BOSNIAN SERBS CONTINUE TO OPPRESS CROATS IN BANJA LUKA REGION

ZAGREB, Feb 8 (Hina) - Croat human rights agencies from northwestern Bosnia today held a press conference in Zagreb at which they warned of a new wave of violence against the non-Serb population in the Banja Luka area. Human rights activists appealed to institutions and individuals in Croatia for urgent help to protect these people. Serb authorities of Banja Luka were mobilizing Croats and Serb police were breaking into Croat houses, robbing and beating people, Banja Luka Vicar Miljenko Anicic said. During the four years of violence, the Croat population of 80,000 had been reduced to 25,000. Most of them fled just with bags in their hands and only a few managed to exchange their houses or apartments. At least 831 Croats were killed, of whom 95 percent at their homes. Only a small number of Croats managed to keep their work posts, according to Nevenka Coskovic of the Union of Croats from Northwestern Bosnia. The Croatian President's advisor, Slobodan Lang, recalled brutal human rights violations against pregnant women. Lang estimated that non-Serbs in the Banja Luka region had been dispossessed of at least 4.5 billion German marks. He emphasized that the Croatian government was bound by the Constitution to protect Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "How many people must suffer to draw attention of Croatian institutions, the public or politicians?" Lang asked. Anicic noted that some Croatian politicians had said that at this juncture they did not want to further strain relations with Serbs. (Hina) jn rv vm 081939 MET feb 95