MAZOWIECKI SUBMITS REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

GENEVA, March 1 (Hina) - Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Tadeusz Mazowiecki submitted a report on the human rights situation in former Yugoslavia at the Commission's annual meeting in Geneva on Monday. "We are still confronted with the cruel practice described as 'ethnic cleansing,'" said Mazowiecki and stressed that "one should not forget that the Bosnian Serb leadership initiated that policy, still pursue it, and firmly reject any attempt to reverse its effects." The Special Rapporteur went on to say that "human rights and international humanitarian law have been violated also in territories controlled by the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina," and emphasized that "such violations sometimes have a very drastic character." He also warned that "the policy of ethnic cleansing, characterized by equally brutal methods, has been conducted in territories controlled by the Bosnian Croats." "Disturbing information continues to be received from the UN protected zones controlled by Serb forces (UNPAs) (in Croatia) of 'ethnic cleansing', discrimination and persecution of non-Serbs," the report said. It also pointed out the problem of missing persons. Mazowiecki recommended that "on pain of sanctions, parties to the conflict should be obliged to provide information and to undertake investigations of disappearances which have occurred at Vukovar and elsewhere in former Yugoslavia." According to the Special Rapporteur, four fundamental questions demanded immediate attention: releasing all detainees and disbanding all detention camps, creating conditions for the return of the displaced to their homes, allowing relief aid convoys unhindered access to those in need, and finally, ensuring effective protection of civilians in "safe areas". 011424 MET mar 94