BANJA LUKA BISHOP WRITES TO BOSNIAN SERB AUTHORITIES

BANJA LUKA, ZAGREB, May 12 (Hina) - The Bishop of Banja Luka, Franjo Komarica, yesterday forwarded a letter to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to protest against the "systematic devastation of the Banja Luka diocese and recent attacks on Catholic churches and priests in the area." Bishop Komarica also wrote to Bosnian Serb home secretary, Zivko Rakic, and Banja Luka Mayor Predrag Radic. In his letter to Karadzic, Bishop Komarica complained that he had been given no opportunity to meet with any senior official to discuss this "absolutely unjustified and most serious crime against the Catholic Church - a crime of ethnocide and culturocide against the peace-loving Croatian people in the Banja Luka region." "You know that two thirds of my flock, that is over 55,000 people, have had to leave their homes and land, and over 400 innocent civilians have been killed and massacred in their homes. The perpetrators of these crimes have not been found and punished," the letter said. "You know that 39 Catholic churches have been destroyed. Fourty-eight churches have been damaged, 25 of them heavily. Seventeen parish and pastoral centres have been demolished or damaged. Two big monasteries have been demolished and another two have been unlawfully seized. Over a hundred monks and nuns have been evicted," the letter said. "You know that despite our peace-loving stance, we have been denied many of the fundamental human and civil rights and liberties for the past three years, even though such rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and some of your statements and the statements of your close associates. "I ask you, as the most competent politician in the Serb Republic: Is all this happening to us without your knowledge and consent?" the letter said. In his letter to the Bosnian Serb interior minister, forwarded on Monday, Bishop Komarica stressed that the recent events could only be interpreted as the continuation of the "planned, relentless and unprovoked destruction of the Catholic Church in the Banja Luka diocese." Komarica called on the relevant authorities to publicly dissociate themselves from these crimes and ensure a more efficient protection of their peace-loving citizens. In his letter to the Banja Luka mayor, forwarded on Tuesday, Komarica warned that "he had been ordered not to leave his home unbeknownst to the security bodies." "My attempts to contact the relevant authorities have been ignored," he said. "I am entitled to expect you to answer the following: to whom can we, the Catholic Croats and others in our municipality, apply for protection of our lives and property?" the Bishop concluded. (hina) mm as 122106 MET may 95