Interview with the President of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for human rights
For Ivan Cicak, there is nothing inevitable or spontaneous about the refugee crisis in former Yugoslavia. Croatian leaders made a series of secret agreements on mass resettlement. Croatian officials now admit that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has never raised the question of the return to Croatia of the 340,000 Serbs from Croatia who found shelter in Serbia after the outbreak of war in Croatia. These people are actually welcomed there, in order to preserve national homogeneity against the Albanians and other minorities.
As President of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for human rights, Cicak has plenty of well-documented evidence. "The organised departure of Serbs from Krajina started a few days before Croatian forces re-conquered that territory. In other words, some Serb generals knew about the Croatian plans before the order to attack was given to their Croatian counterparts! And one of the largest waves of Croatian emigration from Bosnia came shortly afterward - to fill up the places emptied after the Serbs fled."
For Cicak, there is no doubt. "Today, everybody knows that one of the primary aims of this war was to create a "greater Serbia" and "greater Croatia" - both as ethnically pure as possible."
The continued harassment of Serbs remaining in Krajina is part of this plan. "Regardless of who makes the plans and who commits the crimes," he says, fact that the government tolerates all this and that it takes no actions for punishing perpetrators, proves that this is the government's politics. It is obvious that the
Croatian government is leading the politics of preventing Serbs from returning. The President of Croatia has clearly declared on several occasions that there is no return of Serbs, and there will be no
One of the main barriers to the return of refugees is "because these people have no place to return to. The houses ot the
Serb refugees are still inhabited by other people."
Croatia *
These new residents, many of them Croatian refugees from other parts of former Yugoslavia, or people whose homes were destroyed in the fighting, are a solid base of support for the most reactionary factions of the regime. "The authorities expect some favours from these "legally" re-settled persons. This has been a great way to create a kind of praetorian guard. Because if you give a house to someone, you can then take someone else's workshop away from them, and the guy you gave the free house to will be the first to defend you."
Plundering of abandoned property, and the property of the Serb minority, is "legalised, and seen as a legitimate way of behaving. By encouraging mass participation, a collective responsibility for plundering is created."
The regime tried to stop this destructive phenomena, but only so as to protect Croatia's bruised tourist industry. " One secret regulation of the Ministry of Defence Headquarters in Zagreb explicitly says that 'during the summer season,' resettling and plundering is to be put to a Individual rights
Cicak has particularly harsh words for Croatian Vice President Ljerka Mintas Hodak, who once said that the West's judgements about human rights are based "on individual cases only." "On the basis of what are they to come to the conclusion, if not on the basis of the individual cases ?" asks Cicak. In his opinion Hodak, who heads the government's Co-ordination body for human rights, is "incompetent to discuss human rights... The basic principle of human rights is that they are always individual and can not be otherwise. When someone like her talks about national and ethnic rights of Croats in the
Croatian national state, then s/he knows nothing about human rights. Human rights exist to protect those of the minority in the country!"
To its credit, the Croatian Helsinki
Committee documented and protested against the sufferings of those Serbs who remained in Croatia during the wars that split Yugoslavia apart. The Committee is regularly criticised in Croatia for "caring more about Serbs' rights than the rights of
Croats." But according to Cicak, "I think, in fact, that we have not showed enough concern towards Serbs. But with our limited resources, we cannot do more. Of course, we do not deal only with Serbs, we
The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: an overview by Catherine Samary protect human rights to a wider extent: protection of the independent radio station Radio 101, protest against police harassment in the major cities, and so on. But it is normal that we protect those who are
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* Croatia most vulnerable. And in this situation the
Serb minority is the one that is being killed, plundered, etc. The Croatian
Republic is not doing that to Croats, at least not yet and not to that extent. So, it should be perfectly clear why we are protecting Serbs 'more'."
National Interest
He also rejects accusations in the official media that human rights activists
"denounce the county abroad" through their contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats.
"During the Krajina events, we were repeatedly asked if the Helsinki Committee was taking into account the fact that our information about harassing of the
Serbs could be useful for [Croatia's] enemies. The issue was not whether our report was true or not! This is where the evil lies, in this thesis. Do we say participation in the ustashi [nationalist militial was bad because of the crimes committed, or because the West objected to it?
In my opinion we have to fight evil because it is evil and not because the world thinks so and will object if we don't fight against it. The historical feeling of shame for crimes committed in the name of Croatia ought to be one of the ultimate criteria when establishing the Croatian
The Croatian media portray co-operation with the Hague tribunal on war crimes in former Yugoslavia as betrayal of the country's national interests.
complains Cicak. "Co-operation with The Hague is an obligation for the national interest." Not that it makes his life easy. "For the moment, the intelligence office is recording my conversations with officials of the Hague Tribunal, and is forwarding them to [the pro-regime newspaper] jesnik. With only a hint of irony, Cicak predicts that "when [Bosnian Serb leader Radovan] Karadjic arrives in The Hague [to face trial]. all forms of cooperation with the court will be possible, wanted and necessary."
According to the Helsinki Committee, the Croatian government has so far submitted only eleven documents to the Hague tribunal. This obstructionism "is an attempt of one group in power- with president Tudjman at its head - to make the whole Croatian nation responsible for the criminal deeds of some individuals.
The fact that the Croatian government is paying the lawyers and travel expenses of the defence of Tihomir Blaskic, a Croat accused for crimes committed in a foreign country [Bosnia] means that the Croatian government must assume the responsibility for his crimes, if he is found guilty" With the Croatian regime behaving in this way, Cicak says that Croatians "should stop being surprised that we are accused collectively for what some have done in our name.
In the opinion of the Helsinki Committee president, many of Croatia's current leaders could eventually appear before the 14 International Viewpoint #296
Hague tribunal. "At least five retired generals of the Croatian Army, and ten active ones could appear before the judge." In a veiled reference to Croatia's autocratic President, Cicak says that the final list of accused could also include
"former and current ministers, and those above them. Read carefully the prologue of the prosecutor in the process against
[Croatian war crimes defendent] Blaskic and you will see that he was only the executor of Tudjman's political ideas.
International pressure
Cicak offers no simple solution to the continued tension in the region. "The reason for the current pressure from the international community is their awareness that the war has not come to an end and that if the SFOR [Western troops] withdraw, new conflicts are likely to
The relentless position of all parties in conflict gives little hope . I do not see who will first make a reconcilia-
This pressure is, however, having an effect on the regime in Zagreb. "Croatia's ruling party, the most responsible for violating basic human rights, now frequently discusses the question. Not because they want to, but because they are forced into doing so by the international community.
Sooner or later, this will lead them into a conflict with the extremists, those not
Willing to accept any change in the course
This risk is hard to evaluate. President Franjo Tudjman is a skilled politician. "He has already backed down on a number of issues, bit always manoeuvred so that the public celebrates his diplomatic defeats as glorious victories." According to Cicak, though, "he succeeded in this by virtue of only one argument: the argument of war. The war in Croatia was not only a means for gaining independence but a means for preserving the power acquired."
Since war and the threat of war is the cornerstone of the Tudjman regime, Cicak refuses to believe in a rapid stabilisation of the situation. "Even if the Croatian regime makes peace with Serbia, it will find new enemies. What does the disposition of the military centres in the country tell us? Why such a concentration of military force near the Hungarian or Italian border? Why are the troops not concentrated near the borders with the declared current enemy: Serbia and Republika Srpska?" As Cicak points out, troop deployment across Croatia reflects the size of the local population, not any external threat. "The Croatian government sees the enemy within, in Croatia itself, not in Serbia. It seems that the role of the army is not just the defence of the borders, but the defence of the regime as well. * Source: A longer version of this interview was published in the Croatian weekly newspaper Feral Tribune.
Croatia's public prosecutor charged Ivan Zvonimir Cicak with "dissemination of false information " in contravention of Article 191. of the Croatian Criminal Code. He faces a sentence of up to six months
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