2,955 VICTIMS OF SERB AGGRESSION EXHUMED FROM 117 MASS GRAVES

ZAGREB, May 31 (Hina) - One-hundred-and-seventeen mass graves have been discovered in Croatia to date, from which 2,955 victims of the Serb aggression have been exhumed, mostly civilians, Croatian soldiers, and wounded persons. The mass graves discovered on Croatian territory formerly occupied by the Serbs are evidence of the ethnic cleansing and genocide committed by the Serbs. Present at each exhumation were members of The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The head of the government Commission for Detained and Missing Persons, Ivan Grujic, told Hina on Monday exhumations would soon begin in the central Croatian region of Banovina and in western Slavonia. So far, 46 mass graves have been discovered in Banovina, and six in western Slavonia. According to Grujic, the Yugoslav Army devastated many mass graves on purpose, such as those in eastern Croatian villages Tordinci and Berak. According to data of the Croatian Red Cross, 13,788 persons were registered as missing in 1993. The majority of missing persons was from eastern Slavonia and Baranja. Thanks to efforts of the Croatian Government many detained persons were released. During the occupation of Vukovar only, about 2,800 persons were went missing. A national programme for the exhumation and identification of victims of the Serb aggression was initiated after Croatia's military liberation operations "Flash" and "Storm" in 1995. In late 1996, ICTY experts started the exhumation of a mass grave in Ovcara, near the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar. In early October 1996, experts of the ICTY confirmed the remains of 200 victims were buried in the Ovcara mass grave, mostly wounded persons from a Vukovar hospital who were killed by the Serb aggressor near the grave. A crew of British television ITN broadcast the exhumations in Ovcara, in organisation of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) and the ICTY. Nine-hundred-and-thirty-eight persons were exhumed from a mass grave at the Vukovar New Cemetery, according to some, the biggest mass grave in Europe discovered after World War Two. According to data of the Government Commission, between 1,000 and 1,200 victims had been buried in this grave. In 1992 and 1993, however, Yugoslav soldiers transferred the bodies from this grave to other locations. Many victims from Vukovar and eastern Slavonia were later found in individual graves. In consultations with the ICTY, Croatian experts exhumed the remains of 68 victims from a mass grave in Lovas in early June 1997. The remains of 27 victims were exhumed from a mass grave in Skabrnja in June 1996. Thirteen victims were exhumed from a mass grave recently discovered in the eastern Croatian village of Berak. The victims were middle aged and elderly persons wearing civilian clothes. Since the discovery of the mass grave in Berak, residents of the village have been protesting to accelerate the trials against war criminals. Six victims were recently exhumed from a well in Cakovci. Experts are searching another well near Erdut, as there are indications that the remains of victims of the Serb aggression were buried there, Grujic said. According to him, talks between representatives of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Croatia on the issue of detained and missing Croatian soldiers and civilians were interrupted after the beginning of NATO strikes on the FRY. (hina) it/ha