STATE DEPARTMENT'S REPORT IS UNOBJECTIVE AND UNBALANCED - GOVT

ZAGREB, March 4 (Hina) - The Croatian Government holds the report of the US State Department on human rights in Croatia unobjective and unbalanced, although it does not deny certain difficulties occurring in that field. The Government on Thursday issued and adopted a draft document in reply to the State Department's report which was issued last Friday. "Holding in regard the US Government's efforts aimed at the protection of human rights in the world. The Croatian Government holds the section of the report concerning Croatia to hold a number of unargumented claims and unobjective estimates, and is at an unbalanced expert level," the draft document said. The State Department report recognises the efforts and achievements of Croatian authorities in a significantly lesser degree than reports of other organisations. "All positive steps by Croatian authorities have mostly been overlooked or mentioned, but made relative immediately," the Government said. The authorities are, however, aware of certain difficulties in the respect of human rights in Croatia, and is prepared to cooperate with the international community in a partnership relation to remove these difficulties. Croatia is a country in transition and post-war rehabilitation, due to which it is facing a number of objective obstacles. "The omission of this context in estimates about the level of protection of human rights in Croatia cannot result in an objective and realistic picture of the situation and activities of the Croatian Government," the Government stressed. In reply to comments of the judiciary, the Government said the existing system was burdened with problems inherited from the past regime, and was facing various difficulties in implementing the its reorganisation. The Government suggested measures for the system's improvement in December 1998. The Croatian Government stated there is no additional pressure and discrimination against ethnic Serbs due to which many are leaving Croatia. "We recall the UNHCR's assessment from the start of 1998 when it stressed there was no reason for Serbs from the Croatian Danube region to be granted asylum in Norway, estimating there were no obstacles for the return of these people to Croatia and that they were economic migrants. Nobody was granted asylum," the Government stressed. The State Department claims 20,000 Serbs left Croatia after January 15 1998, when the Danube region was reintegrated into the Croatian constitutional and legal systems. The number is accurate, but the period of time is not, the document stressed, Most Serbs left the Danubian region before the end of the peaceful reintegration of the Danubian region, and the number mentioned is the overall number of Serbs who have left the area from the end of 1996 to the end of 1998. "A large number of Serbs registered in the Danubian region during 1997 had never even resided there". Regarding the section of the report on the freedom of speech and the media, the Croatian Government replied the work of the Council for Telecommunication was transparent as it is being carried out in open sessions. The Croatian Radio and Television Council had jurisdiction only over the programme schedules, "which does not mean editing the programmes". In public registrars, 1.626 different newspapers have been registered and distribution of these papers is organised via companies Tisak, Slobodna Dalmacija, Duhan, Distri Press, Glas Slavonije and other stores. The great number of charges filed against reporters is the result of the short period of time media freedom has existed in Croatia (9 years), that is, the insufficient level of professionalism in journalism and general awareness about the role of the media. The Government described as unfounded and wilful claims of the US Government about insufficient civil rights, primarily for Serbs and Moslems, especially regarding their obtaining citizenship documents. The Law on Croatian Citizenship is within the framework of European legal standards, and its conditions are more lenient than those in the laws of West European countries, the Government said. The Government dismissed criticisms Regarding the electoral law, that is, the fact that Croatian citizens abroad continue to have the right to vote, stating that, in line with the Constitution, "the general and equal right to vote is guaranteed to all citizens notwithstanding their temporary or permanent residence abroad". Rescinding this right would mean a violation of the Constitution. Reiterating what the Croatian Government had done to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as best as possible, the draft document said Croatia had not allowed the Hague Tribunal to investigate cases connected to the Croatian military and police operation "Storm" (1995) as it had "by all characteristics been a legitimate Croatian military and police action, which had its basis in decisions of the UN General Assembly". "The claim that there are restrictions in the right of public and state services to strike is completely untrue," although there is a Constitutional provision which stipulates that such restrictions could be set by law. "In some public services there is only the obligation to set tasks which must not be ceased during a strike," the Government said. The basic human rights of both Croats and Serbs are mostly endangered by the economic inadequacy, about which the Croatian Government has been warning for a year. This is an issue not mentioned by the State Department's report, the Government said. The Government has been forced to completely rely on its own budgetary resources. Calls to the international community for assistance have resulted in a reduction of "all assistance funds for Croatia and minimal help at the donors' conference in December 1998," the Government stressed. After it is translated into English, the draft document will be handed to the US Embassy in Zagreb by Vice-Premier Ljerka Mintas- Hodak. (hina) lml