ASSOCIATION OF FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS PROTESTS IN OSIJEK

( Editorial: --> 9585 ) OSIJEK, Apr 26 (Hina) - The Osijek-based association of families of missing and abducted Croatian defenders Sunday staged a peaceful protest rally under the headline "Enough With Pressure, Give Us the Truth". The protesters on the eastern Croatian town's central square read out protest notes to the president of the International Commission for Missing Persons, Robert Dole, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Red Cross and the Croatian Government's Office for Detained and Missing Persons. The letters point out that the International Commission for Missing Persons has done nothing to find the truth about the fate of missing Croatian defenders since it was established a year and a half ago. Other representatives of the international community, such as the OSCE, obstruct access to and pressure on Serb witnesses from eastern Croatia who keep data on graves in the area, the letter said. Croatian families in Osijek-Baranja County are looking for 196 defenders whose fate has been unknown for seven years. They emphasise the real number of the missing is higher as many families have not submitted requests for tracing, fearing those they are looking for are dead. The protesters demand that the government's commission for the missing intensify their efforts to liberate 16 Croatian prisoners in Srijemska Mitrovica, Serbia, some of whom are accused of spying. (hina) ha 261403 MET apr 98