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Serbia Today 96-07-17Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Serbia Today17 July 1996CONTENTS
[01] THE LAW ON YUGOSLAV CITIZENSHIP HAS BEEN PASSEDAfter about four years, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, finally has one of the key laws related to the continuity with former SFRY, and also completes the attributes of the new legal constitutional order of the state, allowing it to conduct the policy in this sphere according to state interests. The law on Yugoslav citizenship received a broad majority of the votes in both chambers of the Federal Parliament.According to the rationale given by the Federal Minister of Interior - Mr. Vukasin Jokanovic, the Law on Citizenship complies with the high European standards in the area and constitutes a major step forward compared with similar legislation in the former Yugoslav republics, because it grants Yugoslav citizenship under alleviated conditions to the citizens of former Yugoslav republics, regardless of their national, religious or any other connotation. (Politika Ekspres, July 17, 1996) [02] RESPECTING DAYTONThe US emissary - Mr. Richard Holbrooke stated at the end of his visit to Sarajevo that the United States continue to insist on the "full respect of the Dayton Agreement".Mr. Holbrooke also underlined that he can not "go into the details of the confidential talks", but that the American delegation has been instructed to "insist on the full respect of the Agreement". "A small group of politicians continues to breach the articles of the Dayton document." - he added. Today, the US envoy will meet in Belgrade with Serbian President Milosevic, and will then proceed to Zagreb. (Vecernje Novosti, July 17, 1996) [03] THE SERBIAN SIDE IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN PREPARING FOR THE ELECTIONSThe decision whether the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in Bosnia will take part in the September election in case that Radovan Karadzic remains head of the party, will be made on Friday at the session of the European Committee for the Elections in Bosnia."We would like Karadzic to resign by Friday from the office of party president and thus allow SDS to take part in the elections. However, should the party be left out from the elections, the entire peace process in Bosnia would be jeopardized" - Mr. Kenneth Scott - British diplomat and member of the Committee told a group of reporters at the Foreign Office. He also stressed that the Serbian side is cooperating with Committee more effectively than the representatives of the Moslem-Croatian Federation. "The international team preparing the elections has no problems in its daily activities in the Republic of Srpska, and the media have fulfilled their obligations reserving time and space for all political parties. (Vecernje Novosti, July 17, 1996) [04] MOSCOW WARNS AGAINST THE PARTIALITY OF THE HAGUE TRIBUNALMoscow newly pointed out the fact that the activities of the International Tribunal for Crimes of War in Former Yugoslavia "presently aren't meeting the requirements of impartiality and equal treatment of all sides".On various occasions, Moscow witnessed the "excessive politicization of this body", stressed the Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Operational Information Department - Mr. Vladimir Andreyev. Even the Bosnian Croats raised the question of a certain benevolence of the Hague Tribunal towards one side only, and not only Russia - said Mr. Andreyev commenting the request of the Hague Tribunal that Radovan Karadzic and general Ratko Mladic be arrested. (Politika July, 17, 1996) [05] EXHUMATION IN THE PRESENCE OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN EXPERTSThe members of the working group for missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, formed in accordance with the Dayton document, agreed at the meeting held on July 9, in Sarajevo that future exhumations are to be carried out by the experts of all three sides - Moslem, Serbian and Croat - in the presence of international medical examiners, - said the Chairman of the Yugoslav Government Committee for Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons - Dr. Pavle Todorovic. According to Dr. Todorovic, during the meeting the debate on exhumation assumed political connotations and turned into a quest for "evidence" of crimes of war. Each of the sides involved in the conflict indicated two priority sites for the exhumation - such as Srebrenica, Glamoc and Kupres.The current exhumation of graves in the Srebrenica zone has been performed by American expert teams, Hague Tribunal teams and a group of Finnish medical examiners engaged by Ms. Elizabeth Renn - Special UN Reporter on Human Rights. (Politika, July 17, 1996) [06] 46 VICTIMS HAVE BEEN DISCOVEREDIn the village of Kamen, near Glamoc, the first of the 10 mass graves identified in the region has been opened. It is believed that they contain the bodies of 107 Serbian soldiers and civilians either killed in action or assassinated - SRNA news agency reports.They were killed last year during the Croatian offensive on Grahovo, Glamoc and Drvar. On the first day, the medical examiner's team from Banjaluka, unearthed the remains of 46 Serbian victims. (Politika Ekspres, July 17, 1996) [07] MOSLEMS ARE BUILDING FORTIFICATIONSIt seems that the Moslem troops are building fortifications in the village of Dugi Do, in northern Bosnia, even though the locality was supposed to be turned over to the Serbian side in March - Reuters reports quoting UN sources."The UN Police sent a patrol to the village of Dugi Do, and it saw numerous Moslems fit to fight preparing for battle - said the spokesman of the international police forces" - Mr. Aleksandar Ivanko. "We have seen something that might be qualified as fortifications and preparations for battle" - said the same UN official at a press conference held in Sarajevo. The Committee for the definition of internal ethnic borders decided at the beginning of this year, that the village of Dugi Do should become part of the Serbian territory. (Politika Ekspres, July 17, 1996) [08] CONFESSED, BUT ABSOLVEDEight Croats have been indicted for murder of Serbian civilians in the villages of Gasici, Varivode, Ocestovo and Zrmnanja, but the County Court in Zadar sentenced two of them to jail and absolved the other six for "insufficient evidence".After the Croatian Army offensive called "Operation Storm" carried out in August 1995, eighteen Serbs were murdered in these four villages - most of them elderly that decided to stay in the homes they had been living in all their life. A particularly interesting fact regarding the trial is that three of the individuals that have been absolved confessed the crime, but the Court decided to release them because their confessions "do not coincide and correspond to the true description of the terrain where the murders took place". (Politika Ekspres, July 17, 1996) [09] TORTURES CONTINUEHarassment, robberies are taking place and houses are still burned in Krajina. The Serbs are being robbed of their remaining property. The Croatian authorities are doing nothing to prevent the terror, and are practically taking part in it. They refuse to issue documents to the Serbs, who aren't given access to water or electricity, or to telephone lines - said Mr. Veljko Dzakula at a press conference held in Zagreb by the Association of Serbian Organizations in Croatia.The example of the elementary school in the village of Partizanska Dreznica has been given: it has plumbing, but isn't allowed to use the water supply! Mr. Dzakula also quoted a positive example: in Western Slavonia, Serbian skilled and unskilled workers are now given jobs, mostly by the companies they used to work in. For a while the companies tried to cover the company needs with Croatian workers, but had to take on the old workers. (Vecernje Novosti, July 17, 1996) [10] WEAPONS SEIZED IN KOSOVOSerbian Police officials in Pristina seized two dozen different firearms during a raid carried out yesterday. Several persons have been arrested, but their identity has not been revealed in the interest of the investigation. Non official sources reveal that the arrested persons are Albanians, but could not say whether the weapons and ammunition were to be sold or hidden by militant groups of the Albanian separatist movement, such as the "Kosovo Liberation Army" - that carried out several terrorist attacks on Serbian Police throughout Kosovo and Metohija. (Vecernje Novosti, July 17, 1996)Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |