US embassy cable - 95ZAGREB4601

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 004601 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL OSCE 
 
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E.O. 12958:  DECL: 11/17/00 
TAGS: War Crimes 
SUBJECT:  CROATIAN COURTS CONVICT "RSK" SERBS OF WAR 
          CRIMES 
 
 
1.  (U)  CLASSIFIED BY ROBERT P. FINN, CHARGE, 1.5 (D). 
 
2.  (C)  IN THE PAST WEEK, CIVILIAN AND MILITARY COURTS IN 
CROATIA HAVE SENTENCED MANY SERBS TO PRISON FOR ARMED 
REBELLION AND WAR CRIMES COMMITTED DURING THE PAST FOUR 
YEARS.  UNCRO IS ORGANIZING A TASK FORCE WITH OTHER UN 
AGENCIES AND INTERESTED INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO 
OBSERVE THESE TRIALS AND MONITOR THE LEGAL AND HUMAN 
RIGHTS OF THE DETAINED.  POLOFF WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE 
MONITORING.  MANY SERBS ON TRIAL ARE NOT REPRESENTED BY A 
LAWYER, AND THOSE WITH COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL HAVE 
USUALLY MET THEIR LAWYERS ONLY ONCE OR TWICE, OFTEN ONLY 
AT THE COURT INVESTIGATIVE HEARINGS.  UNCRO HAS REQUESTED 
THAT THE GOC EXTEND THE GENERAL AMNESTY FOR ARMED 
REBELLION FROM THE CURRENT LIMIT OF MAY 10, 1995 TO COVER 
THE AUGUST EVENTS.  UN OFFICIALS TELL US THAT THE GOC HAS 
BEEN UNRESPONSIVE SO FAR.  THE PARLIAMENT RECENTLY 
EXTENDED THE QUESTIONING PERIOD UNDER WHICH MEN CAN BE 
DETAINED WITHOUT CHARGES FROM THREE TO SIX MONTHS, I.E. TO 
FEBRUARY, 1996.  AMONG OTHER PROBLEMS, THIS EXTENSION 
MEANS THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS CANNOT FILE TO RECOVER THEIR 
PROPERTY, WHICH THEY MUST DO BY DECEMBER 4 UNDER THE 
CURRENT LAW. 
 
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IN ABSENTIA CONVICTIONS OF EAST SLAVONIA SERBS 
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3.  (U)  ON NOVEMBER 14, THE PARISH COURT IN OSIJEK 
CONVICTED, IN ABSENTIA, EIGHT SERBS FROM TENJE (IN EASTERN 
SLAVONIA) OF "GENOCIDE," ISSUING SENTENCES BETWEEN 10 AND 
15 YEARS IN LENGTH.  THE SERBS WERE ACCUSED OF COMMITTING 
CRIMES AGAINST THE CROAT AND OTHER MINORITY CIVILIAN 
POPULATION OF TENJE IN 1991-1992.  THE LIST OF CRIMES 
INCLUDED ORGANIZING AND IMPLEMENTING TERROR CAMPAIGNS AND 
FORCED LABOR BRIGADES, LIMITING CIVILIAN FREEDOM OF 
MOVEMENT, MAKING DEATH THREATS, LOOTING, AND MINING AND 
DESTROYING PROPERTY.  THE COURT CLAIMED THAT, AS A RESULT 
OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THESE EIGHT SERBS, 24 CROATS WERE 
KILLED AND 98 WERE EXPELLED FROM THE TERRITORY.  GORAN 
HADZIC (A NEGOTIATOR IN THE EASTERN SLAVONIA PEACE 
AGREEMENT), WAS TO BE TRIED WITH THIS GROUP OF EIGHT, BUT 
THE JUDGE DECIDED TO TRY HIS CASE SEPARATELY AT THE LAST 
MINUTE. 
 
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KRAJINA: THE KNIN GROUP 
----------------------- 
 
4.  (U)  ON NOVEMBER 15, THE KARLOVAC MILITARY COURT LN 
GOSPIC CONVICTED ELEVEN KRAJINA SERBS OF ARMED REBELLION 
AGAINST THE CROATIAN STATE, SENTENCING THEM TO 2.5 TO 4 
YEARS IN PRISON.  TWO INDIVIDUALS WERE ACQUITTED AND 
RELEASED.  ALTHOUGH DETAINED SINCE LAST AUGUST, THE 13 
WERE CHARGED AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS HAD STARTED ONLY TWO 
DAYS PREVIOUSLY. 
 
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5.  (U)  ON NOVEMBER 16, THE SAME COURT SENTENCED A SECOND 
GROUP OF TWELVE DETAINEES TO 3 TO 6,#QV IN PRISON FOR 
SIMILAR CHARGES.  TWO HAD JOINED THE REBEL FORCES IN 1991 
AND HAD FOUGHT IN THE "ARSK" THROUGHOUT THE WAR.  THE 
OTHER 10 HAD LEFT THE OCCUPIED AREAS BETWEEN 1991-1993 FOR 
SERBIA, HAD BEEN MOBILIZED IN SERBIA DURING THE PAST 
SUMMER, AND WERE RETURNED TO SECTORS NORTH AND SOUTH TO 
FIGHT.  ALL 12 WERE BORN IN CROATIA.  ANOTHER 47 SERBS 
REMAIN IN THE GOSPIC JAIL UNDER "INVESTIGATIVE 
PROCEEDINGS."  THEY WILL BE CHARGED AND TRIED NEXT WEEK. 
 
6.  (U)  ON NOVEMBER 16, THE PARISH COURT IN ZADAR STARTED 
TRIAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST 25 INDIVIDUALS FOR WAR CRIMES 
COMMITTED IN SKABRNJA IN 1991.  ONLY ONE MAN IS IN 
CUSTODY.  THE OTHER 24 ARE BEING TRIED IN ABSENTIA.  AT 
LEAST TWO WOMEN ARE AMONG THE GROUP.  A 19-YEAR-OLD 
WITNESS TESTIFIED THAT ON NOVEMBER 19, 1991, YUGOSLAV ARMY 
(JNA) SERBS SHOT AND SLAUGHTERED SEVERAL OF HIS RELATIVES 
AND NEIGHBORS AFTER THEIR BASEMENT HIDING PLACE HAD BEEN 
DISCOVERED.  HE AND OTHERS WERE TAKEN TO NEARBY VILLAGES 
WHERE THEY WERE HELD IN A FREEZER AND TORTURED UNTIL SOME 
NON-SERB JNA SOLDIERS SAVED THEIR LIVES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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PAGE 01        ZAGREB  04601  02 OF 02  171621Z 
ACTION EUR-01 
 
INFO  LOG-00   AID-00   AMAD-01  CIAE-00  SMEC-00  OASY-00  SRPP-00 
      EB-01    FBIE-00  H-01     TEDE-00  INR-00   IO-00    LAB-01 
      L-01     ADS-00   M-00     NSAE-00  OIC-02   OMB-01   PA-01 
      PM-00    PRS-01   P-00     SCT-00   SP-00    SS-00    STR-00 
      TRSE-00  T-00     USIE-00  PMB-00   PRM-10   PRME-01  PRMC-01 
      DRL-09   G-00       /032W 
                  ------------------00C11E  171621Z /38 
P 171506Z NOV 95 
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8056 
INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
NSC WASHDC 
DIA WASHDC 
USOFFICE PROXIMITY TALKS 
SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// 
JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-5PMA/J21// 
JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK 
AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 
AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 
USMISSION GENEVA 
USMISSION USVIENNA 
 
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 ZAGREB 004601 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL OSCE 
 
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PAGE 02        ZAGREB  04601  02 OF 02  171621Z 
E.O. 12958:  DECL: 11/17/00 
TAGS:  PHUM PGOV HR 
SUBJECT:  CROATIAN COURTS CONVICT "RSK" SERBS OF WAR 
          CRIMES 
 
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ARRESTEES FROM WESTERN SLAVONIA 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C)  THE SISAK PARISH COURT STARTED TRIAL PROCEEDINGS 
AGAINST FIVE SERBS NOVEMBER 16 ACCUSED OF COMMITTING 
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.  SPECIFIC 
CHARGES INCLUDE MURDER, LOOTING, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, 
AND ORDERING EXPULSIONS.  ALL FIVE WERE ARRESTED DURING 
THE MAY OFFENSIVE ON SECTOR WEST.  (COMMENT:  ONE SOURCE 
WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE SPOKEN TO SOME OF THESE FIVE MEN SAYS 
THEY ARE "GUILTY AS HELL" AND EVEN ADMIT IT TO 
INTERLOCUTORS THEY TRUST.  THE SAME CONTACT, HOWEVER, 
DISTINGUISHES THESE FIVE FROM THE KNIN DETAINEES WHOSE 
"ONLY CRIME WAS JUST BEING IN THE RSK AND OF MILITARY 
AGE."  END COMMENT.) 
 
8.  (U)  MORE THAN SIX MONTHS AFTER THE CROATIAN OFFENSIVE 
IN WESTERN SLAVONIA, UNCRO OFFICIALS KNOW OF 66 CASES OF 
SERBS FROM SECTOR WEST WHO ARE STILL UNDER "INVESTIGATIVE 
PROCEEDINGS" AND WAITING TO BE CHARGED WITH A CRIME.  MOST 
OF THESE MEN ARE LOCATED IN POZEGA, BJELOVAR, AND 
VARAZDIN.  THE OFFICIALS EXPRESSED CONCERN FOR THE MANNER 
IN WHICH THE PROCEEDINGS AND TRIALS ARE BEING CONDUCTED. 
THEY ESTIMATE THAT TWO-THIRDS OF THE 120-ODD KRAJINA SERBS 
DETAINED BY THE CROATIAN POLICE DO NOT HAVE ADEQUATE LEGAL 
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REPRESENTATION BY ANY INTERNATIONAL STANDARD. 
 
9.  (U)  SARAJEVO MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. 
 
FINN 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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