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To: hogamd@essex.ac.uk, hbond@vax.ox.ac.uk
Newsgroups: cl.europa.balkan,zamir.javnost,apc.yugo.antiwar
From: HLF_BG@ZAMIR-BG.ztn.zer.de (The Humanitarian Law Fund)
Organization: Center for Antiwar Action
Subject: THE CASE OF THE RADIO AMATEURS
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 19:26:53 +0200

THE HUMANITARIAN LAW FUND
BELGRADE, Terazije 6
HLF_BG@ZAMIR-BG.ZTN.ZER.DE


Spotlight Report No. 13
Belgrade, June 1994


THE CASE OF THE RADIO AMATEURS


>From December 1991, when radio amateurs in Serbia and Montenegro began
broadcasting humanitarian messages every day, until March 1994, when the
leadership of the Amateur Radio Association of FR Yugoslavia restricted
broadcasts of messages, radio amateurs were the only group of people in
Serbia and Montenegro who maintained direct contacts with all parts of
the former Yugoslavia, regardless of borders.

1. The media on radio amateurs

The media has devoted little attention to radio amateurs, but not one
newspaper article or television programme presented a negative picture
of their work from the start of the war in the former Yugoslavia until
March 1994. Both progovernment and pro-opposition media spoke of the
nobility, humanity and self-sacrifice of radio amateurs, praising their
readiness to pass messages from unfortunate displaced persons to their
nearest and dearest in war-affected areas. In August 1992, for example,
the pro-government daily "Vecernje novosti", Radio Belgrade's Second
Programme and the Slavko Rodic Radio Club from Backi Jarak in Vojvodina
organised a manifestation called "Broken Lines". The said newspaper
published a series of six highly positive articles about radio amateurs:
"Bridge of Hope", 4-5,000 Messages So Far", "Voices Link the Lost",
"Backi Jarak Calling", "Radio Waves Rejoin the Separated" and "Backi
Jarak, Centre of the World". It also published the texts of about 100
out of 3,000 messages that people had asked local radio amateurs to
transmit.


2. Support of the leadership

The leadership of the Amateur Radio Association of FR Yugoslavia
described the transmission of humanitarian messages as the most
important activity of radio amateurs. In a letter sent to radio amateurs
on 18 December 1992, it praised the "ambassadors of goodwill for passing
information between displaced persons and refugees". It simultaneously
expressed concern for all people in the war-affected areas: "Warn
refugees that the messages they send can cause problems for their
nearest and dearest, because there is no way of telling what rules apply
in war zones." But it called on all radio amateurs to commit themselves
to this work: "The transmission of humanitarian messages is not banned;
it is desirable."

3. Two million messages

Radio amateurs in Vojvodina say that about 50 private radio stations in
the territory of the former Yugoslavia, about 160 radio clubs in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and about 15 radio clubs in Serbia and Montenegro transmitted
humanitarian messages between December 1991 and March 1994. In addition
to the prewar centres of amateur radio, Sarajevo, Mostar, Zenica and Tuzla,
most humanitarian messages were broadcast by radio amateurs from Konjic,
Jablanica and Kladusa in Bosnia, Backi Jarac, Backa Palanka, Pancevo,
Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pozarevac, Novi Pazar, Sjenica, and Kosovo Polje in
Serbia, and Podgorica in Montenegro. They estimate that radio amateurs in
Serbia and Montenegro passed on about two million written messages and made
possible 900,000 direct telephone contacts between people in different
parts of the former Yugoslavia.

4. Messages broadcast by amateur radio stations

"We are all well. I don't know how you can send a packet. Ask the UN."
"Get out if you can. Ask to be put on the list for exchange."
"The medicines are in the railway building in Sarajevo."
"Tapko is well. I don't know anything about Refik."
"Sana arrives in Tuzla on Wednesday via the commission for exchange in
 Bijeljina."
"Zoran Jukic was killed on 10 February. Mira is preparing to leave
 Zenica. Look after her."
"Alma, don't mention Huso and Nedo or any male name in your letters,
 because we could have problems."
"All are well except Mustafa. He is dead."
"You have a son. What name should we give him?"
"What happened to my flat?"
"A colleague moved in. A few little things have disappeared, but the big
 things are still there."
"What happened to Amela?"
"Amela got married two weeks ago and has gone to Sarajevo."
"How is Meliha?"
"Meliha is dead."
"Do you have anything to eat?"
"Nothing."
"Krsto has got out of prison. He was exchanged."
"Bozo, your house was burned down."
"Sanja was wounded three times in the back. Becira's husband is dead.
 Send food."
"How is Enes Kadric from Gorazde?"
"Enes was killed by a sniper."
"Seno, do you know where Pero is?"
"He's at Fata's. Her husband was killed and Pero is looking after her."
"Pero, what are you doing at Fata's?"
"Fata and I are sharing food."
"Pero. I'll find a way of getting into Sarajevo, and then you and Fata
 will really have problems."
"Don't come. It's too dangerous."


5. The ban on broadcasting messages

In March 1994 the leadership of the Amateur Radio Association of FR
Yugoslavia banned the broadcasting of humanitarian messages, except when
specifically permitted, allegedly because of infringements of the law
committed by certain radio amateurs.

These infringements of the law, which had allegedly been registered by
local and international monitoring services, included: failing to
identify the amateur radio station; linking the amateur radio network
with the telephone network; charging fees for broadcasting messages;
allowing unqualified individuals to operate stations; disregarding code
tables; lack of coordination with the local authorities; passing methods
with suspicious contents and thus providing logistical support to the
enemies of the Serb people; allowing refugees to work in radio stations
broadcasting directly from the front; working with and helping Muslim
radio stations; working with unlicensed radio stations in Sanjak and
Kosovo.

Citing the judgement that "the number and content of messages had
endangered the reputation of the Radio Amateur Association of FR
Yugoslavia", on 6 May 1994, the leadership of the Amateur Radio
Association of Serbia informed radio amateurs of new rules governing the
transmition of messages.

These rules require amateur radio clubs and operators to submit to the
Ministry of Transport and Communications a request from the local branch
of the Red Cross that they be allowed to send humanitarian messages,
confirmation from the local council that it has agreed that they be
allowed to send messages, a list of radio operators who will be engaged
in this activity, copies of the licenses of the radio clubs and
operators certified by the court or local authority, and a statement by
the radio operator or club that it will not charge fees for broadcasting
messages.

Amateur radio clubs and operators who obtain on the basis of these
documents permission to broadcast messages from the Ministry of
Transport and Communications are then allowed to give people wishing to
send messages formulas on which to write their messages, which can be no
longer than 25 words. Each message must be approved by the local branch
of the Red Cross and the local council.

Messages that are approved must be broadcast at set times and on set
frequencies within the range of wavelengths allocated to the amateur
radio station.

6. Instructions from the Federal Defence Ministry

At almost the same time, Federal Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic
introduced further limitations on the tranmission of radio messages. On
19 April 1994, citing article 43, paragraph 7, and article 47 of the Law
on Defence, Bulatovic issued an "Instruction on the Temporary
Harmonisation of Amateur Radio Frequencies with the Needs of the Army",
which banned the transmission of messages without the specific approval
of the Republican Ministry for Transport and Communications, empowered
the responsible services of the Yugoslav Army to exercise control over
amateur radio stations and informed the owners of amateur radio stations
that "the Federal Defence Ministry, in cooperation with the General
Staff of the Yugoslav Army, will restrict or ban the work of amateur
radio stations in accordance with the needs of national defence and the
Yugoslav Army".

7. Legal regulations

The Federal Law on Communications Systems and the International
Convention on Telecommunications explicitly state that licenced amateur
radio stations have the right to establish radio links with other
amateur radio stations, to broadcast or receive messages from other
amateur radio organisations and to broadcast messages for third persons
or socially useful or humanitarian purposes.

The regulations on amateur radio communications state only that amateur
radio operators must pass a test in order to obtain a licence to operate
a radio.

Under the Law on Communications Systems, the Republican Ministry of
Transport and Communications has authority to ban a station temporarily
or permanently, if the owner of that station does not observe the terms
of the law and the conditions stated in the operating licence. However,
the ministry is obliged to inform the International Committee for
Registering Radio Frequencies of every decision to grant or take away
wavelengths from amateur radio stations. The ministry has not yet
formally banned the work of any amateur radio station.

The Law on Communications Systems empowers the Control and Measuring
Centre established by the Federal Government to control amateur radio
broadcasts.

On the basis of article 43, paragraph 7 of the Law on Defence, at times
of war and when there is a direct threat of war, the Federal Defence
Ministry can harmonise the country's communications systems in
accordance with the needs of the Yugoslav Army and national defence and
prepare general regulations on the use of communications systems.

8. Radio amateurs on the ban

After the instructions from their organisation and the Federal Defence
Ministry, most radio amateurs ceased broadcasting humanitarian messages,
although most considered the reasons for the ban were political.

Radio operators who have spoken to the Fund do not deny that they did
sometimes break the rules, but stress that the ban itself is not in
accord with the law. Almost all radio operators said they had connected
the radio and telephone systems, after radio amateurs in Bosnia-
Herzegovina had started to do this. But in January 1994, after a warning
from the authorities, most had ceased broadcasting telephone
conversations.

Radio amateurs, who have broadcast more than 500,000 messages over the
last two years, think that the actions of both their own assocation and
the Federal Defence Ministry might have been initiated by the president
of the Serbian Amateur Radio Association, Aleksandar Antic, who works in
the Defence Minister's office. They argue that Antic abused his position
to give legal force to his political views on the war and the enemies of
the Serb people.

The majority of radio amateurs believe that their work was banned
because of the fighting around Gorazde. They noticed that in the days
leading up to the ban on broadcasting messages they had received
frequent threats because of their alleged "contacts with the enemy".
Radio amateurs from Bosnia-Herzegovina broke into their conversations
and threatened to punish them if they continued contacting
Muslims. The wording of these threats reflected the alleged breaches of
the law which the leadership of their organisation had cited as the
reason for the ban.

One radio operator from Novi Sad who listened to a conversation between
radio amateurs from the "Serb Republic" and other parts of Bosnia
believes that the ban was linked to "contacts with the enemy". At the
time of the NATO air strikes against Serb military targets around
Gorazde, one radio amateur from Banja Luka (under Serb control) and
another from Zavidovici (under the control of the Bosnian government)
talked for hours about the senselessness of war.

9. Refugees about the radio amateurs

A woman from Sarajevo: "My daughter is still back there. I heard from a
radio amateur that she had given birth. But for them I would not have
learnt that they had been starving for months, and that they felt the
cold less when they did eat something. For me, radio operators are the
heroes of this war."

A woman from Tuzla: "All my family are over there. But for the radio
amateurs I would think they had all been killed because they were Serbs.
This way I know what is true and what is a lie. I know that they have no
work, that there is not enough food in Tuzla and that Tuzla is being
changed by refugees and not the authorities. It's all the same. I am a
refugee here and I can see that the local Serbians don't like me, not
personally, but because I am from Bosnia. For them I will always be a
Bosnian."

A woman from Foca: "I fled to Serbia because at that time, in April
1992, it seemed the normal thing to do. I spent days wandering throught
the forests until I reached Montenegro. I have learned from radio
operators where the people from my village went. Some have disappeared,
some have been killed, and others are spread all over the world. I am
waiting to hear what happened to my family and am in constant touch with
radio amateurs. They keep calling Bosnia, but there is no news yet. They
are like a family to me. They are all the same, the ones here and those
in Bosnia. That is what keeps me going. It reminds me of what it was
like before the war."


CONCLUSIONS OF THE FUND

On the basis of its research into the banning of radio amateur
broadcasts, the Humanitarian Law Fund notes firstly that the leadership
of the Amateur Radio Association and the Federal Defence Minister acted
without authority in introducing requirements for special permission for
the broadcasting of humanitarian messages. Possession of a licence to
operate an amateur radio station, automatically gives the owner of such
a station the right to send humanitarian messages. Licences, which are
granted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, are normally
valid for 10 years.

The Fund concludes that the decisions by the Defence Ministry to limit
or ban the work of amateur radio stations in certain parts of Serbia and
Montenegro and to subject amateur radio frequencies to military control
are illegal. Although the civilian authorities had not declared a state
of war or direct threat of war, the Federal Defence Minister
gave himself powers that by law belong to him only in such situations.

The denying of refugees and people without citizenship of FR Yugoslavia
the right to participate in broadcasts of humanitarian messages, the
banning of contacts with radio stations from parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina
under the control of the Bosnian government and investigations into the
reliability of individual radio amateurs and the content of their
messages are indicative of the political reasons for the ban on the
broadcasting of humanitarian messages.

After considering domestic legislation on amateur radio stations, the
relevant articles of international conventions on telecommunications,
the instructions of the leaderships of the Serbian and FR Yugoslav
amateur radio organisations and the Federal Defence Minister, statements
by radio amateurs and the interests of refugees and the citizens of
Serbia and Montenegro, the Humanitarian Law Fund concludes that the
responsible civilian institutions, in this case the Serbian and
Montenegrin Ministries of Transport and Communications, have a duty to
remove the obstacles to the broadcasting of humanitarian messages in
accordance with the law and without any political limitations.