OMBUDSMEN WARN OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN BOSNIAN FEDERATION

SARAJEVO, Jan 16 (Hina) - Bosnian Federation ombudsmen on Tuesday warned of continued human rights violations in the Moslem-Croat Federation and stressed that the right of all refugees to return to their homes was not respected in practice. Speaking at a press conference in Sarajevo marking the first anniversary since the appointment of ombudsmen, Esad Muhibic and Branka Raguz said that basic human rights and freedoms were most often violated by Federation authorities and that drastic minority rights abuses continued after the signing of the peace agreement last month. Last year, ombudsman offices in Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla and Velika Kladusa received 2,500 written complaints and recorded 1,689 cases of human rights abuse. The ombudsmen criticized federal authorities for obstructing the return of refugees and displaced people to their homes, a key to country-wide elections scheduled for September this year. Ombudsman Vera Jovanovic recalled that Sarajevo authorities began to terminate tenancy contracts with persons who had left the city during the war and had failed to return after the war ended. The ombudsmen stressed that the right to return and to reclaim one's property could not become obsolete and that most refugees could not return to their homes because other refugees had moved into during the war. For this reason 110,000 people could not return to Sarajevo, they added. Under the peace agreement, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has appointed Gret Haller ombudsman for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The federal ombudsmen described the human rights situation in the Serb entity as catastrophic, hoping that the international community would exert pressure on Bosnian Serb authorities to cooperate and comply with international law. (hina) vm jn 162142 MET jan 96