CROATIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE REPORTS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

( Editorial: --> 7023 ) ZAGREB, Dec 9 (Hina) - The Croatian Helsinki Human Rights Committee (HHO) held a press conference in Zagreb Tuesday, at which it informed reporters that in the last three months 665 citizens had asked HHO for help in the protection of their rights. HHO Director Bozo Kovacevic said that the largest part of their complaints concerned property, that is temporary management of abandoned property. The complaints also included the deprivation of tenancy rights and the granting of citizenship and other Croatian documents. The head of the HHO Research Department, Petar Mrkalj, said all acts of violating human rights and freedoms, which had been recorded earlier, continued and intensified in 1997. According to HHO data, 16 murders, 155 cases of grave maltreatment and attacking, 59 cases of mining and burning of housing facilities and 121 cases of serious looting were recorded in the liberated Croatian areas in 1997. HHO leaders warned about several laws which considerably differ from European legislation. Those laws were the Law on Temporary Management of Abandoned Property, the Law on Associations and the Law on Humanitarian Organisations and Humanitarian Help, HHO representatives said. (hina) jn rm . 091852 MET dec 97