UPDATE NO. 29 - CROATIA LAUNCHES PR OFFENSIVE

UNCLASSIFIED SECTION 01 OF 03 ZAGREB 01795 SIPDIS USMISSION GENEVA SECDEF WASHDC AMEMBASSY BELGRADE NATO EU COLLECTIVE UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ZAGREB 001795 SIPDIS VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA; USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU DEPT FOR A/S HOLBROOKE AND DS/OP/EUR E.O. 12356: DECL: N/A TAGS: PHUM MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV HR SUBJECT: UPDATE NO. 29 - CROATIA LAUNCHES PR OFFENSIVE WITH BUS TOUR OF SECTOR WEST FOR DIP CORPS -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. ON MAY 8, EMBOFF VISITED THE SECTOR WEST TOWNS OF JASENOVAC, OKUCANI, PAKRAC, AND A DETENTION CENTER IN BJELOVAR WITH A GROUP OF ZAGREB BASED DIPLOMATS ORGANIZED BY THE MFA. THE CONDITION OF THESE TOWNS IS AS DESCRIBED IN OTHER REPORTING OF PREVIOUS EMBASSY TRIPS. THE SERBS WE SPOKE WITH WERE CLEARLY DISTRESSED BY THE DILEMMA THEY NOW FACE; WHETHER TO STAY IN CROATIA WHERE THEY FACE POTENTIALLY BLEAK ECONOMIC PROSPECTS AND LIKELY DISCRIMINATION, OR OPT FOR THE EVEN BLEAKER PROSPECTS AND CONTINUING CONFLICT WHICH AWAIT THEM IN BOSNIA OR THE REMAINING AREAS OF SERB-CONTROLLED CROATIA. END SUMMARY. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ZAGREB 01795 01 OF 03 091745Z ¶2. THE CROATIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ARRANGED A VISIT TO SECTOR WEST FOR THE ZAGREB DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON MONDAY, MAY 8, LED BY FOREIGN MINISTER MATE GRANIC. A MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON EXPLAINED THAT THE POPULATION IN THE SERB-HELD PORTION OF SECTOR WEST WAS ROUGHLY 43,000 PEOPLE BEFORE THE 1991 WAR. OF THIS FIGURE, AROUT 25,000 WERE SERBS, 16,000 CROATS, AND 2,000 "YUGOSLAVS." THE CROATS HAD ALL FLED (14,000 ARE CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN ZAGREB). OF THE SERB POPULATION, THE SPOKESPERSON CLAIMED THAT 15,000 STILL REMAINED IN THE SECTOR, WHILE 7,000 HAVE FLED IN THE RECENT FIGHTING. (COMMENT: THE DIFFERENCE IS PROBABLY ACCOUNTED FOR BY PEOPLE WHO EMIGRATED TO BOSNIA OR SERBIA DURING THE INTERVENING THREE YEARS.) -------------- JASENOVAC PRESERVED; OKUCANI DESERTED -------------- ¶3. THE VISIT BEGAN IN JASENOVAC, THE SITE OF THE WWII CONCENTRATION CAMP. THE MONUMENT TO THOSE WHO HAD PERISHED THERE OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO (MOSTLY SERBS) REMAINED UNTOUCHED, AS DID THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. THE NEARBY CATHOLIC CHURCH, IN STARK CONTRAST, WAS BADLY DAMAGED ALTHOUGH THE VAULTED ROOF REMAINED INTACT AND WE WERE TOLD MASS WOULD BE CELEBRATED THERE THE FOLLOWING DAY. ¶4. IN OKUCANI, THE MAJOR POPULATION CENTER IN THE SERB- HELD PART OF THE SECTOR, THERE WERE SIGNS OF RECENT DAMAGE TO THE HOUSING AND OTHER STRUCTURES IN THE CITY. MOST OF UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ZAGREB 01795 01 OF 03 091745Z THE HOUSES APPEARED DESERTED EXCEPT FOR STRAY CHICKENS AND PIGS. THE GROUP VISITED THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, WHICH WAS INTACT EXCEPT FOR SOME BROKEN WINDOWS. SILVER FRAMED ICONS, BIBLES AND OTHER VALUABLE RELIGIOUS ARTICLES WERE UNDISTURBED. IT APPEARED THAT THE PRIEST MIGHT HAVE FLED WITHOUT TIME ENOUGH TO GO TO THE CHURCH AND COLLECT THOSE THINGS MOST PRECIOUS TO HIM. ¶5. A NUMBER OF CROATIAN OFFICIALS MET US IN THE TOWN CENTER. WE WERE TOLD THAT, OF A POPULATION OF 2,000 SERBS BEFORE THE CROATIAN ACTION, ONLY A FEW HUNDRED REMAINED. NUMEROUS GROUPS OF MUNICIPAL WORKERS IN BLUE COATS FROM NEARBY TOWNS WERE ON THE SCENE TO HELP IN THE CLEAN-UP EFFORT. ZAGREBACKA BANKA HAD OPENED A BRANCH OFFICE IN THE CENTER OF THE TOWN. SIGNS HAD ALREADY BEEN POSTED AT THE TOWN HALL FOR A NUMBER OF CROATIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICES INCLUDING THE OFFICE FOR PENSIONS AND SOCIAL WELFARE AND THE OFFICE FOR TAX COLLECTION. ¶6. THERE WERE SIGNS OF POSSIBLE LOOTING. PILES OF CLOTHING COULD BE SEEN OUTSIDE SOME HOUSES, SUGGESTING EITHER THAT LOOTING HAD TAKEN PLACE OR THAT OCCUPANTS HAD UNCLASSIFIED NNNNPTQ5777 UNCLASSIFIED PTQ5777 PAGE 01 ZAGREB 01795 02 OF 03 091828Z ACTION EUR-01 INFO LOG-00 AID-00 AMAD-01 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 OASY-00 DOEE-00 DS-00 EB-01 FBIE-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-10 LAB-01 L-01 ADS-00 M-00 NSAE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 PA-02 PM-00 PRS-01 P-01 SCT-00 SP-00 SR-00 SS-00 STR-01 TRSE-00 T-00 USIE-00 SNIS-00 NISC-01 PMB-00 DSCC-00 PRME-01 PRMC-01 DRL-09 G-00 /036W -------------- C3CB8A 091829Z /38 P 091844Z MAY 95 FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5704 INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY HQ JTF PP NAPLES IT//CA/POLAD// JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-PMA/J21// JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK USNMR SHAPE BE//POLAD// SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// USCINCEUR VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ3/ECJ4/ECJ5// HQUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE//J3/J4/J5// CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK//N2/N22// COM SIXTHFLT//N2// NSC WASHDC AMCONSUL MUNICH USLO SKOPJE AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA CINCUSAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//DO/LG/XP/IN// AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST USMISSION USVIENNA UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ZAGREB 01795 02 OF 03 091828Z USMISSION GENEVA SECDEF WASHDC AMEMBASSY BELGRADE NATO EU COLLECTIVE UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 03 ZAGREB 001795 SIPDIS VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA; USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU DEPT FOR A/S HOLBROOKE AND DS/OP/EUR E.O. 12356: DECL: N/A TAGS: PHUM MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV HR SUBJECT: UPDATE NO. 29 - CROATIA LAUNCHES PR OFFENSIVE WITH BUS TOUR OF SECTOR WEST FOR DIP CORPS DEPARTED HURRIEDLY (OR BOTH). HERE AND THERE WERE WAGONS LOADED WITH AN ASSORTMENT OF WHAT APPEARED TO BE MOSTLY PERISHABLE ITEMS. AS THE BUS DROVE BY A SMALL GROCERY STORE, WE SAW CROATIAN MILITIA TAKING BOXES OUT AND PUTTING THEM IN A PICKUP. THERE WERE NO CLEAR SIGNS, HOWEVER, THAT LOOTING HAD BEEN SYSTEMATIC OR ON A WIDE SCALE. -------------- UNCERTAINTY REIGNS IN PAKRAC -------------- ¶7. THE FORMERLY SERB-CONTROLLED SIDE OF PAKRAC TOWNSHIP, UNLIKE OKUCANI, IS A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM THE BOSNIAN BORDER, AND PEOPLE HAD LITTLE OPPORTUNITY TO FLEE. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ZAGREB 01795 02 OF 03 091828Z ROUGHLY 3,000 REMAINED IN AND AROUND THE TOWN. DAMAGE WAS LIGHT. THE SERB MILITIA TRAPPED IN THIS AREA SURRENDERED WITHOUT MUCH OF A FIGHT, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE REPORTS OF ARMED SERBS STILL HOLED UP IN THE SURROUNDING HILLS. -------------- SOME INDIVIDUAL CASES -------------- ¶8. WE WERE ABLE TO SPEAK PRIVATELY WITH THE (MOSTLY FEMALE) SERBS WE ENCOUNTERED. NO ONE REPORTED ANY LOOTING OR MISTREATMENT. THEY WERE CONCERNED FOR THEIR MEN, WHO HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY TO NEARBY BJELOVAR. THERE WAS ALSO OBVIOUS CONCERN OVER WHAT THE FUTURE HELD IN STORE FOR THEM. THE GOC HAD OPENED AN OFFICE THAT DAY TO REGISTER THOSE WISHING TO APPLY FOR CROATIAN CITIZENSHIP AND CLAIMED THAT 100 HAD ALREADY DONE SO. NEVERTHELESS, NO ONE EMBOFF SPOKE TO HAD MADE A DECISION TO TAKE THAT STEP. - ¶9. MANY HAD FLED TO THE AREA FROM THE CROATIAN CONTROLLED PART OF THE SECTOR DURING THE 1991 WAR. AN ELDERLY WOMAN FROM PAKRAC SAID THAT ALTHOUGH SHE HAD BEEN OFFERED THE CHANCE TO RETURN NOW, SHE HAD NO INTENTION OF DOING SO SINCE HER HOUSE HAD BEEN DESTROYED AND SHE HAD NOWHERE TO LIVE. SHE INDICATED SHE WOULD LIKE TO GO TO BOSNIA IF GIVEN THE CHANCE. ¶10. A YOUNG MAN WHO HAD FLED TO THE AREA FROM DARUVAR IN 1991 HAD BEEN ROUNDED UP WHEN THE CROATIAN FORCES ARRIVED AND SENT TO BJELOVAR. HE HAD BEEN RELEASED THE NIGHT BEFORE AS PART OF A GROUP OF 49 THAT HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ZAGREB 01795 02 OF 03 091828Z RETURN. ALTHOUGH HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONDITION OF HIS HOME IN DARUVAR HE SAID HE HAD NO INTENTION OF RETURNING THERE, WHERE HE FELT HE WOULD HAVE NO JOB PROSPECTS AND VERY POSSIBLY FACE THE ILL WILL OF HIS FORMER CROATIAN NEIGHBORS. ¶11. ANOTHER YOUNG MAN OF MILITARY AGE HAD ALSO RECENTLY BEEN RELEASED FROM THE DETENTION CENTER IN NEARBY BJELOVAR. HE WAS ORIGINALLY FROM PAKRAC. HIS MOTHER HAD LEFT FOR BOSNIA THREE YEARS EARLIER. HE CANDIDLY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HE HAD BEEN ON ACTIVE MILITARY DUTY FOR THE "RSK" MILITIA SINCE THAT TIME. HIS RECORD WAS APPARENTLY NO IMPEDIMENT TO HIS RELEASE. -------------- "PLEASE RELEASE ME" -------------- ¶12. THE DETEMTION CENTER IN BJELOVAR IS LOCATED IN A SPORTS HALL. WE WERE TOLD THAT, TO DATE, THE CROATS HAD DETAINED 1,475 SERBS IN VARIOUS SITES, OF WHOM 554 HAD BEEN RELEASED, 105 WERE UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR WAR UNCLASSIFIED NNNNPTQ5779 UNCLASSIFIED PTQ5779 PAGE 01 ZAGREB 01795 03 OF 03 091829Z ACTION EUR-01 INFO LOG-00 AID-00 AMAD-01 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 OASY-00 DOEE-00 DS-00 EB-01 FBIE-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-10 LAB-01 L-01 ADS-00 M-00 NSAE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 PA-02 PM-00 PRS-01 P-01 SCT-00 SP-00 SR-00 SS-00 STR-01 TRSE-00 T-00 USIE-00 SNIS-00 NISC-01 PMB-00 DSCC-00 PRME-01 PRMC-01 DRL-09 G-00 /036W -------------- C3CB92 091829Z /38 P 091844Z MAY 95 FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5705 INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY HQ JTF PP NAPLES IT//CA/POLAD// JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-PMA/J21// JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK USNMR SHAPE BE//POLAD// SECDEF WASHDC//ISA/ISP// USCINCEUR VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ3/ECJ4/ECJ5// HQUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE//J3/J4/J5// CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK//N2/N22// COM SIXTHFLT//N2// NSC WASHDC AMCONSUL MUNICH USLO SKOPJE AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA CINCUSAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//DO/LG/XP/IN// AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST USMISSION USVIENNA UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ZAGREB 01795 03 OF 03 091829Z USMISSION GENEVA SECDEF WASHDC AMEMBASSY BELGRADE NATO EU COLLECTIVE UNCLAS SECTION 03 OF 03 ZAGREB 001795 SIPDIS VIENNA ALSO FOR BOSNIA; USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU DEPT FOR A/S HOLBROOKE AND DS/OP/EUR E.O. 12356: DECL: N/A TAGS: PHUM MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV MOPS PGOV HR SUBJECT: UPDATE NO. 29 - CROATIA LAUNCHES PR OFFENSIVE WITH BUS TOUR OF SECTOR WEST FOR DIP CORPS CRIMES, AND 816 HAD YET TO BE QUESTIONED. IN BJELOVAR, BEFORE OUR ARRIVAL, 187 HAD ALREADY BEEN RELEASED. THE CENTER STILL CONTAINED 469 MEN, SOME OF WHOM WERE ELDERLY BUT MOST LOOKED TO BE OF MILITARY AGE. ¶13. TO THE RADIO STRAINS OF TOM JONES SINGING "PLEASE RELEASE ME," THE GROUP BROKE UP TO SPEAK PRIVATELY WITH THE PRISONERS. NONE OF THE PRISONERS TO WHOM EMBOFF SPOKE REPORTED ANY MISTREATMENT. ICRC HAD ALREADY VISITED AND MANY HAD SENT MESSAGES TO THEIR LOVED ONES. EMBOFF SPOKE TO A MAN FROM PAKRAC WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN INTERVIEWED BY THE CROATS. IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHY HE WAS STILL IN BJELOVAR WHEN SEVERAL OTHER MEN FROM PAKRAC HAD ALREADY BEEN ALLOWED TO RETURN. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ZAGREB 01795 03 OF 03 091829Z ¶14. SEVERAL OF THE MEN WERE SERBS FROM BOSNIA OR SERBIA WHO WERE PRESUMABLY IN THE "RSK" TO HELP DEFEND IT. MINISTER GRANIC HAD PREVIOUSLY TOLD THE GROUP THAT A NUMBER OF "WAR CRIMINALS" FROM SERBIA WERE AMO NG THOSE DETAINED, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF ARKAN'S "WHITE EAGLES." WE WERE NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHETHER ANY INDIVIDUALS WERE BEING HELD SEPARATELY FROM THE MAIN GROUP. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶15. WHILE THIS MFA-ORGANIZED TOUR SERVED US LARGELY TO CONFIRM IMPRESSIONS WE HAD OBTAINED IN THREE EARLIER EMBASSY VISITS TO WESTERN SLAVONIA, IT WAS PROBABLY VALUABLE FOR OTHERS IN THE DIP CORPS WHO WERE MAKING THEIR FIRST TRIP. FROM THE GOC POINT OF VIEW, THIS FIRST EFFORT TO GIVE FOREIGN MISSIONS A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT THE AREA WILL DOUBTLESS PAY DIVIDENDS -- AS IT IS INTENDED TO -- IN THE FORM OF REPORTS THAT WILL SERVE TO REASSURE MANY KEY GOVERNMENTS THAT EARLY UN REPORTS OF ATROCITIES WERE EXAGGERATED. GALBRAITH UNCLASSIFIED NNNN