Medical Personnel Deny Kosovo Refugees Suffered Serious Injuries; Attack Media

Testimony of Macedonian Government Medical Personnel, Dr. Dobre Aleksovski and Goran Stojcic
In an effort to paint the plight of those fleeing violence in Kosovo as a nothing more than a 'stage-managed' television production, Slobodan Milosevic questioned two medical professionals who testified that few of the Kosovar Albanian refugees arriving at camps along the Macedonian border in March and April of 1999 showed any physical signs of trauma. Mr. Milsoevic appeared to be attempting to lay the groundwork for denying that the Kosovars were 'forcibly expelled' from the province by demonstrating that few if any showed up in refugee camps with gaping gunshot wounds or bruised bodies.

A 'NEGIBLE NUMBER OF INJURIES' REPORTS DR. ALEKSOVSKI
Mr. Milosevic's witnesses, Dr. Dobre Aleksovski, head of Emergency Services for Macedonia, and Goran Stojcic, an ambulance driver also employed by Macedonian Emergency Services, both testified to seeing little evidence of actual physical abuse suffered by the refugees. Dr. Aleksovski testified that neither he, nor his colleagues witnessed any signs of physical abuse such as bruising from truncheons or gunshot wounds among the thousands refugees who sought sanctuary in Macedonia. Instead, Dr. Aleksovski read from a set of his office's medical records that outlined a variety of mundane ailments which the refugees presented, including: skin allergies, joint pains, high blood pressure, sore throats, bronchitis and a single laceration which Dr. Aleksovski dismissed as 'something that any housewife could sustain.' He characterized the medical situation amongst the refugees as limited to a 'negligible number of injuries' none of which were particularly life-threatening. The Court allowed the medical records to come into evidence, but under seal.

Dr. Aleksovski also testified that the initial reason enunciated by the refugees for fleeing Kosovo was to escape NATO bombing, and only after April 1999, when more permanent camps were established to accommodate them, did they 'change' their story to one of fleeing persecution by Serbs. However, Dr. Aleksovski repeatedly testified that he himself had not heard many of these explanations, but was relying on what his colleagues had told him, causing an exasperated prosecutor Geoffrey Nice to object on the grounds of hearsay since it would be impossible to cross-examine those colleagues who were not in the courtroom.
 
DR. ALEKSOVSKI DENIES REPORTS BY UNHCHR, PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, US AMBASSADOR AT-LARGE FOR WAR CRIMES
On cross examination, Dr. Aleksovski denied prosecutor Nice's assertion (the prosecutor submitted a report by Physicians for Human Rights ('PRH'), a non-governmental organization) that in fact, disease was rampant and the risk of death high among the refugee population. An indignant Dr. Aleksovski characterized the Prosecution's questioning as an 'insult to me and my State.' Instead, he staunchly argued that adequate medical assistance was provided to all who needed it and then denied in quick succession reports from PHR, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the US Ambassador at-large for War Crimes that conditions in the camps were appalling and that the refugees were fleeing from atrocities committed against them by Serb forces in Kosovo. The reports were not admitted, although three photographs showing conditions at the border were.

SUFFERING 'STAGE-MANAGED' ACCORDING TO WITNESSES
Mr. Stojcic testified that he witnessed foreign television crews stage scenes of suffering for the cameras.  In particular, Mr. Stojcic criticized CNN for selective filming of refugees - mostly elderly and infirm. He also said that he heard that one television crew filmed a man who purportedly lay on a stretcher feigning an injury only to get up and walk away after the cameras stopped rolling, but Mr. Stojcic himself did not witness this event.

THE ATTITUDE OF THE REFUGEES BELIES THEIR SUFFERING, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES
Both witnesses also spent considerable time testifying about the attitudes of the refugees as well as their physical condition. For example, Dr. Aleksovski compared the behavior and attitude of the Kosovar Albanian refugees to the gratitude of Bosnian refugees. He claimed that refugees from Kosovo were aggressive and demanding of their hosts, in marked distinction from Bosnian refugees who he recalls were 'so grateful if we gave them a tin of anything.'  This attitude, concluded Dr. Aleksovski, demonstrated that these refugees were not in any real trouble, because genuinely frightened and traumatized victims would not be aggressive. Mr. Stojcic testified that the refugees actually 'had a good time' in Macedonia, agreeing with the Accused's leading statement that the refugees 'acted like any other ordinary citizens' in that they were able to buy cigarettes, were able to use mobile phones and some were dressed extravagently - surely not telltale signs of refugee trauma. Both witnesses testified that they were aware of 'rumors' that some of the refugees had assaulted a member of the Israeli relief team working in the camps.

The Accused's witnesses were able to testify to having personally witnessed few signs of physical trauma amongst the thousands of refugees who spilled over into Macedonia. As Mr. Milosevic put it, the entire thrust of the Kosovo Indictment alleges that FRY and Serbian forces 'forcibly expelled' the refugees.  Without the actual physical wounds, Mr. Milosevic contends, how could this be? The testimony of today's witnesses notwithstanding, the Accused seemingly did not consider that fleeing at gunpoint or under threat of violence might not leave as many physical scars.  In fact, the Indictment does not limit the charges of forcible transfer or the suffering that accompanies such crimes to only beatings and gunshot wounds. Paragraph 59 of the Second Amended Indictment states that many fleeing the 'deliberate climate of terror' in Kosovo suffered due to 'harsh weather conditions, insufficient food, inadequate medical attention and exhaustion' after being displaced. As Dr. Aleksovski suggested in his testimony, the fact-finder has to make a decision about whom to believe - the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, international NGOs and the international media, or a government ambulance driver and doctor who although present and working in the camps, provided largely hearsay evidence on many crucial points.