62 MASS GRAVES EXHUMED IN CROATIA SO FAR

VUKOVAR, 3 June (Hina) - The exhumation of bodies from a mass grave at a cemetery in Lovas, eastern Slavonia, started on Monday. The exhumation is being conducted in the presence of The Hague Tribunal monitors. The mass grave in Lovas is supposed to contain the bodies of some 60 to 70 civilians, killed between 10 and 18 October 1991, said Ivan Grujic, head of the Government Commission for Missing and Imprisoned Persons. Speaking at a press conference in Vukovar on Tuesday, Grujic said that it was supposed that the grave is 35,5 m long. Eleven bodies were exhumed yesterday and another eight today, he said, adding the victims are mainly Croats, elderly civilians of both sexes. The exhumation could last another five to seven days. All remains would be transported to the Zagreb Forensic Institute where autopsies would be carried out and the remains identified. The remains would then be buried in Lovas, Grujic said. The purpose of the exhumation is to prove that a war crime happened in Lovas and to secure the persecution of its perpetrators, Grujic said, adding that the exhumation also had a humanitarian meaning, Grujic said. So far, 62 mass graves had been exhumed in Croatia, Grujic said. A forensic expert and monitor John Gerns, who is attending the exhumation, said that the results of the exhumation would be used for the confirmation of statements by witnesses to the Lovas crime. Grujic said that the perpetrators of the Lovas crime had been identified and criminal proceedings had been initiated against them in 1991. Local Serb representatives from the Croatian Danubian area are monitoring the exhumation at will, Grujic said. Asked by a Serb reporter about alleged mass graves in western Slavonia and areas liberated in the Croatian military operation 'Storm', Grujic said that the exhumation of a mass grave in Pakracka Poljana, western Slavonia, had been conducted and completed by The Hague Tribunal experts. In the case of other locations, one could not speak about mass graves but rather about the "graves of people killed during 'Storm'", Grujic said, adding the killed were buried in line with the Geneva Conventions. The killed were identified and their relatives informed when possible, Grujic said. (hina) rm mm 031818 MET jun 97