VJESNIK CRITICISES THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL

ZAGREB, Dec 12 (Hina) - Bosnian Croats have suffered more as victims of war than other ethnic groups in Bosnia-Herzegovina, considering their ethnic representation in the country. Nevertheless, they have for a long time been the most numerous "residents" of ICTY's detention centre, and are being tried under loose criteria, Ivan Saric said in a commentary in Saturday's issue of Zagreb daily "Vjesnik". The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague on Thursday sentenced a former commander in the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), Anto Furundzija, to ten years in prison. Furundzija was charged with the violation of war rights and customs based on accusations that he had been present during acts of sexual assaults and tortures, without having prevented these acts. "The former member of the Bosnian Serb army, Drazen Erdemovic, was sentenced to only five years in prison for the murder of at least 72 people," Saric added. "There is a clear continuity noticed from the first indictments, which independent legal experts claim had been issued randomly by the first ICTY prosecutor, Richard Goldstone. This tradition has in some degree continued until this day, as not one person has as yet been indicted for crimes committed against Croats in central Bosnia and the Neretva Valley (southern Bosnia-Herzegovina)". Responsibility for the present situation cannot be placed solely on the Tribunal's judges, but also on the leading countries of the world who have authority over ICTY. "The Tribunal's officials could, however, by being objective, significantly contribute to this institution's credibility and purposefulness," Saric wrote. The Hague Tribunal would thus be less a means of political pressure and more an institution whose purpose is to punish war criminals who had committed crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina," Saric concluded in his commentary. (hina) lml