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CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES

Since the beginning of the UNTAES mandate in January 1996, the Croatian authorities have undertaken a series of measures designed to enhance confidence among Croatia’s Serbs. Much of the progress that has been achieved emerged as a result of the pressure exerted by the international community during the period of UNTAES, including the possibility that the operation’s mandate would be extended beyond December 1997, as well as the authority exercised by UNTAES in Eastern Slavonia during the mandate period. Pressure has also been applied through the presence of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, and through linkages to possible closer ties to so-called Euro-Atlantic institutions (especially participation in NATO Partnership-for-Peace, ties to the European Union, and sustained membership in the Council of Europe). As a result, Croatia has undertaken important steps toward confidence-building, notably through the passage in 1997 of the Convalidation Law, the Program on the Establishment of Trust and the 1996 Law on Amnesty. Regrettably, the promise of these measures remains largely unfulfilled: major aspects of the Convalidation Law (which allows for the validation of documents issued by “Republika Srpska Krajina” authorities) have yet to be implemented on the ground, despite additional decrees and implementing instructions, confusion and uncertainty continues to surround the Amnesty Law and, as much of this report makes clear, little progress has been made in meeting the goals of the Program on the Establishment of Trust.

Law on Convalidation

The Law on Convalidation, adopted by the Croatian Sabor in October 1997, is a critical component among Croatia’s post-war confidence-building measures. Most Croatian Serbs who lived under the authority of the self-declared “Republika Srpska Krajina” (RSK) were issued official “RSK” documents at some time or other. The most important among them include birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates, title deeds on properties, wills and inheritance documents, school attendance and graduation certificates, and stamps in the working books that all Yugoslavs carried indicating working time, valid for future pension claims. “RSK” courts also issued civil and criminal decisions and verdicts. Until the passage of the Convalidation Law, Croatian authorities refused to recognize such documents and decisions as valid, since Croatia recognized neither the “RSK” nor its authorities even for historical purposes. The new law created a mechanism for these documents and decisions to be recognized provided that they were consistent with Croatian law, pending the issuance, where appropriate, of official Croatian documents to replace them.

After complaints from the international community about the failure of a number of state agencies and local authorities to implement the law, the Croatian government issued three decrees in April 1998, covering respectively judicial matters, administrative matters, and issues related to employment, pensions, and social welfare.145 Thedecrees are intended to provide a framework for implementation of the law. Unfortunately, the decree covering employment, pensions, and social welfare also sets deadlines for submission of applications related to unemployment benefit eligibility (within sixty days of the decree coming into force) and for submissions related to consideration of working time as pensionable (within twelve months of the decree coming into force). Yet, according to the OSCE, as of September 1998 no public information campaign had been undertaken to explain the terms of the law and the processes for the validation of documents, adding to confusion among potential applicants as to eligibility procedures.146

In September 1998, following further criticism from the international community,147 the Croatian government issued extensive implementation instructions related to pension, employment, and other issues covered by the third decree.148 The instructions are extremely complex, and parts appear to contradict provisions of the Convalidation Law itself. The instructions state that working time during the period of the “RSK” can only be considered pensionable if the applicant was working at the time that the Convalidation Law was passed. This appears to contradict the law itself, which allows working time between 1992 and 1996 to be considered pensionable and makes no mention of the need to have been in employment at the time that the law was passed.

Despite these additional measures, the Convalidation Law, in the words of a September 1998 report by the U.N. secretary-general, “is not being implemented in a comprehensive manner.”149 The secretary-general’s report adds that despite the April decrees and implementing instructions “overall, there is still no consistent administrative procedure for implementing the law.” Since state agencies and local authorities have failed to implement the Convalidation Law, many Serbs continue to face problems having working time, and pension documents from the “RSK” period recognized. The failure to recognize working time and “RSK” pensions leaves elderly Serbs who became eligible for pensions during or after the “RSK” period unable to collect the pensions to which they should be entitled. (Serbs who were already receiving state pensions prior to 1991 are generally receiving their pensions now, although sometimes not in the full amount to which they are entitled, and NGOs have reported delays of up to five months for applications to be processed.)150 The issue of pensionable time is of pressing concern: Many Serbs who remain in former U.N. sectors, as well as the majority of those returning from outside Croatia as refugees, are elderly and rely on the pensions for which they contributed social security payments throughout their working lives.

In July 1998, Human Rights Watch attended a legal clinic in the village of Trpinja (near Vukovar), organized by the Vukovar-based Center for Peace, Legal Advice, and Psycho-Social Help.151 Two Croatian lawyers who work for the mobile clinic travel around Eastern Slavonia and provide pro-bono legal advice to (mostly Serb) village communities. Of the sixteen clients who came for consultations while Human Rights Watch was present, four hadproblems that were directly related to nonimplementation of the Convalidation Law. One case involved a women who was unable to remarry because the court decision of her divorce was not recognized. Three other cases concerned persons who had become eligible for an “invalid pension” (a form of workers compensation which functions like social security) during the period of “RSK,” but whose subsequent applications for restoration of the benefits in the post-war period were rejected because the original certificate of approval had not been “convalidated.”

An additional case involved a common situation faced by Serbs in Eastern Slavonia: a person who was sent home from work in February 1998 without being formally terminated. His employer had refused to stamp his working book to indicate working time during “RSK” to the present, rendering him ineligible for unemployment benefit, as well as potentially delaying a future pension claim (since any working time with that employer would not be considered pensionable). When Human Rights Watch asked the two lawyers why the Convalidation Law had yet to be fully implemented, one responded that there was “no political will.”152

Reports from other organizations providing legal assistance contacted by Human Rights Watch confirm that nonimplementation of the Convalidation Law continues to cause problems for Serbs in former U.N. sectors. A report for June 1998 from the Okucani office of the Serb Democratic Forum (a legal assistance NGO) indicates that they handled twenty-eight cases of working period verification (for pension purposes) related to the Convalidation Law during that month. The report notes that “until now, we do not have any feedback [from local authorities] about resolving of (sic) these issues.”153 The Civil Rights Project in Eastern Slavonia reports more than one hundred similar cases, and the Dalmatian Committee of Solidarity (known by its Croatian acronym, DOS) in Knin frequently deals with validation issues. Nevena Zunjic, the director of the DOS Split-Centar Knin, confirmed that in former Sector South substantial parts of the Convalidation Law are “still not implemented, especially not in the case of pensions or invalid insurance.” DOS estimates that “12,000 people have claims for [verification of] pensionable time in Knin [area].”154

The Amnesty Law and the Prosecution of War Crimes

From its bloody and horrific beginning in Vukovar to its silent end following the exodus of tens of thousands of Serbs from Croatia, the war in Croatia was punctuated by violations of international humanitarian law.155 Those who ordered and committed war crimes must be held individually responsible for their actions and brought to justice. Regrettably, the process of rendering justice and establishing individual criminal responsibility for war crimes in Croatia has been tainted by political concerns. Domestic war crimes prosecutions have often failed to meet international standards and Croatia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has been poor, except in cases involving Croat victims. At the same time there have been problems with the application of an amnesty for crimes that fall below the standards of humanitarian law violations, stemming in large part from the failure to inform persons covered by the amnesty that they have been so amnestied. Overall, the shortcomings in the application of the Amnesty Law and the politicization of war crimes prosecutions have undermined confidence in the judicial system among Serbs and inhibited the return of Serb refugees.

Many of those Serbs who fought in the movement to break away from Croatia, as well as political leaders and prominent citizens closely associated with the “Republika Srpska Krajina,” were charged with participation in armed rebellion. Trials and convictions took place in military courts, often in absentia. Beginning in 1992, Croatia adopted several amnesty laws covering acts of armed rebellion, most recently the September 1996 Law on General Amnesty. International pressure played a significant part in the willingness of the Croatian government to introduce each of the laws. At the time of its adoption by the Croatian Sabor, the 1996 law was welcomed by the U.N. Security Council and generally praised by the international community as a positive development in Croatia’s treatment of its Serb minority.156 At the same time, the U.N. Security Council cautioned that the law must be “implemented without delay, in a fair and equitable manner.”

The 1996 Amnesty Law contains positive elements and by and large, criticisms related to the law have focused not on the legislation itself but rather on its implementation. Article 6 of the law repeals previous amnesty laws and article 2 states that for those covered by the law “no criminal proceedings shall be instituted and no criminal charges shall be brought...[and that] criminal investigations already undertaken shall be canceled and criminal proceedings already underway shall be terminated ex officio by the court’s ruling.” Nevertheless, problems have arisen for those who were already convicted of the crimes covered by the law. The Amnesty Law does not overturn the conviction of such a person but merely suspends their sentence and any other criminal sanctions attached to it. As an OSCE legal adviser put it, the “legal consequences of the verdicts are not abolished by the court.”157 As a result, persons tried and convicted of “armed rebellion” still have a criminal conviction on record. For Serbs who were previously judges and lawyers, this means that they cannot return to legal practice: Croatia has refused to allow persons with such charges to be readmitted to the Bar, and they are prohibited from judgeships. When Human Rights Watch raised concerns regarding the practice with the ombudsman of Croatia, the deputy ombudsman of Croatia stated that “nobody has a right to mention that a person who has been amnestied has a criminal record,” adding that “only if you commit a new crime can it [your previous criminal activity] be taken up.”158 This view, however, does not alter the fact that Serbs convicted of crimes covered by the Amnesty Law are excluded by law from legal practice and other occupations that require an absence of criminal convictions.

Croatian authorities have issued 13,757 decrees of amnesty under the law.159 The issuance of the decrees should have served at least to reassure those persons explicitly amnestied that no case would be pursued against them. Unfortunately, many of those amnestied have no way of determining that they are among the 13,575. Despite a report on Croatian television in March 1998 that “individual official amnesty notifications will be sent to the home addresses of all those amnestied in a few days time,” Croatian authorities instead presented boxes of decisions containing the names of those amnestied to the Joint Council of Municipalities in Borovo.160 In many cases decisions listed persons without sufficient identifying information, for example father’s name (which serves as a middle name), date or place of birth, or identification number, making it impossible for two persons with the same first and family name to determine conclusively which of them is on the list. International efforts are under way to compile a searchable computer database containing the names of all those amnestied.161

Human Rights Watch obtained a copy of one amnesty decision, prepared by the Osijek court. The decision, which has the case number “Kio-42/97-97" and contains approximately 1,000 names, consists of six pages of names,single-spaced and separated only by commas.162 In all but a handful of cases, the only information available is the first and family name, making it virtually impossible to determine conclusively the identity of those on the list. Given the scanty information, it is hard to conclude that such a list is a good-faith effort to inform persons that they have been amnestied. Human Rights Watch showed the list to Assistant Minister of Justice Ivan Turudic during a meeting in Zagreb in August and asked whether he agreed that it would be difficult to confirm a person’s identity from such a list. His response was that “the reason for this state of affairs is purely technical” and said that “if you apply to the Ministry of Justice we will communicate the information to the county courts and inform you.”163 He added that “it shouldn’t be a problem to get further information about these people’s father’s name and date of birth, so they can be sure it’s them,” a statement which raises the question as to why such additional information was not provided in the first instance.

Minister Turudic, who has been actively involved in the implementation of the Amnesty Law, also told Human Rights Watch that as far as he was aware “there are no obstacles to its implementation.” Yet the confusion over the identities of those included on the amnesty list is not the only concern observers have raised over the way the law has worked in practice. Part of the difficulties relate to what kinds of acts should be covered by the Amnesty Law. As a legal adviser with the (now defunct) UNPSG explained it: “the application of the Amnesty Law is very clear. What’s not clear is what constitutes those crimes.”164 According to U.N. reports, at least four Serbs in Eastern Slavonia have been charged with common crimes for participation in paramilitary units during the war.165 Common crimes are explicitly excluded from the list of crimes covered by the Amnesty Law, yet the nature of the charges brought against the four seem fundamentally no different than the charge of “participation in armed rebellion,” which is covered by the law.

The domestic prosecution of internationally-recognized war crimes also remains a cause of concern. UNTAES reportedly obtained a verbal agreement from Croatian authorities in 1997 that there would be no new domestic war crimes prosecutions beyond the twenty-five already being pursued without them being first reviewed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).166 Some observers have also argued that as a signatory to the February 1997 Rome agreement, Croatia is bound by the so-called “rules of the road,” which require that domestic war crimes prosecutions proceed only after the “order, warrant or indictment...has been reviewed and deemed consistent with the International Tribunal [ICTY].”167 Neither procedure has been followed by Croatian authorities: Croatian courts have continued to conduct war crimes investigations and issue war crimes indictments without reference to the ICTY, although in some cases the Ministry of Justice has intervened to quash the indictments after protests from international agencies.168 According to an ICTY official, “Croatia has so far refused to accept [that] the ‘rules of the road’ [apply to it].”169 Croatian officials argue that the Rome agreement applies only to the territory of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and not to the territory of other signatories.

The uncertain status of domestic war crimes prosecutions of Serbs has not been assisted by the Croatian government’s handling of several high profile war crimes cases involving Serbs. The trial and conviction on genocide charges of Miloš Horvat, a Serb from Baranja, following his extradition from Germany, drew widespread criticism from international observers, including the U.N. special rapporteur for the former Yugoslavia.170 Horvat’s conviction and five-year prison sentence for genocide in June 1997 was largely based on allegations that he had been a member of the “territorial defense headquarters” in his village, and that the group had organized the forcible expulsion of Croats from the village. International trial observers questioned both the appropriateness of a genocide charge and the evidence associating Horvat with the territorial defense unit: a U.N. human rights official in Zagreb familiar with the case told Human Rights Watch that there was “not enough evidence to convict on any charges, let alone genocide.”171 Horvat’s defense appealed the case to the Supreme Court. On December 16, 1998, the Supreme Court heard the appeal but as of early February 1999 had not reached a judgment in the case.

Other high-profile cases have also caused consternation among Serbs and international observers alike, not because of the prosecutions per se but rather because the conduct of the cases raises concerns about the fairness of the proceedings. The cases of the so-called Šodolovci group have been notable in this regard. The “group” of nineteen prominent Serbs from the village of Šodolovci, Eastern Slavonia, were tried in 1995 for war crimes in absentia and all were convicted, although the sentences were never enforced. Only eight of the group are believed to remain in Croatia, including Pero Klikovic, former mayor of Šodolovci. One member of the group, Goran Vušurovic, previously surrendered himself and is now in custody being retried. The cases against Klikovic and two others were renewed at the end of August 1998 by the Osijek County Court, and retrials were ordered by the Supreme Court. While retrials in person are certainly preferable to those in absentia, international observers question the strength of the cases against the Šodolovci group in the first place. A legal adviser from the United Nations Police Support Group summed up the Vušurovic case by noting that the “evidence didn’t match the charges,”172 while an OSCE internal memorandum from Eastern Slavonia from July 1998 described the cases, along with those of Horvat and others in the region, as part of a “political game.”173 Indictments and arrests continue: in January 1999, twenty-three Serbs in Dalj, Eastern Slavonia, were notified by a decision of the Osijek county court appointing them defense counsel that they were “under suspicion of committing criminal acts specified in article 120, para. 1 of the Basic Criminal Law.”174 The acts covered under article 120 are war crimes. Most of the twenty-three fled Croatia, but three of those that remained were arrested by police on January 23.175

The situation is mirrored elsewhere in Croatia, notably in Sisak, where a number of prosecutions, including those of Goran Pašic and Branko Matijaševic, have come under criticism from OSCE observers.176 Pašic is part of a group of five who were convicted in absentia by a Bjelovar military court on charges of participation in armed rebellion. The group was amnestied while the cases were on appeal at the Supreme Court, but the five were retried and convicted in Sisak county court (two in absentia) for war crimes against civilians under article 120 for allegedly tampering with the water supply. Pašic and two others remain in prison and a March 1998 appeal to the Supreme Court is pending. After witnesses were unable to connect Matijaševic with the war crimes for which he was accused, the judge did not dismiss the case but instead allowed the prosecutor to amend the indictment at the end of the proceedings to include lesser crimes of armed rebellion (despite the lack of new evidence). Matijaševic was thenconvicted of the lesser charges and amnestied, a procedure that contravenes article 2 of the Amnesty Law.177 There were also concerns in Split, where the evidence provided in the trial and conviction of eight Serbs (three in absentia) on war crimes was deemed insufficient by some international observers.178

An additional difficulty over the conduct of war crimes trials arose during the summer of 1998. Citing concerns over interference with the independence of the judiciary, the president of the Supreme Court issued an instruction forbidding contact between court officials (judges and clerks) and representatives of international agencies, who are instead directed to make inquiries with the Ministry of Justice. While there is certainly a need to regulate contacts between international field staff and court officials to ensure noninterference, the ban on direct contact has made systematic court monitoring all but impossible for OSCE monitors in the field. While international observers are generally permitted to attend trials, under these instructions they cannot speak to clerks to request court calenders and trial dates and thus often are unaware of when particular hearings are scheduled to take place. As an OSCE lawyer who follows the courts put it, “I can attend a trial but [I] don’t [always] know when it takes place.”179 The ban is a fundamental obstacle to the confidence-building that international monitoring of war crimes trials would provide.

Croatia’s willingness to pursue prosecutions of Serbs accused of humanitarian law violations against ethnic Croats is unfortunately not matched by a willingness to prosecute alleged violations against Serbs by Croatian government forces and paramilitaries, or to cooperate with the ICTY on cases involving indictments against ethnic Croats. Despite a handful of prosecutions, Amnesty International confirmed in an August 1998 report that Croatian authorities have failed to investigate seriously and prosecute war crimes committed by Croatian forces in the aftermath of “Operation Storm” and “Operation Flash” in 1995.180 And as language in the reconstruction law and periodic public statements by ministers make clear, the Croatian government continues to present the conflict in Croatia simply as an international war of aggression against it, with ethnic Serbs as aggressors (be they Yugoslav or Croatian Serbs) and Croats as victims.

At first glance Croatia’s record of cooperation with the ICTY seems good: Croatian authorities have been supportive of the ICTY’s efforts to prosecute three JNA officers charged (along with the now-deceased former mayor of Vukovar) with the removal and murder of more than 200 patients from Vukovar hospital. In October 1997, the Croatian government also took the unprecedented step of facilitating the transfer of ten Bosnian Croat suspects to the Hague to face war crimes charges related to atrocities against Bosniak civilians in the Lašva valley in Central Bosnia. Despite these positive developments, however, Croatia’s overall record remains poor. Croatia has refused to provide documents to the ICTY in cases involving ethnic Croat defendants, notably in the case of General Tihomir Blaškic, seriously hampering prosecutions. Senior government officials, including President Tudjman, continue to characterize the ICTY as biased against Croats. In a December 1998 speech at the opening of a military academy broadcast by Croatian state television, President Tudjman said: “I must tell you that bills of indictment are being prepared in the Hague [the seat of the ICTY] against you, against all of us. Their list includes five [or] six generals from Croatia, not only from Bosnia-Hercegovina. In view of this, what we need is unity from the army, no deviations from state policy, and unity of the army and the people....”181 Since the president made his speech, the ICTY has been condemned as biased against Croats by several senior politicians in the ruling party. A January 1999 parliamentarydebate in the Sabor on Croatia’s cooperation with ICTY also provided an opportunity for attacks on the ICTY by government officials and parliamentarians from the ruling party.

The ICTY’s mandate permits it to ask for a case to be deferred where a state initiates a domestic prosecution, if it is informed by the state. According to a senior ICTY representative in Croatia, the ICTY “is not being so informed [by Croatia]” and instead “relies on information from third parties to advise on cases.”182 The official added that “if Croatia would forward cases to the ICTY, it would be to their advantage because it would reduce the possibilities of cases being seen as political [and] even if the Tribunal said that they did not wish to proceed, it would not prevent the Croatian authorities [from doing so].”183 When Human Rights Watch raised the possibility of such referrals (which would also bring Croatia into compliance with the “rules of the road”) in a meeting with Assistant Minister of Justice Ivan Turudic, he replied that while he could not comment officially without consulting the minister, “in principle I think this would not be possible, because this would mean introducing a higher instance court that would be higher than the Croatian court.”184

Croatia’s handling of war crimes trials, its lack of cooperation with the ICTY, and its application of the Amnesty Law ultimately benefits neither justice nor reconciliation. While the Amnesty Law and domestic war crimes prosecutions have largely been abandoned as issues by the international community, their actual importance continues to rank alongside cooperation with the ICTY. The failure of Croatian authorities to take adequate steps to inform persons covered by the Amnesty Law and concerns over some domestic prosecutions of Serbs for war crimes, combined with its refusal to hold Croatian armed forces and paramilitaries to account for humanitarian law violations against Serb civilians, has shaken the confidence of Croatian Serbs that they have a future in Croatia. A refugee and psychologist from Rijeka now living in Banja Luka expressed anger that “not one person has been indicted [for Operation Storm and Flash]. How can people trust to go back when no one has been prosecuted for those crimes?”

Fear of arrest and detention on war crimes charges among the Croatian Serb refugee population in Republika Srpska and Serbia has also inhibited return. A number of the Croatian Serbs interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Banja Luka expressed fear of arrest should they try to return. A teacher originally from Kostajnica noted that “it’s enough to send to prison one person from our municipality, and everyone is afraid.”185 This fear also affects him: “If I go to Croatia, I will go to prison. I would rather go to the Hague than to Croatia. I was never in the army.” 186 An elderly woman from Western Slavonia, now living outside Banja Luka, explained her fears: “I want to go back to live together with my mother-in-law, but for my husband I’m not sure if it would be safe [to go back]...because he was in the army.”187 Cases such as that of Miloš Horvat are well-known among refugee communities and make Serbs less likely to risk return to Croatia. These fears have certainly been exacerbated in some cases by misinformation by persons within refugee communities who wish to prevent return in order to maintain their political influence (as prominent Croatian Serb parliamentarian Milorad Pupovac has himself noted), but such negative influences would be limited by simple steps like a public information campaign about the Amnesty Law, referral of new war crimes prosecutions to the ICTY for review, and the facilitation of international monitoring of ongoing trials. Although only relatively few arrests and trials of Serbs on war crimes charges have taken place, the uncertainty and fear surrounding them is a significant obstacle to the return of refugee Serbs to Croatia.

The Program on the Establishment of Trust

In addition to the specific confidence-building measures described above, the Croatian government has also adopted a comprehensive framework to respond to the legacy of war in Croatia and to facilitate reconciliation among the country’s Serb and Croat communities. The “Program on the Establishment of Trust, Accelerated Return and Normalization of Living Conditions in the War-Affected Areas of the Republic of Croatia” was adopted by the Sabor in October 1997. The program has seven overarching goals: 1) the creation of a general climate of tolerance and security; 2) realization of equality of all citizens with regard to the state administration; 3) the establishment of trust between all citizens of Croatia; 4) the creation of general social, political, security, and economic conditions for the normalization of life in the war-affected regions of the Republic of Croatia; 5) the speedy, secure, and organized return of all Croatian citizens to those regions of the Republic of Croatia from which they were expelled or displaced; 6) the inclusion of all citizens of Croatia in the building of democratic society within the framework of the existing democratic system; and 7) the creation of a political framework for the implementation of the relevant legal norms.188

In order to advance the objectives of the program, the government established a national Committee on Trust and Reconciliation, headed by Vesna Škare-Ozbalt, a senior adviser to President Tudjman. County- and community-level committees with ethnic Serb and Croat members were also created in order to facilitate local implementation. The national committee is explicitly instructed to cooperate with the Return Commission established by the Program for Return. The adoption of the program and the creation of the committee was broadly welcomed at the time of their introduction. Such activities are clearly necessary after such a bitter and divisive conflict. As one Vukovar-based human rights activist put it “the biggest problem is one of trust — a belief that the Croatian government want people [Serbs] to stay here.”189 By the same token, Škare-Ozbalt and others noted to Human Rights Watch that the events that took place in Vukovar in 1991 cannot easily be put aside by the town’s current and former residents of Croat ethnicity.

According to Vesna Škare-Ozbalt, successful reconciliation requires security, adequate economic conditions, and a permanent solution for the Bosnian Croat population in Croatia. She also pointed to outstanding concerns over the failure to bring to justice Milan Mrkšic, Miroslav Radic, and Milan Martic (prominent Serbs indicted by the ICTY for war crimes committed in Croatia) as partial explanation for difficulties related to the implementation of the Amnesty Law for Croatian Serbs: “My feeling is that the situation would be very different if those real war criminals were in the Hague.” Overall, Ms. Škare-Ozbalt was confident that the process is well under way. While acknowledging that some local committees have been less effective than those at the county or national level and observing that reconciliation is a “process,” her assessment is that “we are moving from psychological problems to economic problems. Reconciliation is going on... I think we have almost finished our main political role.”190

International observers told Human Rights Watch that they do not share Ms. Škare-Ozbalt’s optimism about the work of the national, regional, and local committees. They also note the lack of progress toward some of the goals of the program, especially those relating to nondiscrimination and the return of refugees. Concerning the Committee on Trust and Reconciliation itself, a senior OSCE adviser complained that the committee “doesn’t have a specific mandate, is not very active, [and] hasn’t done much to create confidence,” adding that there was “no equal representation [and that] NGOs are not involved in the process.” The official concluded that the committee “needs a concrete program.”191 A July 1998 report by the U.N. secretary-general concluded “There has been almost no progress in reconciliation since my final report on UNTAES of January 1998.” The report notes that “in many instances local authorities view reconciliation committees as a mechanism for solving problems related to returningCroat displaced persons rather than for re-establishing confidence between ethnic communities. In some areas of Serb return, reconciliation committees have not been formed.”192 In terms of the linkage to the Program for Return, an October joint U.N.-OSCE non-paper comments that “the Program on the Establishment of Trust has not engaged in the return program in the manner envisaged under paragraph seven of the introductory remarks to the Return Program.”193

There are other difficulties: While the plight of Bosnian Croats is certainly a legitimate focus for concern by the Croatian Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees, and there has been friction and sometimes violence in communities with mixed Bosnian Croat refugee and Croatian Serb returnee populations, the program is primarily intended to foster reconciliation and trust among Croatia’s originally resident Croat and Serb populations. There also appears to be an over-emphasis on economic obstacles to trust, reconciliation, and return. The economic climate in the former U.N. sectors is clearly poor, but economic growth alone will not prevent Croatian Serbs from leaving Eastern Slavonia, nor encourage them to return to Knin until the political climate in Croatia also changes. Moreover, the work of the committee on reconciliation and the program appear removed from the work of the state agencies charged with implementing refugee return, providing education, resolving housing questions, applying the Amnesty Law, determining citizenship status, and other core tasks related to the goals of the program itself. Few of the government officials, Serb leaders, international officials, and NGO activists interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Croatia made reference to either the work of the committee or the program. Given their importance to trust and reconciliation in Croatia, the committee and the program should occupy a more central space in Croatian political and civic life.

145 Decree on Implementation of the Law on Convalidation in Subjects of Judicial Nature (April 9, 1998); Decree on Implementation of the Law on Convalidation of Acts Issued in Subjects of Administrative Nature (April 9, 1998); Decree on Implementation of the Law on Convalidation for the Administrative Field of Labor, Employment, Pension and Disability Insurance, Children’s Allowance, Social Welfare and Protection of Military and Civil Invalids of War (April 9, 1998).

146 “Report of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Croatia on Croatia’s progress in meeting international commitments since May 1998 (September 8, 1998).”

147 See, for example, “Report of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Croatia on Croatia’s progress in meeting international commitments since May 1998 (September 8, 1998).”

148 Instructions of Implementation of the Law on Convalidation and the Decree for Implementing the Law on Convalidation in the Field of Employment, Pension and Disability, Children Allowance and Social Welfare and Protection of Military and Civilian War Invalids.

149 “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Police Support Group,” (S/1998/887), September 23, 1998.

150 According to a Serb Democratic Forum representative in former Sector North, prior to making an application for restoration of pension rights Serb returnees must 1) go to the police for an “informative talk” (ten to fifteen days wait); 2) obtain a property ownership certificate (fifteen to thirty days wait); 3) obtain a letter from the police proving residence (up to fifteen days wait); 4) where necessary, obtain a citizenship certificate (domovnica) (fifteen days wait); 5) obtain a letter stating that they have no criminal record (seven days wait). After obtaining all necessary documentation, returnees can then apply. Source: Human Rights Watch interview with Ninko Miric, President SDF Vojnic, Petrinja, August 3, 1998.

151 Legal clinic organized by the Center for Peace, Legal Advice and Psycho-Social Help, at which Human Rights Watch was present. Trpinja (Eastern Slavonia), July 24, 1998.

152 Human Rights Watch interview with Mr. Mikic, Center for Peace, Legal Advice and Psycho-Social Help, Trpinja, Eastern Slavonia, July 24, 1998.

153 SDF Western Slavonia Branch: Okucani Office “Report about work of SDF Legal office in Okucani for the month of June 1998" (n.d.).

154 Human Rights Watch interview with Nevena Zunjic, DOS Split-Centar Knin, Knin, July 29, 1998.

155 For an account of humanitarian law violations committed during the Croatian war, see: Human Rights Watch/Helsinki letter to Slobodan Miloševic, president of the Republic of Serbia, and General Blagoje Adzic, then acting minister of defense and chief of staff of the Yugoslav People’s Army, January 21, 1992; Human Rights Watch/Helsinki letter to Franjo Tudjman, president of the Republic of Croatia, February 13, 1992; Human Rights Watch/Helsinki “The Croatian Army Offensive in Western Slavonia and its Aftermath,” July 1995; and, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki “Impunity for Abuses Committed During ‘Operation Storm’ and the Denial of the Right of Refugees to Return to the Krajina,” August 1996.

156 Quoted in UNTAES Bulletin, Special Issue, “New Amnesty Bill Passed by Croatian Parliament,” September 1996.

157 Human Rights Watch interview with OSCE legal adviser, OSCE Coordination Center Vukovar, July 20, 1998.

158 Human Rights Watch interview with Ante Klaric, ombudsman, Marta Mukic, Deputy ombudsman, Zagreb, August 7, 1998.

159 Human Rights Watch interview with Anne Burley, head of Croatia Office, U.N. Field Operation for the Former Yugoslavia, Zagreb, July 17, 1998.

160 “Serbs Welcome Croatia’s Decision on Amnesty for 12,000 Serbs,” Croatian TV Satellite Service, March 13, 1998 (BBC Monitoring Summary of World Broadcasts, March 16, 1998).

161 The project is being carried out by the Civil Rights Project.

162 The list is in the possession of Human Rights Watch.

163 Human Rights Watch interview with Ivan Turudic, Assistant Minister of Justice, Zagreb, August 6, 1998.

164 Human Rights Watch interview with a Legal Adviser from the U.N. Police Support Group, Vukovar, July 20, 1998.

165 See “Report of the Secretary-General on the U.N. Police Support Group,” (S/1998/500), June 11, 1998.

166 This commitment was referred to in a January 1999 letter from the Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia Helm Rau to Assistant Minister of Justice Ivan Turudic following a court decision sent in January 1999 to twenty-three Serbs in Dalj. The court decision assigned defense attorneys to the twenty-three for a case in which they were to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes.

167 The Rome Statement reflecting the work of the Joint Civilian Commission Sarajevo Compliance Conference, February 18, 1997. Cited in Human Rights Watch/Helsinki “Human Rights in Eastern Slavonia During and After the Transition of Authority,” (April 1997).

168 In late 1997, Bjelovar County Court (Western Slavonia) issued forty-three indictments for war crimes against Serbs. The charges were later withdrawn. Periodic Report, December 18, 1997, U.N. Human Rights Field Operation for the Former Yugoslavia.

169 Human Rights Watch interview with senior ICTY official, ICTY Liaison Office, Zagreb, July 27, 1998.

170 Report on the situation of human rights in the Republic of Croatia, submitted by Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, special rapporteur, pursuant to Commission resolution 1997/57, (E/CN.4/1998/14), October 31, 1997.

171 Human Rights Watch interview with a senior official from the U.N. Human Rights Field Operation for the Former Yugoslavia, Zagreb, July 17, 1998.

172 Human Rights Watch interview with Legal Adviser, U.N. Police Support Group, Vukovar, July 20, 1998.

173 Internal memorandum, OSCE Coordination Center Vukovar, July 7, 1998.

174 Decision of Osijek County Court, Case Number K-113/98-139, January 4, 1999

175 “Croatia Arrests Three Serbs for War Crimes,” RFE/RL Newsline, January 26, 1999.

176 Human Rights Watch interview with OSCE official, OSCE Coordination Center Sisak, August 3, 1998.

177 Article 2 states that “no criminal proceedings shall be instituted and no criminal charges shall be brought against the perpetrators of criminal acts referred to in article 1 of this act.”

178 Amnesty International, “Concerns in Europe: January - June 1998: Croatia” (September 1998).

179 Human Rights Watch interview with OSCE official, OSCE Coordination Center Sisak, August 3, 1998.

180 Amnesty International, “Croatia: Impunity for killings after Storm,” (August 1998). For information on the abuses committed during and after Operation Storm, see Human Rights Watch/Helsinki “Impunity for Abuses.”

181 “Croatian President Says Hague Tribunal to Bring Charges Against Him,” HRT1 TV, Zagreb, December 14, 1998, via BBC Monitoring Service: Central Europe and Balkans December 16, 1998.

182 Human Rights Watch interview with senior ICTY representative, ICTY Liaison Office, Zagreb, July 27, 1998.

183 Ibid.

184 Human Rights Watch interview with Ivan Turudic, assistant minister of justice, Zagreb, August 6, 1998.

185 Human Rights Watch interview with S.P., Banja Luka, July 13, 1998.

186 Human Rights Watch interview with S.P., Banja Luka, July 13, 1998.

187 Human Rights Watch interview, Banja Luka, July 14, 1998. The interviewee wishes to remain anonymous.

188 Quoted in: “Report of the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Croatia on Croatia’s progress in meeting international commitments since January 1998,” (May 20, 1998).

189 Human Rights Watch interview, Vukovar, July 21, 1998.

190 Human Rights Watch interview with Vesna Škare-Ozbalt, Office of the President, Zagreb, August 6, 1998.

191 Human Rights Watch interview with OSCE human rights adviser, Zagreb, July 16, 1998.

192 “Report of the Secretary-General on the U.N. Police Support Group,” (S/1998/500), June 11, 1998.

193 Joint OSCE, U.N. Non-Paper - Preliminary Review in Preparation for an Assessment of the Return Process (October 7, 1998).

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