ZAGREB ACTIVITY REPORT - AUGUST 1

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000579 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KCRM KHDP MASS MARR PARM HR SUBJECT: ZAGREB ACTIVITY REPORT - AUGUST 1 REF: ZAGREB 00576 ¶1. (U) WITNESS SUPPORT PROJECT ACHIEVING SUCCESS: In a recent meeting, UNDP officials announced that their pilot program to provide witness support services in three county courts and the Zagreb municipal court assisted more than 100 witnesses in serious crimes trials during its first three months of operation. UNDP also reports that several other courts are expressing interest in the program. The program funds positions for an administrator and deputy in each court as well as training, while the courts provide waiting rooms and offices. Beginning in October 2009, the eight positions will be fully funded by Ministry of Justice. The UNDP program for courts complements USG efforts through the ICITAP program to develop witness support programs for police and prosecutors. ¶2. (SBU) ITF RELYING ON US FUNDS AS DEMINING DONATIONS DECLINE: According to the coordinator in Croatia for the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF),donors for Croatian demining efforts are quickly evaporating despite large areas of the country still waiting to be demined. She cited Croatia's development, highlighted by its NATO membership and expected EU accession, as the main reasons why potential donors are reluctant to fund demining projects in Croatia, focusing instead on neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. The coordinator also reported that the United States continues to be ITFs largest donor, providing more than 18 million USD to date for demining programs in Croatia. In the first half of 2008, USG-funded projects totaling more than 1.2 million USD, cleared landmines from 525,000 square meters of homes, yards, and arable land. ¶3. (U) SAKIC FUNERAL FALLOUT: Reaction to the July 24 funeral service of former Jasenovac concentration camp commander Dinko Sakic continued to receive media attention this week. The priest who led the service, Vjekoslav Lasic, has a history of glorifying Croatia's Ustasha regime. According to media reports, the priest said "I am proud to have seen my friend Dinko Sakic laid out in his Ustasha uniform, and Croatia and our people must be proud to have had him." The priest's comments led Ephraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who played a role in bringing Sakic to trial in Croatia, to call on President Mesic to give a "clear and unequivocal reminder that Dinko Sakic was a mass murderer... and that one of Croatia's greatest achievements was his prosecution and punishment." On July 27, Mesic's office released a statement saying that the president has repeatedly deplored all crimes committed by the Ustasha regime and branded it as a criminal regime. Mesic called on the government to take appropriate measures to prevent Sakic's funeral from damaging Croatia's reputation and from influencing Croatia's youth. A GOC spokesman said the government agrees with the president's statement but added that the funeral was a family matter in which the government bore no responsibility. He added that any decision on pursuing charges against those who spoke at the funeral is left to the State Prosecutor's office. ¶4. (U) SERBIA WILL NOT SEND AMBASSADOR BACK TO CROATIA: On August 1, Croatian daily Vecernji list reported on Serbia's decision to continue to withhold its ambassador to Croatia while sending its ambassadors back to the European Union countries which recognized Kosovo. Citing "domestic political sources," Vecernji said that Serbia is doing this for internal political reasons because it needs "an enemy to flex its muscles on." A Croatian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Vecernji that Croatia expects the Serbian ambassador to return to Croatia soon, as doing so would show that Serbia understands that a good relationship between the two neighbors contributes to peace and stability in South-Eastern Europe. ¶5. (U) CROATIA SIGNS ARRANGEMENT FOR MANPADS DESTRUCTION WITH USG: On July 30 Minister of Defense Vukelic and Ambassador Bradtke signed an implementing arrangement to provide one million dollars of USG assistance for the destruction of 929 SA 7 Strela missiles and to conduct security site upgrades. Please see ZAGREB 00576 for more information. Walker