Covering events from January - December 2003

Both Serb and Croat war crimes suspects were transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (the Tribunal). Other suspects continued to evade arrest, some apparently protected by the Croatian authorities. The Tribunal rejected a proposal for a former army general to be surrendered in exchange for a revision of the indictment against him. Increasingly, Croats as well as Serbs were brought to trial on war crimes charges before national courts. However, witnesses remained at risk of intimidation and harassment. The perpetrators responsible for as many as 1,200 unsolved "disappearances" remained unidentified. Thousands of members of the pre-war Croatian Serb population were obstructed from returning to Croatia by discriminatory treatment.

Background

In February Croatia formally applied to join the European Union (EU) as a full member in 2008. In March the EU Commission welcomed developments in strengthening democracy and regional relations, but criticized the lack of cooperation with the Tribunal, continuing problems with the return and reintegration of Croatian Serb refugees and the slow pace of judicial reform.

In May AI reminded the government of Croatia's obligations under international law and as a state party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC. In June AI urged the government to consult civil society groups on legislation to implement the Rome Statute. Its adoption was postponed to allow comments by local and international experts.

Despite sustained US pressure, Croatia refused to sign an impunity agreement not to surrender US nationals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In the general election in November the Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ), Croatian Democratic Union, became the strongest party in parliament and its leader, Ivo Sanader, became Prime Minister in December.

Impunity for wartime violations

International prosecutions

  • The remaining two suspects of the so-called "Vukovar Three" were transferred to the Tribunal's custody after remaining at large in Serbia for years. In April Miroslav Radić, a former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officer, gave himself up to the Serbian authorities. In June Serb police arrested Veselin Šljivančanin, a former officer in the JNA and its successor, the Yugoslav Army. They had been indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes by the Tribunal in connection with the mass executions of about 200 mainly Croat people taken from Vukovar hospital in November 1991 after the town fell to the former JNA and Serb paramilitaries.
  • In April Croatian police arrested Ivica Rajić, who had been publicly indicted by the Tribunal for war crimes against the non-Croat population in Bosnia-Herzegovina. After extradition proceedings, he was transferred to the Tribunal in June. The Ministry of the Interior reportedly investigated reports that he had been in hiding in the Split area for years, shielded from arrest and provided with false identity papers by contacts in the military.
  • The Tribunal Prosecutor repeatedly criticized Croatia's failure to arrest and transfer retired Croatian army General Ante Gotovina, charged with command responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Krajina Serb population in 1995. In June NATO troops failed to arrest him in a raid in central Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Tribunal subsequently rejected a proposal, reportedly made by President Mesić, for Ante Gotovina to be transferred to the Tribunal provided his indictment was revised and he was allowed to make a statement to Tribunal investigators.

Domestic prosecutions

Scores of trials for war crimes continued or started before local courts, increasingly of Croat as well as Serb defendants. According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), 30 out of 38 arrests in 2003 were of Serbs. In the same period, local courts convicted 31 Serbs and four Croats of war crimes.

Some proceedings did not meet internationally recognized standards of fairness.

  • In April, Mirko Graorac, a Bosnian Serb serving a 15-year prison sentence in Croatia for war crimes, was transferred to the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina where the crimes were committed. His trial before the Split County Court had been seriously flawed and he requested a retrial by a Bosnian court.
One of the few trials of senior Croat officers resulted in a conviction.
  • In March the Rijeka County Court sentenced three Croatian army officers, including retired General Mirko Norac, to prison terms of up to 15 years for war crimes against Serb civilians in 1991. Two other defendants were acquitted.
Local human rights groups presented further evidence of wartime human rights violations to the public prosecutor, including scores of killings and "disappearances" of Croats and Serbs in Osijek in 1991 and 1992.
  • In March, two former Croatian soldiers were indicted for war crimes against Serb civilians in Paulin Dvor near Osijek in December 1991. The bodies of 18 victims, exhumed by Tribunal investigators in 2002, were reported to have been positively identified in June. The trial started in June, after the Tribunal Prosecutor had forwarded extensive documentation to the Osijek court.
In June a court in Serbia opened an investigation into the alleged responsibility of six former commanders and members of Serb paramilitary forces for the mass executions of non-Serb prisoners after the fall of Vukovar (see above). Four of the suspects had been arrested by Serb police in a crack-down on former members of the security services with connections to organized crime networks following the murder of Serb Prime Minister Zoran Djindji» in March.

Witness protection

Victims and witnesses testifying in war crimes proceedings remained without adequate state protection from harassment, intimidation and threats in the absence of a comprehensive witness protection program.

  • Former police and armed forces officers who testified for the prosecution in criminal proceedings for war crimes in the Šibenik and Split areas were reported to have been particular targets for intimidation and harassment.
In no cases were those responsible for intimidation or attacks against witnesses identified and brought to justice.
  • In May the family of former Croatian army officer Mile Levar filed a civil case for damages because of inaction by state authorities. Mile Levar's murder in 2000, after he provided information on war crimes against Serbs in Gospić to Tribunal investigators, remained unsolved.

'Disappearances'

The Croatian Government Commission on Missing Persons was in February still searching for over 1,200 missing people, many of whom had "disappeared". Those responsible remained unidentified. Cooperation continued between the Croatian government and neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro in exhuming bodies buried in Serbia and returning them to Croatia for identification and final burial. In June the Government Commission said that a total of 200 bodies of Croats had been exhumed.

In March a mass grave was exhumed in Cetingrad containing the bodies of Bosniak victims of the conflict between the Bosnian army and forces loyal to political leader Fikret Abdić. The Bosnian Commission for Missing Persons was reportedly still searching for dozens of people missing in Croatia.

Right to return

According to the government, about 9,000 members of minority communities who returned to the country were registered as returnees by November. However, many returns were not sustainable. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) research around Knin in southern Croatia revealed that only about 60 per cent of returnees remained. Returnees continued to face difficulties in repossessing private property because legislation was enforced slowly and inconsistently by the authorities.

Tens of thousands of Serb refugees were unable to return. Most had lost pre-war tenancy rights in unfair legal proceedings in their absence. The government promised to provide social housing but failed to offer redress for the loss of their legal rights as tenancy holders, reinforcing discrimination against Serb returnees.

Asylum procedures

In June parliament adopted a new Asylum Law, to come into force in July 2004 after construction of a reception centre for asylum-seekers. The previous system for determining refugee status did not constitute a full and fair asylum procedure. Asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants were often arbitrarily detained without recourse to judicial redress.

AI country visits

AI delegates visited Croatia in February.

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