APEAL REPRESENTATIVES LIGHT 1,000 CANDLES IN FRONT OF ICRC IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Aug 12 (Hina) - Representatives of the "Apel" centre representing families of imprisoned, forcefully abducted and missing Croatian veterans and civilians on Thursday lit 1,000 candles in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Zagreb. On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Convention, it was our desire to draw attention to the victims of 120 mass grave sites and 1,692 people who went missing during the war and whose fate is still unknown to their families, said the head of the "Apel" centre, Zdenka Farkas. The peaceful protest rally in front of the ICRC headquarters was joined by the president of the "First Croat Police Officer" association, Nenad Zovak. "Should the ICRC have monitored the implementation of the Geneva Convention", at the time when the wounded and medical personnel of the Vukovar hospital in 1991, asked Farkas. It was the ICRC in fact that initiated the Geneva Convention back in 1949, she added. She added that she would be submitting an appeal on behalf of the families of those killed or missing, for financial assistance in the exhumation of mass grave sites. "We do not hold anything against the ICRC but we are troubled by their hypocrisy, said Zovak noting that it was ridiculous that Croatian officers are today being accused of war crimes when all they did was to act in defence of their country and honour. The head of the Zagreb's ICRC office, Phillippe Gaillard emphasised that the Geneva Convention is one of the most recognised documents in the world. However, at the same time it is also the most violated. As such, the 50th anniversary of this convention is not something to celebrate but rather an opportunity to recall all the victims of the wars in Croatia, Kosovo, B-H, Congo, Rwanda and elsewhere in the world, he said. He concluded that the Zagreb ICRC would continue to do what it could to disclose the whereabouts of victims in the war in Croatia. (hina) sp