Roncevic told a news conference on Monday that he would insist that all classified documents on the matter be declassified and that only the names of persons involved should remain secret.
The military police department's chief, Brigadier Ivan Juric, who held the conference together with Roncevic, dismissed as sheer fabrication a recent article in the Slobodna Dalmacija daily on the alleged rape of a female Croatian officer in the ISAF mission in Kabul by her male colleague from the same contingent. Juric recalled that the publication of false information was subject to criminal proceedings.
That was an argument over who would use bathroom facilities first and inappropriate language was used, but the case was closed, Juric said.
Asked by reporters whether legal action would be launched, Minister Roncevic said the ministry was not going to sue the authors of such articles. It is up to the State Prosecutors' Office to assess whether criminal charges should be pressed. The ministry is willing to clarify the case completely and remove any suspicion as to the ministry's reputation, Roncevic reiterated.
Roncevic called on everybody in possession of any relevant proof to report it to the Defence Ministry or offices of state prosecutors.
In this context he recalled that the ministry had recently successfully investigated a case of death threats sent from a server of the defence ministry to activists of the Iskorak organisation promoting the rights of homosexuals.
The Armed Forces' chief-of-staff, General Josip Lucic, said that the Croatian army was organised similarly as in Europe and that it was under civilian supervision. Besides, NATO expert teams regularly visit Croatia and they have not expressed any suspicion in their reports with regard to possible violations of human rights in the Croatian armed forces, Lucic told reporters.
Brigadier Ivan Juric said that the military police, in cooperation with the interior ministry, had so far investigated all reported cases of harassment and rape, including recent media reports on the alleged rapes of conscripts in the Lora military base in Split. It was established that the reports were false and that there had been no cases of sexual abuse in Lora, he added.
Since 1993, the military police have registered 52 cases of sexual misconduct. In 42 cases the perpetrators were members of the military personnel and in nine conscripts.
All cases were processed, and the state prosecution pressed criminal charges in two-thirds of those cases. Additionally, disciplinary proceedings were launched before military courts, Juric said.