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Serbia Today, 97-04-01
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] SECOND VERSION OF THE LAW IN PUBLIC INFORMATION THIS WEEK
[02] UN ACCUSED CROATS OF MALTREATING SERBS
[03] WRONG DECISION AT THE WRONG MOMENT
[04] HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MOSLEM-CROATIAN FEDERATION ARE BEING LARGELY
BREACHED
[05] RISKY TRIP TO CROATIA
[06] CROATIAN MANIPULATIONS CONTINUE
[07] PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION IN EDUCATION BETWEEN SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC
OF SRPSKA
[08] AID FROM OUR PEOPLE LIVING ABROAD - AN IMPORTANT SUPPORT
[09] THE LAW ON CONCESSIONS TO BE ADOPTED
[10] ARGUED DENIAL OF THE NOVAK REPORT
[01] SECOND VERSION OF THE LAW IN PUBLIC INFORMATION THIS WEEK
Serbian Minister of Information - Ms. Radmila Milentijevic stated yesterday
- in an interview for Radio Belgrade - that the second draft version of the
Law on Information will be presented to the public this week, and that like
the first one it will be offered for public debate. The final text of the
draft Law is expected by the end of April, when it will be submitted to the
Serbian parliament for approval - said Prof. Milentijevic. Speaking about
the results of her recent visit to the US, Prof. Milentijevic said that she
informed the officials she met with that everything is negotiable in this
version of the Law, except the first part referring to the Constitution.
"We can not change the Serbian Constitution. The Constitution is excellent
and it warrants the freedom of speech and information" - she stressed.
Prof. Dr. Milentijevic also observed that according to Ministry of
Information data, presently there are 186 radio and 72 television
unregistered stations in Serbia. Republican and federal competent bodies
will soon open a public competition for broadcasting frequencies. We now
know what we have at our disposal in Serbia, and in accordance with the law
we will establish standards that will have to be met by all applicants at
the competition - observed Minister Milentijevic.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Politika, 1997-04-01
[02] UN ACCUSED CROATS OF MALTREATING SERBS
Mr. Alexander Ivanko - representative of the UN Police Forces in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, accused Bosnian Croats yesterday of maltreating Bosnian Serbs
and Moslems in the areas they control. Associated Press reports. In the
town of Drvar, a group of Croats broke into the house of a Serb, beat him
up and then set the house on fire. Another empty Serbian house has been
burned - said Mr. Ivanko. "Local police informed international Police
forces that the incident is being investigated, but little has been done"
said the UN official and added: "This is becoming an everyday thing in
Drvar, where the small number of Serbs are constantly facing abuses." Mr.
Ivanko also expressed concern for the information provided by the Croatian
Police in Drvar, namely that Serbs will be allowed to visit the town for
only 24 hours and that they will undergo strict police control during their
stay.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Politika Ekspres, 1997-04-01
[03] WRONG DECISION AT THE WRONG MOMENT
The German and Swedish decision to repatriate Croats that fled from Bosnia
and Herzegovina during the recent war, alarmed various human rights
organizations in Croatia. The "Returning Home" Civic Committee from Zagreb -
headed by Dr. Savo Zlatic, addressed a letter to the German Government,
stressing his concern for the decision to repatriate 200.000 Croatian
refugees from Bosnia by the end of August. "The decision comes at a time
when the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina still has not been settled,
and when relations between Moslems, Croats and Serbs show no sign of
improvement", says Dr. Zlatic in his letter adding that since Croats can
not return to any of the Moslem controlled territories they will settle
territories abandoned by Serbs during the war - as Croatian media
anticipate as well. "This will make even more difficult the repatriation of
Serbs - Croatian citizens - just as the return of Croats to Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and create a new conflict hotbed between Serbs and Croats,
with highly negative effects for the normalization of Croatian-Serbian
relations." says Dr. Zlatic. The Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO)
expressed similar fears in a letter sent to the Swedish Government which
has decided to repatriate 3.000 Croatian refugees from Bosnia. HHO
President Ivan Zvonimir Cicak remarked that unless this decision is
postponed until a more propitious time comes, the Swedish Government would
become "an accomplice in ethnic cleansing", because he too believes that
the refugees will be sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead, the Croatian
authorities will most probably make them settle "central Croatia abandoned
by the Serbian population after Operation Storm".
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Politika, 1997-04-01
[04] HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MOSLEM-CROATIAN FEDERATION ARE BEING LARGELY
BREACHED
Ms Elisabeth Wren - Special UN Envoy for Human Rights in Former Yugoslavia,
stated that human rights are largely breached in the Moslem-Croatian
Federation. In an interview for the Sarajevan daily "Oslobodjenje" she
specified that cases of murder, physical harassment, persecution,
limitation of freedom of movement, and eviction are still being registered.
Ms. Wren also observed that the media in the Federation are under a strong
influence of the ruling circles, that they face great difficulties in
obtaining information from the other entity and therefore can not provide
objective information. Remarking that the return of refugees is being
obstructed by local politicians that want to preserve their power, The UN
official said: "It is not OK for Capljina and Stolac to accuse Sarajevo or
New York of not doing enough to help the return of refugees. The
superintendent of Stolac can not point his finger at Sarajevo and keep
Franjo Tudjman portrait on his office wall!"
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-04-01
[05] RISKY TRIP TO CROATIA
"Arrests for questioning of official representatives of the Srem-Baranja
Region, and other Serbs clearly deny statements and promises made by
Croatian officials." This is how the Superintendent of Transition Police
Forces in Vukovar - Mr. Petar Djukic, comments the frequent arrests of
Serbian representatives during their visits to Croatia as members of
official UNTAES committees. "People from the Srem-Baranja Region are still
at great risk when traveling to Croatia. Many come to us for advice before
going there, but lamentably we can not give them an adequate answer." -
remarked Mr. Djukic. According to the same Police official, UNTAES
circulated a letter assuring that measures have been taken to prevent such
arrests in future.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-04-01
[06] CROATIAN MANIPULATIONS CONTINUE
The Committee for the protection of rights and interests of displaced
persons and refugees, submitted an official request to the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe asking that official OSCE observers be
appointed for the local and regional elections in the Srem-Baranja Region.
Committee president Borislav Mikelic stressed in his letter that the
presence of official OSCE representatives is a must, in order to prevent
any form of manipulation by Croatian authorities: from the lists of voters
to the control of the voting process. It is imperative that all Serbs
living in the region be given a chance to vote, especially because not all
have managed to obtain new personal documents. Mr. Mikelic also underlined
that the UN Security Council, OSCE and other international organizations
enabled Moslems, Serbs and Croats that fled from Bosnia in 1992, to take
part in the parliamentary and presidential elections in Bosnia last autumn,
and asked that the same right be given to Serbs from Croatia, i.e. from
Krayina now living in FR Yugoslavia after being forced to leave Krayina by
the Croatian aggression. Refugees from Bosnia have the right to vote
regardless of which country they are living in now, and Croats can vote in
the Srem-Baranja elections, but this right is being denied to the Serbs
exiled from Krajina and now living in FR Yugoslavia - says Mr. Mikelic
remarking that this is another example of international community double
standards.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Politika, 1997-04-01
[07] PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION IN EDUCATION BETWEEN SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC
OF SRPSKA
Mr. Velibor Ostojic - Deputy Premier of the Republic of Srpska in charge of
social affairs and Mr. Jovo Todorovic - Serbian Minister of Education,
signed yesterday in Pale a protocol on cooperation in public education. Mr.
Todorovic stressed that it is in the interest of the Serbian people to
establish a unified education system, respecting the principles of
tradition and culture of the Serbian people. We will immediately start
intensive cooperation which will help the education system in the Republic
of Srpska - Minister Todorovic said. Mr. Ostojic reminded that the
education system in RS was created during the war and modeled on the
Serbian public schools curriculum, and expressed hope that this will soon
become the only curriculum.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Politika Ekspres, 1997-04-01
[08] AID FROM OUR PEOPLE LIVING ABROAD - AN IMPORTANT SUPPORT
The IV Congress of Humanitarian Aid Providers, opened in Belgrade yesterday,
rallied representatives of some 250 clubs and associations of fellow
Yugoslavs living in 15 European countries, US, Canada and Australia. The
Federal Minister of Employment, Health and Social Policy - Mr. Miroslav
Ivanisevic, remarked that during the four years of international sanctions
80.000 more people died than in the previous period. In spite of the dire
social situation in FR Yugoslavia the international community was not
prepared to acknowledge even the number of refugees as a parameter for
determining the necessary humanitarian aid - said Minister Ivanisevic
adding that the Federal Government will soon prepare a national program for
improving the cooperation with aid providers from abroad. Deputy Federal
Minister - Mr. Maksim Korac - indicated that in the past five years FR
Yugoslavia faced the greatest possible social problems ever because 1
million people lost their job, 800.000 is still on compulsory vacation,
700.000 are seeking their first employment, and 162.000 receive some form
of social aid. The Congress launched an appeal to international
humanitarian organizations not to reduce their aid to FR Yugoslavia. Mr.
Milovan Nenadovic - Secretary of the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees,
said that an integration project is being prepared to solve the problem of
some 400.000 work-able refugees.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Borba, 1997-04-01
[09] THE LAW ON CONCESSIONS TO BE ADOPTED
Serbian Minister of Construction - Mr. Branislav Ivkovic stated that the
new Law on Concessions will be adopted at the next session of the
republican Parliament - probably by urgent procedure. Minister Ivkovic -
head of the Government task force for negotiations on concessions - also
said that his team prepared a draft Law on Concessions, that has been
approved by the Cabinet and given the green light by large industrial
agglomerates and companies. The Serbian law, harmonized with the Federal
Law on Foreign Investments, defines in detail all possible areas for
concessions - infrastructure, mineral resources, forests, waters, and even
lottery. The Law envisages the creation of an Agency for Concessions which
will supervise concession agreements and monitor all concession affairs.
Mr. Ivkovic stressed that this law is largely affirmative for foreign
investments, favoring those that want to invest in our country under fair
conditions.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Borba, 1997-04-01
[10] ARGUED DENIAL OF THE NOVAK REPORT
The agenda of the 53rd Session of the UN Human Rights Committee will
include two Yugoslav Government - the commentary of the report prepared by
the Committee expert in charge of missing persons affairs in former
Yugoslavia - Mr. Manfred Novak and the Memorandum on missing persons
representing the answer to the letter Mr. Cyrus Vance - Chairman of the
International Committee for Missing Persons - sent to Federal Foreign
Minister Milan Milutinovic. Both documents represent argued denials of the
Novak Report. They list all the activities carried out by FR Yugoslavia
since the beginning of the war to help solve the problem of missing and
arrested persons. Though these problems have been settled with Slovenia,
they have not yet been settled with Croatia. FR Yugoslavia fulfilled all
its obligations defined by the Protocol on Cooperation and the Agreement on
Normalization of Relations with Croatia. The Government documents stress
that Yugoslavia released all war prisoners from Croatia by August 14, 1992.
However, people listed as missing persons are still being detained in
Croatian prisons. Among them there are both people from Krayina and
soldiers of the former Yugoslav Peoples Army. It is also an established
fact that a certain number of prisoners held in Croatian prisons have not
even been included on missing persons lists, and have been omitted from
lists compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The list of
obligations that Croatia should have fulfilled a long time ago is quite
long. The question of people listed missing in 1991 in the zones of Gospic,
Zagreb, Bjelovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, Karlovac and other localities in
Croatia should also be raised. The Memorandum also warns that the missing
persons problem should be solved with the Moslem side in Bosnia and
Herzegovina as well. FR Yugoslavia insists that the fate of a given number
of YPA officers and soldiers be clarified, but Bosnian Moslems refuse
obstinately all offers of cooperation in this sphere.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-01 ; Borba, 1997-04-01
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