ZAGREB, 8 Oct (Hina) - A delegation of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly is to arrive in Zagreb on Thursday for a four-day visit to Croatia, so as to establish to what extent Croatia is fulfilling the obligations it had
taken over at the moment of its admission to the Council of Europe.
ZAGREB, 8 Oct (Hina) - A delegation of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly is to arrive in Zagreb on Thursday for a
four-day visit to Croatia, so as to establish to what extent Croatia
is fulfilling the obligations it had taken over at the moment of its
admission to the Council of Europe. #L#
The delegation is headed by the president of the committee for
monitoring respect for the undertaken obligations by Council of
Europe member-countries, Guido de Marco. The delegation also
includes representatives Hana Suchocka and Gunnar Jansson.
From 9 to 13 October, the Council of Europe representatives
will meet numerous representatives of the state authority and
opposition, as well as the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.
On Friday, the delegation will meet representatives of the
Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, opposition parties'
presidents, Vice Premier Ljerka Mintas-Hodak, Reconstruction and
Development Minister Jure Radic, as well as the representatives of
the media and non-government organisations.
The members of the Monitoring Committee will on Saturday leave
for Vukovar, accompanied by the Croatian delegation in the
Parliamentary Assembly.
On Sunday, following their talks with President Tudjman, the
Council of Europe delegates should visit Petrinja, a town in the
liberated area.
Upon its admission to the Council of Europe, Croatia undertook
21 obligations, of which some refer to all members of the Council of
Europe, while part of them are connected with the specific situation
in Croatia.
The Council of Europe delegation is to check whether those
obligations are being respected and then make a report, which is
first to be discussed by the Political Committee during the autumn,
and then by the Parliamentary Assembly, possibly at a Council of
Europe's winter session in January.
As regards the obligations which are to be fulfilled within a
period of one year, which expires on 6 November, Croatia has
ratified the European Convention on the Prevention of Torturing and
Inhumane and Humiliating Treatment and Punishment, the European
Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and
the European Charter on Local Self-Government.
It has been announced several times that the most important
document, the European Convention on Human Rights, will also be
ratified until 6 November, as well as the Charter on Regional and
Minority Languages.
In line with the Council of Europe requests, Croatia is
cooperating with the Venice Commission on the issue of revision of
the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and National Minorities'
Rights.
Croatia has adopted a new penal code, which was judged
positive at a September meeting of the Working Group for the
Prevention of Corruption, and it has also solved the problem of
Zagreb mayor, which was one of the requests at the 21-item list.
Croatia has pledged to cooperate with the U.N. Transitional
Administration in Eastern Slavonia, as well as with the
International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The
Hague and it is taking all necessary measures to guarantee the Serb
population in Croatia security and human rights.
The Council of Europe has also demanded that the independence
of state television be increased, as well as that a population
census take place as soon as possible.
(hina) jn rm
081405 MET oct 97