US STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION

ZAGREB, Feb 2 (Hina) - The US State Department on Tuesday submitted its annual report on the human rights situation in 1993 to the Congress. The human rights situation in Croatia, particularly in the UN Protected Areas, was addressed in detail on 17 pages. Here are some highlights from the report, which we received today from the US Embassy in Zagreb. "Although JNA forces left Croatia by the end of 1992, the UNPA's (except for part of Sector West) were under the control of heavily armed, aggressive Serbian elements, defying UNPROFOR and continuing the ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs. (...) According to statistics compiled by the UNHCR, as of October 1993, there was a total of 247,000 Croatian and other non-Serbian displaced persons coming from areas under the control of the 'Serbian Republic of Krajina'. (..) In the Serb-controlled portions of the UNPA's, there was no evident commitment to ending human rights abuses against Croats, Hungarians, Slovaks and other non-Serbs. Some of the Krajina Serb 'authorities' continued to be among the most egregious perpetrators of human rights abuses against the residual non-Serb population, as well as Serbs not in agreement with nationalistic policy. Human rights violations included killings, disappearances, beatings, harassment, forced resettlement, or exile - all part of the systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing designed to ensure Serbian dominance of the areas." "There were continued serious human rights abuses in areas of Croatia under government control in 1993, although physical violence against Serbs declined. Abuses occurring near frontline areas were aimed at citizens of Serbian nationality, including, among other things, killings, illegal detention and loss of employment." "Throughout 1993, the Croatian military police carried out illegal evictions from state-owned apartments. (...) The Croatian Defence Ministry insisted that it had inherited ownership of these properties, while tenants often insisted on their right to the dwelling based on purchase or sublease." The statement emphasised limitations to the freedom of the press as a substantial human rights problem in Croatia. 021734 MET feb 94