SPLIT, Oct 16 (Hina) - The main headquarters for the protection of the dignity of Croatia's early 1990s Homeland Defence War discontinued permanent activity on Monday after more than a month of sessions around the clock. Its president
said the adoption of a declaration on the war had fulfilled the headquarters' main task. The declaration is the basic guideline for society's future attitude towards the homeland war, Lt. Col. Mirko Condic told reporters in the central Adriatic port of Split. The headquarters will monitor closely how it is respected and react if its provisions are violated, he added. According to Condic, the headquarters believes that by adopting the declaration, which alleviated recent social tensions, parliament has demonstrated its maturity and full responsibility. He said the headquarters was very glad to have been recognised as a conscience and moral force in the sta
SPLIT, Oct 16 (Hina) - The main headquarters for the protection of
the dignity of Croatia's early 1990s Homeland Defence War
discontinued permanent activity on Monday after more than a month
of sessions around the clock. Its president said the adoption of a
declaration on the war had fulfilled the headquarters' main task.
The declaration is the basic guideline for society's future
attitude towards the homeland war, Lt. Col. Mirko Condic told
reporters in the central Adriatic port of Split. The headquarters
will monitor closely how it is respected and react if its provisions
are violated, he added.
According to Condic, the headquarters believes that by adopting the
declaration, which alleviated recent social tensions, parliament
has demonstrated its maturity and full responsibility.
He said the headquarters was very glad to have been recognised as a
conscience and moral force in the state, and thanked all who
supported it with their signatures. A special sign of gratitude was
paid to Croatia's (Catholic) bishops, generals, and the national
soccer league.
The headquarters was established a month ago, immediately
following the arrest of a dozen persons suspected of war and other
crimes, among whom were members of the armed forces and
participants in the Homeland War.
Some veterans' associations said the arrests tarnished and
criminalised the war, and established a headquarters for the
protection of its dignity, first in Split and later elsewhere in
Croatia. The headquarters demanded putting an end to the arrests,
accusing the authorities of prejudging the arrestees' guilt.
Shortly thereafter, Croatian bishops told the authorities they
ought to be careful with their steps in order to avoid diminishing
the war's victims. A letter signed by 12 generals followed, calling
for opposing the tarnishing and negative presentation of the war,
as did severe reactions from some political parties, especially
after the president of the republic retired the active generals who
had signed the letter.
Support also came from the national soccer league, whose members
signed a petition by the Zagreb headquarters which expanded its
demands by urging that the Constitution should no longer recognise
the anti-fascist council on which Croatia was established during
World War Two as a constituent republic of the former Yugoslav
federation.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Peasants'
Party (HSS) demanded a parliamentary debate on the Homeland War,
which resulted in a declaration which says Croatia fought a defence
war to protect its borders and not an aggression war against any
country.
(hina) ha jn