PART SIXTY: AN EYE FOR AN EYE
PART SIXTY: AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Well we get a visit from a name we first visited back in Part one: Vitali Vaulin. Some new names in this update:
Dr. Who
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who
Mary Tamm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Tamm
UN Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Lipton_Robinson
Lasteaed Rõõmutareke (secondary school in Tallinn)
https://foursquare.com/v/lasteaed-r%C3%B5%C3%B5mutareke/4da595f48154a54251bb190a
UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011.
Discussing the Helsinki Peace Accord that ended the Estonian Civil War.
BBC: By March of 1995 it looked like the Russian Republic of the Baltic was poised to capture all of Estonia. Nearly two thirds of the Estonian Army was encircled in Tallinn and as a result they were unable to prevent Russian forces from capturing large areas of land in the central and eastern portions of the country. Yet in the election of 1996 you referred to the victory as a pyrrhic victory. Why?
Putin: Because from December of 1994 to March 15, 1995 close to 20,000 Russian men were killed. It was the single deadliest event for Russia since the end of the Great Patriotic War.
BBC: But the UIS government estimated Russian casualties at fewer than 3,000 during the bloody recess. Are you saying the UIS government lied?
Putin: We were having a problem recruiting men to serve in our armed forces due to the conditions in Chechnya and due to the large number of military commitments we had all over the continent. If the truth came out it would prove disastrous.
BBC: It seems hard to believe that the Russian people wouldn’t have noticed that big of a discrepancy.
Putin: It wasn’t as difficult as you would imagine. Most of the fighters were criminals or fascists, and most people assumed that many of them just abandoned their post once they saw an opportunity to run. It was assumed by many that the missing 17,000 simply fled Estonia and went back home or even defected to the West. But once the truth started to come out, many Russian citizens became furious. That was one of the reasons Zhirinovsky lost the Presidential election of 1996. Later reports estimated that fewer than 1,000 Russians actually fled Estonia for the West. And most who tried were killed by the Estonians.
BBC: Estonia repeatedly denies any state sanctioned war crimes during the bloody recess. Are you claiming that this was not true?
Putin: That is a lie. Even The Hague knows that is a lie. That is why they have so many Estonians awaiting trial there. When the Black Dolphin Brigade tried to surrender en masse to the Estonian military just outside of Tallinn they were simply shot. Nearly 1,000 Russian fighters shot and killed. Estonia claimed they were not entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention since they were not “lawful combatants” under the Geneva Convention but rather paramilitary mercenaries. But how can you justify shooting a large group of unarmed men who just surrendered to you?
BBC: Many in Estonia claim that it was in part a response to the execution of nearly 600 captured Estonians by the Tibla Brigade in Tallinn just five days earlier. They claim that the brutality of the Russians in the occupied Tõnismägi sub district of Tallinn provoked the Estonians to respond in kind.
Putin: Well an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
Russian Paramilitary leader found guilty of crimes against humanity for his role in Estonian Civil War
Owen Johnston in the Hague
The Guardian, Thursday 20 February 2005 11.13 EDT
The first Russian national to be prosecuted by an international court has been found guilty of crimes against humanity for his role in the mass execution of 602 captured Estonian soldiers at the Lasteaed Rõõmutareke Secondary School on February 11, 1995. Wearing a blue suit and red tie, Vitali Vaulin showed no emotion as the three judge panel delivered the guilty verdict. Vaulin, a former leader of the notorious Russian Tibla Brigade during the Estonian Civil War, was found guilty of directly ordering his men to execute the captured Estonians in front of nearly 300 young children, nearly all under the age of ten.
Vaulin’s court appointed attorney repeatedly attempted to shift attention to the plight of the Black Dolphin Brigade, another Russian paramilitary unit which took part in the capture of Tõnismägi district. Presiding Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson from Jamaica gave the defense a great deal of latitude during the course of the 111-day trial, never interrupting the defense or sustaining the prosecutions objections on grounds of relevance. However, as he read the court’s guilty verdict he made abundantly clear that he found Vaulin’s defense questionable at best.
“Mr. Vaulin frequently pointed to an event, the execution of over 1000 prisoners by the Estonian military, as some sort of twisted justification for his horrific act,” Robinson said from the bench. “But even if this court were to accept the completely offensive proposition that one war crime could justify another, he never once addressed the simple fact that the execution of the prisoners of the Black Dolphin Brigade occurred after the execution of Estonian prisoners which he was charged with.”
Vaulin faces 30-years in prison for this conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2005 (the ten year anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Peace accord which formally ended the Estonian Civil War). Vaulin’s case is a watershed case for the International Criminal Court. It is the first case against a Russian citizen and is believed it could lead to the arrest and prosecution of hundreds of other potential war criminals now living in the UIS.
“We applaud President Lebed for standing up for justice,” American President John Engler told reporters yesterday. “First, for having the courage to not only turn Mr. Vaulin over to the Criminal Court to answer for his crimes, but also for his cooperation with the UN in its investigation.”
The cooperation of the UIS in allowing the UN full access to sensitive documents to assist in the prosecution of Vaulin was seen as a very promising development by most international observers. Many in fact feel that it may indicate a willingness by the UIS to turn over the world’s most sought after war criminal: former Russian and UIS President Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
“Vaulin may have been a small fish but this was still an important step,” an unnamed White House source told
The Guardian, “he was a celebrated hero in Zhirinovsky’s UIS, a veteran of the Battle of Gorky Park and the Battle of Tallinn. For the UIS to be willing to turn him over and help the UN in prosecuting him gives us hope that we are entering a new era of cooperation between the United States and the UIS.”
Vaulin has 14 days to file a written notice of appeal. His attorney has indicated that Vaulin plans to appeal his conviction.
Kerrey’s Dr. Who snub ridiculed by British sci-fi fans
Bill Boston - New York Post
February 22, 1995
WASHINGTON — Whew. It’s a good thing for Democrats that British nerds can’t vote in the next U.S. election, because if they could Bob Kerrey could be looking for a new job. Almost all of European geekdom was in an uproar over President Kerrey’s snub of the obscure British cult television show
Dr. Who yesterday at a press conference.
“What is
Dr. Who and why should I care,” Kerrey said with a laugh at a press conference when told that Estonian born actress Mary Tamm (who starred on the sci-fi show for one season in 1978) took out a one page ad in the London Times criticizing President Kerrey’s leadership over his perceived inaction in Estonia.
When explained what
Dr. Who was, and how the show was cancelled in 1989, Kerrey again laughed.
“Wow,” he told the press playfully, “you guys are sort of digging the bottom of the barrel. Someone from a show nobody every heard of doesn’t agree with American foreign policy. I don’t know why this is even considered newsworthy. I guess she did a Jedi-mind meld on you guys.”
Unfortunately for Kerrey, the statements caused outrage not only with human rights activists, but also science fictions fans who were stunned at how badly Kerrey could fumble so many sci-fi pop culture references in one sentence. Mary Tamm, however, seemed to be unfazed about Kerrey’s lack of knowledge in regards to
Dr. Who. Rather, it was his dismissive response to the substance of her ad that upset the actress.
“I really don’t care if he’s ever seen
Dr. Who or knows anything about it,” Tamm told the BBC in an interview yesterday, “but my newspaper ad was trying to bring attention to the suffering of the Estonian people, and to hopefully open President Kerrey’s eyes to the effects of his failed and disastrous policy in regards to Estonia. Rather than take this seriously he treated the whole thing like it was some sort of joke. To be honest, that is what I find deeply offensive.”
Excerpts from the book “A Diplomat’s Life: An Autobiography of Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher”
Published by Hyperion © 2003
Chapter XI: Back to Helsinki
We could see as soon as we stepped into the hotel that the mood would be much different this time out. The Lithuanian delegation sat quietly in the corner, eyeing us suspiciously. The Estonians wouldn’t even hide their contempt for us. They blamed us for not stopping the Russians and for dragging out the war in their country. All across Europe radical left wing politicians and socialist newspapers were accusing us of trying to drag out the war in Estonia to maximize Russian casualties. They were publishing horrible lies, about how we didn’t care if a million Estonians were killed as long as they took a few thousand Russians with them. Even the two Russian delegations seemed to distrust each other. Gennady Burbulis, the Russia Prime Minister stood near the fireplace alone. He wouldn’t even look up and acknowledge our arrival. His Russian counterparts from the self proclaimed Russian Republic of the Baltic stood at the other side of the room. They stood out like sore thumbs; all were dressed like color blind Che Guevara impersonators. They looked like they just came out of a poorly written action film about Rambo in El Salvador or something. A part of me wanted to laugh at those clowns, but I knew in this tense environment we could ill afford even the slightest perceived insult. I decided to try as best as I could to break the ice as I walked over to Gennady Burbulis.
“Hello Gennady,” I said as I extended my hand, “good to see you again old friend.”
Prime Minister Burbulis said nothing as he looked in the fire. His eyes looked tired and weary, and he ignored my outstretched hand.
“There is nothing that is going to happen here that couldn’t have been accomplished three months ago,” he said angrily, “and over 50,000 people who were alive at Christmas are now dead because you refused to even pretend like you wanted to negotiate.”
I felt my blood start to boil. It wasn’t the Americans who walked out of the negotiations in December, it was the UIS!
“That’s not true Gennady and you know it,” I said firmly, “and if you think we are going to change our position on sanctions then you are going to be very disappointed tomorrow.”
“I don’t expect anything from you any more,” he said unable to hide his disgust. “You want to drag this war on until there are a million dead Russians, even if that means there is no Estonian nation at the end of it. We could have worked out a Latvian style peace treaty in December but you refused to sign up for it because Estonia fit perfectly with your so called
Powell Doctrine.”
I felt my heart skip a beat. How much did he know about the Powell Doctrine? I suppose it was foolish of me to assume that the KGB simply quit spying on us after the fall of the Soviet Union, but if he knew what the Powell Doctrine represented then it meant Vladimir Zhirinovsky knew about it too. It meant that they would do whatever it took to even the score.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Mr. Prime Minister, but I assure you there is no Powell Doc-“
“You lie!” Burbulis screamed as he turned and faced me. Suddenly all eyes were upon us.
“Everything that comes out of your President’s mouth is a lie! You may not believe this, but I consider the Estonians my countrymen! I consider the Georgians my countrymen! I consider the Chechens my countrymen! And everything I hold dear in my heart is being destroyed right now. All of this bloodshed all over my country, and to know that this is all part of your plan to destroy us. You could not care less about how many dead Chechens you leave behind. Or how many dead Estonians you leave behind. Because in the end you still consider us Soviets and you never made any distinction when it came to Soviets!”
“Gennady, I can’t believe you are buying into all that propaganda,” I replied firmly, “and quite frankly, I don’t think you have the moral high ground. Not after Azerbaijan.”
“Well, neither do you,” Gennady said wearily as he turned away from me. “Not after Romania.”
I watched as Prime Minister Burbulis slowly walked out of the room. The Estonian delegation glared at him with unmistakable contempt as he walked past them. I knew this was going to be very difficult. Nobody trusted anyone anymore.
“Please God,” I whispered under my breath, “don’t let us fail. Don’t let Estonia turn into Lebanon.”
