BH SERB AUTHORITIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VANISHING OF CATHOLIC PRIEST

PRIEST $ SARAJEVO, Aug 7 (Hina) - The House for Human Rights of Bosnia- Herzegovina, a special juridical body established after the signing of the Dayton Accord for the protection of the basic rights of BH citizens, declared the authorities of Republika Srpska responsible for the vanishing of Catholic priest Tomislav Matanovic and his parents, Josip and Bozana, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Sarajevo, Berry Dawson, told reporters on Thursday. At a session held in Sarajevo last evening at a demand of the BH Ombudsman's Office, the House for Human Rights, composed mostly of eminent international legal experts, irrefutably ascertained that Matanovic and his parents had been arrested in Prijedor (north- western BH) in August 1995, were then detained for a month and then taken in an unknown direction. The witnesses in two previous hearings in relation to this case were Banja Luka bishop Franjo Komarica and representatives of commissions for the exchange of prisoners of both entities. The House for Human Rights ascertained without a doubt that the responsibility for the priest and his parents' disappearance was on the Serb entity's authorities, because they had been arrested by local police. The Human Rights House ordered authorities in Republika Srpska to immediately take steps to find out about the fate of the Matanovics. UN spokesman in Sarajevo Aleksandar Ivanko said in relation to the matter that the international police would also demand of the Bosnian Serb police to issue a statement on the matter. The tracing of the Matanovics might include unannounced inspections of prisons in the Bosnian Serb entity as well, Ivanko said. (hina) ha jn 071446 MET aug 97