VITEZ CROATS INDICTED BY ICTY WRITE TO U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL CHAIR MAN

MAN VITEZ, 26 June (Hina) - Eleven Croats from Vitez, central Bosnia, who were indicted by The Hague Tribunal for alleged war crimes in the Lasva river valley, on Wednesday sent an open letter to the chairman of the U.N. Security Council, Sergey Lavrov. #L# The 11 Croats expressed concern over the work of The Hague Tribunal, in particular over the Court's incomplete and politically motivated investigations and treatment of prisoners. The Court also failed to issue indictments against war crimes committed against Croats in central Bosnia, the letter said. The Court would contribute considerably to the peace process in Bosnia if it announced its intention to investigate all war crimes committed in the Lasva river valley, regardless of the nationality of victims and war criminals. "The fact that the Court indicted a man (Stipe Alilovic) who lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, during the war (from March 1992 to October 1995), where he died before the indictment was made public, causes our deep concern, as it calls into question the purpose and value of the investigation and the indictments," the letter said. The Vitez Croats also expressed concern over the treatment of Tihomir Blaskic who turned in to The Hague Tribunal. "We were all ready to go to The Hague and face the indictment in public in order to defend our good name and honour, but we have reason to believe that we could face similar cruel, unjust or even worse treatment,' the letter said. The Croats of central Bosnia were the real victims of the aggression, the Vitez Croats said, naming some ten locations were several hundred persons had been killed. Despite that, The Hague Court had still not issued indictments for crimes committed against Croats in central Bosnia, the letter said. (hina) rm jn 261842 MET jun 97