Veterans For Peace, Inc. (VFP) has been trying to evacuate war-wounded Bosnian children since April of this year. On May 25, 1993, we notified Ms. Norma Tinio, UNICEF Emergency Programs Officer, in New York, that we had obtained written commitments for pro bono hospital space, services and medical treatment in the United States sufficient to treat more than 50 wounded Bosnian children. Ms. Tinio acknowledged our offer on June 2, 1993, in writing. We notified Manual Fontaine, UNICEF-Sarajevo, of this offer by fax on May 26. Kai Schubert of UNHCR-Sarajevo acknowledged our offer on May 28, 1993, in writing. On June 3, 1993, I received a fax from Ms. Norma Tinio urging me to contact Dr. Daniel Wiener, Chair of the International Rescue Committee's Medical Advisory Board in New York. I was on the phone with Dr. Wiener for about an hour and a half. During that time, Dr. Wiener tried to persuade me that VFP should stop requesting assistance from hospitals and physicians in the United States because: a) medical aid is getting through, b) all necessary surgery is being performed locally, and c) it isn't practical to evacuate the wounded to the United States. I told Dr. Wiener that what we were being told by physicians in Bosnian hospitals was in direct conflict with his assertions, and that we would continue our efforts. On June 11, Congressman Tom Andrews (D-ME) notified Mr. Albert Peters, UNHCR-New York, that VFP had secured pro bono hospital space and service VETERANS FOR PEACE, INC., P.O. Box 3881, Portland, ME 04104 Ph (207) 773-1431 Fax (207) 773-0804 2 for over 100 wounded Bosnian children. Mr. Peters acknowledged Congressman Andrews' letter on June 15, in writing, suggesting that Rene Van Rooyen, UNHCR-New York, was the proper individual to notify. Congressman Andrews sent a similar letter to Rene Van Yooyen on June 28, 1993. On June 18, I visited the UNHCR office in Split, Croatia, and requested a UNHCR pass authorizing me to enter Sarajevo to assess the need for additional hospital space in the United States, and to help facilitate the evacuation of wounded children from Bosnia. UNHCR Chief of Mission Anne Shephard-Dawson denied my request for a pass. Appeals to UNHCR-Zagreb and UNHCR-Geneva were also denied even though, days earlier, two historians were allowed to enter Sarajevo to assess the damage to historical buildings. On August 8, 1993, the picture of 5-year-old Irma Hadzimuratovic appeared on the front page of newspapers, and on the screens of televisions, around the world. She had been wounded eleven days earlier and was dying, but her physician, a Dr. Jarganjac of Kosevo Hospital in Sarajevo, was unable to get the UN Medical Evacuation Committee to approve her evacuation until he notified the media of her plight. She was then evacuated immediately to London. You will recall that Irma's case created a public outcry in the United States and UNHCR officials found it necessary to defend their past decisions and inaction. During the next three days, on CNN, ABC's Good Morning America, and other national news programs, Peter Kessler of UNHCR-Sarajevo, Sylvana Foa of UNHCRGeneva, and Barbara Frances of UNHCR-Wash DC, all insisted that they would have evacuated Irma and many others much sooner, but no hospitals in the United States or western Europe had offered to accept them. To date, we have, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, successfully evacuated four wounded Bosnian children (see attached). Two of them were evacuated by a British nurse, Sally Becker, overland from Mostar to Croatia. Ms. Becker had asked for UN assistance, but was denied. We believe one was evacuated by British UN forces, also overland to Croatia. And one was evacuated by Dutch UN forces, and was approved by the UN Med Evac Committee. We suspect the committee approved this case only because national ABC-TV news cameras were documenting the plight of this wounded 14-year-old boy who is now being 3 treated at Brighton Medical Center, Portland, Maine. Immediately following his evacuation, UNHCR-Zagreb advised all UNHCR field personnel in Bosnia, in writing, that "this little project is not a formal UNHCR Medevac program". According to a June 24 communique from Professor Dusko Tomic of the First Children's Embassy in Sarajevo, there were 13,204 wounded children in Bosnia. Professor Smikavic of the University of Sarajevo reported that there are 2,846 severely wounded children in Sarajevo alone who should be evacuated. According to the Red Cross of Nova Bila, Bosnia and Herzegovina, "Since June (1993), approximately 3,000 displaced people have taken refuge in Travnik, in the territory of Nova Bila. Of those 3,000, 850 are children, and there are also as many children who are native population of this area. Since June, there have been 137 wounded babies in the Franciscan makeshift hospital in Nova Bila. Our children have, therefore, been living without electricity and water during this period of four months. All medical assistance has been taken away, as there is only one doctor in the Franciscan hospital, and no specialist for children's illnesses. Because of the use of well water, cases of enterocolitis and hepatitis have appeared and a large number have gotten skin rashes. Due to the unhygienic conditions of life, we fear other epidemiological problems as well... we ask that the evacuation of these children to a safe area be immediately effected". According to a Reuters news story dated October 6, 1993, "Since April, the United Nations has flown out 193 patients, 43 of them children, from Sarajevo." Senator DeConcini, we still have more than 100 pro bono hospital beds waiting for wounded Bosnian children. Hospitals that have heard about our program through National Public Radio or the American Hospital Association publication are contacting us almost daily and we are confident that we could increase that number to 200 within ten days. We would be most grateful for any assistance you may be able to provide in persuading the United Nations and its agencies to provide the medical assistance that is necessary to save the lives and limbs of the wounded in Bosnia, or begin mass evacuations from Bosnia immediately. Armored UNPROFOR personnel carriers can safely transport the wounded to Sarajevo where they can be airlifted out to points in western Europe and the United States. I have spoken with U.S. military pilots who have assured me that 20 to 30 cargo planes deliver humanitarian aid to Sarajevo daily and that each of these planes can be rigged to evacuate 2 or 3 wounded. They also assert that this would require each plane to be on the ground in Sarajevo not more than an additionalal ten minutes. Respectfully, Jerry Genesio Chairman/Executive Director pc: VFP President COL James Burkholder, USA (Ret), Tucson, AZ VFP Exec Vice President Louis Sinclair, Waterville, ME VFP Vice Pres for UN Affairs Ben Weintraub, Staten Island, NY VFP Secretary Susan Rettig, R.N., Philadelphia, PA VFP Treasurer LtCOL Robert Taft, USA (Ret), Ft Ashby, WV Charles Bonner, Lancaster, PA CPL Stephen Fournier, USMC (Disab Ret), N. Yarmouth, ME Ted Heselton, W. Kennebunk, ME Sanford Kelson, Esq., Pittsburgh, PA Charles Nixon, Los Angeles, CA Peggy Tuxen-Akers, R.N., Ann Arbor, MI VADM Ralph Weymouth, USN (Ret), Wonalancet, NH encl: (a) VFP Children of War Rescue Project (CWRP) Fact Sheet (b) VFP-CWRP September 25, 1993 Update (c) About Veterans For Peace (d) About the International Organization for Migration (IOM) VETERANS FOR PEACE, INC., P.O. Box 3881, Portland, ME 04104 Ph (207) 773-1431 Fax (207) 773-0804 VETERANS for PEACE, VETERANS FOR PEACE CHILDREN OF WAR RESCUE PROJECT (CWRP) In September of 1992, Veterans For Peace, Inc. (VFP) UN-NGO Representative Ben Weintraub informed VFP's National Board of Directors that UNICEF officials had requested assistance in delivering humanitarian aid to remote villages in the mountains of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H). VFP quickly organized several teams of its members, including truck drivers and logistics experts, who volunteered to assist in that effort. However, due to the limited number of truck convoys that were allowed to enter B-H, UN Peacekeeping military commanders were able to provide a sufficient number of personnel for that portion of the mission that was eventually accomplished. In addition, VFP members nationally have been collecting medical and humanitarian aid for shipment to B-H in cooperation with the Brothers' Brother Foundation of Pittsburgh, PA. In April of this year, the VFP National Board learned of the Medical Evacuation Program for Victims of Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia being conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and similar efforts organized by other international agencies. VFP National Executive Director Jerry Genesio of Portland, ME, contacted IOM officials in Washington, DC, and offered to organize a national VFP project designed to assist in their efforts. Sanford Kelson of Pittsburgh, PA, who is an attorney and a member of the VFP National Board, volunteered to go to Croatia and B-H and, from April 20-28, 1993, Kelson met with officials of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the French contingent of UN Peacekeeping forces, and U.S. Embassy personnel in the region to coordinate the IOM/VFP effort. During this period, Genesio began coordinating the efforts of VFP's 77 chapters around the country to identify medical institutions and physicians interested in participating in the project and, from June 1620, Genesio also visited the region and met with U.N. officials in an attempt to expedite the evacuation of wounded Bosnian children. All evacuees are first transported to Andrews AFB in Maryland. They are then flown by commercial carrier or, if necessary, by a US Air Force medevac plane, to cities where pro bono hospital space, services and medical treatment have been offered. VETERANS FOR PEACE, INC., P.O. Box 3881, Portland, ME 04104 Ph (207) 773-1431 Fax (207) 773-0804 |