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U.N. Criticizes Croatia on Human Rights Violations By Evelyn Leopold
In a report to the Security Council, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Zagreb had ignored many applications from Croatia Serbs who wanted to return to their homes and had discriminated against those who did return. He said employment had been denied most, including needed doctors and nurses; applications for pensions or registration of births and marriages were laborious or ignored; and international aid was going mainly to Croatians.
Croatia last May and August recaptured from Serb control about a fourth of the country, with about 200,000 Serbs fleeing to Yugoslavia or Bosnia. About 7,000 have been told they can return.
"Croatian authorities have failed to implement effective security measures to prevent harrassment and victimisation" of Serbs who remained, the report said. It said the area around Knin, the former so-called capital of the Croatian Serbs, was the most lawless, with complaints mounting from Croat refugees as well as Serbs.
"The incidence of killings and arson in the region, while substantially lower than acts of physical intimidation, continues to be a cause for concern," it said. The report said looting in the Knin area was often described as being carried out by gangs that frequently included uniformed Croatian soldiers, some of them suspected of being Bosnian
Croats from across the border.
"It is evident that measures taken thus far by the government to provide security to residents in the former (Serb-held) sectors in Croatia have been insufficient," the report said. Croatian police, it said, were shorthanded and showed an unwillingness to take firm action. The local court system also lacked judges and other necessary personnel.
The report also chastised Croatia for not handing over suspects indicted by an international war tribunal and adopting only limited amnesty measures for former Croatian Serb soldiers.
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UNITED NATIONS, June 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday Croatian police had failed to protect Serb citizens adequately and, along with Croatian soldiers, were sometimes themselves responsible for human rights abuses.
Berserkistan, June 17 · Croatia Clarifies Serb Amnesty Law for Eastern Slavonia
Berserkistan, May 17 · Journalists to be Tried in June for Libeling Croatia's Tudjman
Berserkistan, May 16 · Europe's Rejection of Croatia Dismays Croats Seeking Democracy
Berserkistan, May 14 · Civil Liberties Crackdown Delays Croatia's European Plans
Berserkistan, May 10 · Croatia Accuses Its Human Rights Chief
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