ZAGREB SEMINAR ON WAR VICTIMS AND HAGUE WITNESSES ENDS

ZAGREB, Sept 2 (Hina) - Croatia faced political terrorism way back before the murder of Milan Levar, only the state bodies tolerated it in some way, a member of the Croatian Helsinki Committee's executive board, Zarko Puhovski, said on the second and last day of a seminar on the victims of war crimes and Hague witnesses, in Zagreb on Saturday. Political terrorism in Croatia has existed since the establishment of the state, Puhovski said, stressing terrorism in the country was based on nationalism. During a debate on moral, sociological and religious aspects of the position of victims in society, Puhovski said The Hague-based war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia had been concerned too little about the victims and too much with processing possible criminals. Puhovski believed many people from the area of former Yugoslavia held the tribunal immoral and warned that not all sides were being treated equally. Speaking about the social reintegration of war victims were Deputy War Veterans' Minister Blazenka Gogic and a Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy professor, Dejan Ajdukovic, whereas a reporter for 'Feral Tribune' weekly, Boris Raseta, and a representative of the women's association 'B.a.B.e.', Sanja Sarnavka, spoke about the media treatment of war victims. The seminar ended with a debate on how the tribunal could improve its work to make it more satisfying for war victims. The seminar, which gathered several dozen experts in different fields, was organised by the Croatian Helsinki Committee and ICTY's 'Outreach Office' programme and sponsored by the Peace and Stability Fund of the Danish Foreign Ministry. (hina) rml