by Vu Kim Chung
Recalling the horrors and ethnic cleansing-like atrocities carried out by the the Americans in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, the Viet Nam Women's Union on April 5, 1999 expressed its extreme indignation about NATO's continuous air attacks on Yugoslavia.
"This inhuman act is very blazen, running counter to the United Nations Charter and international laws and seriously violating Yugoslavia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," said the union in a statement.
The statement warned that NATO's use of force complicated the process of negotiations over the Kosovo crisis, creating a dangerous precedent in international relations as well as threatening peace and security not only in the Balkans and Europe but also the world over. The union showed sympathy with the Yugoslav people, including women and children, who have lived in misery and were in now in worse conditions because of the destruction by NATO forces of vital facilities used by Yugoslavia's civilian population.
The union demanded an immediate end to military acts against Yugoslavia and resumption of negotiations for a peaceful and fair solution to the Kosovo crisis. The union called on women's societies as well as peace-loving and progressive organizations and individuals to raise their voice against NATO and to jointly seek an absolute measure to protect the UN Charter, international laws and practices.