SARAJEVO, Sept 21 (Hina) - The convicts of Croat origin, who are serving their sentences in the jail in Zenica (central Bosnia) are exposed to pressure to abandon their Catholic faith and convert to Islam, Saturday's issue of the
Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjene" says.
SARAJEVO, Sept 21 (Hina) - The convicts of Croat origin, who are
serving their sentences in the jail in Zenica (central Bosnia) are
exposed to pressure to abandon their Catholic faith and convert to
Islam, Saturday's issue of the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjene" says.
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Citing a report recently compiled by Bosnia-Herzegovina's
parliamentary commission for human rights and refugees, the daily
says that in the past 30 days there were several registered cases of
conversion to Islam and some of 'converts' underwent surgeries.
A member of the said parliamentary commission, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, has said there are reasons for suspicion in
whether prisoners converted of their own accord.
The same source says that during the talks with those 'converts'
they neither confirmed nor denied that they had of their own will
converted to Islam.
"We saw that they were afraid and that they did not want to speak
about it so that they would not be harassed. This further prompted
us to suspect that they did it under the pressure of prisoners of the
other ethnic origin," the commission's member said.
The daily claims it possesses the commission's report, and says the
document contains statements of inmates of Croat and Serb
nationality who spoke about the pressure and physical abuse to
which they were exposed.
In this context, the commander of prison guard, Refko Kadric, is
mentioned as he is believed to be urging Croat prisoners to beat
other inmates of the same ethnic origin, promising them to get days
off as an award.
Some of Croat prisoners were so injured in such incidents that they
had to ask for medical treatment, and one of them, Jozo Bulic, was
subsequently transferred to a prison in Mostar.
In a bid to check the allegations, a Hina correspondent contacted
Sarajevo Archdiocese where he obtained information that the
leadership of the Catholic Church in Bosnia was already acquainted
with the allegations "Oslobodjene" was writing about.
"We have received such information, but to date we have not managed
to check it. We want to check everything, given that this is an
extremely serious issue," a source from the Archdiocese told Hina.
He added that the Church would not remain silent if the allegations
proved to be true.
Sarajevo Catholic dignitaries say that so far they have had no
problems in their contacts with prisoners of Catholic faith in
Bosnian jails.
The administrations of prisons allow Catholic priests to say Masses
without any obstacle, and minor problems have only occurred in the
Zenica prison but this referred to the relations between some
inmates.
The human rights commission will next week forward its report to the
state parliament.
According to some announcements, it is likely that the
establishment of an independent commission will be proposed whose
task will be to examine cases of Croats who have converted to
Islam.
An investigation also into accusations about the physical
harassment will probably be launched.
(hina) ms