AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RELEASES REPORT ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF OPERATION "STORM"

OPERATION "STORM" ( Editorial: --> 1607 ) ZAGREB, Aug 4 (Hina) - Three years after the action "Storm" and despite requests by the international community for the Croatian authorities to make a move, numerous crimes remain unconfirmed, uninvestigated and perpetrators unpunished, Amnesty International said in a report issued in London on Tuesday. The Croatian authorities have tried to convince Amnesty International and the international community that all adequate measures had been taken against human rights violations committed after "Storm", said the report, consisting of about 30 pages. However, Croatia has never submitted any data on individual cases it had been warned about. Instead of that, Croatia spoke about a large number of investigations and prosecutions underway, the report said. Of 2,849 cases for which it was claimed in June 1996 that they were being dealt with by courts, less than two per cent referred to the cases of murder, although - according to data provided by the Croatian authorities themselves - more than one half of 900 buried victims were civilians. The failure to punish these crimes is a factor which considerably contributes to a lack of trust Croatian Serbs are showing towards the Croatian authorities, the report says. The report calls on Croatia to start a speedy, independent, unbiased and thorough investigation and a court procedure. It also calls on the Government to investigate whether there had been any attempts to conceal crimes committed during and after operations "Flash" and "Storm". (hina) rml 041152 MET aug 98