On 9th December 2000, a concert was held in Kraljevo on the occasion of Human Rights Day and collecting signatures in favor of the legislative initiative started by the Yugoslav Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights.

During the morning, Women in Black held workshops with the women from other groups, and then, at noon, they appeared on the central city square with posters bearing the messages that had been prepared for the Day of the Declaration of Human Rights.

On that occasions, copies of the magazine "Prigovor" (Objection) were being distributed and labels with the slogan: "I reject war, I reject violence – I opt for conscientious objection" , which marked the beginning of the action of collecting signatures in favor of the legislative initiative.

In the evening, a concert was held, with the participation of: "Gymnastics", "Revolt" from Kraljevo and "Hocu Necu" from Kraljevo. The concert was held in the former supermarket "Zvezda" in the center of the city. The concert unfolded in the spirit of the legislative initiative of collecting signatures.

The signatures were not collected because the text of the legislative initiative was unexpectedly changed by YUCOM, so that there was no time to print the leaflets before the concert.

More than two hundred people were present and every time the possibility of shortening the military service and civilian military service were mentioned, there followed a vehement applause.

The concert lasted for three hours.

CONCERTS IN VELIKA PLANA AND SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA ON 22ND DECEMBER 2000.

"Gymnastics" from Ruma , "Hocu Necu" from Kraljevo and "Nabla" from Smederevska Palanka played at the concert.

After leaflets and posters bearing the text of the legislative initiative were printed out, activities aimed at activating the public for the topic of conscientious objection were undertaken.

In Velika Plana, the sound technique was a disastrous, yet the bands went on performing, so that the concert unfolded in a friendly atmosphere. There were about 80 people present. Of course, leaflets and the magazine "Prigovor" were being distributed.

The next evening, a concert was held in Smederevska Palanka under much better circumstances, although the bands were not quite happy with the sound technique. There were about 250 people present. There was great interest for signing the charter, so that more than a hundred were collected that evening.

The concert in Ruma on 11th January 2001 was a continuation of the promotion of conscientious objection and anti-militarism through concerts.

The atmosphere in the public was incredibly good, although not so many signatures followed. That evening, about fifty signatures were collected. The main problem was that many people did not have their identity cards with them.

The good thing was that many people from neighboring towns came to the concert, like Sremska Mitrovica, Kikinda, Zemun... so that the concert covered a big area considering the places people had come from.

"Gymnastics" from Ruma and "Hocu Necu" from Kraljevo played at the concert.

As a continuation of the attempt to animate people through concerts, another concert was organized in Kraljevo. This time "Cepeni Cunci" from Leskovac and "Progres" from Kraljevo were playing. The atmosphere was excellent, and the people still reacted positively at the very mention of the legislative initiative.

In order to assess the number of newly gathered signatures, another meeting was held at Women in Black. Unfortunately, the plan was not fulfilled, especially not in Belgrade, where Women in Back were the only ones to collect signatures. Other reasons for the low turnout were also cold weather and exaggerated light-heartedness of some groups. Since only two thirds of the necessary number of signatures had been collected, it was decided to continue the action in January 2001.

There will not be another meeting concerning the next count of signatures. Instead, the coordinators will be contacted by telephone and the final numbers will be established. It will then be decided how the filled forms will be collected.

At that meeting it was also decided to send a letter to Zoran Zivkovic, federal minister of the interior, demanding to abolish the condition according to which a passport cannot be issued without the certificate on completed military service, because it is unconstitutional and represents a limitation to the freedom of movement.

It was decided to make a compilation CD containing the bands from Yugoslavia, which will be dedicated to conscientious objection. It will be accompanied by a booklet containing basic information about conscientious objection.

The peace movement from Pancevo introduced their proposal of a project of activities with the school population regarding the topic of demilitarization of mind and conscientious objection.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Commenting the initiative of the Yugoslav Army Headquarters to introduce fees for exemption from military service

Following the legislative initiative for amending the law on the Yugoslav Army, led by anti-militarist men and women activists, the Yugoslav Army Headquarters have suddenly begun undertaking legislative initiative. According to their plan, the military service ought to last for ten months and there would also be a possibility to buy up exemption from military service.

In this respect, we, anti-militaristic activists, would like to express our disapproval with this proposal that is supported by some of the official media and the nationalistically minded part of DOS.

FIRSTLY: we disapprove of the Army Headquarters, i.e., the Army, interfering with legislation. The Army Headquarters duty is to take care of the morale of their troops and to develop strategic and tactical options, but not to deal with legislation. That ought to be left to the legally elected representatives of this country. Besides, we do not consider this body to be entitled to make any legislative initiatives before it is at least purged of individuals accused of committing war crimes in the area of the former Yugoslavia, for whom this country and its army have so far been a safe haven.

SECONDLY: The legal draft issued by the Yugoslav Army Headquarters, which provides for the possibility of financial compensation in exchange for exemption from military service, introduces direct class discrimination of underprivileged citizens. We reject this idea scornfully.

We wish to remind the public of Serbia and Montenegro that a legislative initiative led by anti-militaristic organizations is already under way and that this action is getting broad public support daily, in the form of signatures that are being collected throughout the country.

Belgrade, February 3rd, 2001

Women in Black – Belgrade

The Labor Party – Kragujevac

The Creative Workshop – Kraljevo

The people’s Parliament – Leskovac

The Women’s Association Cilim – Pirot

ZAD – Novi Sad

The Women are coming – Cacak

Omca (the Loop) – Cacak

The Civic House – Cetinje

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ZAD – Women’s Active Society
Novi Sad, 15, Branislava Borote St.

ACTION: Gathering signatures in favor of amending the Law on the Army of Yugoslavia

The analysis was made on a sample of 2,487 signatures

NOVI SAD – VOJVODINA

Women’s Active Society Novi Sad (Seal)