CROATIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES COOPERATION WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, Jan 21 (Hina) - At Thursday's session the Croatian Government adopted a report on the cooperation of the Republic of Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague and forwarded it to the Croatian National Parliament. The report, submitted to the Government by the Council for cooperation with the ICTY, points out what Croatia has done so far regarding the cooperation, and stressed Croatia's basic criticisms. The report points out insufficient investigations into war crimes committed during the war and aggression on Croatia, the failure to issue indictments for war crimes against Croats in the Bosnian Federation, slowness in initiating trials against indicted Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina who are awaiting trial at detention centres in The Hague, and slowness of trial proceedings. The report warns of the failure of ICTY to apprehend Yugoslav People's Army officers indicted of war crimes in Vukovar in 1991 (Mrksic, Radic, Sljivancanin), and the leader of Croatian Serb rebels charged with launching a rocket attack on Zagreb in 1995 (Martic). The report states Croatia is exceptionally dissatisfied and concerned about rumours about possible trials against several Croatian generals, senior, and even most senior Croatian officials who had been in charge of commanding and realising military and police activities during the "Storm" liberation operation. The report reiterates that "Storm", which in 1995 liberated most of Croatian territory which had been under Serb occupation from 1991, was a legitimate operation. Its bases can be found in UN General Assembly's decisions. Also, the report states "Storm" had created conditions for solving the until then insoluble crisis and war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic spoke at the Government session about cooperation between Croatia and ICTY. Croatia has formally met the preconditions for cooperation with the tribunal by adopting the necessary Constitutional Law, Granic said. Croatia has acted responsibly in fulfilling assumed international obligations. It has participated in negotiations on the voluntary surrender of Bosnian Croats to The Hague, while it deferred one Bosnian Croat, Granic said. He stressed the Tribunal's Prosecutor's Office has been continuously active in Croatia ever since 1994, and an agreement on the status of the Office is near completion. Regarding the submission of documents requested by ICTY, Granic stressed Croatia had so far granted the requests, except in cases where national security would be endangered. Croatia's high cooperativity with the International Criminal tribunal has resulted in the fact that Croatia is not a subject for discussion nor for UN Security Council resolutions concerning cooperation with ICTY, unlike FR Yugoslavia, Granic said. He stressed Croatia had in cooperating with the Tribunal had very little misunderstandings, except for a subpoena, a dispute which Croatia won. Granic recalled that Croatia had adopted three amnesty laws, while the President made several decisions on pardoning. He added that the Croatian justice system was insufficiently resolute and persistent in processing crimes committed in liberated areas, especially after the "Storm" operation, which weakened Croatia's credibility and international position. During a short discussion, vice-premier Jure Radic endorsed the report and said it should be accentuated that Croatia was not satisfied with the work of the Tribunal. While ICTY's hands are tied to do something in this region, it is a "ridiculous farce", Radic said. He stressed more than 13,000 people had been killed during the aggression on Croatia, while one third of its territory was occupied and devastated. Vice-premier Ljerka Mintas-Hodak said there is no justifying the fact that nobody indicted of war crimes against Croats in Croatia and the Bosnian Federation was not in The Hague. Croatian Homeland War Soldiers Minister Juraj Njavro said associations of Homeland War soldiers and invalids were embittered by the Tribunal's work due to its selective approach and slowness. "There has never been a greater crime than the one on Ovcara (where wounded soldiers and civilians from Vukovar's hospital were executed), committed before the eyes of the international community," Njavro said, adding "Croatia has requested the apprehension of the criminals, but the Tribunal has still not done so". Expressing understanding for the dissatisfaction of ministers Radic and Njavro, Granic stressed Croatia is a democratic state with the rule of law, and it was necessary for it to be different from some other countries, such as FR Yugoslavia. (hina) lml jn