CROATIAN COURTS CONVICT "RSK" SERBS OF WAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 004601 SIPDIS USVIENNA ALSO FOR USDEL OSCE CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 ZAGREB 04601 01 OF 02 171621Z E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/00 TAGS: 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. -------------- - IN ABSENTIA CONVICTIONS OF EAST SLAVONIA SERBS CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 ZAGREB 04601 01 OF 02 171621Z -------------- - ¶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. -------------- 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. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 ZAGREB 04601 01 OF 02 171621Z ¶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. CONFIDENTIAL NNNNPTQ2499 CONFIDENTIAL PTQ2499 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 CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 ZAGREB 04601 02 OF 02 171621Z E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/00 TAGS: SUBJECT: CROATIAN COURTS CONVICT "RSK" SERBS OF WAR CRIMES -------------- 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 CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 ZAGREB 04601 02 OF 02 171621Z REPRESENTATION BY ANY INTERNATIONAL STANDARD. ¶9. (U) SARAJEVO MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. FINN CONFIDENTIAL NNNN