AIDE TO CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR USE OF UN CHAPTER 7

GENEVA, Jan 23 (Hina) - An aide to the Croatian Foreign Minister, Ivan Simonovic, this afternoon addressed high world officials at a five-day conference on the protection of war victims, which began today in Geneva. Simonovic spoke of the consequences of Serb aggression against Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, genocide, and the ethnic cleansing policy applied to non-Serbs in Serb-occupied areas. Croatia and Bosnia were examples of the inefficiency of the present humanitarian mechanisms for the protection of war victims, Simonovic said. He called for a more efficient mechanism to be established to prevent violations of international humanitarian law. Simonovic asked for speedier and more efficient international action on the grounds of UN Charter Chapter 7, in the event of systematic and mass violations of humanitarian rights in some countries. Chapter 7 deals with the possibilities of using armed forces if the peace and security of a country are threatened. Croatia supported the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia. It also demanded that countries which refused to extradite international criminals, be condemned. Croatia advocated the establishment of an international court to punish war criminals, regardless of their nationality and where they committed the crimes. (hina) jn sd mms 231946 MET jan 95