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Serbia Today, 97-04-16
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] YUGOSLAV STAND ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE RESOLUTION
[02] CROATS AND MOSLEMS STILL DETERMINED TO ALTER ENTITY BORDERS
[03] THE LIST OF NON-PARDONED SERBS - MORE THAN A JURIDICAL DISGRACE
[04] CROATIA IS A LONG WAY FROM DEMOCRACY
[05] TEN THOUSAND VOTERS LOST
[06] ELECTIONS IRREGULAR
[07] KOSMET IS AN INTERNAL ISSUE FOR SERBIA
[08] CAR FACTORY REVITALIZATION
[09] DENYING FALSITIES
[01] YUGOSLAV STAND ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE RESOLUTION
At the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva a Resolution
on former Yugoslavia has been adopted yesterday. The document strongly
criticizes the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, mostly due
to breaches of rights of the Serbs. As far as FR Yugoslavia is concerned,
the phrasing used in this routine resolution authored by the US - is
somewhat less aggressive than last year but it still reaffirms arbitrary,
non-objective and incorrect stands. The Yugoslav permanent mission in
Geneva pointed out that the part of the Resolution related to FR Yugoslavia
does not reflect the actual state of things in the field, just like the
analysis and evaluations made by the UN Special Reporter on Human Rights in
former Yugoslavia - Ms Elisabeth Wren. The Yugoslav Mission remarked that
in the past period various influential Committee members have been steering
the activities of this eminent body in such a way that the extremely
difficult position of the Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and that
of 700.000 refugees in FRY is ignored almost completely, concluding that
"such an approach undoubtedly confirms use of double standards by certain
Committee Members". Responding to a dozen concrete remarks, our diplomatic
representatives underscored that as far as the freedom of the media is
concerned it is warranted by the constitution and relative legislation
which is what helped the booming of a large number of journals, radio and
TV stations set up by all political parties and civic associations. If
pressure were really made on the media - as the Resolution affirms - their
number would probably be falling instead of growing as the case is today in
FRY. Accusations that allegedly discriminatory laws exist are also
unfounded, no international body has ever indicated such a thing, and our
Mission insisted that allegedly discriminatory laws in FRY be specifically
listed. The reaction of the Yugoslav Mission further points out that the
evaluations on the condition of the ethnic minorities contained in the
Resolution are also unacceptable, because they rely on a series of
incorrect data, arbitrary evaluations and insinuations.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Borba, 1997-04-16
[02] CROATS AND MOSLEMS STILL DETERMINED TO ALTER ENTITY BORDERS
Major General Pero Colic - Chief of Staff of the Republic of Srpska Army,
remarked that the security of the Republic of Srpska is jeopardized,
because Bosnian Croats and Moslems have not given up the idea to alter the
borders of the Bosnian entities. "The Federation is a tight structure for
Croats and Moslems and they will inevitably split apart. However, they
believe that they can make such a division only if they exile the Serbs
from this land." - Gen. Colic said. He also added that "a map for the
division of territories" has already been made, and that "most of the
Republic of Srpska is to be annexed to the Federation". He further
specified that "the border is to be drawn from Bihac, through Cazin,
Kladusa, Novi Grad (Bosanski Novi), Kozarska Dubica (Bosanska Dubica),
Srbac, Gradacac and further on to Sarajevo." "Besides that, Moslems and
Croats have announced a massive return of their refugees to the Republic of
Srpska territories. We have information that they plan to infiltrate
refugees into RS in the zone of Sanski Most and Prijedor and in several
other localities." General Colic said.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Vecernje novosti, 1997-04-16
[03] THE LIST OF NON-PARDONED SERBS - MORE THAN A JURIDICAL DISGRACE
The latest list of 150 Serbs, accused of alleged war crimes by the Croatian
Government, hasn't been accompanied by a single document - report,
indictment or sentence - corroborating the juridical validity of the
Croatian legal system. These indictment-lists are best illustrated by the
case of one Ivanka Savic, who was 62 years old when - in 1992 - she was
arrested an imprisoned under the accusation of genocide against Croats.
Before she was sentenced, she was exchanged, and now - even though she is
almost 70 - she has been put on a new list of Serbs accused of war crimes.
In 1993 the Prosecutor accused her of taking part in liquidation of Croats
in Vukovar "in uniform and with arms", of "selecting which Croats are to be
exiled", of "selecting prisoners for forced labor" and "dispatching them to
concentration camps." According to the indictment, "she alone selected more
that 220 individuals of Croatian nationality, who were slaughtered at the
spot by Chetniks". As could expect, witnesses fully confirmed the "crimes"
committed by this old woman, without offering any evidence to corroborate
their statements. The old woman lives in Vukovar and said that she would
rather kill herself than face the atrocities in Croatian jails again.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-04-16
[04] CROATIA IS A LONG WAY FROM DEMOCRACY
"The lack of democracy in Croatia will not be recuperated even after the
latest elections", reads the commentary published by the "General
Einzeiger" a Bonn daily close to the German Foreign Office. Anticipating
the success of President Tudjman's party, the German commentator points out
that the monopoly of the ruling party - the Croatian Democratic Community
(HDZ) - will have a lethal effect on democratic development of the country.
The same author says that the manipulation of elections in the Srem-Baranja
Region "gives no hope that Croatia will in future cooperate with the
Serbian majority population in the region." The conclusion is that under
such conditions "Croatia's approximation to the European Union is
unthinkable". This is the first rigorous commentary of the German media on
the attempted electoral swindle in the Srem-Baranja Region.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Tanjug, 1997-04-16
[05] TEN THOUSAND VOTERS LOST
"All that has happened in the past three days can create serious doubts
about the fairness of the elections", said yesterday in Vukovar Dr.
Vojislav Stanimirovic - President of the Independent Democratic Serbian
Party (SDSS). He remarked that due to numerous shortcomings and objections
made by the Serbian side, Mr. Jacques Klein extended the voting for a day,
but the same situation occurred: irregularities and errors again. "The
correctness of the elections is one thing, and their validity is another.
This will have to be judged by the international community after reviewing
all our numerous remarks and objections. However, I am pleased by the
dignified attitude of the Serbian people who bore all this very stoically",
said Dr. Stanimirovic. Remarking that the elections were monitored by
representatives from various countries, he expressed particular
satisfaction with the fact that "for the first time after 5-6 years of
demonization, news that the Serbs are a civilized people and that they bore
all this without a single incident, circled the world." Dr. Stanimirovic
said that according to some estimates 85% of 101 thousand voters went to
the ballots. A certain number of people that lived here even before the war
were not issued personal documents, and a certain percentage of refugees as
well. Because of this, the Serbian side has been denied about 10.000
voters.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Politika Ekspres, 1997-04-16
[06] ELECTIONS IRREGULAR
Yesterday evening in Vukovar, the elections headquarters of the Independent
Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS), proposed to the party main board that the
complete analysis including all objections indicating that the Sunday
elections in the Srem-Baranja Region were basically irregular should be
submitted to the UN Transition Administration, so that UNTAES may make a
final decision about the regularity of the elections and bear the
consequences for the stand it takes. The elections headquarters also
congratulated the voters on their dignified attitude, which wasn't shaken
in spite of countless irregularities, difficulties and bureaucratic
harassment. After a thorough analysis it has been agreed that the Serbian
representatives were right when they insisted that the necessary conditions
had not been met for elections to be held on April 13th and that UNTAES
made a mistake in acting against UN Security Council Resolution 1037 and
letting the Croatian authorities to organize the elections. This is the
prime cause of the situation that the SDSS elections headquarters judged
irregular.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-04-16
[07] KOSMET IS AN INTERNAL ISSUE FOR SERBIA
The Superintendent of the Kosovo County - Mr. Milos Nesovic, accompanied by
his assistants, met yesterday in Pristina with the Ambassador of the Czech
Republic to FRY - H.E. Ivan Busniak. Once again the international community
stand that the status of Kosovo and Metohija is an internal issue for the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and that it ought to be settled
within its borders with the full respect of human and ethnic rights,
abiding by international standards. As it has been stressed, except for the
so-called "Republic of Kosovo", all other issues can be discussed and
negotiated at the same table. It has also been pointed out that the
implementation of the Agreement on Education -signed by Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova - constitutes the most important
objective which could help the solution of vital questions, bearing,
however, in mind that this is a purely humanitarian issue which must not be
abused for political purposes.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Politika, 1997-04-16
[08] CAR FACTORY REVITALIZATION
The realization of the plan produce 22.250 automobiles by the end of this
year will allow the Zastava car factory in Kragujevac to revitalize its own
production but also the that of some 200 sub contractors - mostly metal
processing firms in 60 different localities throughout Serbia. Thus the
entire industrial sector will acquire better starting position for
negotiations with foreign partners. This is one of the evaluations offered
at the press conference held yesterday by the Serbian Minister of Ownership
and Economic Transformation - Mr. Milan Beko, the Minister of Industry -
Mr. Zivota Cosic and representatives of the "Zastava" from Kragujevac.
According to Mr. Beko, "Zastava" provided a plan for the rehabilitation of
the production of automobiles, and the Government reacted promptly: it
evaluated positively the plan with the help of the Economy Institute
experts, and allocated financial means to endorse it. Minister Beko
stressed that after the monetary stabilization the Government will present
a reform package which will primarily rehabilitate production and
commercial potentials of our companies. After the adoption of the Law on
Ownership Transformation, numerous companies will transform autonomously,
whilst others - like "Zastava" - will have to restructure their personnel
and production program first. Observing that in the past years the Serbian
Government managed to preserve industrial production facilities, Minister
Cosic remarked that special measures will be used to help revitalize
production. Mr. Cosic underlined that along with the project for the
reconstruction of the "Zastava" car factory, the Government has also set up
a program for the renewal of agricultural machinery worth about 200 million
dinars, and that it will continue the realization of the barter
arrangements with China and with Russia which will give precedence to metal
processing companies. The construction of trans-Yugoslav roads, will open a
prospective not only for construction companies, but also for those making
vehicles and road building machinery. The Government has also taken steps
to alleviate the fiscal burden for the companies.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Politika, 1997-04-16
[09] DENYING FALSITIES
The Yugoslav Permanent Mission in Geneva, promptly denied the statement
made by the Bulgarian representative at the session of the UN Human Rights
Committee. He accused Yugoslavia for the "difficult position of the
Bulgarian ethnic minority". Regardless of the motivations for such a
statement, the Head of the Yugoslav Mission - Mr. Miroslav Milosevic
qualified it as a "flagrant example of distortion of facts, and a forged
and unfounded allegation." Using concrete figures which clearly toppled
what the Bulgarian representative said he informed the audience that in FRY
only a small Bulgarian ethnic community lives amounting to about 0.3% of
the overall population. In spite of their small number, ethnic Bulgarians
enjoy all the rights that the rest of the Yugoslav citizens have. All
elementary school pupils attend bi-lingual schools in Serbian and Bulgarian,
and the Belgrade University has a department for Bulgarian. Numerous
cultural institutions of the ethnic Bulgarian community include the "Hristo
Botev" amateur theater performing in Bulgarian and founded 106 years ago.
Several newspapers are published in Bulgarian and Serbian Broadcasting
Corporation has daily programs in Bulgarian. The denial also includes other
statistics and data clearly indicating that the Bulgarian representative in
Geneva used sheer fabrications in making his accusations.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-16 ; Borba, 1997-04-16
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