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UN Still Dissatisfied with Croatia Amnesty for Serbs ‘Use of vague language which can be interpreted in many ways is not satisfactory when you talk about war crimes and amnesty.’ —U.N. spokesman Philip Arnold ZAGREB, July 11 (Reuters) - Croatia's war amnesty for rebel minority Serbs is insufficient to assure them they will be safe once a separatist enclave reverts to government rule, a U.N. official was quoted on Thursday as saying. The amnesty, passed by the Croatian parliament under Western pressure, was still disturbingly vague despite an official attempt to clarify it, U.N. spokesman Philip Arnold was quoted by the Croatian news agency HINA as saying. Arnold said the U.N. Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) was also concerned that a published government list of Serbs excluded from pardons was incomplete, making for further ambiguity. Some of the 800 people on the list were very old or dead, he said. "We told the Croatian government that this issue could be solved only by compiling a final, definite and absolute list and until this happens the local population will, naturally enough, be worried," he said. "Use of vague language which can be interpreted in many ways is not satisfactory when you talk about war crimes and amnesty. We said this to the Croatian government." The U.N. authority took over Eastern Slavonia in January with a mandate to reintegrate it gradually into Croatia by 1997. U.N. officials have repeatedly taken Croatia to task for alleged discrimination and abuses against Serbs since government troops recaptured two other rebel enclaves in blitz attacks across truce lines last year. UNTAES fears that tens of thousands of Serbs may leave Eastern Slavonia during reintegration unless they feel safe from prosecution except for internationally-defined war crimes. Many Croats who were driven out of Eastern Slavonia in 1991 and are now poised to return to their homes insist that they will not tolerate Serbs as neighbours.

Berserkistan, July 11 · Croatia: UN Has No Business Meddling in Human Rights Issues
Berserkistan, July 3 · Council of Europe Urges Croatia to Abide by Dayton Deal
Berserkistan, July 1 · Joint Croat-Serb Police Begin Patrolling Slavonia
Berserkistan, June 28 · Croatia Excludes 811 from from Serb Amnesty Law

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