THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409100024
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY THERESE NELSON
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
On a recent hot summer morning, more than 35 people crammed into a tiny one bedroom flat on the 18th floor of a Zagreb high-rise. They smoked, drank coffee, ate cookies and waited for the police. Among them were local human-rights activists, foreign and domestic journalists, and a few friends of the family that lived there. The purpose of the gathering was to prevent a forcible eviction by Croatian authorities - an action contrary to Croatian law and in defiance of international human rights standards.
The knock on the door came, and several civilian police and Croatian army soldiers entered. They were clearly not pleased by the reception. After several hours of negotiations, the police and soldiers departed. At least one eviction had been successfully stopped or postponed.
This scene had been played out many times. Forced illegal evictions of civilians from homes once owned by the Yugoslav People's Army before the breakup of Yugoslavia and now owned by the Croatian Ministry of Defense are a well-documented practice of President Franjo Tudjman's government. Between 7,000 and 10,000 families have been evicted in Croatia since 1992 according to local human-rights groups. Most residents are ethnic Serb or Muslim.
But this is just one category of human-rights violations either encouraged or tolerated by the Tudjman government. The list includes bombings of cars, homes and offices, theft of property, media control, intimidation of minorities, forced conscriptions and the denial of citizenship based on ethnicity.
President Tudjman actively seeks integration into the community of democratic nations and membership in the European Union. His behavior at home, however, calls into question his government's commitment to democracy and the rule of the law.
With few resources and under difficult political conditions, the Croatian human-rights community has succeeded in drawing attention to this gap between democratic rhetoric and authoritarian tendencies of Tudjman's government. The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the leading advocacy organization in Croatia, has been particularly effective at publicizing and, in some cases, stopping illegal and undemocratic action of the Croatian authorities.
But still they are vulnerable. Recently, in Dubrovnik, two human-rights attorneys (one with three children and a pregnant wife, and the other with four children) were sent military draft notices. Both had been harassed repeatedly by the authorities because of their activities; their conscription was clearly meant to intimidate. Elsewhere, lawyers refuse to take human-rights cases, fearful of the consequences for them and their families.
Zagreb activists acknowledge that human rights have improved over the past two years, and their personal safety is more secure than it was in the past. But no one doubts the potential for circumstances to suddenly change and close the political space in which human-rights groups operate.
Croatia is under threat. In this war-torn region, one-third of Croatian territory is under Serbian occupation. Democratic institutions are weak, and the political environment in Croatia is uncertain.
The American ambassador in Zagreb, Peter Galbraith, plays an extraordinarily influential role. While Galbraith is widely respected - he's viewed justifiably or not as ``pro-Croatian'' - many observers in Zagreb are concerned that human rights are not a central feature of U.S. policy towards Croatia.
Milorad Pupovac, president of the Serbian Democratic Forum, an organization which defends the rights of the Serb minority in Croatia, asks how the Croatian government will protect the rights of ethnic Serbs in occupied territories were it to regain control if it is now unwilling or unable to protect Serb minority rights on territory under its control. The only satisfaction in asking such a question, he noted, was that the American Embassy had begun to ask the same question. MEMO: Therese C. Nelson is an attorney who has just returned from Zagreb,
where she spent two months working with the Croatian Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights. by CNB