PEACE AND ORDER IN WESTERN SLAVONIA RESTORED

NEW YORK, May 6 (Hina) - The Croatian Ambassador to the UN, Mario Nobilo, last night forwarded a letter to the President of the UN Security Council, Jean-Bernard Merimee, informing him that the situation in western Slavonia was calm and that peace and order had been restored. Following is the full text of the letter: "I have the honour to inform you, upon instructions from my Government, that the situation in the formerly occupied Croatian territory of Western Slavonia is calm, and that peace and order have been restored. The representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the international media and diplomatic corps have been allowed into the area as soon as it was secured. Complete freedom of movement of United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO) - previously restricted for their own safety - has been restored. Today, the railway line Zagreb-Vinkovci has been reopened, the radio station at Okucani has begun operating, and elementary schools are continuing their educational program. Health, medical and social insurance has immediately been extended to all the citizens in Western Slavonia. As an act of confidence-building, the Ministry of Social Services of Croatia has today appropriated a one-time financial grant to help all persons in need in the liberated territories. The Ministry of Reconstruction is preparing grants and loans for the rebuilding of destroyed property. Regarding the preventive and temporary deployment of Croatian army personnel into the Zone-of-Separation (ZOS) in other sectors, we reiterate that it was prompted by the buildup of local Serbian paramilitary forces in the occupied territories. Following the terrorist attacks on Zagreb it was necessary that any further threat to population centres and civilians be deterred, especially in the areas of Zadar and Sibenik south of Sector Knin. The Croatian Government reiterates that it has no intention of escalating the conflict. If we wanted to act, we have had ample opportunity to do so in response to the attacks on Zagreb. To the contrary, we remain committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict through negotiations under the auspices of the international community, aimed at the peaceful reintegration of the occupied territories with the rest of the Republic of Croatia. After the Cessation-of-Hostilities Agreement was reached, my Government immediately began implementing its terms and made arrangements for the surrender of the paramilitary forces in Western Slavonia and provided them with the opportunity to leave the territory of Croatia if they so wished. However, at that time, some members of the international community mediation efforts circulated the idea that the surrounded Pakrac pocket should be given a status similar to that of "safe areas" in Bosnia and Herzegovina. My Government is of the firm view that this instigated the surrendering forces in and around Pakrac to reconsider their decision to surrender and, instead, to resume fighting. The actions of paramilitary units resulted in two deaths and three injured in the Police force, of the officers that were preparing to disband those units. This forced the police and territorial defence forces to disengage the resurgent attacks. Presently, the disbanded members of the paramilitary forces are being questioned by the law-enforcement authorities, in presence of UNCRO. With regard to approximately 600 members of these forces the Amnesty Act shall be applied after they have been cleared of any allegations of war crimes. My Government has legitimate reason to believe that members of the paramilitary forces that were in the area are not entirely local population, but some have come from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (Serbia and Montenegro). Civilians from the area have been temporarily moved into hotels and other accommodation in the towns of Varazdin, Krapina and Novska, to provide them with shelter and other necessities, until full normalisation of the living conditions in the Pakrac area is achieved. More than 3,000 Croatian citizens of Serbian nationality so far have decided to remain in their towns and villages. All persons in the liberated territory have on numerous occasions in the past several days been invited to remain in their homes by my Government. Should any of them wish to leave the area and go to any other part of Croatia, or to any foreign country, the Croatian Government shall cooperate with international agencies in order to facilitate this. My Government expresses its dismay that the Security Council has accepted serious accusations against the Republic of Croatia for widespread human rights violations committed against the Serbian population in the liberated territory. These unfounded and unsubstantiated reports, provided by the Under-Secretary-General Chinmaya Gharekhan, have been refuted and shown to be completely false by the European Union Monitor Mission observers and the representatives of foreign media. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Yasushi Akashi, has toured the area, and confirmed that the Croatian citizens of Serbian nationality in the area have been well treated by the Croatian Police. My Government also deplores the reports of looting by "governmental and quasi-governmental" organisations. The attempts at looting of abandoned civilian properties by civilians have been dealt with and the offenders have been apprehended. In this regard, the Republic of Croatia demands that the Under-Secretary-General Chinmaya Gharekan present accurate information to the members of the Council, and issue an apology to the Croatian Government for some of his previous statements that have been proven untrue." (hina) as 061222 MET may 95