ZAGREB, Nov 12 (Hina) - The Constitutional Court on Tuesday established that liberation actions undertaken by the Croatian army in the Homeland War were in keeping with the Constitution, but ruled that it was not competent to
ascertain events, activities and conduct during individual liberation operations.
ZAGREB, Nov 12 (Hina) - The Constitutional Court on Tuesday
established that liberation actions undertaken by the Croatian
army in the Homeland War were in keeping with the Constitution, but
ruled that it was not competent to ascertain events, activities and
conduct during individual liberation operations. #L#
The actions by the Croatian Armed Forces in the Homeland War were
undertaken with the aim of liberating occupied Croatian
territories and were in keeping with the constitutional obligation
of the armed forces to protect the sovereignty and independence of
the country and to defend its territorial integrity, a statement by
the Constitutional Court said.
The statement summarises a report on individual constitutional-
legal aspects of liberating actions undertaken by the Croatian army
that the Constitutional Court adopted at the request of the
Croatian Government.
On October 10, the Government asked for the Court's opinion on
certain constitutional-legal aspects of liberation actions in the
Homeland War and related authorities and duties of the armed forces
with regard to an indictment by the UN war crimes tribunal in The
Hague against retired Croatian general Janko Bobetko.
On some 50 pages, the report that the constitutional judges adopted
unanimously notes that the Croatian armed forces acted on behalf of
and under the authorisation of a sovereign international subject,
and that by liberating occupied regions they prevented an armed
revolt and removed the repercussions of external armed
aggression.
The Constitutional Court ascertained that the Croatian army
introduced the constitutional-legal order on occupied territory
and with that, the international-legal order as its constituent
part with all the rights, obligations and responsibilities that
result from the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Croatia
and other international-legal acts that Croatia adopted and
ratified.
The Court, nevertheless, stated that it was not competent to
ascertain events, actions and behaviour during the implementation
of certain individual liberating actions because they were of an
individual and factual nature.
The Constitutional Court also determined that it was not competent
to asses the compliance or contradiction of general UN acts with the
Croatian Constitution, nor to decide against certain decisions of
any UN body in the protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
The report was submitted to the president of the Croatian Sabor,
while President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan were
notified about it. The report will be released in the National
Gazette.
The report contains an extensive and detailed review of relevant
Croatian legal acts, acts that were adopted by self-proclaimed
bodies in the unconstitutional state of Republika Srpska Krajina
and its Serb autonomous regions or Serb regions established on
occupied Croatian territory between 1990 and 1995, as well as
international legal acts relevant to that period.
(hina) sp/ha sb