[ printer friendly version ]

At its annual convention, the Serbian Unity Congress aims to raise awareness of current issues important to the Serbian people at home and abroad. It is also an opportunity to lay out a context for future endeavors for our organization. The Serbian Unity Congress has a proud tradition of adopting resolutions meant to reflect these topics and ideas.

Resolution #1
Serbia and Montenegro

WHEREAS historical facts show beyond doubt that Serbia and Montenegro, despite certain regional and historical differences, are rooted in a single Serbian tradition stemming from St. Sava ‘s Orthodox spirituality and the “Kosovo ethic” morality,

WHEREAS all great literary and statesman figures of Montenegro – including Njegos, King Nikola I, Marko Miljanov and Stjepan Mitrov LJubisa - considered themselves Serbs, writing in the Serbian language

WHEREAS we are witness to disturbing recent trends insisting on fundamental ethnic, historical, religious and linguistic distinction of Serbs and Montenegrins, be it therefore

RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress supports the linguistic and spiritual unity of the Serbian nation present in both Serbia and Montenegro, and may it be

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress insists on referring to the single Serbian language in such terms throughout the territory of Serbia and Montenegro, that being an established linguistic fact irrespective of any political options and preferences.

Resolution #2a
Framework for negotiations over Kosovo and Metohija

WHEREAS respect for international agreements and law constitutes a fundamental rule of conduct among civilized nations;

WHEREAS the terms of peace ending the war over Kosovo and Metohija in 1999 were defined by UN Security Council resolution 1244 (UNSCR 1244), mandating “a political process towards the establishment of an interim political framework agreement providing for substantial self-government for Kosovo, taking full account of […] the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”;

WHEREAS the UN Security Council in late October 2005 endorsed the start of talks on the “future status” of the province upon recommendation of the UN Secretary General who therewith posited that progress in standards implementation is “essential for the success and sustainability of any future status process”, be it therefore

RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress calls on the governments of the United States and other Contact Group members to exert their influence in framing the upcoming negotiations in the context of broad autonomy modalities within the borders of the sovereign state of Serbia and Montenegro - in accordance with UNSCR 1244, as well as UN Charter, Helsinki Final Act of 1976 and other international law – in a manner that will engender compromise between legitimate concerns of both sides;

BE IT FURTHERMORE RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress calls on the United States government and the International Community to exert their influence in these negotiations to have them reflect a primary concern for sustainable refugee return, decentralization, protection of Serbian Orthodox cultural monuments and places of active worship, and overall security in Kosovo and Metohija.

Resolution #2b
Restoring security and accountability in Kosovo and Metohija

WHEREAS the interim UN administration of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija (UMNIK) set out for itself a goal of creating an environment in which all people “regardless of ethnic background, race or religion are free to live, work and travel without fear, hostility or danger, and where there is tolerance, justice and peace for everyone”;

WHEREAS during the ongoing UN administration of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, commenced in 1999, the said goals have not been, and cannot be, attained without adequate security in place;

WHEREAS the October 2005 comprehensive report on the situation in the province by the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General states that among the threatened non-Albanian communities “there is a strong feeling that those who commit crimes enjoy impunity and that the possibility for establishing viable livelihoods is very limited”;

WHEREAS Ombudsperson for Kosovo M. Nowicki recently stressed that “the only way to change something is not only to find and punish those who committed the crimes, but also the ones who stand behind them; if that was not to be possible, then we could not speak of any kind of future whatsoever”;

WHEREAS former U.S. ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, William Montgomery recently stated: "The former KLA got reorganized into the Kosovo Protection Corps, under the leadership of general Ceku and other higher KLA commanders. Members of this organization have been found responsible for violence in Kosovo and Macedonia. It could not be clearer that the ultimate goal of gen. Ceku is to have it become the army of an independent Kosovo. He frequently states this publicly It is equally clear that no Serb could feel secure or comfortable with such an army. Everybody really knows that, but nobody is ready to grab the bull by the horns and disband this organization. Nevertheless, prolonging the life of the KPC dooms the idea of a multi-ethnic Kosovo", be it therefore

RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress calls on the State Department to exert its influence in the United Nations administration in Kosovo and Metohija to honor the responsibilities of its mandate and effectively implement law enforcement and judicial accountability that would lead to credible security for all inhabitants of the Province;

BE IT FURTHERMORE RESOLVED that Serbian Unity Congress calls on the United States government and the International Community to exert their influence in UN and NATO structures to engender the political will required to finally demilitarize KLA and its various offshoots as required by Security Council resolution 1244, including disbanding the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) and bringing civil emergency services in the province in line with the UNSC Resolution 1244 mandate;

BE IT FURTHERMORE RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress calls on the United States government and the International Community to exert their influence in relevant United Nations and NATO structures to ensure that international peacekeeping presence in Kosovo and Metohija is raised to levels that can effectively provide adequate security to threatened minority communities and serve as a credible deterrent to extremist groups threatening to extract political concessions through the use of terror.

Resolution #3
Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the fall of Krajina and Restoring Serbian Life in Krajina

WHEREAS in 1995, armed forces of the newly independent state of Croatia, in military operations code-named Storm and Flash, expelled close to 300,000 Serbs from three UN Protected Areas, in the single largest case of ethnic cleansing in Europe since World War II;

WHEREAS these operations were accompanied with large-scale war crimes resulting in the death of over 2,000 non-combatant Serbs and a massive destruction of their property;

WHEREAS these events compound the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of other Serbs during Croatia’s armed secession and civil war 1991-4;

WHEREAS in subsequent years, Croatia adopted discriminatory laws placing obstacles to unhindered refugee return (including terminating tens of thousands of tenancy rights belonging to displaced ethnic Serbs and Montenegrins on the grounds of the tenants’ absence), resulting in 209,000 refugees from Croatia, nearly all of them Serbian, who still remain in exile while during the same period 233,600 internally displaced persons, most of them Croat, returned to their homes;

WHEREAS Amnesty International stated in its 2005 report that “the Croatian judicial system overwhelmingly failed to address wartime human rights violations and courts applied discriminatory criteria when investigating and prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity”;

WHEREAS the continued absence of more than 200,000 Serbs from their rightful homes and property are an indication of a continued lack of security and guarantee for minorities in Croatia;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress solemnly remembers all the innocent victims of operations Storm and Flash;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress calls on the United States and the European Union to strongly condemn and urge an end of the nation-wide celebration of August 5th by the government of Croatia as a “Day of Victory”;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress also calls on the European Union and the United States to stipulate of the government of Croatia as conditions of its entry into the European Union the following:

• accept responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by its troops during and following Operation Storm and Operation Flash, and in doing so bring the full weight of its justice system behind efforts to seize and surrender those indicted by the ICTY;
• issue an official apology to the Serbian community for acts perpetrated during the planning and execution of Operation Storm and the rest of its armed secession;
• genuinely accept and implement without further delay legal steps for return of all real estate properties and other assets seized during Operation Storm and provide just compensation for destroyed properties and/or assets;
• adjust Croatian laws and legal practice to eliminate ethnic profiling and discrimination, as well as random, unfounded and secret "war crimes indictments" of one ethnicity alone, and thereby facilitate genuine and sustainable refugee returns and ethnic reconciliation;
• restore full citizenship rights to all Croatian Serbs - both those within the country and refugees outside - along with setting up a special commission, to include Serbian representatives, that would oversee the implementation of these steps in good faith.

Resolution #4
The Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina

WHEREAS respect for international agreements and law constitutes a fundamental rule of conduct among civilized nations,

WHEREAS the basic constitutional framework governing the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the aftermath of the 1992-5 civil war is defined in the 1995 Dayton-Paris accords,

WHEREAS the said accords defined the state as a loose union of two entities – the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republic of Srpska, with clearly defined basic attributes and division of power between the entities and the central government,

WHEREAS there have been a number of recent calls in certain international circles to revise key tenets of the Dayton-Paris accords, be it therefore

RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress condemns all unilateral attempts by any party, including the Office of High Representative, to effectively revise the Dayton-Paris accords, in a way that would destroy the basic tenets of that agreement, including the balance between the elements of sovereignty afforded to the entities and to the central government.

Resolution #5
Expressing Outrage at Recent Actions in Phoenix

WHEREAS a sweep of arrests of Serbian immigrants took place in Phoenix, Arizona in September of 2005, including men and women up to 65 years in age, many of them formerly victims of war crimes who spent time in concentration camps during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

WHEREAS the people in question have been charged with lying on an affidavit they signed during the immigration process denying that they served in military forces during the war;

WHEREAS these arrests targeted Serbian immigrants only, and no such sweep has been made against the tens of thousands of Croatian or Muslim immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina who also served in various military units during the war;

WHEREAS these arrests have taken place since a former lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor at ICTY involved in the Srebrenica case, Ms. Camille Bibles, became the new Assistant US Attorney in Arizona;

WHEREAS coincidentally after these arrests, the indicted were approached by ICTY prosecution representatives to testify as witnesses in the ICTY Srebrenica and other trials;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress expresses indignation at the ethnically profiled and targeted actions of law enforcement agencies in the United States;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SERBIAN UNITY CONGRESS calls for an investigation into the planning and execution of this action and the role Ms. Bibles’ biases played in the forming of the list of targets;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress conveys their sympathies to the targets and their families whose lives were, and continue to be, upended with this action.

Resolution #6
Serbian Unity Congress: Serbian Voice in Washington

WHEREAS American Serbs make up a majority of the immigrants from the former Yugoslavia living in the United States and therefore represent an untapped resource and potentially influential voice in American politics;

WHEREAS the “Serbian Day on the Hill” event which took place on Vidovdan this year was hailed as a success and was attended by members of the Congressional Serbian Caucus;

WHEREAS creating and maintaining relationships with decision makers in Washington is vital to creating an environment where the Serbian perspective is not only heard but is sought out on issues that matter most to Serbs;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress directs it Washington office to:

• continue its efforts in cultivating relationships with key influential organizations and decision makers,
• carry on the Vidovdan Day tradition next year as an annual event, and
• vigorously pursue its grass roots campaign to enlist the efforts of all Serbian voters in the United States

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress will engage its resources in pursuit of this endeavor.

Resolution #7
Serbian Unity Congress: Diaspora Homeland Relations

WHEREAS a prosperous relationship between Serbia and its Diaspora is vital in sustaining Serbian heritage and providing for a future for Serbian people everywhere;

WHEREAS the Serbian Unity Congress has since its inception fought vigorously for this cherished goal of the Serbian people;

WHEREAS the government of Serbia and Montenegro has made significant strides in cultivating this relationship, and has demonstrated this relationship to be of great importance;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress applauds the extols the continued improvement in Diaspora-Homeland relations, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress will engage its resources in pursuit of this endeavor.

Resolution #8
Serbian Unity Congress: Preserving Serbian Culture and Heritage

WHEREAS the safeguarding of our culture and heritage is crucial for ensuring a future for Serbian tradition and way of life;

WHEREAS the events of the past 15 years have brought the Serbian people to a crossroads facing an uncertain future;

WHEREAS the Serbian people today are separated by internationally imposed political borders in the very lands they have occupied for centuries and are separated by self-imposed cultural borders isolating groups which once enriched a cohesive Serbian society;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress recognizes as a vital project the preservation and protection of Serbian heritage, culture and language, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Serbian Unity Congress will engage its resources in pursuit of this endeavor.