US embassy cable - 05ZAGREB1304

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE - BELL, BENEDICT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, HR, War Crimes 
SUBJECT: STORM ANNIVERSARY: DEFENDING OPERATION, 
ACKNOWLEDGING CRIMES 
 
REF: BELGRADE 1489 
 
1. SUMMARY AND COMMENT: GoC officials, members of parliament, 
military leaders, war veterans, and the Croatian public 
marked the tenth anniversary of Operation Storm, the military 
action that liberated Serb-held territory in the so-called 
"Republika Srbska Krajina" (RSK), in ceremonies across the 
country on August 5.  At the primary GoC commemoration in 
Knin, former capital of the RSK, the President, Prime 
Minister, and Speaker of Parliament delivered messages of 
patriotism to an enthusiastic domestic audience and defended 
the legitimacy of the operation to an international audience, 
both in Serbia (reftel) and in the International Criminal 
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which many 
Croatians believe has criminalized Storm in its indictments. 
 
2. All three leaders acknowledged that crimes were committed 
in Storm's wake and insisted that those responsible must and 
will be prosecuted.  President Stjepan Mesic, Croatia's 
loudest voice in support of war crimes prosecution,  answered 
boos and chants of "Ante, Ante" (referring to ICTY fugitive 
Ante Gotovina) from parts of the crowd of 5,000 by saying 
that no protest and no individual will stop Croatia from 
implementing the law and continuing on its path toward 
stability, democracy, and tolerance.  Most radicals attended 
an alternate event in nearby Cavoglave, organized by a group 
of retired generals protesting the GoC's cooperation with the 
Hague Tribunal.  In general, foreign diplomats, including 
Post staff, avoided all Storm commemorations. 
 
3. While recognition of war crimes was carefully limited to 
the aftermath of Operation Storm, an open call for their 
prosecution from the highest levels of leadership on such a 
highly-symbolic day for Croatians shows a new level of 
political commitment on the part of Zagreb.  END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT. 
 
STORM: "PURE AS A TEARDROP" 
--------------------------- 
 
4. President Mesic, PM Ivo Sanader, and Speaker of Parliament 
Vladimir Seks were all effusive in their praise for the 
magnificence and heroism of Operation Storm, which they 
defended as justified, irreproachable, and clean.  Seks took 
the most nationalistic line, saying Storm ended a four-year 
reign of terror of the criminal RSK.  He put blame for the 
exodus of Serb civilians squarely on then-Serbian President 
Slobodan Milosevic and his team, who Seks said encouraged 
local Serbs to resist their own country only to later let 
them down.  The GoC is not responsible, he said, but rather 
those who prepared Croatian Serbs to leave in an organized 
fashion. 
 
5. Sanader emphasized that the purpose of Storm was solely to 
liberate Croatian territory, perhaps responding to earlier 
statements from Serbian President Tadic and PM Kostunica.  He 
said returning Serb refugees know this to be true, and no one 
should be allowed to distort the truth about Croatia's 
"Homeland War" and Operation Storm.  The brilliance of Storm, 
he stressed, cannot be overshadowed by events that followed. 
 
 
. . . TARNISHED BY INJUSTICE 
---------------------------- 
 
6. Sanader in particular called for separation of Storm from 
the "tragic events, criminal acts, and injustice done against 
Croatian Serbs before legal order was fully established."  He 
pointed out that the GoC is addressing these incidents and 
extending a hand of reconciliation to establish new relations 
in those areas. 
 
7. Mesic stated that the country's future requires 
acknowledgement that in the war there were those who fought 
not for Croatia but for their own interests and who destroyed 
what should not have been destroyed.  Those who violated the 
laws of war and committed crimes against humanity must be 
held responsible, he added.  Croatia is fair enough and brave 
enough to admit what was wrong in its past and seek 
forgiveness from those who were exposed to evil in its name, 
Mesic concluded. 
DELAWIE 
 
 
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