ETHNIC SERBS HARASSED IN CROATIA
Ethnic Serbs in Croatia are at constant risk of harassment ranging from verbal abuse to eviction from their home, theft, robbery, arson and rape, the Croatian Helsinki Committee (CHC) claims. According to CHC, human rights violations are particularly frequent and serious in the Croatian Danube region and the territory returned to Croatia as a result of the Croatian military operations "Flash" and "Storm" in 1995.
In the Danube region, the return of Croatian refugees to villages currently inhabited by Serbs resettled there from other parts of Croatia by the Serb paramilitary authorities is still not allowed. At the same time, Croatian citizens of Serb ethnicity are actually prohibited from returning to their homes in other parts of Croatia.
According to the CHC, this situation has led to people taking the law in their own hands. Organised groups of Croats have visited villages in the Danube region, attempting to forcefully evict current residents of Serb ethnicity.
"Croatian authorities at all levels" are also preventing former ethnic Serb residents of the areas reintegrated into Croatia in the operations "Flash" and Storm" in 1995 from returning to their homes, CHC says. Their houses have been colonised by Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, or taken by force in looting crusades by Croatian citizens. CHC accuses the Croatian authorities of tacitly approving and tolerating this kind of behaviour, among other things by retroactively legalising property seizures effected with the use of threats and violence.
As a result, some ethnic Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina occupy several houses at a time, "reserving" them for children as young as 10-12 years old. Ethnic Serbs have complained to the police about thefts, and physical abuse by identified Croats without this ever leading to any punishment.
Collusion between Croatian police and looters?
In the Banija region which borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the situation is particularly alarming. When CHC field teams tried to inform the local police of their findings, they were turned away, under the pretext that the police was "busy" or that these matters were not in their jurisdiction. The CHC has registered that as many as 21 families have been subjected to continuous violence by "unknown perpetrators". In some cases, people were physically abused, they and their houses were shot at, and women were raped. In one case a house was set on fire. In just one and a half years, 5 tractors, 31 cows, 2 bulls, 7 horses and 30 sheep were stolen "right before the eyes of the police".
Last year, the police introduced a night-time curfew in the villages of the Banija region, allegedly "for the protection" of the population. The police said the curfew was necessary because of possible shooting between police and looters. Because of the curfew people did not dare to leave their houses even when they could hear their livestock or tractors being stolen. A number of victims told CHC field investigators that, as a rule, they were robbed just after a police patrol had checked their estates, asking questions about how their houses and barns were locked. According to CHC, there is evidence indicating that certain police officers were actually passing information to robbers who acted under the protection of the curfew. "In one case it is established beyond doubt that the police took part in the theft of a tractor in the village of Bojna", CHC says. In a number of cases the police "recommended" victims to keep silent about the incident "for their own safety" and sometimes even made them understand that it would be better for them to leave their property.
In view of the above, CHC emphasises the need for "strengthening the rule of law and the security of each individual, which would allow Croatia to fulfill the commitments it has taken on by ratifying international agreements. Such behaviour on the part of the Croatian authorities would most effectively contribute to a better perception of Croatia around the world."
Source: Statement No. 63 of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, Zagreb, 22.1.98.