ZAGREB, Aug 30 (Hina) - The Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO) for human rights warned the Croatian government on Monday about new instances of harassment of Serb returnees to Knin, an area in southern Croatia. The HHO in an open
letter to Premier Zlatko Matesa claims that the area's residents have recently been subjected to "an even more intense campaign of violence" in which, the HHO says, members of the Croatian Party of Rights lead the field. The HHO has called on Premier Matesa to take urgent and effective measures to protect local residents and their property. In its letter, the HHO voices its dissatisfaction with police performance, and singles out as a special problem the seizing of farmland, and the destruction and stealing of returnees' crops. During the four years under Serb occupation, Knin was the seat of a self-proclaimed Serb state
ZAGREB, Aug 30 (Hina) - The Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO) for
human rights warned the Croatian government on Monday about new
instances of harassment of Serb returnees to Knin, an area in
southern Croatia.
The HHO in an open letter to Premier Zlatko Matesa claims that the
area's residents have recently been subjected to "an even more
intense campaign of violence" in which, the HHO says, members of the
Croatian Party of Rights lead the field.
The HHO has called on Premier Matesa to take urgent and effective
measures to protect local residents and their property.
In its letter, the HHO voices its dissatisfaction with police
performance, and singles out as a special problem the seizing of
farmland, and the destruction and stealing of returnees' crops.
During the four years under Serb occupation, Knin was the seat of a
self-proclaimed Serb state in Croatia. The town was occupied in
1991 by the Knin corps commanded by the infamous Ratko Mladic, and
was liberated by Croatian forces in 1995, when the majority of the
town's Serb population left Croatia.
The HHO regrets in its letter that despite a turbulent media
reaction, the government failed to respond to a letter of August 2,
in which the HHO mentioned several instances of violations of human
rights of Serb returnees.
The Interior Ministry's public relations office said they did not
want to comment on HHO's claims until the mentioned cases had been
investigated.
(hina) ha