GRANIC ON JOVANOVIC'S LETTER TO U.N.

ZAGREB, Jan 5 (Hina) - A recent letter by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on the human rights situation in Croatia was the latest in a series of attempts by Belgrade authorities to overcome international isolation and rid themselves of UN sanctions, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said today. Granic recalled that a number of international human rights agencies had assessed human rights in former Yugoslavia and that the latest reports by European experts, as a prelude to Croatia's admission to the Council of Europe, were positive. Granic stressed that international and European organizations assessed the human rights situation in Croatia on the basis of direct contacts while on the contrary Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) denied them entry or obstructed their work on the ground. He recalled that the Yugoslav government had denied hospitality to European human rights missions in Kosovo, Sandjak and Vojvodina. Granic said the Jovanovic government rejected cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Referring to some accusations from Jovanovic's letter, which was carried by the Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency, Granic said that the Catholic Church recognized baptism according to Orthodox rites and that any Catholic priest rebaptising a child would be seriously breaking the church law and would be condemned by church authorities. He said that being baptized was not a condition for attending catechism classes at school. He added that 70 percent of primary school pupils and 30 percent secondary school students attended these classes. Granic described as groundless allegations that 10,000 children in Croatia had been rebaptized, saying that the Catholic Church was yet to present exact figures on the matter. He added that some people had changed their religious denomination for personal reasons. Granic further recalled a statement by Yugoslav Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Margit Savovic, that there was no Croatian minority in Yugoslavia because Yugoslavia had not recognized Croatia. He concluded by saying that a war of letters started by Belgrade was a futile attempt to put the democratic Croatia on the same level with the isolated Belgrade regime. (hina) vm 052052 MET jan 95