ELIZABETH REHN MEETS FAMILIES OF MISSING, IMPRISONED CROATIANS

ZAGREB, 8 June (Hina) - The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in former Yugoslavia, Elizabeth Rehn, met representatives of the association of families of missing and imprisoned Croats 'Apel' in Zagreb on Sunday. Rehn promised the 'Apel' representatives that she would ask the Bosnian Serb leaders to reveal the truth about the fate of a Croatian pilot, Rudolf Perisin, an 'Apel' statement said. Later during the day, Rehn will visit Banja Luka, where she is to meet the Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic. The 'Apel' representatives gave Rehn video tapes and written testimonies by the families of missing persons, which Rehn is to use as an argument in the talks she is to hold in Belgrade and Banja Luka, the statement said. The 'Apel' representatives warned Rehn that she had often directed very heavy words concerning respect for human rights to the Croatian government and Croatian officials, while at the same time she and the U.N. had done nothing about the most endangered part of the population, the imprisoned, abducted and missing Croatian soldiers and civilians. Rehn said that it was true that neither the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) nor the Vance International Commission for Missing Persons had given any concrete results, adding the families of missing persons had every right to be dissatisfied, because the U.N. did not have a real and effective mechanism for such situations. Rehn told the 'Apel' representatives they had the right to demand of her to use her influence in every individual case, as well as to exert pressure on the international community and demand of it to pay more attention to the problem, the statement said. (hina) rm jn 081621 MET jun 97