Once again, as we have done many times before, we professors, assistants, students and all the employees of the University of Belgrade are raising our voice against the lunatic idea that bombs and missiles can establish peace, protect human rights or prevent the so-called humanitarian catastrophe by inflicting numerous civilian casualties among whom are innocent men, women and children or turning to ashes civilian facilities which were being built for decades, some of which are of historical value for both human spirit and culture.
The brutal NATO attack against the civilian facilities such as bridges, local infrastructure, schools and universities as well as places of worship are an example of flagrant violation of not only the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention and other positive principles of international law, but also the basic moral principles of the civilized world.
In the eve of the 21st century, now that the possessions of human intellect in the field of technique and technology have reached their highest point, people in all parts of the world hoped that progress would enable them a better life and provide enough food for the starved, enough medicines for the sick, peace and tranquility to the old and weak.
Instead of improving life on Earth, man's only place to live, these technological accomplishments have been used again for razing and destruction. For the sake of dubious aims, the self-proclaimed democratic countries have decided not to count the victims. A tiny European country has been attacked, despite her historical aspirations to freedom obvious to and recognized by the people worldwide, because she could not and did not want to renounce either her independence, sovereignty and integrity or her right to organize herself on her own.
Pulling down the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war aroused man's hope that permanent peace among the nations is possible, that mankind is on the threshold of coexistence and large tolerance of the new era. The Warsaw pact, as one extreme of the cold-war era, faded away and finally disappeared from the historical stage. The other extreme - the NATO - still remained.
NATO bombs have undermined the faith in a new world order created in accordance
with man's desires and destroyed his hope of better tomorrow.
It is Serbia and Yugoslavia that have been attacked today.
Tomorrow, it can be any country unwilling to submissively take orders from
the great and powerful forces.
Is the future on whose altar the lives of millions of innocent people have been sacrificed for decades the one we are aspiring to?
Is that world order going to bring peace and prosperity in the future, the future made up of the knowledge and hard work of the generations of people who believed in better tomorrow?
Strongly convinced that most people throughout this Planet of ours do not want such future, we are appealing again to:
- the academic community of Europe and America
- our fellow countrymen irrespective of the place they might be living now
- all people of good will and beliefs worthy of honour, irrespective of their nation, race or religion,
To energetically say:
IT IS ENOUGH!
Raise your voice against insanity and suffering, against razing and devastation, against bombs and missiles as the means of communication between people and nations.
Rector
Prof. Dr Jagos Puric
Belgrade University
Quelle: WWW-Server der Uni Belgrad (retrieved 25.5.99; re-edited WN)