ZAGREB, March 10 (Hina) - The aggression of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) on Croatia had the character of an international conflict in Croatia from the declaration of independence on 25 June 1991, a former foreign and justice
minister and retired professor of criminal law, Zvonimir Separovic, has said.
ZAGREB, March 10 (Hina) - The aggression of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro) on Croatia had the character of an international conflict
in Croatia from the declaration of independence on 25 June 1991, a
former foreign and justice minister and retired professor of criminal
law, Zvonimir Separovic, has said. #L#
Separovic made the statement in a comment on claims by amici curiae at
the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that the
armed conflict in Croatia did not have the character of an
international conflict from the establishment of Croatia's
independence on 8 October 1991, when Croatia adopted a decision
severing its constitutional ties with other republics and provinces of
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).
On 25 June 1991, when it declared independence, Croatia became a
state: it had its own territory, democratically elected authorities,
and population, Separovic said, adding that attempts by amici curiae
to "downplay the responsibility of war criminal Milosevic are too
obvious and not founded in fact".
In December 1990 Croatia adopted a new democratic constitution, on 19
May 1991 a referendum was held on Croatia's state status and on 25
June 1991 a Declaration on the Proclamation of the Sovereign and
Independent Republic of Croatia was adopted.
"It was then that Croatia became a sovereign and independent state.
International recognition (which followed later) is not a necessary
element for a state to exist, to exist in fact, de facto," Separovic
claims.
"Some believe that the war Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) waged
against Croatia to implement the plan of a Greater Serbia began in
August 1990 with the rebellion of Serbs in Knin, others believe that
it began on 3 March 1991, when SFRY Presidency chairman Borisav Jovic
accepted a request by then Defence Minister Veljko Kadijevic for the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) for an armed intervention in Pakrac.
Another date is cited as well: 2 May 1991, when Croatian police
officers were killed in Borovo Selo," he recalled.
"July 3, 1991 - the day when Serb forces carried out a major military
operation against independent Croatia and seized areas in Baranja -
seems the most logical date. Since that day, all elements of an
international conflict in Croatia were present. The war also assumed
the character of an international conflict because the international
community started with efforts to re-establish peace," Separovic said,
recalling that by adopting numerous resolutions and sending peace
mediators, the European Community was treating Croatia as a separate
state.
"The EC called on the Serb side to stop with changes to the borders
and with taking territory by force, a peace conference was called and
held on 7 September 1991 in The Hague. At the fourth plenary session
of the peace conference the following conclusions were adopted: first,
the gradual recognition of independence of those republics which want
independence; second, sovereign and independent republics can join to
form a 'loose association'; third, it is necessary to ensure human and
minority rights; and fourth, there can be no unilateral changes of
borders.
"The attempt by 'friends of the court' to downplay the guilt of war
criminal Milosevic is too obvious and not founded in fact," Separovic
said.
Steven Kay and Branislav Tapuskovic, court-appointed defence counsel
for Milosevic, said at the trial that the war in Croatia "assumed the
character of an international conflict at one stage between 15 January
and 22 May 1992", and asked the panel of judges to establish the date
when the conflict in Croatia became an international conflict (the
first date is the date of recognition of Croatia by the then EC, and
the second one is the date of its admission to the United Nations).
According to Separovic, the Milosevic-led Yugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro) carried out an act of aggression against Croatia in an
international conflict and all assessments made by the tribunal's
prosecution in the Milosevic case are valid. Both the complaint filed
with the International Court of Justice and the White Paper of the
Croatian government from 1999 prove that the former Yugoslavia and the
JNA carried out an act of aggression against Croatia, he concluded.
Separovic, born in 1928, was a dean of Zagreb's Law School, Zagreb
University Chancellor, one of the founders and presidents of the World
Society of Victimology, a Croatian minister of foreign affairs and
justice and the first Croatian ambassador to the U.N.
(Hina) rml sb