international community,” says Dr. Jan Oberg. “In situations like this it is essential to gather manyand varied facts and interpret the issues through otherlenses than those of the mainstream media. Internet permitsyou to combine many sources and perspectives, find the lesswell-known facts and construct your independent opinion. Idon’t believe we can know what is really happening and whyby watching CNN alone...

“The law on information, on theuniversities and the prepared law on NGOs should be stronglyopposed by all international organisations, governments andNGOs.” Jiri Dienstbier, Special Rapporteur of theU.N. Commission on Human Rights “Serbian authorities commit gross human rightsviolations through new draconian laws that will furtherundermine free media, education and civil society in Serbia.Given its seriousness, we have heard deplorably few andlow-voiced protests from top diplomats, politicians, fellowintellectuals and media people in the Europe and the US.Dienstbier’s is an important exception” says TFF’s directorJan Oberg. The situation is appalling. After media and education,NGOs will probably be targeted. People in Serbia are in adouble cage – that constructed by their own authorities andthat constructed by the international community since 1991.Just look at how the Kosovo conflict is now “managed”through the Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement and you’ll see howthe two cages reinforce each other. The losers? Ordinarycitizens – like in Bosnia under Dayton. All citizens of...

“We are proud to be invited to this year’s State ofthe World Forum. It’s one of the most influential anddiverse gatherings of world leaders, convened for the firsttime by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1995. This year around 800networking leaders and activists in business, science,academia, politics, religion and the arts come together inSan Francisco from October 27 to November 1,” says Jan Obergwho has been asked to contribute to the Forum’s Coexistenceand Community-Building Initiative. The Forum’s mission is ‘to establish a global network ofleaders and change agents who come together for bothdiscussions and action. It does this in the conviction thatit is networks of committed individuals and institutionswhich are emerging as principal sources of innovation andeffectiveness, thereby reframing and invigorating civilsociety.’ Jan Oberg: “The incredible diversity of the State of theWorld Forum is its major strength. You find grassrootsinteracting with the gatekeepers of capital and power. Ihave understood that the Forum is...

“This is a modest proposal for institutionalisation ofpeace-related teaching in regions of conflict. It’s aCitizens Forum for Human Rights and Peace Education,HR&PE. It mentions Croatia but is equally relevant for,let’s say, Kosovo or Macedonia, or any other trouble spot.You may think that this is relevant only after war, but Istrongly believe that forums like this should be createdwherever the situation threatens to erupt into violence. Ifthe trigger-happy international “community” had invested insuch projects – both in their own ministries of foreignaffairs, in international organisations and in trouble spotssuch as Kosovo – 5 or 10 years ago, people on all sideswould begin to realise the utter futility of using weaponsto achieve their goals,” says TFF director JanOberg. “You see, there are no limits to what can be done to helppeople coexist in postwar communities. The internationalcommunity has no specialised competence or organisations inthis field. Post-war reconciliation is the most importantmeasure to...

“What on earth would be the POLITICAL AIM of bombingSerbia now? Violence has been used by both parties foralmost a year. Some 250.000 people may already be displaced,homes and towns torched and destroyed. KLA is defeated andSerbia’s government has declared that the war is over,provided KLA’s military struggle does not resume. Before theUN Security Council, NATO or other actors in theinternational ‘community’ decides to carry out air strikesthroughout Serbia, it would be wise to ponder a fewquestions, problems and risks and come up with some answers.I offer some of both in what follows,” says Jan Oberg who,with his TFF colleagues, has conducted analyses and servedas a citizen diplomat in the region since 1992. • IF WE BELIEVE NATO MILITARY INTERVENTIONS WOULDSTOP THE KILLING, ETHNIC CLEANSING AND MASSACRES, WHY HAS ITNOT HAPPENED LONG AGO?POSSIBLE ANSWERS: 1) The international “community” isnot a community when it comes to managing conflicts. Thereare too many solid...

Lund, August 25, 1998 – “The standard media backgroundto the conflict tells us that it all started in 1989 whenSlobodan Milosevic, then President of Serbia, repealed theautonomous status granted the Kosovo province in the 1974constitution. This is wrong and propagated by journalistswho have not bothered to study root causes, attitudes orother complexities. It’s a typical example of KISS reporting– ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid.’ But the deliberate choice ofthis particular political action as ‘the cause of all of thetrouble’ conveys the image that the Serb side alone is toblame,” says Jan Oberg who has been engaged in this conflictsince 1992. “This is an age-old conflict between two peoples who aremuch more different and segregated than any other twopeoples or nations in ex-Yugoslavia. The basic causes of conflict were and remain: 1)historically based inter-ethnic mistrust, b) economicunderdevelopment and inequality, and 3) how to – if at all –integrate the Kosovo province meaningfully...

“To understand a conflict – and, thus, help solve it –we need to know something about at least three things:Attitudes, Behaviour and the root Causes of the conflict.That’s the ABC. Most media simply report on behaviour andignore the two other dimensions. This is why people ingeneral feel that they don’t understand much of it all, inspite of watching and listening carefully to news reports.And when media cover conflict behaviour, many seem to usethe KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid. What youhave heard about human rights in Kosovo/a is a good exampleof KISS journalism,” says Jan Oberg, head of TFF’sConflict-Mitigation team upon returning from yet anothermission to Belgrade, Prishtina and Skopje. “I want to make it clear that I consider the Serbgovernment guilty of extremely serious and systematic humanrights violations in the Kosovo province. Over the years,the Serb leadership has pursued an absolutely immoral andself-defeating policy of repression. Having listened tohundreds...

Lund, August 23, 1998 – “There are dangerously manyhalf truths and biases in the reporting from Kosovo/a. Thegeneralised media image of the conflict shapes publicopinion which in turn threatens to push politicians intoaction that will have counterproductive effects on theground,” says Jan Oberg, head of TFF’s Conflict-Mitigationteam, upon returning from yet another mission to Belgrade,Prishtina and Skopje. “The standard media story about Kosovo the last sixmonths goes like this: ‘Kosovo is a province in Serbiainhabited by about 2 million people, 90 per cent of whom areAlbanians and 10 per cent Serbs. The dissolution of Tito’sYugoslavia started in 1989 when Serbian president SlobodanMilosevic repealed the autonomy which the province hadenjoyed since 1974. The region is characterised by extremepoverty and systematic human rights violations by Serbianauthorities against the Albanians, to the extent that one isjustified in calling it a police state or an ‘apartheid’system. The Serb ‘offensive’ is an attempt by Belgrade...

“Look at what happens in Kosovo and you would like tobelieve that all good powers worked for PREVENTION of thistragedy but that, unfortunately, tragedies happen.Governments, inter-governmental and non-governmentalorganisations are already overloaded with ongoing conflictsand catastrophes; budgets are tight etc. Admittedly theseare very complex problems; and just as all diseases cannotbe prevented, we can’t expect all wars to be prevented. According to this theory, if things go wrong it is theparties’ fault and if they go well it is thanks to theinternational community and a few shuttling envoys ordiplomats. World media naively corroborate this theory: Wewatch how diplomats, envoys, and delegations fly around,hold press conferences, meet their kin in palaces or makesolemn declarations if they don’t issue threats. In short,do all they can to stop wars and force people to negotiationtables, don’t they? Well, no outbreak of violence on earth was morepredictable than the one in Kosovo. There have been moreearly...

The World Bank last week approved a DEM 74 million(US$40.6 million equivalent) Recon-struction Project forEastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem Loan forCroatia. The project area is one of the most fertileparts of the Balkans and prior to the war, was known as the“bread basket” of the region. Due to damage to the extensiveflood control and drainage system, much of the agriculturalland has become unusable. The project will: 1) Repair and rebuild the flood control and drainagefacilities; 2) Clear the landmines left behind in the flood controlnetwork; 3) Provide for sound and sustainable environmentalmanagement of the adjoining nature reserve at Kopackirit; 4) Rebuild a partially completed wastewater system in oneof the major towns in the area. The World Bank explains that the project is expectedto make a major contribution in stimulating the localeconomy, thereby creating an incentive for people to returnhome. It is an important contribution to reconstructionand is the result...