[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 3317-3318]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                                 OTPOR

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2001

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago I had the 
opportunity to meet five representatives from the independent, non-
governmental organization Otpor. ``Otpor,'' in Serbian, means 
``resistance,'' and the organization was founded in the mid-1990s by 
students from Belgrade University and elsewhere in Serbia, who had 
enough of Slobodan Milosevic's choke-hold on the neck of Serbian 
society.
  Their efforts have forged a strong bond between idealism and realism. 
Otpor members engaged in passive resistance, never advocating violence 
nor returning the blows they received from the police and other thugs 
under Milosevic's control. Instead, they had a stronger weapon--
determination and persistence. Fear would not keep them from putting up 
their posters, from wearing their black-and-white emblem of a clenched 
fist. Moreover, they kept their eye on the goal of a democratic and 
tolerant Serbia at peace with its neighbors and with itself. The 
organization appointed no specific leader, in a strategy to thwart any 
attempt to compromise the individual--they had learned the lesson from 
observing the many opposition politicians in Serbia who had been 
compromised.
  During the past two years, more than 1,500 Otpor activists, of about 
50,000 based in over 10 Serbian cities, were arrested and interrogated 
by security forces under Milosevic's control. One of the five who 
visited my office had himself been arrested on 17 occasions. Prior to 
the September 2000 elections, Otpor worked closely with the democratic 
political opposition, independent trade unions, NGOs and other youth 
groups to mobilize voters. Otpor's activists played a crucial role in 
the street demonstrations that began immediately following the 
elections and led to Milosevic's downfall.
  The impressive delegation of five Otpor activists visiting Washington 
included Slobodan Homen, Nenad Konstantinovic, Jovan Ratkovic, Jelena 
Urosevic and Robertino Knjur, all in their mid- to late-20s and very

[[Page 3318]]

 good English speakers. It is amazing to realize that they all grew up 
in the cruel, hateful and impoverished world Slobodan Milosevic had 
created for them in the 1990s. In the meeting, they provided one piece 
of very good news. One Otpor activist, Boris Karajcic, had testified in 
1998 before the Helsinki Commission which I co-chair and was beaten up 
on the streets of Belgrade a few weeks later. Today, Boris is a member 
of the Serbian parliament. He is an active part of Serbia's future.
  Otpor itself will also be part of Serbia's future. While Milosevic is 
out of power, there is much to be done to recover from the nightmare he 
created. First, they are investigating and compiling complaints about 
the police officers who brutalized them and other citizens of Serbia 
who opposed the regime, and they will seek to ensure that officers who 
seemed to take a particular delight in beating people for exercising 
their rights are held accountable. They want to see Milosevic himself 
arrested, both for his crimes in Serbia and the war crimes for which he 
faces an international indictment. The Otpor group also advocates the 
founding of a school of public administration, which does not exist in 
Serbia and is desperately needed as the government bureaucracies are 
swollen with Milosevic cronies who have no idea how to implement public 
policy. Along similar lines, they hope to begin an anti-corruption 
campaign. Finally, they pointed out that, with the fall of Milosevic, 
the united opposition now in power has no credible, democratic 
political opposition to it. Until Serbian politics develop further, 
they intend to serve some of that role, being a watchdog of the new 
leaders.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, the Otpor group with which I met has a 
track record of accomplishment, ideas for the future, and a good sense 
of how to bring those ideas into reality. While they have had the heart 
and the courage, they also have had the assistance of the United States 
through the National Endowment of Democracy and other organizations 
which promote democratic development abroad. I hope my colleagues will 
continue to support this kind of assistance, for Serbia and other 
countries where it is needed, which serves not only the interests of 
the United States but the cause of humanity.

                          ____________________