CARDINALS KUHARIC AND PULJIC APPEAL AGAINST VIOLENCE

ZAGREB, May 9 (Hina) - The archbishops of Zagreb and Sarajevo, Cardinals Franjo Kuharic and Vinko Puljic, yesterday appealed to all in charge of human rights protection to raise their voice against violence, the Zagreb-based Catholic news agency IKA said today. The appeal came following the recent tragic events in the Banja Luka diocese of northwestern Bosnia. Kuharic and Puljic recalled the savage destruction of a Franciscan monastery and church in the Petricevac suburb of Serb- held Banja Luka, which occurred on the night between May 6 and 7. "During the night a group of armed men expelled all monks and nuns from the monastery," the cardinals said in a statement. "They took them several hundred metres from the monastery and then destroyed it and the adjoining church with explosive. The disabled and ill monk, fra Alojzije Atilija, remained in his bed and was killed in the explosion." "Apart from this monastery, several other Catholic churches in the area were destroyed. The nuns of ancient monasteries in Bosanski Aleksandrovac and Nova Topola were driven out without being allowed to take anything with them," Kuharic and Puljic said. The cardinals recalled that the Serb authorities had facilitated the expulsion of around 55,000 Catholic Croats from the Banja Luka area alone. In the area where no military operations were conducted, 37 churches were demolished, 17 were severely and 21 slightly damaged. Around 400 Catholics were killed in their homes, including four priests. The citizens of Muslim faith had been in the same situation in the last three years, they said. "Responsibility for such crimes puts heavy weight on the consience not only of the perpetrators, but of all those who could have restored peace, security and freedom for all the people in the region," the appeal said. (Hina) mm bk 092029 MET may 95