ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - A report on the work of a Croatian government commission in charge of establishing the number of World War Two and post-WW2 victims was the cause of a heated debate at the Friday session of the Croatian
parliament's House of Representatives, including verbal conflicts, as well as a half-hour interruption. The report was given different assessments; the benches of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) said it was partial and should be rejected, while the bench of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) thought it was very good. Damir Kajin of the IDS was of the opinion the "disgraceful and counterproductive" report should be rejected. He said it advocated the propagation of an historical untruth, of the Ustashi truth, and that it was aimed at rehabilitating the Ustashi ideology and proclaiming the anti-fascist movement criminal. K
ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - A report on the work of a Croatian government
commission in charge of establishing the number of World War Two and
post-WW2 victims was the cause of a heated debate at the Friday
session of the Croatian parliament's House of Representatives,
including verbal conflicts, as well as a half-hour interruption.
The report was given different assessments; the benches of the
Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Istrian Democratic Assembly
(IDS) said it was partial and should be rejected, while the bench of
the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) thought it was very good.
Damir Kajin of the IDS was of the opinion the "disgraceful and
counterproductive" report should be rejected. He said it advocated
the propagation of an historical untruth, of the Ustashi truth, and
that it was aimed at rehabilitating the Ustashi ideology and
proclaiming the anti-fascist movement criminal.
Kajin wondered whether the figure of 2,238 cited in the report as
the number of people killed in the Jasenovac concentration camp was
an attempt at cynicism. He said the report would further expand the
divide among the people of Croatia because, he added, it will make
the truth even more distant.
Antun Vujic of the SDP also urged that the report be rejected
because, he explained, it was based on a methodological swindle,
did not research all victims, and was a fabrication of an alternate
reality the aim of which was to keep conflict in society permanently
afire.
Anto Djapic of the HSP said the report was of high quality, a brave
and strong step forward which would lead to the shedding of light on
crimes which could not be addressed for 50 years. Assessments that
the report was partial were off the mark, he said, because for 45
years we had been told about the crimes from only one side.
According to Kazimir Sviben, the president of the commission, the
commission had tried to list all war and post-war victims from
various sources, especially victims whose public mention had been
prohibited during the communist government.
Sviben said the commission's task was to list the victims, and
pointed out the report did not intend to offend anyone.
The number of victims from Croatia listed through the end of
September is 153,700, from Bosnia-Herzegovina 99,228, and 8,484
from other countries, Sviben said, pointing out the figures were
not final.
A half-hour break in the discussion came in the wake of an argument
between some representatives of the SDP and the ruling Croatian
Democratic Union. The break was requested by the SDP.
(hina) ha mm