U.N. INVESTIGATOR REPORTS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, May 25 (Hina) - Special UN human rights rapporteur Tadeusz Mazowiecki said today that the human rights of Serbs in Western Slavonia had been violated on a small scale during a recent Croatian police and military operation in the region, but could not give any figures. Speaking at a press conference at the UN headquarters in Zagreb, Mazowiecki said he had information on the killing of civilians without military justification in villages such as Paklenica and Panjkovac and on a road near Nova Varos, the shelling of non-military targets, looting and destruction. He added that many prisoners had been maltreated during the first days of their detention, stressing that he could not confirm whether these human rights abuses had been committed on a massive scale. He said that all data he had were supplied by international organizations and that they required a thorough probe. Mazowiecki would not go into detail, saying that he was still gathering further information on the issue. He also declined to identify his sources. Mazowiecki arrived in Croatia on Monday to investigate possible abuses of human rights of Western Slavonia Serbs. In the last two days he held talks with representatives of the Croatian government, international organizations and local Serbs. He also visted a prison in Zagreb where arrested Serbs were being investigated for war crimes. He noted that he still did not have satisfactory information on the wounded and missing Serbs, and that he expected further information from Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Kostovic, whom he was to meet after his visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mazowiecki stressed that Croatia wass willing to cooperate with the chief prosecutor of The Hague-based International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Judge Richard Goldstone. Commenting on alleged mass graves in Western Slavonia, Mazowiecki said he had visited one such place near Okucani but that he could not draw much conlusions from that. He pointed out the need to continue the investigation to determine the number of the buried and the causes of their death. In response to a journalist's question, Mazowiecki said he could not comment on a discrepancy in the number of the killed Serbs provided by Defence Minister Gojko Susak and Kostovic. He added that during his tour of Western Slavonia he had seen burnt-down Serb houses. He noted he did not know whether they had been burnt down during the recent operation or in earlier clashes. He said that he had also seen burnt-down Croat houses. Mazowiecki said that the alleged killing of Serb civilians at a Sava River bridge near Stara Gradiska was being investigated. He added that there had been both civilians and soldiers and that it was very hard to say who was who. Mazowiecki said he was confident that the clarification of the events which had occurred during and after the operation was very important for the Serbs who remained and for the restoration of confidence among people in the region. Noting that most Serbs had left the area, Mazowiecki said he had been told by Serb politicians in Croatia that it was possible that Western Slavonia would be reintegrated without the Serb population. He said that the local Serb population was still living in fear and that most of them said they wished to leave. Mazowiecki said that in his talks with Croatian officials he had stressed the need for the Serbs to stay and for those who had left to return, and to join local government authorities. He emphasized that he had won firm assurances from Croatian government officials that the Serbs who had left the area still had the right to return and get Croatian citizenship. Mazowiecki supported Croatian efforts to restore confidence in the region. He proposed setting up commissions for the restoration of everyday life and granting the Serbs, as an ethnic minority, the right to their own schools. Mazowiecki said he was informed of the latest expulsions of Croats from Eastern Slavonia, stressing that he had been denied access to the area. As for the situation in the Banja Luka area of northwestern Bosnia, Mazowiecki said he was aware of the dramatic protest by Bishop Franjo Komarica and the difficult plight of Croats and Moslems in the region. He said that he had been trying to contact Komarica on the phone for two days and that local Serb authorities denied him permission to visit the area. After the press conference, Mazowiecki left for Bosnia- Herzegovina where he would visist its central and southern parts. (hina) vm 251922 MET may 95