Zagreb, (IKA) – The Justitia et Pax Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops presented a statement regarding the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague during a press conference held on Tuesday, April 12, at the Secretariat of the CCB in Zagreb. The secretary of the Commission, Dr. Gordan Črpić, noted that the statement calls attention to problems that the Commission sees in the work of the Tribunal in The Hague, to which the Tribunal has failed to respond adequately. First of all, the statement emphasizes that the Tribunal did not evaluate the fact that Croatia was the victim of aggression. A great objection to the work of the Tribunal is precisely that only the members of the autochthonous peoples who live in our territory were condemned for the crimes occurring here, while the members of the other nations who also had political or military responsibility during the period of combat were absolved a priori. Dr. Črpić further recalled that the Tribunal has established criteria that do not apply universally but only particularly and partially. If the criteria of the Tribunal were applied to the generals and politicians of the nations of the judges and prosecutors in this trial, many of them would be indicted according to the chain of command for excessive shelling, indiscriminate shelling and associated criminal acts. However, the criteria of the International Tribunal under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council evidently do not apply universally, raising the question of whether a dangerous legal precedent has been set, which should not have occurred at the end of the twentieth century, warned Dr. Črpić.
He further noted that the Commission made a distinction between the Tribunal and the ICTY prosecution. Thus, the statement emphasizes that it would not be just to censure the whole Tribunal for everything that has happened. “Without the intention of diminishing the fact that the Tribunal confirmed and issued a legally valid indictment of a “criminal undertaking,” we wish to recall that the indictment or nonindictment and the opening or not opening an investigation of the “excessive” and “indiscriminate” shelling of Knin or Vukovar are not under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal but of the ICTY prosecution. The prosecution has operated according to strange criteria and methods. Many of the testimonies from the Tribunal as well as from the prosecution brought facts to light that indictments were decided under political pressures from the great powers, with a clear tendency to equate the responsibilities of the attackers and those attacked, which also means a distortion of the historical picture of the actual aggressors and actual victims,” said Dr. Črpić, pointing out a fact emphasized in the statement that it is also controversial that the Security Council has given the prosecution unprecedented political power. The Security Council and European Union have based their major political decisions regarding Croatia on reports by the chief prosecutor at The Hague, and not by the president of the Tribunal or the judgments of the Trial Chamber. In this sense, the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is setting a world precedent.
In the section of the statement, entitled “Croatia and the Hague Tribunal,” Croatia’s own mistakes are recalled and some are specified. The statement also raises the question of whether it was prudent in April 2000 for Croatia to issue the Declaration of Cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, thereby giving the prosecution jurisdiction over Operations Flash and Storm, which liberated occupied territory, before the competent Judicial Council had issued its ruling. Not only was there a failure to demonstrate political wisdom but the government also exhibited its lack of respect toward the competent Judicial Council. The selective and illegal delivery of documents to the prosecution, particularly regarding the “presidential” transcripts, should also not be forgotten.
In order for the Tribunal to be able to make a fair ruling, the Judicial Council should bear in mind, based upon all the facts presented, that no charges have been filed against the state policy of aggression against and occupation of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while charges have been filed against the state decision to liberate the occupied Croatian territory. Furthermore, the right and obligation of Croatia to liberate its occupied territory should be taken into account, as well as the right and obligation of Croatia to help endangered Bosnian and Croatian people after Srebrenica in order to avert further genocide in Bihać, which according to the assessments of the international community would have been many times more terrible. The statement also emphasizes that no just person can deny that individual crimes were committed from the Croatian side. Nonetheless, the actual perpetrators should be prosecuted and convicted, instead of choosing suspects along political lines. Justice can only be satisfied if the actual perpetrators are convicted. Insofar as innocent persons are convicted, this is not justice but an unjust indictment against the state and, thus, its people. Such injustice is not conductive to the establishment of trust or peace but can be a cause of new divisions and serious misunderstandings. It is not said in vain that it is better to free a hundred guilty persons than to convict a single innocent one, concludes the statement issued by the Commission.
The president of the Commission, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak, noted that this was the third occasion that the Commission has addressed the activity of the Hague Tribunal. The bishop also noted that the Commission has urged the faithful to pray and fast on the three Fridays prior to the verdict, and that the bishops at their plenary session have called for prayer for the homeland at this crucial moment.
Several issues raised by the statement were addressed by Commission members Dr. Neven Šimac and Dr. Tonči Matulić.
Dr. Šimac recalled his own experience of travelling in the liberated territories immediately after Operation Storm. He said that based on everything he saw and the concrete testimony of the population remaining in the territory of Knin, it was clear that ethnic self-cleansing [voluntary exodus] had occurred in the liberated territories.
Dr. Matulić pointed out that the statement is intended to draw attention to the fact that justice that is not equal for all is not justice. Moreover, the principle of peace is important. The Commission promotes the principle of reconciliation, not only needed within our national frameworks but also of exceptional importance throughout the entire region.