From: victor@jezebel.wustl.edu (Victor Wickerhauser)
Subject: Croatia Monitor number 10 [part 2/2]
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 15:21:19 GMT

Croatia Monitor no 10  JULY 19 PART TWO Published by: CroInfo Bureau,
Zagreb.  Address: Croatia Monitor, "Vjesnik" Building, Slavonska
Avenija 4, Room 702, 41000 Zagreb, Croatia.  Edited by: Vladimir
Pavlinic (Editor-in-Chief), Boris Zvonkovic (Assistant Editor), Tara
Blasco, Boris Sporer, Annie Vrdoljak, Wilfred Elimu (Editorial
Assistants); , Telephone: (3841) 66 10 50; 66 10 51. Fax: 66 10 52.


The  horror of "Serbianised villages" Mitterand's adviser: surgical
cleaning of Serbian bases necessary Has the French President saved
Karadzic and his headquarters ?
... It seems that the bearers of the Serbian extreme line in Bosnia-
Herzegovina have reason to be satisfied with the effect of their guest,
the Paris daily "Le Figaro" confirms. This is an exclusive report from
the "Serbian base" in Pale, outside of Sarajevo, when it writes that
the local Serbs who have already been surprised by the embargo and
frightened by  the prospect of American intervention, experienced the
visit of the French President as the last chance to soften their
positions and not to lose face. Military intervention is postponed for
now, although people close to Mitterand, like the philosopher
Bernard-Henry Levy, still believe that a limited blow in a form of a
surgical intervention is unavoidable in order to free the encirclement
round Sarajevo.  The influential French intellectual is establishing a
diagnosis that is several times harder that the therapy he would use.
He saw for himself destroyed and Serbianised villages around Zvornik.
"Do you know  what a Serbianised village is?" he asks. "It is a village
in which three quarters of the houses are empty or half burned, because
their owners were Croats or Muslims." After such horror, the French
philosopher _ who it seems had a crucial influence on Mitterand's
travelling to Sarajevo _ would "surgically" clean the Serbian bases
around Sarajevo and force Milosevic to resign. "I am convinced", claims
Bernard-Henry Levy, "that Western resolution would be enough to break
him".  It seems that the philosopher who has now travelled to Belgrade
to help the democratic opposition reflects French strategy: If it is
necessary to "hit", then it is necessary to do it minimally, protect
and save Serbia,  but sacrifice Milosevic.  Mirko Galic, Vecernji list

"The most recent attacks on Croatia and the equalization of Croatia
with Serbia or Dr. Tudjman with Milosevic are insolent and unjustified.
It is not Croats who wage war in Serbia but Serbs against Croatia. We
firmly reject all such insinuations." Savka Dabcevic-Kucar, leader of
the opposition Croatian
 National Party, in an election campaign speech



Croatia has been abandoned by the international community, which has
failed in its obligations as outlined in the Geneva Conventions.


"We are in a critical situation regarding the refugees from Bosnia-
Herzegovina particularly with Croatia still being at war," reads the
statement from Adalbert Rebic, director of the Office of Displaced
Persons and Refugees in Croatia. "One-third of Croatia is still
occupied, 37 percent of Croatian industry has been destroyed and
670,000 refugees and displaced persons are located in Croatia.  With
such a large number of refugees, no one country in Europe can endure
such an obligation, yet Croatia has done so and is running out of
resources to further do so...."
	Of the total, 339,000 refugees came from Bosnia- Herzegovina
and 264,000 are displaced persons from Croatia. An additional 30,000
refugees came from Serbia. There still remains a continual flow of
refugees from Bosnia-Hercegovina. Croatia's population is 4.7 million _
the 670,000 refugees constitute 15 percent of the entire population. In
providing transportation, shelter, food and medicine, the Croatian
government has accumulated a debt of US$150 million, which they cannot
repay in the near future. Aside from the resources provided for the
refugees, the Croatian government hasn't received financial aid from
any one nation. Aid from the international community has consisted of
food and medicine _ but this hasn't been enough as the problem lies in
an overall lack of shelter for the refugees.
	Many major Croatian cities have accepted refugees, the largest
number being concentrated in: Zagreb (80,000), Makarska (45,800), Split
(56,400) and Slavonski Brod (44,600). THe Croatian town of Slavonski
Brod is an example where pressure that has been placed on Croatia as a
result of the large influx of refugees from Bosnia-Hercegovina. With a
population of 113,550, the city has 44,600 refugees and is continually
being shelled. Local government officials in Slavonski Brod issued a
statement to the Croatian Prime Minister Franjo Greguric on July 15, in
which they  state they no longer have the capacity to accept anymore
refugees.
	Slavonski Brod and all of its humanitarian organizations face
collapse. The arrival of 20,000  refugees within the period of July 10
to July 15 is followed by an expected 20,000 more within the next few
days. On July 15 there was  a 15 km line  of refugees in the Bosnian
city of Bosanski Brod waiting to get into Slavonski Brod.
	According to local officials in Slavonski Brod, many social
problems have arisen with the large influx of  refugees. Cases of theft
and injury have increased and it's becoming more difficult to maintain
public peace. Lives are continually in danger since Slavonski Brod is
constantly being shelled. Ten refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina  were
killed on July 15 when the stadium in which they were housed was
shelled.
	Aside from the overcrowding in many of the refugee shelters,
there is also the problem of the poor living conditions in the
shelters. Many refugees are residing in tents and seasonal workers
shacks. These accommodations may be suitable for the warm season but
once the cold season sets in, these places cannot be heated.
	 The Rebic's office outlined a plan whereby  Croatia could
build refugee camps with better living conditions. One such camp would
cost US$6 million and would help relieve the problem to some extent.
There have been no offers to help fund such a project.
	Rebic, in an appeal for aid, addressed a letter to the
international community on July 10. In the letter, Rebic described the
situation in Croatia: "...Spacial, financial and nutritional capacities
have been fully exhausted....Until now, the Croatia has provided help
for refugees in proportions that, above all, the UN High Commision for
Refugees has never done before."
	Rebic's letter of appeal has received  very little response
other than from foreign journalists. Many foreign journalists have
approached him asking for further information and statistics concerning
the refugee crisis in Croatia.  The problem must be resolved
immediately yet the international community is slow in providing a
solution, Rebic said.
	If Croatia does not receive financial aid from the world in the
immediate future, the refugees of Bosnia-Hercegovina will suffer the
consequences.  Since Croatia has nowhere to place them, they  will have
no choice but to leave the plight of the refugees  in the hands of
neighbouring nations.
	Rebic's letter ends with the statement, "Now we are forced to
declare: we are not in a position to accept any new-coming refugees and
we will be compelled to direct them to any of the neighbouring
countries."
	According to the Geneva Convention, it is every nation's
obligation on a humanitarian basis to accept refugees. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to seek
and enjoy asylum from persecution. Croatia, as a neighbouring country
to Bosnia-Herzegovina, has fulfilled its obligation to the greatest
extent possible.
	Rebic visited Slavonski Brod with a group of 30 representatives
from various countries to give them the opportunity to see how
desperate the situation is. The High Commissioner of the UNCHR Sadako
Ogata has arranged for a convention on July 29 with members of the
international community to discuss the refugee crisis in Croatia.
Stephanie Baric


War damage to environment in Croatia In the medieval walled city of
Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast, dozens of buildings had  been
completely gutted by fire or damaged by mortar shells. Fine old towers
had gaping holes through roofs and domes. The marbled main street, the
Stradun, polished into a shimmering surface by millions of feet, was
scarred with craters and splattered with shrapnel.
	Just outside the city walls, all of Dubrovnik's household waste
was being tipped straight into the Adriatic. The municipal authorities
claimed they had no other option since the town was encircled by JNA
forces.
	Nothing was spared. Up to 50 tonnes a day of rubbish including
incinerated hospital waste, building materials, and rat poison was
being dumped. While prevailing currents were carrying everything out to
sea, the Greenpeace team warned that the onset of warmer weather and
changed currents would bring much of the rubbish back onto the beaches.
Higher temperatures would cause an explosion in bacterial growth and
therefore spread infection. With hundreds of refugees staying in hotels
on the shoreline and the city's main hospital just fifty metres from
the cliff top dumping site, the health implications were enormous.
	"We'd been in Dubrovnik for two days and wanted to cross the
front line to view environmental damage in JNA-occupied Croatia, but
the Croats presented this as something formidable," said John Sprange.
"We decided we had to go anyway." The next morning, armed only with an
introductory letter, they headed for the ferry to cross the frontline
with the Red Cross and some sewage workers. On the other side they
found the JNA wearing Soviet style uniforms completed with a red star
on the beret. The soldiers took them to their headquarters.
	The HQ staff exuded depression. Most ordinary soldiers were
tired and had lost any sense of what the war is about. "A lieutenant
came and sat with us. It was tense and silent, no one wanting to
inflame the situation," remembers Sprange. "He said - it's a crazy war,
it's the politicians. We asked him about the 500- year-old arboretum at
Trsteno we'd heard was destroyed. He admitted it was damaged. He was
clearly uncomfortable."
	The team found evidence that much of the surrounding forest had
been on fire. Explosions had removed the glass from the nursery in the
arboretum and about 25 percent of the collection had been lost. The JNA
claimed the arboretum had been caught in crossfire.
	"The response to our trip was muted on the Croatian side," said
Dr. Rhind. "The forestry people were genuinely interested in our
observations of damage. But for the other Croats there was
disappointment we had gone over and dealt with the Serbian `beast' and
returned in good health."
	The fact-finding mission continued in Serbian-occupied areas of
Croatia, in the region called Krajina. Greenpeace secured permission to
visit the nearby Plitvice National park, a World Heritage Site, from
where there had been reports of felled trees, shot wild animals and
mined waterfalls.  Also in "Krajina", there had been reports that
Serbian forces were threatening to destroy the dam at Peruca, which is
poised above a Croatian valley inhabited by 60,000 people.
	"Both theses situations are potentially disastrous," warned
Sprange. "Precisely because the JNA is present at a both  sites makes
them strategic targets if the fighting starts again. Judging by what
we've seen so far, armies in conflict pay no attention whatsoever to
the environmental cost of war."
	Following the recent referendum in nearby Bosnia- Herzegovina,
in which the majority of the population voted to break away from
Yugoslavia, the potential for further hostilities has become very
real.
	Rhind believes there are three major priority areas of
environmental concern. "The first is the important bird area around the
Sava and Drava rivers in central and eastern Croatia.  There's danger
there from the lack of any proper environmental management, and
pollution. Second, there's the destruction of forest. Unless replanting
begins in some areas this summer, large areas may be lost forever to
erosion and pests. Finally there is the question of continuing
pollution of the sea at Dubrovnik." According to Sprange, the
expedition to Yugoslavia reinforced the need for a Fifth Geneva
Convention which would prevent the environment being used either as a
weapon or a target in wartime.
	"Wars are being waged all over the world," he said. "In
Yugoslavia, the Gulf, Somalia and Nagorno Karabakh, the leaders
reverted to force _ destroying people's lives and the environments on
which they depend.
	"It is clear that each generation seems fated to rediscover
this horror. That's why it's time for a Fifth Geneva Convention to
protect the environment in time of war." Paul Pivcevic

Massacres, looting and destruction of Skabrnje and Nadin At 7:30 a.m.
on Monday, November 18, the Yugoslav Army  launched a mortar and
artillery attack on Skabrnje, a large, rich Croatian village near
Zadar. The lightly armed Croatian defenders were able to initially
repel their attack and destroy one Yugoslav Army tank.  The army
reacted with a vengeance. After a heavier barrage of mortar and
artillery shells, the army began to advance toward the town, which
extends four kilometers lengthwise along a well-kept main road. Moving
from the western end of the village, army soldiers and Serbian
irregulars (Chetniks) shot and killed 27 people, mostly unarmed elderly
civilians. According to later autopsy reports, they were shot at close
range. All the victims, with one exception, had several types of
injuries; some had their throats cut, others were choked to death and
some were trampled to death.
	Eighty-two civilians, mostly women and children hiding in the
basements, were taken prisoner and transported to Benkovac.  They were
released and returned to Croatian authorities the next day. Many of
these civilians reported that they had been beaten by Yugoslav Army
soldiers and Serbian irregulars.
	"They (the soldiers) hit me on the head with the butt of a
rifle. They yelled that they must slaughter us all because we are
Ustashe. Children as young as two years old had to hold their hands
up", said Marija Segovic, one of the released prisoners.
	The Yugoslav Army, however, was only beginning their attack.
At 11:00 a.m., army forces reached the centre of the town. An army tank
stopped at the main door of St. Mary's Church, turned its turret toward
the church and shot a grenade into the heart of the church destroying
the altar. Afterwards Chetnik irregulars encircled the church and began
dispersing machine gun fire outward throughout the village. One Chetnik
took a machine gun position in the bell tower of the church and also
began firing outward.
	By nightfall, enemy forces had taken three quarters of the
village and began burning and pillaging the town. An eyewitness (Zorica
Skara) who was able to get within 300 meters of the army position
reported that a train had come from Knin. Soldiers loaded the train
with goods and valuables from the once prosperous village.
	The following day, at approximately 7 a.m., the Yugoslav Army
resumed their advance and destruction of the remaining areas of
Skabrnje. At 1:40 p.m., army forces reached the neighbouring village of
Nadin, and began destroying everything in sight. At the beginning of
the advance an eyewitness reported that 50-60 houses had been destroyed
by tank fire. Two elderly men in their 60's or 70's were shot and
killed at point-blank range.
	"I saw Mr. Ive Glavic shot. His wife was next to him. She was
in shock cradling his head. She couldn't move, she was frozen. She was
in shock", said Sime Nincevic. "By 4:30 p.m., the village of Nadin was
destroyed and burning. At sundown, crawling on my hands and knees, I
escaped from the circle of hell".
	The following day, the civilians who were able to escape asked
the Zadar Red Cross to evacuate the remaining civilians.  Children,
wounded, and corpses that were left in the villages.  Yugoslav Army
absolutely refused to allow the Zadar Red Cross to come into the
villages saying that the fighting was still going on in the villages.
After a relatively quiet week and a cease-fire negotiation, the
Yugoslav Army has handed over 55 bodies altogether. However, there are
many persons from those two villages who are still missing. Some were
still believed to be alive, but after a week, the outlook is not very
positive.
 Ante Cirjak Zadar Foreign Press Bureau


No help for Pokupska Dolina Approximately 800 of Pokupska Dolina's
inhabitants are still being held by the Yugoslav Army and Serbian
militia.  Pokupska Dolina is an area situated downstream from Karlovac
near the Kupa River.  The appeals from the people of Karlovac,
originating from the valley apparently have not been heard.
	Daily reports tell of Serbian extremists killing people and
destroying villages.  Approximately 24 communities have been hit,
including Banski Kovacevac, Skakavac, Brezani, Ribari, Lipje, Kablari,
Kamensko, and Lemic-Brdo.
	After approaching the local borough council and various
humanitarian organizations, to no avail, these people organized
themselves into a committee.  They made an appeal for the return of the
people of Pokupska Dolina who are being held and also publicized their
dissatisfaction with the inadequate help received by Croatian
authorities, the Croatian and International Red Cross and various other
humanitarian institutions.
	The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) was not
aware of the plight of these people for almost nine months as their
towns had not been listed on any maps.
	The representatives of this committee for the people of
Pokupska Dolina informed UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Forces) of
the situation in the occupied area near the Kupa River.  UNPROFOR  is
not deployed in the area but is situated in such nearby villages as
Vojnic and Topusko.
	Last fall, the Yugoslav Army and Serb irregulars from
neighbouring villages attacked these villages on the right bank of the
Kupa River, which is now occupied. Approximately 4,000 locals sought
refuge across the river on the left bank, leaving behind all their
belongings. More than 800 houses,  6,000 head of cattle, 10,000 items
of agricultural machinery and 1,000 tractors were left behind.
	The representatives from the UNHCR promised to intervene
immediately and strive to ensure the delivery of food and medical aid
to survivors.  They also supplied the committee with a list of those
imprisoned and a map showing which villages have been burnt down in the
area.
	The International Red Cross, although aware of the situation,
has done nothing to help the people of Pokupska Dolina.
	The displaced persons and the members of the Committee for the
Return of the Pokupska Dolina have grown bitter at their unanswered
cries for help.  The European Monitors and the organization "Doctors
without Frontiers", for example, have yet to respond.
	After nine months, all they have is hope.

This is the fourth part in a series which is to show a plan behind the
beginning of the war against Croatia. In pursuing the creation of a
Greater Serbia as the goal, the Serbs began with ethnic purification of
the sought-after territories in order to alter the ethnic composition
of the area, no matter what the proportion between the Serbs and other
populations. The technique applied was: (a) to drive out all non-Serbs
by terror and threats, (b) isolating people from the rest of Croatia by
putting up  road blocks,  (c) heavy bombardments, killing of those who
stayed, looting of property, (d) destruction of cultural monuments and
land registry records.  Ethnic encirclement and genocide E A S T E R N
L I K A The two largest settlements with Croatian majorities in Eastern
Lika are Lovinac and Sveti Rok, aside from four smaller villages:
Ricice, Smokric, Licko Cerje and Vranik. According to the 1991 census,
1703 people inhabited that area out of which 92.5 percent were
Croatian.
	Lovinac, once a district centre, with the surrounding villages
of Eastern Lika, is absolutely encircled by Serbian settlements.  The
encirclement consists of Medak, Raduc, Gornja Ploca and other smaller
villages settled by Serbs in south-eastern Licko polje, Stikad and
Gracac in Gracacko polje, respectively.
	The Lovinac region was thus blocked from two sides. The third
side was blocked by the Lika highlands, and the fourth by Velebit
Mountain.
	The villages of Lovinac are administratively part of the Gracac
district, which in 1990 was among the first to rise up against Croatian
authorities. From then on, pressure on Croatians increased. The first
grenades landed in spring 1991, when genocidal intentions started with
a number of Croats from Lovinac being kidnapped on their way to Gospic.
On August 5, five of their bodies were found near the railway tracks.
	Further pressure continued with daily mortar attacks.
Supplying the Lovinac region and its defenders became more difficult.
The small tenacious force withstood Serbian attacks for a long time,
but lost towards the end of September 1991. The whole population,
together with their defenders, fled to Velebit Mountain, abandoning
their homes to the men of Milan Martic, the commander of Knin's Serbs.
	The pursuit of the people from Lovinac, Sveti Rok and the
surrounding villages took place on the 300th anniversary of their
forefathers' arrival in the area. The present Croatian population in
the area are descendants of Bunjevac Croatians, who after the
withdrawal of Turks from a large section of Lika in 1691, under the
surveillance of the legendary priest Marko Mesic, moved from Northern
Dalmatia and the Velebit foothills to the Lovinac region.
	Besides these villages, there are two small enclaves in the
Titova Korenica district with Croatian majorities. Due to their great
distance from the main road, they are, in contrast to the Lovinac
enclave, of marginal strategic importance. But they are a stumbling
block to the realization of an ethnically pure "Krajina".  The three
main villages are Podlapaca, Brestane and Jagodnja.  According to the
1991 census, 94.6 percent of the 297 people were Croatian. Located on
the brim of Krbavsko Polje, the area's Croatians were forced to flee in
November 1991.
	The village of Canak (population: 302, 97 percent Croat),
located on the highlands north-west of Korenica district, was attacked
in mid-December. Several people were killed, and the survivors fled
their homes, which were systematically looted and later burned down.
	The well-known Plitivice Lakes national park is located in
Titova Korenica district as well. Due to its uniqueness, it is
registered in the UNESCO catalogue of world natural heritage. The
Serbian plans were not obstructed by the park's status, nor by the
majority of the park's employees being Serbian. The rebels took control
of the park and began a systematic devastation. One blow was enough to
devastate the careful coexistence of nature and modern tourism,
well-known in Croatia and abroad, and was most likely an attempt to
inflict more damage on Croatia.

THE KNIN AREA The Knin area and its surroundings were the first sites
of ethnic cleansing and genocide in spring 1991. The provincial town ,
through which many people travelled but few stopped over, became the
nexus of anti-Croatian rebellion. Knin was not randomly picked for this
purpose. Only subsequent developments confirmed the preliminary
assertion that the rebellion was a product of a lengthy and carefully
prepared plan coordinated from Belgrade.
	Knin's selection as the centre of the uprising resulted from
its being the largest settlement in Croatia with a Serbian majority,
though there are more Serbs in Zagreb or Osijek.  Furthermore, the
town, due to its location on the main road connecting northern and
southern Croatia, provided an ideal point for blockading traffic within
Croatia. Also, Chetnik ideology was also very popular in the area
during the second World War, and had never disappeared; its resurgence
was a matter of time.
	The suitability of Knin is demonstrated by the Croatian
authorities' inability since 1990 to subdue the uprising. Control of
the area was lost long before the first multi-party elections in
Croatia in 1990, when local Croats were already undergoing pressure to
leave, clearly explaining the ethnic re-mapping of the area. After
World War Two, large Croatian enclaves gradually became Serb- dominated
settlements. The number of Croats continued to fall, while Serbian
numbers continually to rise. The elevation of Knin to the status of a
"Krajina metropolis" was the breaking point of the Greater Serbian
strategy, perpetrated by people who overnight became self-styled
ministers and premiers.
	By 1991, the number of Croats in the town of Knin had
drastically dropped to 1660 (13.5 percent of the population), while in
other parts of the district they comprised only 9 percent.  Settlements
with Croatian majorities are Potkonje (198 people, 78.3 percent
Croats), Vrpolje (536 people, 64 percent Croats) and Kijevo (1261
people, 99.6 percent Croats). Although Croatian numbers in the past in
the whole area, apart from the town of Knin , were not enormous,
systematic "Serbianisation" of the area continues. Despite a drop in
numbers shown in the 1991 census, the majority of the "remaining"
Croats were forced to flee from the area.
	The exodus of Croats from the Knin area commenced in April and
intensified on May 1, 1991, when rebel policemen _ deserters from the
Zagreb administration _ stormed the villages of Potkonje and Vrpolje
and maltreated the local Croats. The two villages, just outside the
town of Knin, and Kijevo, which is further from town, are principal
Croatian oases in the area and represent a stumbling block to the
power-wielders in "Krajina".
	When the first displaced people from the Knin area arrived in
Drnis, Sibenik and Split (Dalmatian cities), few understood the far-
reaching character of Serbian crimes. Initial expulsion of Croats from
the area, in the beginning, was less brutal than during the later
stages. However, injustice and transgression by Serbs on fellow
natives, who bestially treated Croats, can in no way be condoned. Knin
is the source of the ongoing genocide in Croatia. The exodus from Knin
was simply a prelude to a more massive flight of civilians from other
areas of Croatia, who by then had not yet realised they would follow
the same trend in months to come.
	Kijevo, southwest of Knin, withstood pressure from surrounding
Serbian settlements the longest. Like the villages of Potkonje and
Vrpolje, Kijevo is surrounded by the Serbian- dominated villages of
Polaca, Civljane and Cetina, while the remaining gap is covered by a
geographical barrier. After the Croatian authorities had established a
police post in Kijevo, the village was for several months surrounded by
the Yugoslav army.  For several months it was almost impossible to
reach Kijevo.
	Defenders of Kijevo long withstood Serbian rebel attacks, who
were backed by the Yugoslav army. The turning point, however, came on
August 27, 1991, when enemy forces supported by air- power went on the
offensive, compelling the few defenders and the remaining civilians to
save themselves from the encirclement by escaping to Drnis. On entering
the village, "Krajina's" police chief Martic and his paramilitary units
removed the last Croatian flag in the Knin area.  Mladen Klemencic


Crocodile tears for Knin Gentlemen, this is not a civil war!

Gentlemen of world diplomacy, under your magnifying glass and with your
indolence and therefore with tacit approval, "the unarmed Serbian
people" defend themselves from alleged menace, take by force from
Croats their country, piece by piece. Weapons which belonged to the
Territorial Defence of Croatia were taken from us, but at the same time
you have placed an embargo on their import.
	Come to Croatia for a while, ask people about its frontiers and
look at what our brother people have done to us. They destroyed
everything they reached and you state Knin was bombed! You don't say!
Do you know to whom Knin belongs and where it is? It was once the
capital of Croatian princes, today it is the mightiest stronghold and
breeding ground of terrorist Chetniks! You are upset because of a few
shells that hit Knin. What do a few shells mean compared with the
hundreds of thousands all over the Croatia?  Concerned for Knin? But
what about Vukovar, Vinkovci, Osijek, Slavonski Brod, Karlovac, Sisak,
Petrinja, Gospic, Zadar, Sibenik, Skradin, Sinj, Dubrovnik, Ploce,
Metkovic ...? What about hundreds of villages which exist no longer?
	Gentlemen, in which war in history were more  civilians and
children killed than soldiers? This speaks of extermination of the body
and soul, everything that is Croatian, of barbarism unprecedented.
Today for them a newly born Croatian baby is a Fascist Ustasha, and
they greet their own children on their birthdays with Chetnik songs
which make the blood run cold. And we still try to remain human beings,
try to teach our children love, to respect every person, forgiveness, a
prayer. The children who are witnesses to horror every day. Who will
delete it from their consciousnes? Do you worry about that, gentlemen?
	On the June 21, when it was clear to everyone that the enemy
would not withdraw from the so-called pink zones, being convinced every
day of the inertia of UNPROFOR, after daily artillery provocations _
the Croatian army dared to do something which is completely normal _ to
reclaim its own and to free citizens of Croatian villages in Sibenik
hinterland after nine months of captivity and torment. The Serbs had
the right "to liberate" our Vukovar but we do not have the right to
liberate our own lands from the enemy!
	You cannot understand the desperation of a father from
Slavonski Brod whose nine-year-old son was killed in a shelter from a
rocket, and who had lost an older son five months before.  You cannot
hear the voice on "Serbian radio Knin of the Serbian republic Krajina"
that calls for general mobilization and that threatens that it will
return every foot of "confiscated holy Serbian land, if necessary it
will go further _ Sibenik and Zadar will feel it, nor will Zagreb be
forgiven!"
	My dear gentlemen, in Strassbourg you heard once again the
insolent lie of the monster Slobodan Milosevic, when not flickering an
eye, he assured you that he "only sends to Bosnia-Herzegovina
humanitarian aid for his poor and tormented people." That "humanitarian
aid" is in the form of a thousand shells which his "worn out" people
fire from the surrounding hills on the really poor, tormented, sick and
hungry people of Sarajevo. He conducts the massacre of innocent Muslim
and Croatian people. The unprecedented exodus of the same people is
taking place! Do people still exist who believe Milosevic's hypocrisy?
What politics, what diplomacy , what conclusions, statements,
agreements! Sarajevo is dying. Sarajevo is a mass grave in the heart of
Europe!
	UNPROFOR has done little up to now, always needing new
deadlines. What for? For deployment ? For a 48-hour ceasefire so that
our "threatened" brothers can grant us new humanity!
	Gentlemen, here it is not a question of an ethnic conflict, but
of the most open grabbing of foreign territory, of the most horrific
genocide of Croatian and Muslim people!
	According to you, Croatia in defending itself could be blamed
for another Balkan war, while Serbia, who started the bloody feast on
foreign territory and openly threatens the world, is only defending its
"menaced" people. Yes, a very straightforward conclusion.  Gordana
Lezaja, Sibenik
 (Letter in N. Vjesnik)


Horror not ended in Sarajevo Despite the opening of this city's airport
and the near cessation of murderous artillery fire from surrounding
hills, Sarajevo is still in the grip of war.  There was a macabre
demonstration of this at an old Jewish Cemetery that sits on a hillside
near the city center.
	A UN peace-keeping convoy traveled to the cemetery with local
medical workers to pick up the rotting remains of seven Slavic
Muslims-six dead militiamen and a civilian woman who had been shot
there by Serb gunman two weeks ago and left for dead.
	Since then, the parents of the seven have been able to watch
the bodies decompose from the upper floors of nearby buildings.  UN
officials said they first received a request to retrieve the seven when
they appeared to be still alive and in urgent need of medical care, but
efforts to do so were blocked by encircling Serbs.
	Later attempts by the parents to get permission from Serb
forces to retrieve the bodies also failed, and today's convoy effort
went forward without Serb approval.
	Only four of the bodies could be removed before Serb sniper
fire forced the medical workers and the UN troops to leave the
cemetery.  Washington Post


"It is a product of an absolutely monstrous imagination and because of
that I am truly frightened. All the best that our culture has created
is to be found in Dubrovnik; within its walls, in the buildings, the
museums, in the town that had the first pharmacy in Europe, the first
national health service, the first almshouse as far back as seven
hundred years ago. And now they have destroyed it. Why? With an army
which proclaims itself 'national'?" Ivo Pogorelic, Pianist, in
"Classic CD", New York

"Not from Nazi Germany..." Muslims driven out at gunpoint

Ernest Beck reports not from Nazi Germany, but from Hungary, where he
met victims of modern-day "ethnic cleansing".

Thousands of Bosnian Muslims are being evicted from their homes at
gunpoint as Serb irregular forces step up their efforts to "cleanse"
large areas of eastern Bosnia, according to refugees arriving in
Hungary in the past few days.
	 The refugees and Hungarian relief officials who have set up
a makeshift reception centre near the railway station in the small
border town of Kelebia, describe the mass deportation as "systematic,
efficient and well-organised" and say it is being carried out by
administrators and military means.
	"It was a choice between leaving our home or death", one man
said as he sat in a large army tent with 15 other people huddled under
thin blankets. The men, women and children, many of whom had just
stumbled off trains from Serbia in the early hours of the morning,
looked tired and bewildered. They lay on mattresses or on the ground
with their few possessions after having travelled for up to ten days by
bus and train in stifling heat.
	Their stories, whispered in halting phrases, are reminiscent of
Jewish deportations from Nazi Germany. One refugee from the Zvornik
area said: "The authorities issued a proclamation that: we have to
leave immediately. We had just enough time to pack a few things, but we
were told to leave everything behind, including the keys. We were
threatened with guns and told to sign a paper saying we give up our
belongings. Those who do not go are killed." Others in the tent nod in
agreement and say "new people" quickly moved into their homes.
	"They are clearing out Muslims to make way for others", added
one woman. Armoured personnel carriers surround villages and buses,
many refugees in Hungary have fled, and soldiers force men to strip to
see if they are circumcised as part of the ethnic purification process.
"Some of the people who turned against us were our neighbours", said
one man with tears in his eyes. "Our friends came to us with guns and
said `get out'
	The influx of Muslims to Kelebia began three days ago with a
group of 12,050 people, followed by 250 and then 100 arriving from the
city of Subotica.
	... Serb authorities deny that people are being deported . But
several refugees at the Palic camp, just inside the Serbian border,
which is thought to be a staging post for the evacuations, said they
were "driven and forced" from their homes. According to Hungarian
authorities, the refugees arrived with one-way tickets to Kelebia and
new passports, further evidence that they were forced to leave.  The
Times , London

Cans of food instead of protection

In Helsinki, President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina spoke of
34 concentration camps for Croats and Slavic Moslems, which were
discovered in sections of his republic retaken from Serbian militia.
Izetbegovic described the happenings in his country as shameful for the
civilised world _ but the West still observes the slaughter without
taking action.
	The sanctions (against Serbia) have not taken hold. Whether
Belgrade taxi-drivers have enough gasoline is of no consequence to the
initiators of the bloodbath in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina's capital)
_ what's important to them is that there's enough gas for Serbian
tanks. Since the warnings of the international economic summit and the
Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Serbs
intensified the bombing of Sarajevo and the artillery attacks on
Dubrovnik, despite the words of the designated President of
"Yugoslavia", Milan Panic, to the contrary. The Serbs are attacking
regions (of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina) where there have never been
Serbian majorities.
	The Bosnians take an ironic view of all well-intentioned
humanitarian aid. Of what use are western canned goods (only a small
part of which is seen by the population), when the aid- recipients are
blown apart by grenades, shot by snipers or literally slaughtered by
Chetniks (Serbian irregulars)?
	Effective help consists solely of stopping the slaughter. This
can't be accomplished with canned food!  Die Welt, July 13

An indecent Europe If the west's interest in saving Sarajevo was
genuine, the atrocious siege of Vukovar last  fall would have induced
some sort of reaction. But although the violence spread from Croatia to
Bosnia-Herzegovina had been predicted, nothing was done. "I cannot
believe that Serbia wants war, cutting itself off from Croatia.  Serbia
wants to secure its borders and protect its Serbian minorities." said
French President Francois Mitterand nine days before the fall of
Vukovar .  The situation unravelled as foreseen.
	In Sarajevo, it is obvious that the right to life must be
protected, but the situation also calls for further safeguarding
measures.  A political goal must be established.  The Bosnians, after
the Slovenes and the Croats, voted for independence.  Yet in all three
cases, we have assisted Serbia in their war against democratic voice.
We must adhere to the wishes of these nations.
	There are now three democratic nations that are being punished
by a military aggressor where Yugoslavia once stood.  It has taken
three months of siege in Sarajevo to halt the mere association of the
aggressor and the victim on the same level.  How long can this
continue?
	Mitterand's hasty trip to Sarajevo evolved from guilt. The
guilt in building a peaceful Europe while an ugly war looms at its
door.  This trip bridged the "reputable" people (those in their glass
bubble), who have the right to liberty and peace, and the poor victims
of this war.
	Simply, Europe must set political, not only humanitarian,
objectives.
	Serbia has let go of communism and imported nationalism.  This
situation, resembling the recent rise in Russian nationalism, is well
defined grounds for its termination.

Jean Jacques Mevel, Le Point


Options for Bosnia Roger Boyes, East Europe Correspondent, examines the
options for a negotiated settlement among the ethnic rivals in Bosnia,
where EC errors have helped prolong the fighting
... The European Community plan for Bosnia is far from clear. The
Community's original idea to cantonise Bosnia-Herzegovina, allowing
each ethnic community to set up its own local administration but be
subject to a Bosnian confederation, was a blunder. It unwittingly
encouraged the Serbs to go ahead with their "ethnic cleansing" scheme
and eject hundreds of thousands of Muslims from their homes in eastern
Bosnia. Cantons, it should have been emphasized at the beginning, would
be only geographical entities with multi-ethnic constituents.  Still,
the time for such a scheme has now passed. Plainly the Community has to
re-establish the authority of the Bosnian government.
	...Having recognized Bosnia, however, the EC now has to do its
utmost to restore the Bosnian state. That will be difficult.  President
Izetbegovic has become a straw man, controlling a sliver of his former
territory. Even to leave his capital requires elaborate subterfuge.
Economic management has collapsed.
	The best bet for Bosnia, once the fighting has subsided, is
probably a form of UN trusteeship which would authorise the world body
to take over responsibility for the defence of the Bosnian borders and
supervise the rebuilding of the state. This task could draw on the
skill of the UN on humanitarian assistance, local administration and
peacekeeping.
	At the same time the EC could make use of its experience in
monitoring local conflict and ensuring that minority rights were
protected. And the West could now credibly threaten the  use of
American or NATO intervention if Serbs and Croats began a proxy war in
Herzegovina.
	This would be a temporary measure, an early move towards
nation-building while Lord Carington and his team try to sort  out what
to do with the Serb-occupied stretches of Bosnia and negotiate a
long-term settlement. The Croats have also been grabbing control of
western Herzegovina during this war but so far the Bosnian government
and Zagreb seem disposed to sort out this problem themselves. They
should be allowed to do so while the issue of the Bosnian Serbs is
addressed.
	... The threat of limited, carefully targeted military action
may well be enough to break the self-confidence of General Mladic.  He
must know that US warplanes are capable of destroying his artillery. As
for Mr. Milosevic, he is by no means finished yet. But he may be pushed
into a corner that forces him to share power in a round-table agreement
with the opposition in Belgrade. One effect of such a deal would
certainly be the dropping of  Mr. Karadzic and the acceptance of
Belgrade that a deal has to be negotiated in Bosnia.
	Only time and relentless pressure can bring about such
changes.

The Times, London

"External enemy" needed "There are several reasons for producing war in
Vojvodina: the shakiness of the regime in Serbia, its unfulfilled
promises, the increasing difficulty of life, unemployment, hunger, and
numerous refugees.
...There is nothing left for them except to provoke international
aggression on Serbia, that is to create an external enemy. ...
According to their estimates, it is most suitable for that to be
Hungary, because 390,000 Hungarians live in Vojvodina. By expelling
these people and by provoking war more effects would be achieved.
Serbian refugees from Croatia who were already previously promised
houses in Vojvodina would be compensated and so their loyalty would be
bought; it wold come to a new homogenisation of Serbs in Serbia and
part of Vojvodina; the democratic opposition and peace movements that
are strongest in Vojvodina would be destroyed and Vojvodina would be
ethnically cleansed by expelling all non-Serbs and Serbs who are not
like- minded." Nenad Canak, a Serbian  opposition leader (the "League
of Social Democrats of Vojvodina/Yugoslavia"),  in "Slobodna Dalmacija"



Europe's figleaf of Bosnia airlift Sir, there is now a very  great
danger that the airlift of food to Sarajevo and concentration upon
control of its airport for humanitarian purposes may become a way of
salving the conscience of Europe and the UN, while doing next to
nothing to help Bosnia in its life and death struggle to survive in its
historic form.
	It cannot be stressed too strongly that Bosnia is threatened
not by disorganized inter-ethnic conflict but by a well-planned
strategy, devised by Serbian racialists and army leaders, of a sort
which is the nearest thing to Nazism Europe has seen since 1945.  To
crude  racialism is added the evil of an anti-Muslim crusade.
	The ambitions of the Serbian leadership, both in Serbia and in
Bosnia, have actually been assisted by the sadly misguided policy of
encouraging the canonization which is historically naive and humanly
disastrous. All this has done is to sustain the legitimacy of the
current Serbian leadership against the many Serbs who wish to remove
it. What it resembles only too clearly is the policy of Chamberlain at
Munich to persuade Czechoslovakia to surrender the
Sudetenland.            If Europe is to go on hiding behind the figleaf
of its airlift and do no more, then I would suggest that it is time for
Turkey and Egypt to intervene, as was advocated by Alija Izetbegovic,
the Bosnian leader, at the recent Islamic conference in Istanbul
(report  June18, later editions); but it would be a pathetic day for
Europe if it came to that.  ADRIAN  HASTINGS, The University of Leeds,
Department   of Theology and Religious Studies (The Times,  London)


Panic as a message An unrecognized nation has gotten a new Prime
Minister, Milan Panic. If it were only a matter of Serbia and
Montenegro, he would have to reacquaint himself with his country, which
he left over 30 years ago, so that he would know what he's in for. But
since that nation is warring with its neighbours, Panic's appearance in
the Balkans involves all concerned, and his lack of awareness of the
situation has caused much confusion. Panic is a typical example of an
American who has been involved in finance for some time, and now wishes
to enter the world of politics _  about which he doesn't know very
much.
	He uses such terms as democracy, the free press, the free
exchange of ideas and goods and the establishment of peace in former
Yugoslavia. But it is too late for the victims of Serbian aggression to
be saved by Panic's talk of "the hatred that rules these lands" _
ignoring that Serbia itself sowed and spread this hatred. He also
suggested to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman that the Zagreb-Belgrade
road be reopened, as if Croats had blocked it, and not Serbs in their
war of conquest.
	No one is stopping Panic from opening the road, from stopping
the insane war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, from stopping his attacks on
Croatia, from pulling the Serbian army back into Serbia.  Since he is
both the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of "Yugoslavia",
nothing is stopping from any of these aims, and it shouldn't take him
too long to do it.
	Regardless of what his neighbours think of him, Panic is
clearly a message, one that won't appeal to most people in this
war-torn region. He's an attempt at clearing Serbia's name, and an
effort at getting Serbia and its victims out of the extreme position
they're in now. Panic is also an attempt at saving Yugoslavia, a notion
dear to some. If it works, even in a two- republic Yugoslavia, Panic
would be a viable alternative to Slobodan Milosevic, which the West was
unable to find in the ranks of the Serbian opposition.
	All this is of no concern of anyone aside from Serbia and
Montenegro. What interests Serbia's neighbours is when will Panic stop
talking and start acting, that is, stop the aggression and pull the
Serbian army out of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. After that, they
can speak of democracy and tolerance. Only then will they be able to
discuss normalising relations with Serbia's neighbours and starting the
free trade of good and money.

Kresimir Fijacko, Novi Vjesnik


END



----
Prof. M. Victor Wickerhauser (314)935-6771  <victor@jezebel.wustl.edu>
Dept. of Mathematics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO  63130  USA

Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia