ZAGREB, Jan 18 (Hina) - The Croatian Information Centre (HIC) - Centre for Gathering Data organised a debate and an exhibition of books called "The Republic of Croatia From the Homeland War to Accusations" in Zagreb on Thursday. The
event is aimed at refreshing some facts which are being forgotten or ignored, it was said during the debate. Switching theses and the role of the victim and the aggressor gives rise to the complex of guilt in Croatia, equalises responsibility for the war in the region and means to write history against and without us, HIC director Ante Beljo said adding that covering up and forging the truth must not be tolerated, for the sake of the Croatian state and generations to come, and because of those who wanted and want to build a Great Serbia and those who encouraged such aspirations. A former head of the Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees, Adalbert Rebic, spoke about the reasons and crucial moments of
ZAGREB, Jan 18 (Hina) - The Croatian Information Centre (HIC) -
Centre for Gathering Data organised a debate and an exhibition of
books called "The Republic of Croatia From the Homeland War to
Accusations" in Zagreb on Thursday. The event is aimed at
refreshing some facts which are being forgotten or ignored, it was
said during the debate.
Switching theses and the role of the victim and the aggressor gives
rise to the complex of guilt in Croatia, equalises responsibility
for the war in the region and means to write history against and
without us, HIC director Ante Beljo said adding that covering up and
forging the truth must not be tolerated, for the sake of the
Croatian state and generations to come, and because of those who
wanted and want to build a Great Serbia and those who encouraged
such aspirations.
A former head of the Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees,
Adalbert Rebic, spoke about the reasons and crucial moments of the
Great-Serbian aggression on Croatia and the refugee crisis. Rebic
said a total of 703,000 refugees had been registered in late 1991
when the aggression, the biggest since World War II, culminated.
All of this should be remembered when the victim is put on trial and
the criminals are free, Rebic said condemning any crime regardless
of its perpetrator. "We want justice without petty politics and
courts without political interference," he said.
A wartime health minister, Andrija Hebrang, spoke about the times
when the wartime medical corps was organised, in severe conditions,
without funds, but with great diligence, competence and
patriotism. Hebrang said it could be said with certainty that
11,784 persons, mostly civilians, were killed and another 8,646
wounded in the aggression. A total of 2,168 persons became disabled
and more than 1,500 went missing. The total damage caused by the
aggression amounts to some 22 billion dollars, with 260,000 houses,
many churches and hospitals, business, infrastructure and other
facilities destroyed, Hebrang said. These data clearly show who was
who in the Homeland War, he said.
The wartime head of the Health Ministry Information Department,
Ivica Kostovic, said 7,558 prisoners were released from Serbian
camps and 600 were killed.
About 1,800 bodies were exhumed at 120 locations following the 1995
Flash and Storm military operations. During the U.N. Protection
Force mandate on Croatia's occupied areas alone, 600 non-Serbs were
killed, Kostovic said adding only one indictment had been issued
for those crimes so far. "It is a blatant lie that Croatia has not
submitted all authentic documents on this to competent
institutions," Kostovic said.
(hina) sb rml