HHO: POLICE MUST ALLOW PROTEST RALLIES DURING ZAGREB SUMMIT

ZAGREB, Nov 21 (Hina) - All international meetings in the world are accompanied by protest rallies and the Headquarters for the Protection of the Dignity of the Homeland Defence War should also be allowed to express its stand on the Zagreb Summit, a member of the Croatian Helsinki Committee's (HHO) Executive Committee, Zarko Puhovski, told reporters on Tuesday. Puhovski believes the police should have allowed the Headquarters to hold the rally at some other location in Zagreb where it would be possible to protest without coming into conflict with the police, which, Puhovski says, is inevitable because of the police's negative stand toward the rally. Stressing that the HHO does not agree with most of the Headquarters' views, Puhovski said members of the Headquarters had the right to express their dissatisfaction. The HHO also believes that statesmen tend to easily forget problems such as those regarding persons who went missing in the war, Puhovski said. The HHO believes all statesmen at the Zagreb Summit should take over their share of responsibility for events in the region in the past decade. The HHO cannot ask the Croatian authorities to take over their share of responsibility for the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina without asking Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to shoulder a much bigger share of responsibility, Puhovski said. He informed reporters that an international conference on human rights in South-East Europe would be held in Zagreb on November 22- 23. The conclusions of the conference will be handed to the participants in the Zagreb Summit, he added. Commenting on the situation on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT), Puhovski said, quoting research results, that one form of pressure had given way to new forms of censorship in the news section. The HHO is also dissatisfied with the scope and depth of the changes, he said. (hina) rml