Budapest - Seminar on disaster preparadness

34TH ROUND TABLE OF ICA BUDAPEST, 6-9TH OCTOBER 1999.
SEMINAR ON DISASTER PREPARADNESS

Delegation from Yugoslavia uses this fine opportunity to thank Mr. George Mac Kenzie, deputy secretary general, for his initiative and intention to organize this seminar on such an important, up-to-date issue, seminar on disaster preparedness.

We have chosen this topic to discuss or to give a sound basis for an open discussion, because we have experienced, unfortunately, conditions we were not able to cope with.

Just a few remarks before I come to our experience and results of what happened during 77 days and nights of constant racketeering of our country by the NATO forces.

I Independence of archives or politics against profession

Since the Thessalonica Round table conference Yugoslavia participated in almost all conferences of round table, and European summit, except for the last, held in Reykjavik, due to not issuing transit visas to us by Great Britain.

We are very well aware of all recommendations and resolutions adopted since 1994, and the strategy that the international archival community chooses for the forthcoming period. We voted for almost all of the resolutions because we considered them right and professionally correct. We still do, but when we come to real, to applying them, we experience something else.

One of the most important issues is the independence of the profession. It means no politics in our profession, just professional approach, professional discussion, professional measures, management, archival standards, and professional care for the protection of the archives. But, is that so? The official answer to our Appeal which we addressed to all whom it may concern, but first of all, ICA, UNESCO, Blue Shield, IFLA, archival and cultural community, was “ grave concern about all direct and collateral damage to the cultural heritage of the peoples of Yugoslavia resulting from military actions or other deeds of violence by all sides in the conflict”. ICA urged all parties to comply with the international treaties relevant to armed conflicts, especially the 1954 Hague Convention…but, the ICA appeal was sent only to the countries of the Balkan region, Greece excluded. No mention of the NATO aggression, no address to them. And this is important. How can we explain this? For us, the explanation is simple. It is politics, not profession. ICA requested all sides in conflict to take care not to destroy the cultural heritage. Besides, Yugoslavia was not a side in a conflict. Yugoslavia was severely attacked from the air and had no enemy on ground field. So Yugoslavia could not destroy its own cultural heritage, could she? NATO forces bombed them and destroyed them.

Almost a month after the beginning of the aggression, ICA, UNESCO and Blue Shield addressed themselves, but not adequately. Only the federal archival services of Russia and Ukraine supported our appeal publicly. All the countries in the world should think about this experience, because the time may come for them to know it. We are not the first to experience it but for sure we are not going to be the only one and the last.

II Emergency program

We ask our colleagues here present a question. Is there any archival service that does not have any kind of emergency program? If there is, here we have a guide to developing one! It can help.

The rest of present participants do have a program. Yugoslavia has one as well. But, what happened with it when the air aggression started? It was simply inoperational! Just the holdings of the Archive of Yugoslavia come up to about 22 kilometers located in four locations in town. One of the locations was directly hit – several hundred linear meters of archival material from the socialist period burnt to ashes in the Federal ministry of interior where we put it for better safety, as we thought, apart from the three quarters of the whole of the holdings of that Ministry. The most important archives dated from the Second world war period and early socialist years of Yugoslavia, completely destroyed, as well as more than one million of documents related to Interlope, State defense, citizenship.
The targets were all government buildings at all levels, from municipal to federal.
Military archives, situated in the federal ministry of defense, suffered the greatest damage and the greatest loss of all. For example, a fond of Marshall Tito is partially destroyed, most of the documents created during the national liberation war and second world war period destroyed, and partially the documents of Independent State of Croatia. Microtteque with the complete fond is destroyed, laboratories as well. Photos tell for themselves. “The white book” exhibited here explains too.

The former archive of Josip Broz Tito, now called Museum of the History of Yugoslavia, was pulled down to ground. The colleagues working there still do not know the extent of the destroyed materials or to say if there is anything left. No one can tell in what condition is the material that survived. Not to mention archives still in an open air condition, being exposed to fire, water, rain, dust, microorganisms and so on.
And another very important thing is that in some of the federal institutions there are still unexploded bombs dug so dangerously that the experts are still trying to find the most safe ways to explode them without further destroying around.
This is mostly the reason why we still don’t have exact and precise details upon the losses and damages in the archival services of federation.
Why the emergency programs can not be fully operational? Among other reasons because the graphite bombs destroyed our electricity and power plants for longer or shorter periods.
You all know what it means for the safeguarding of archives.

III Dislocation of archives - unfavorable experience

Most of the archives have experienced how difficult it might be to evacuate archival material even from one part of the building to another, not to mention from location to location. We can only imagine what it would be like to transfer the whole of the holdings of one national archive. How many hands would be needed, how many transportation means, how many weeks, months, and where to? Especially when we have a situation as it was in Yugoslavia where no place was safe from guided missiles, bombs, and other most sophisticated weapons? We must not forget the satellite monitoring of the territory. Any organized column of trunks would be a moving target immediately.
Some of the archives, diplomatic, among them, dislocated a part of its holdings in the neighboring surroundings of our capital and made a mistake. The position was hit, archives destroyed.
Would any country in a situation experienced by Yugoslavia, have enough stuff and transportation means to evacuate its holdings, or should it be the most vital documents, part of fonds? Here we face another problem concerning the integrity of the archives and archival fond. At immediate attacks and sudden attacks you simply do not have time to consider the definition of defining vital records, so you have to evacuate all or nothing.

Our experience says don’t evacuate anything and hope that the attacking party will have enough moral and knowledge not to target archives. If you happen to be in a situation to microfilm your holdings do that and keep them as safety copies away from the originals. That is the only way to preserve the archives in some form. After this most horrible experience we had we think that there should not be any question about the cost of the microfilming. No matter how high costs of microfilming are we need to do it in order to preserve.
Yugoslavia has been under the sanctions for the last eight years and we paid the price, the highest price in this field. We lost the considerable part of our archival holding, we lost some of the buildings, we are well underfund for repairs, repromaterails, microfilming, new stuff, conservation units, automatic condition monitoring in the storage areas. And no help was offered to us, except a humble one by UNESCO, not repeated for the second time.

IV Archives in Kosovo and Metohija

After the recent events in Kosovo and Metohija all archives passed over to Kosovo Albanians because the Serbs in the greatest number left, under the pressure and threat. Archivists of Serb nationality had to leave from their positions in archives. So, the Kosovo Albanians who boycotted the state, in which they lived for more than ten years, now took over the archives which, following the principle of provenance, belong to the state, to Serbia, and have a status of state organizations.
As far as we know, the archival material, as well as libraries are being destroyed, and what is important, the most relevant archives are being destroyed.
The international archival community once again failed to protest, failed to stop destroying. But we understand. These are the archives that belong to Serbia, so there’s no need to rush.

V Conclusion

The international community may and should insist on more precise provisions of the concept of “military necessity” and better heritage protection in situations of conflicts. But, the international community must “demand as well an improved system of sanctions to punish perpetrators of crimes affecting cultural heritage”.