All other information is publicly accessible and all of it boils down to "a lack of proof" that depleted uranium munitions used by NATO during the bombing of the Republic of Srpska (RS) in 1994 and 1995, and of FR Yugoslavia four years later, are connected to the appearance of cancerous illnesses among the people who were in the areas where this type of munitions was used.
The extent of the ecological catastrophe which struck the populations of RS and Kosovo, and maybe beyond, after the NATO bombings would probably have remained a secret for a long time yet if it were not for the fact that at the end of last year soldiers began dying in Italy.
That's also when discussion began on the subject that according to NATO does not exist. However, Reporter's sources from NATO headquarters claim that the mask of composure displayed by the alliance's leaders conceals considerable panic. "At stake," claims our source, "are much bigger things than having to admit a mistake." "Should it be proven that the members of NATO which used this type of munitions are guilty, it would lead to unforeseeable consequences. The alliance would be bound to the pillar of shame and its very existence would be brought into question. NATO would lose its already shaken credibility and might even find itself in court in various countries as well as before the international tribunal for war crimes. That is why everyone is citing several commissions that conducted testing in the region of Kosovo."
The NATO press service in Brussels quotes precisely the work of those commissions and the reports by governments of NATO member countries. Without exception they all demonstrate that there is no proof of the connection between the contested munitions and the illnesses of soldiers and civilians from those areas.
At the same time, warnings to soldiers and civilians not to remain near vehicles that have been hit by depleted uranium munitions have surfaced to prove that danger does exists.
Evidence of the existence of increased radioactivity on RS territory has previously originated from superficial investigations and strange developments with plant life and animals observed by the local population. This was discussed at ecological conferences and in rare newspaper articles which were usually either ignored or treated as a xenophobic or paranoid fiction.
However, other countries have publicly expressed doubt that the cause of these illnesses may be exposure to depleted uranium used in the munitions.
Frightening statistics: Depleted uranium has also been identified as the chief culprit for the so-called Gulf Syndrome, which has struck 25,000 American soldiers who participated in Operation Desert Storm.
The Italian media claim that to date seven tons of depleted uranium have been dropped on the Balkan region, while Yugoslav authorities claim that approximately ten tons of projectiles with the radioactive substance were dropped in 1999 on Kosovo alone. NATO planes fired approximately 10,000 rounds of depleted uranium munitions against the positions of the RS Army (VRS).
At this time there is no precise data regarding the harmful aftereffects of this type of weapons in RS, which was bombed by NATO in 1994 and 1995, because serious investigations were either not conducted or were prevented. Experts from the Vinca Institute for Nuclear Research came to RS in the fall of 1995 because residents observed peculiar changes in the plant life and animals; however, the results of their inquiry were never published.
Renowned Belgrade pathologist Dr. Zoran Stankovic of the Military Medical Academy (VMA) claims that there is a cause and effect relationship between the operations of the NATO forces and the epidemic of cancerous illnesses among the population of Hadzici. The residents of this Sarajevo suburb, who were relocated to Bratunac, endured the most intense bombing by NATO airplanes.
The frightening statistics indicates that within a short period of time every tenth person among the 4,000 refugees from Hadzici in Bratunac has died of leukemia or cancer.
In 1997 Dr. Stankovic attempted to initiate a long-term study with three research centers in RS (in Banja Luka, Pale and Doboj) from where investigations would be conducted. The following year he was forced to interrupt his study due to pressure from the RS and Serbian governments. "I was told that I was unwanted in RS and President Biljana Plavsic declared me a 'persona non grata'," says Stankovic. In addition to Hadzici, he says that radioactivity may be present in the vicinity of Han-Pijesak, Ilijas, Turjak near Gradiska, Vrbicki Potok near Srbinje and other locations that were bombed. One of our sources who was involved in testing conducted in 1995 in RS tersely commented that the level of radioactivity in RS "probably isn't too high but is geographically dispersed more widely than is generally believed".
Dr. Marko Lalic of the RS Institute for Ecology and Protection also says that he initiated several motions with the ministry of urban development and ecology to conduct detailed testing of locations that are suspected of being contaminated; however, nothing was ever done. "Aside from the fact that we don't have either the instruments or the money to conduct the inquiry, I think that they did not dare initiate an investigation of this sort," says Lalic. He also revealed that instruments for measurement of this type of radioactivity simply do not exist in RS. One such "counter" costs 30,000 convertible marks [about $150,000].
The president of the Association of Serbs from BH in FR Yugoslavia, Bogdan Jamedzija, confirmed for Reporter that "senior officials in RS opposed investigation of the radioactive contamination in RS". He says that the current population of Hadzici also has cause for concern because it is not known whether radioactivity is still present.
From bad to worse: Unlike his European colleagues, RS defense minister Manojlo Milovanovic refused to succumb to uranium panic; instead, he cited the extensive measures that are to be implemented by the RS Army: "We shall do nothing. I've advised the president on the matter. It's an international issue so let them fight over it."
Dr. Lalic is afraid that, in addition to depleted uranium, plutonium may have also been used in both RS and Kosovo. In comparison with uranium, plutonium is a real hazard; the American army has been experimenting with it since the Gulf War. "Plutonium is several times more potent than uranium as it emits both beta and gamma rays, which are tens of times more hazardous to humans. But we cannot say whether it was used or not until an investigation has been conducted," says Lalic.
According to data from the Institute for Health Protection, in RS malignant illnesses are in second place as a cause of death: malignant tumors of the trachea, bronchia, liver and gallbladder, intestines and stomach, lymph nodes, breast, prostate... The director of the institute, Dr. Zivana Gavric, says that the mortality rate has risen 26 percent in 1999 in comparison with 1996.
At the Sarajevo Clinical Center experts arrived at the statistic that the number of children suffering from cancer in the Federation is ten times greater than in Sweden. According to the most recent available medical statistics, there were 2,571 cases where the cause of death recorded was cancer in 1999 in the Federation BH. This total number was somewhat higher than in the previous year. The rate of death from cancer was 10.40 death per 100,000 residents whereas in the previous year the rate was 6.24 per 100,000.