Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
95ZAGREB2227
1995-06-09 12:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Zagreb
Cable title:
SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 002227
SIPDIS
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
E.O. 12356: DECL: 5/10/1996
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
TAGS:
SUBJECT: SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR
CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 002227
SIPDIS
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
E.O. 12356: DECL: 5/10/1996
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
TAGS:
SUBJECT: SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR
CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.
2. POLOFFS MET WITH VELJKO DZAKULA AT HIS REQUEST JUNE 6.
HE WANTED TO SUGGEST CONCRETE MEASURES TO BEGIN THE
SERIOUS REINTEGRATION OF THE REMAINING SERB AND RETURNING
CROAT COMMUNITIES OF WESTERN SLAVONIA. DZAKULA ESTIMATED
THAT BETWEEN 800 TO 1000 SERBS WERE STILL LIVING IN PAKRAC
COUNTY AND ANOTHER 200 REMAINED IN OKUCANI. HE EMPHASIZED
THAT THIS REMAINING SERB POPULATION WAS ATTEMPTING TO
REORGANIZE THEIR LIVES UNDER A CROAT-CONTROLLED SYSTEM,
BUT THE CROATIANS HAD SHOWED LITTLE GOODWILL SO FAR TOWARD
KEEPING THE SERBIAN POPULATION IN THE AREA. HIGH-LEVEL
GOC OFFICIALS HAD PROMISED DZAKULA TO WORK TOWARDS
ENCOURAGING SERBS TO RETURN FROM BOSNIA AND SECTOR EAST,
HE SAID, BUT LITTLE HAD COME OF THESE TALKS. THE MINISTRY
OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (MUP) WAS MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR
MILITARY-AGE MEN TO GET CITIZENSHIP PAPERS (DOMOVNICA),
ALTHOUGH WOMEN AND ELDERLY HAD RECEIVED THEM. DZAKULA HAD
BEEN OFFERED A DOMOVNICA, BUT REFUSED TO ACCEPT ONE UNTIL
EVERY SERB IN THE COUNTY RECEIVED HIS. DAILY CIVIL LIFE
WAS STILL A PROBLEM. ABOUT 180 MEN WERE STILL JAILED
AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR ARMED REBELLION EVEN THOUGH AN
AMNESTY HAD BEEN PROCLAIMED AND GOC OFFICIALS HAD PROMISED
TO RELEASE THEM. EVEN MUNDANE THINGS SUCH AS GATHERING
WOOD FOR FUEL HAD BECOME A PROBLEM.
3. DZAKULA IDENTIFIED THREE PRECONDITIONS WHICH WOULD
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
ENCOURAGE THE DISPLACED TO RETURN TO WESTERN SLAVONIA.
THE AMNESTY DECLARED BY THE GOC HAD TO BE COMPLIED WITH
AND EVEN BROADENED TO INCLUDE NOT ONLY ARMED REBELLION,
BUT ALSO ORGANIZING, SALE OF WEAPONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
CHARGES. ONLY THOSE SERBS AND CROATS CHARGED WITH WAR
CRIMES SHOULD NOT BE PARDONED. THE REMAINING PRISONERS IN
CROAT JAILS HAD TO BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY IF THERE WERE
NO PENDING WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST THEM. SECOND, A
MORATORIUM MUST BE IMPOSED ON THE DRAFTING AND
MOBILIZATION INTO THE CROATIAN ARMY OF SERBS FROM WEST
SLAVONIA. SERBS DISPLACED TO BANJA LUKA AND ELSEWHERE
MUST BE MADE TO FEEL THEY WOULD RETURN FROM AN AREA OF WAR
TO AN AREA OF PEACE IN WESTERN SLAVONIA.
4. THIRD, THE POLITICAL COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO BE WORKED OUT TO BALANCE THE TWO
POPULATIONS. THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF SO MANY POLICE TO
PROTECT THE POPULATION WAS ENCOURAGING BUT THE POLICE
FORCE NEEDED TO BE REORGANIZED ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL
CENSUS OF 1991. WHILE DZAKULA ACKNOWLEDGED THE SMALL
REMAINING POPULATION OF SERBS IN THE AREA MADE
REPRESENTATION PROPORTIONAL TO THE 1991 CENSUS FIGURES
IMPOSSIBLE IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, HE CLAIMED THAT THERE
WERE SEVERAL QUALIFIED SERBIAN POLICEMEN IN THE REGION WHO
WISHED TO RETURN TO THEIR PREVIOUS JOBS. ON JUNE 7, THE
GOC HAD ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF A COMMISSION TO MONITOR
THE PEACEFUL REINTEGRATION OF THE PAKRAC AND LIPIK
COMMUNITIES. THIS COMMITTEE WOULD CONSIST OF FIVE
MEMBERS, TWO OF WHICH WOULD ALWAYS BE SERBS, INCLUDING THE
COMMITTEE'S PRESIDENT. ALTHOUGH SUPPORTIVE OF CREATING
JOINT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES, DZAKULA INSISTED THAT
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
THE SERBS MUST HAVE A SAY IN THE CREATION OF SUCH
STRUCTURES, AND NOT HAVE THEM IMPOSED. HE CRITICIZED THE
FACT THAT THE GOC-PROPOSED BODY WOULD HAVE A CROAT
MAJORITY, AND THAT IT WOULD ONLY HAVE ADVISORY DUTIES,
WITH ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDENT ON ACTION BY THE
OVERWHELMINGLY CROAT COUNTY COUNCIL.
5. DZAKULA SUGGESTED SEVERAL CONCRETE CONFIDENCE-BUILDING
MEASURES THAT MI
GHT CREATE GOODWILL BETWEEN THE LOCAL SERB
POPULATION AND RETURNING CROATS. A CONVOY SHOULD BE
ORGANIZED TO TRANSPORT OVER ONE HUNDRED SERBS DISPLACED IN
1991 TO SEE THEIR DESTROYED HOMES IN THE NORTHERN, CROAT-
CONTROLLED AREA OF FORMER SECTOR WEST. IMMEDIATE CREDITS
TO REBUILD HOMES NEEDED TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO BOTH
CROATS AND SERBS IN THE REGION. SUCH FUNDING OUGHT TO BE
DONE ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, HE SUGGESTED, SINCE THE
GOC HAD SUPPLIED NO SUCH CREDITS TO SERBS SO FAR. A THIRD
SUGGESTION FOCUSED ON REBUILDING THE ECONOMIC BASIS FOR
THE LOCAL PEOPLE. MANY LOCALS IN THIS AGRICULTURAL
COMMUNITY WHO HAD REMAINED HAD SOLD THEIR LIVESTOCK AND
FARM EQUIPMENT IN THE PAST MONTH TO CROATS AT EXTREMELY
LOW PRICES, AND WERE LEFT WITH NO READY SOURCE OF FOOD OR
CONFIDENTIAL
NNNNPTQ1906
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ1906
PAGE 01 ZAGREB 02227 02 OF 02 091142Z
ACTION EUR-01
INFO LOG-00 AID-00 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 OASY-00 SRPP-00 EB-01
FBIE-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-08 LAB-01 L-01
ADS-00 M-00 NSAE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 PA-01 PM-00
PRS-01 P-01 SCT-00 SP-00 SS-00 STR-01 TRSE-00
T-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 PRME-01 PRMC-01 DRL-09 G-00
/031W
-------------- CE1D3B 091142Z /38
P 091225Z JUN 95
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6080
INFO USLO SKOPJE
AMCONSUL MUNICH
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
USMISSION GENEVA
SECDEF WASHDC
NSC WASHDC
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 ZAGREB 002227
SIPDIS
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
E.O. 12356: DECL: 5/10/1996
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 ZAGREB 02227 02 OF 02 091142Z
TAGS:
SUBJECT: SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR
CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
METHOD TO TILL THEIR LAND IN THESE SUMMER MONTHS. DZAKULA
SAID THAT SUCH FAMILIES SHOULD BE GIVEN THE CONFISCATED
ANIMALS OF SERBS WHO HAD LEFT THE REGION (UNTIL THE LATTER
GROUP RETURNED) AND SHOULD BE SOLD BACK THEIR EQUIPMENT TO
CONTINUE THEIR LIVELIHOODS.
6. THE CROATS MUST NOT WAIT FOR THE OTHER THREE SECTORS
TO BE REINTEGRATED TO SOLVE THE "SERBIAN PROBLEM." THAT
PROCESS MUST BE STARTED NOW, INSISTED DZAKULA. LOCAL
SERBS BELIEVE THERE IS AN EXTREME RESISTANCE ON THE PART
OF THE CROATIAN GOVERNMENT TO COOPERATION WITH THE SERB
POPULATION. THE REMAINING SERBS WERE QUICKLY LOSING FAITH
AND THEIR WILL TO STAY. GROUPS SUCH AS "THE ASSOCIATION
FOR CROATIAN REFUGEES" MUST BE RENAMED AND BEGIN WORK TO
RETURN ALL REFUGEES IN CROATIA, INCLUDING SERBS, CROATS
AND OTHERS. THERE WERE 14,000 DISPLACED CROATS FROM THE
AREA, BUT 75,000 DISPLACED SERBS, HE SAID. (NOTE: THE
75,000 FIGURE IS FOR SERBS DISPLACED IN 1991 AND SINCE.)
THE GOC MUST BEGIN TO SHOW IT WAS INTERESTED IN SOLVING
THE PROBLEMS OF ALL THESE PEOPLE. ONLY THEN WOULD THE
FLEEING SERB POPULATION BEGIN TO RETURN.
GALBRAITH
CONFIDENTIAL
NNNN
SIPDIS
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
E.O. 12356: DECL: 5/10/1996
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
TAGS:
SUBJECT: SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR
CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.
2. POLOFFS MET WITH VELJKO DZAKULA AT HIS REQUEST JUNE 6.
HE WANTED TO SUGGEST CONCRETE MEASURES TO BEGIN THE
SERIOUS REINTEGRATION OF THE REMAINING SERB AND RETURNING
CROAT COMMUNITIES OF WESTERN SLAVONIA. DZAKULA ESTIMATED
THAT BETWEEN 800 TO 1000 SERBS WERE STILL LIVING IN PAKRAC
COUNTY AND ANOTHER 200 REMAINED IN OKUCANI. HE EMPHASIZED
THAT THIS REMAINING SERB POPULATION WAS ATTEMPTING TO
REORGANIZE THEIR LIVES UNDER A CROAT-CONTROLLED SYSTEM,
BUT THE CROATIANS HAD SHOWED LITTLE GOODWILL SO FAR TOWARD
KEEPING THE SERBIAN POPULATION IN THE AREA. HIGH-LEVEL
GOC OFFICIALS HAD PROMISED DZAKULA TO WORK TOWARDS
ENCOURAGING SERBS TO RETURN FROM BOSNIA AND SECTOR EAST,
HE SAID, BUT LITTLE HAD COME OF THESE TALKS. THE MINISTRY
OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (MUP) WAS MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR
MILITARY-AGE MEN TO GET CITIZENSHIP PAPERS (DOMOVNICA),
ALTHOUGH WOMEN AND ELDERLY HAD RECEIVED THEM. DZAKULA HAD
BEEN OFFERED A DOMOVNICA, BUT REFUSED TO ACCEPT ONE UNTIL
EVERY SERB IN THE COUNTY RECEIVED HIS. DAILY CIVIL LIFE
WAS STILL A PROBLEM. ABOUT 180 MEN WERE STILL JAILED
AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR ARMED REBELLION EVEN THOUGH AN
AMNESTY HAD BEEN PROCLAIMED AND GOC OFFICIALS HAD PROMISED
TO RELEASE THEM. EVEN MUNDANE THINGS SUCH AS GATHERING
WOOD FOR FUEL HAD BECOME A PROBLEM.
3. DZAKULA IDENTIFIED THREE PRECONDITIONS WHICH WOULD
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
ENCOURAGE THE DISPLACED TO RETURN TO WESTERN SLAVONIA.
THE AMNESTY DECLARED BY THE GOC HAD TO BE COMPLIED WITH
AND EVEN BROADENED TO INCLUDE NOT ONLY ARMED REBELLION,
BUT ALSO ORGANIZING, SALE OF WEAPONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
CHARGES. ONLY THOSE SERBS AND CROATS CHARGED WITH WAR
CRIMES SHOULD NOT BE PARDONED. THE REMAINING PRISONERS IN
CROAT JAILS HAD TO BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY IF THERE WERE
NO PENDING WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST THEM. SECOND, A
MORATORIUM MUST BE IMPOSED ON THE DRAFTING AND
MOBILIZATION INTO THE CROATIAN ARMY OF SERBS FROM WEST
SLAVONIA. SERBS DISPLACED TO BANJA LUKA AND ELSEWHERE
MUST BE MADE TO FEEL THEY WOULD RETURN FROM AN AREA OF WAR
TO AN AREA OF PEACE IN WESTERN SLAVONIA.
4. THIRD, THE POLITICAL COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO BE WORKED OUT TO BALANCE THE TWO
POPULATIONS. THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF SO MANY POLICE TO
PROTECT THE POPULATION WAS ENCOURAGING BUT THE POLICE
FORCE NEEDED TO BE REORGANIZED ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL
CENSUS OF 1991. WHILE DZAKULA ACKNOWLEDGED THE SMALL
REMAINING POPULATION OF SERBS IN THE AREA MADE
REPRESENTATION PROPORTIONAL TO THE 1991 CENSUS FIGURES
IMPOSSIBLE IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, HE CLAIMED THAT THERE
WERE SEVERAL QUALIFIED SERBIAN POLICEMEN IN THE REGION WHO
WISHED TO RETURN TO THEIR PREVIOUS JOBS. ON JUNE 7, THE
GOC HAD ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF A COMMISSION TO MONITOR
THE PEACEFUL REINTEGRATION OF THE PAKRAC AND LIPIK
COMMUNITIES. THIS COMMITTEE WOULD CONSIST OF FIVE
MEMBERS, TWO OF WHICH WOULD ALWAYS BE SERBS, INCLUDING THE
COMMITTEE'S PRESIDENT. ALTHOUGH SUPPORTIVE OF CREATING
JOINT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES, DZAKULA INSISTED THAT
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 ZAGREB 02227 01 OF 02 091142Z
THE SERBS MUST HAVE A SAY IN THE CREATION OF SUCH
STRUCTURES, AND NOT HAVE THEM IMPOSED. HE CRITICIZED THE
FACT THAT THE GOC-PROPOSED BODY WOULD HAVE A CROAT
MAJORITY, AND THAT IT WOULD ONLY HAVE ADVISORY DUTIES,
WITH ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDENT ON ACTION BY THE
OVERWHELMINGLY CROAT COUNTY COUNCIL.
5. DZAKULA SUGGESTED SEVERAL CONCRETE CONFIDENCE-BUILDING
MEASURES THAT MI
GHT CREATE GOODWILL BETWEEN THE LOCAL SERB
POPULATION AND RETURNING CROATS. A CONVOY SHOULD BE
ORGANIZED TO TRANSPORT OVER ONE HUNDRED SERBS DISPLACED IN
1991 TO SEE THEIR DESTROYED HOMES IN THE NORTHERN, CROAT-
CONTROLLED AREA OF FORMER SECTOR WEST. IMMEDIATE CREDITS
TO REBUILD HOMES NEEDED TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO BOTH
CROATS AND SERBS IN THE REGION. SUCH FUNDING OUGHT TO BE
DONE ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, HE SUGGESTED, SINCE THE
GOC HAD SUPPLIED NO SUCH CREDITS TO SERBS SO FAR. A THIRD
SUGGESTION FOCUSED ON REBUILDING THE ECONOMIC BASIS FOR
THE LOCAL PEOPLE. MANY LOCALS IN THIS AGRICULTURAL
COMMUNITY WHO HAD REMAINED HAD SOLD THEIR LIVESTOCK AND
FARM EQUIPMENT IN THE PAST MONTH TO CROATS AT EXTREMELY
LOW PRICES, AND WERE LEFT WITH NO READY SOURCE OF FOOD OR
CONFIDENTIAL
NNNNPTQ1906
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ1906
PAGE 01 ZAGREB 02227 02 OF 02 091142Z
ACTION EUR-01
INFO LOG-00 AID-00 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 OASY-00 SRPP-00 EB-01
FBIE-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-08 LAB-01 L-01
ADS-00 M-00 NSAE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 PA-01 PM-00
PRS-01 P-01 SCT-00 SP-00 SS-00 STR-01 TRSE-00
T-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 PRME-01 PRMC-01 DRL-09 G-00
/031W
-------------- CE1D3B 091142Z /38
P 091225Z JUN 95
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6080
INFO USLO SKOPJE
AMCONSUL MUNICH
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
USMISSION GENEVA
SECDEF WASHDC
NSC WASHDC
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 ZAGREB 002227
SIPDIS
USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL CSCE
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
E.O. 12356: DECL: 5/10/1996
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 ZAGREB 02227 02 OF 02 091142Z
TAGS:
SUBJECT: SERB LEADER DZAKULA SUGGESTS MEASURES FOR
CONFIDENCE-BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SERB RETURN
METHOD TO TILL THEIR LAND IN THESE SUMMER MONTHS. DZAKULA
SAID THAT SUCH FAMILIES SHOULD BE GIVEN THE CONFISCATED
ANIMALS OF SERBS WHO HAD LEFT THE REGION (UNTIL THE LATTER
GROUP RETURNED) AND SHOULD BE SOLD BACK THEIR EQUIPMENT TO
CONTINUE THEIR LIVELIHOODS.
6. THE CROATS MUST NOT WAIT FOR THE OTHER THREE SECTORS
TO BE REINTEGRATED TO SOLVE THE "SERBIAN PROBLEM." THAT
PROCESS MUST BE STARTED NOW, INSISTED DZAKULA. LOCAL
SERBS BELIEVE THERE IS AN EXTREME RESISTANCE ON THE PART
OF THE CROATIAN GOVERNMENT TO COOPERATION WITH THE SERB
POPULATION. THE REMAINING SERBS WERE QUICKLY LOSING FAITH
AND THEIR WILL TO STAY. GROUPS SUCH AS "THE ASSOCIATION
FOR CROATIAN REFUGEES" MUST BE RENAMED AND BEGIN WORK TO
RETURN ALL REFUGEES IN CROATIA, INCLUDING SERBS, CROATS
AND OTHERS. THERE WERE 14,000 DISPLACED CROATS FROM THE
AREA, BUT 75,000 DISPLACED SERBS, HE SAID. (NOTE: THE
75,000 FIGURE IS FOR SERBS DISPLACED IN 1991 AND SINCE.)
THE GOC MUST BEGIN TO SHOW IT WAS INTERESTED IN SOLVING
THE PROBLEMS OF ALL THESE PEOPLE. ONLY THEN WOULD THE
FLEEING SERB POPULATION BEGIN TO RETURN.
GALBRAITH
CONFIDENTIAL
NNNN