OSCE WARNS OF SLOW RESOLUTION OF CASES OF RETURN OF PROPERTY

KARLOVAC, Aug 1 (Hina) - The municipal court in Karlovac (some 50 kilometres south of Zagreb) on Wednesday received yet another lawsuit from Serb returnees asking for the return of their property temporarily used by Bosnian Croat refugees. According to the OSCE mission, the lawsuit filed by Stevan Velimirovic against Jure Velic, a Bosnian Croat who is temporarily living in Velimirovic's house near the town of Vojnic, is the 26th pending case of this kind in the area of Karlovac. The municipal court's president, Ante Ujevic, said he did not know the exact number of such cases given that they were being tackled by different judges. He believes the OSCE's figure is exaggerated. Ujevic asked OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) representatives to give him lists with such cases, adding that he was willing to use his authority to expedite the lawsuits. A spokesman for the OSCE mission in Croatia, Alessandro Fracassetti, who was on a visit to Karlovac on Monday, said the rule of law was being carried out reluctantly pertaining to issues of Serb returnees' property. A reconstruction act, adopted last year, is not discriminatory but is vague in parts which enables postponement in the return of assets, said Fracassetti, adding that local authorities, in particular housing commissions on the ground, were actively protecting the interests of temporary users. One frequent reasons for stalling the return is the fact that temporary users have invested some means in the renovation or adaptation of the facilities they are using. Spokesman Fracassetti explained the OSCE's stand that the issue of the investment could not be an obstacle for the return of the property. He cited some examples in Korenica and Tocak near Slunj where temporary users turned houses into restaurants, adding the legal owner of the house did not 'ask' temporary users to change the object into such a facility. The OSCE spokesman also quoted examples when a family was accommodated in three houses that were not its property. In this context, he said those who were temporarily using several houses or those who had no document which allowed them to temporarily stay in some facilities were not entitled to alternative accommodation. Under a return programme, persons who are living in others' houses with the documents which allow them to stay there temporarily have the right to wait for alternative accommodation before they leave the houses in question. The right to alternative accommodation should be solved in compliance with the law on welfare, Fracassetti said, reiterating that temporary accommodation cannot be an obstacle for the expeditious return of property to legal owners. The right to the return of property has priority over the right of temporary users, he added. According to him, in August 2000, the OSCE forwarded to the Croatian government 88 cases with clear documentation where the solution could be achieved. In 63 of those 88 cases, there was immediately available alternative accommodation for the temporary users, namely they could move in other houses. For the rest, the solution should be found. One year later, however, only a dozen of the said cases were settled, the OSCE spokesman said. (hina) ms