UPPER HOUSE ENDORSES ICTY DECLARATION, WITH AMENDMENTS

ZAGREB, April 18 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's House of Counties on Tuesday endorsed a government-motioned declaration n cooperation with The Hague-based war crimes tribunal, with the amendments motioned by the Committee on National Security which demand that the Croatian judiciary have jurisdiction over possible individual crimes committed during the Homeland War. The Upper House voiced serious concern over the consequences the declaration in the form adopted by the House of Representatives would have on national security and the preservation of state sovereignty. In today's five-hour debate, MPs of the largest Opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), were very critical about the declaration and The Hague tribunal's work. The tribunal is a political tribunal and a strong political instrument in the hands of the powerful, they asserted. HDZ's MPs evaluated the government's declaration was unacceptable because they said it paved the way for the criminalisation of Croatia's Homeland War, and the possibility that liberation actions "Flash" and "Storm" be given attributes of operations aimed at ethnic cleansing. MPs of the ruling coalition on the other hand said the declaration must be adopted to punish Serb crimes because, they claim, only The Hague war crimes tribunal can do so. (hina) ha