ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Government on Thursday forwarded to the Parliament a Draft Declaration on Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which stipulates the Hague-based
Tribunal's authority over alleged war crimes committed during and immediately after the Homeland War was indisputable.
ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Government on Thursday
forwarded to the Parliament a Draft Declaration on Cooperation with
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) which stipulates the Hague-based Tribunal's authority over
alleged war crimes committed during and immediately after the
Homeland War was indisputable. #L#
The principle section of the draft declaration says the Republic of
Croatia holds all perpetrators of war crimes in the region of the
former Yugoslavia must be punished independent of their
nationality, of the troops they have been active in and which duties
they had performed.
Croatia has committed itself to have its judicial organs undertake
all law-stipulated measures to discover and appropriately punish
war crime perpetrators, the draft reads.
The Parliament's House of Representatives will begin discussing
the Declaration on Thursday afternoon.
The opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) requested that a
simultaneous discussion be held on the party's text "Protecting the
Dignity of the Homeland War". The party asked that the parliament
confirm its prior decision by which the international war crimes
tribunal did not have jurisdiction over Croatian military and
police operations "Storm" and "Flash" in the summer of 1995.
In the text the HDZ said the Government was "utterly disinterested"
to defend the dignity of the Homeland War, especially in relation to
requests and intentions of the Hague-based tribunal's
prosecution.
The Parliament party bench of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
said it had nothing against a joint discussion, holding the HDZ's
draft document held important issues forming the "backbone" of the
future declaration.
The Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) MPs deem parts of the HDZ's
draft unacceptable and have opposed a joint discussion.
However, the parliamentary majority has endorsed the draft
declaration by which the Government expressed conviction that
cooperation with the ICTY was of vital interests for Croatia.
The Government also holds that this cooperation would
significantly contribute to political stability in the region, as
well as to the establishment of an international legal order and
Croatia's accession into Euro-Atlantic associations.
The Government's draft declaration is made up of two parts:
principle stances in five points and motioned concrete measures in
11 items.
The draft relies on the Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the
ICTY and provisions of the ICTY's Statute.
Concrete measures mooted by the Government are as follows:
- to intensify the activities by Croatian judicial bodies in the
processing of uncovered war crimes;
- to expedite the work on uncovering war crimes and their
perpetrators and on gathering evidence, not having to wait to be
spurred by the International Criminal Tribunal;
- to commence talks with the ICTY Prosecution and agree on a model by
which information on war crimes and their perpetrators will be
exchanged;
- to grant requests by the ICTY and defendants' attorneys for copies
of documents as potentially relevant evidence in war crimes
proceedings, which are kept in the archives of Croatia's state
bodies. All documents must be simultaneously available to the
Prosecution and defence;
- to offer to the ICTY Prosecution joint investigations, or
investigative actions in which Croatian and the Prosecutions
investigative organs would take part;
- to motion to the ICTY an agreement according to which the Tribunal
would hand down some criminal proceedings to Croatian courts;
- to motion to the ICTY the signing of a document by which Croatian
citizens convicted of war crimes would serve their sentences in
Croatia's facilities;
- to insist on that the ICTY ensure effectiveness in processing all
committed war crimes in the region of the former Yugoslavia;
- to insist on that all proceedings before the ICTY be expedited;
- to fulfil goals and assist the work of the Tribunal through
cooperation between Croatia and the ICTY;
- to review the practice hitherto of financing the defence of
defendants before the ICTY from government budget resources and to
make any possible future payments transparent.
(hina) lml