THE HAGUE, Feb 26 (Hina) - Herbert Okun, a veteran of US diplomacy who in the 1990s was a deputy to Cyrus Vance, a special representative of the U.N. secretary-general and key peace mediator in the former Yugoslavia, testified in the
trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal on Wednesday.
THE HAGUE, Feb 26 (Hina) - Herbert Okun, a veteran of US diplomacy
who in the 1990s was a deputy to Cyrus Vance, a special
representative of the U.N. secretary-general and key peace
mediator in the former Yugoslavia, testified in the trial of former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague-based U.N. war
crimes tribunal on Wednesday. #L#
Okun continued a series of excellent insider witnesses for the
prosecution who are testifying in the part of the trial referring to
crimes committed in Croatia, linking Milosevic directly with the
main players and events regarding the Serb aggression on Croatia.
Nine volumes of Okun's notes, which he took during Vance's mission
in Croatia in 1991/1992 and later during the operation of the
International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) in
1992/1993, were introduced as evidence at the trial.
Confirming at the request of the prosecution his precise notes
taken during meetings, Okun spoke about a series of meetings he and
Vance had with Milosevic, General Veljko Kadijevic and other
officials, as well as about visits to Croatia's war-hit areas,
including Vukovar, Osijek and Dalj.
Milosevic practically had control over the leadership of the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the rump state presidency, Okun
said, adding that Milosevic had definitely controlled the events.
He supported his claim with the fact that during the meetings
Milosevic had never made any phone calls nor consulted with anyone
and he would also assume obligations on behalf of others. As an
example, Okun stated that Milosevic assumed obligations on behalf
of the JNA, Serb paramilitary units and local Serbs by signing a
cease-fire in Croatia in December 1991 and consenting to the
arrival of U.N. peace troops.
He said that Milosevic's and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's
signatures were the most important ones on the document on the
cease-fire, also known as the Geneva Agreement. Presiding judge
Richard May said that no witness had given such a clear testimony
about this.
Okun said that Kadijevic had only worried about the blockaded
barracks and urged that peace forces should arrive in Croatia as
soon as possible, while the then federal premier Ante Markovic
spoke to him about the "Serbisation" of the JNA and Milosevic's and
Tudjman's plan to divide Bosnia.
The witness also spoke about Vance's and his visits to Vukovar,
Osijek and Dalj. He described his visit to Vukovar at the time of its
fall into the Serbs' hands as shocking, with the images of destroyed
buildings, horrified civilians and the hospital which Veselin
Sljivancanin would not let them visit.
During a visit to Dalj they avoided a land-mine planted to blow up
their vehicle, Okun said. In Osijek they witnessed the results of
the JNA's incessant shelling of the city, particularly the hospital
on the Drava River's bank.
Okun spoke about the ICFY and the bases of the Vance Plan. He also
addressed events in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which he dealt with after
Croatia. The witness particularly pointed to Milosevic's denial of
responsibility for Serb paramilitary forces and crimes in Bosnia.
He spoke about Sarajevo, which was hit by 4,000-5,000 shells daily,
and the objectives of the Serb siege.
He said that in September 1992, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic had bragged about only five percent of all Serb forces not
being under his control and about his being able to do anything as he
had complete power.
Okun is expected to testify until Friday, but the prosecution will
introduce a new witness tomorrow.
(hina) rml