Blic, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
January 23, 2001

William Walker, former head of the OSCE verification mission, whose report
on Racak was followed by the bombing of Yugoslavia, in an exclusive Blic
interview

The report on Racak confused me

BELGRADE - “After what I saw in Racak, I do not hesitate to describe that
crime as a massacre, as a crime against humanity nor do I hesitate to accuse
Serbian security forces,” announced American William Walker, the head of the
OSCE verification mission in Kosmet at the time, describing what for some of
the domestic and world public was a shootout between the Serbian police with
the KLA stronghold in Racak.

Walker’s judgment, articulated before any expert had had a chance to look at
the place of the event, was followed by the decision of the U.S. and NATO to
bomb FR Yugoslavia.

Two years later, a report by the Finnish experts was made public which
states that after looking at the 40 bodies discovered in Racak “there was no
evidence that this was a massacre” and that “there are no signs of execution
on the bodies”. In an exclusive interview with Blic, the former head of the
OSCE verification mission, William Walker, who is now a retired diplomat of
the State Departments, comments.

Because of your actions in Racak, many people hold you personally
responsible for the blowing out of proportion events which led directly to
the bombing of Yugoslavia?

Of course, I’ve thought about Racak often and I remember that day very
clearly. I still have not found anyone who was with me that day on the hill
above Racak, including members of the mission and reporters from throughout
Europe, who did not reach the same conclusion as I did - that the special
police and army forces of Slobodan Milosevic entered the village a day
earlier, having previously shelled it with artillery, and collected all the
men and boys. They took them away unarmed and the next morning they were
dead. Whether those men and boys were members of the KLA or inhabitants of
the village is unimportant. Whatever they were, to take them away unarmed
and murder them is a war crime.

If you believe in peace and justice, you have to condemn this and that is
what I did. I had nothing to do with what followed Racak. I only tried to
tell the world what I saw in Racak. Rambouillet was a chance for Milosevic
to sign a peace agreement. He refused and that is what led to the bombing.

I am truly sorry if Serbs think that I am responsible for what happened
after Racak. I spent some time in Eastern Slavonija, as the head of UNTAES,
trying to help the Serbs there, so that bothers me. It bothers me that today
Serbs think that I did something to hurt Serbia. That’s not the case.

Is it true that representatives of the Serbian police came to you to inform
you that a police operation would be conducted to get rid of a KLA
stronghold and that they invited your representatives and AP cameramen?

General Loncar, who was Milosevic’s military representative in the mission,
told us a day before we were to find the bodies that there had been a
conflict, in his words, with members of the KLA in 15 members of the KLA
were killed. Only the next morning did I go to Racak and find the bodies.

As far as the reporters are concerned, I was not aware of that. No one
brought me television footage of the events in Racak. We did have a patrol
by the mission on the afternoon when the battle, or whatever it was,
occurred in Racak. They found a few wounded people and took them to the
hospital. Then they left the village and we had no idea what had happened
until the next morning.

The patrol was in the village and it didn’t see massacred bodies?

No. They didn’t see what happened.

How do you comment on reports that the final report of the Finnish
pathologists shows no evidence of execution or massacre?

I haven’t seen those reports personally but here the issue has come up
again. All I know is that I spoke with those pathologists in Kosovo and they
always told us that nothing that they found there disproved the conclusions
I had drawn. I don’t know how to explain new reports which contradict this
assumed scenario.

I would like to visit Kosovo because while there I met wonderful people of
all ethnic backgrounds. I would also like to visit Belgrade even though that
might not be the smartest thing to do right now.

Why do you think so?

If a large number of Serbs believes that I am responsible for the bombing,
those emotions are probably very strong. I really would like to go. If
President Kostunica were to invite me, I would go; but because of those
emotions, perhaps I should put off that dream for some other time.

Mirjana Stefanovic

Ranta: EU will take measures

BELGRADE - The European Union will take adequate measures in the near future
with regard to the new reports on the investigation by Finnish pathologists
of events in Racak,” stated Helena Ranta, the head of the Finnish pathology
team, when asked by Blic to comment allegations that the final report states
that “there is no evidence of a massacre or execution” in Racak.

“I think that it is best that I talk about Racak after the EU has undertaken
adequate steps on this issue. I expect that the EU will enable parts of the
report to be available to the public in the near future,” said Helena Ranta,
who was sent to Racak by the EU.

Translated by S. Lazovic (Jan. 23, 2001)

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.