Biweekly Report on War Crime Trials / 03 October 2013

UN Declaration on Sexual Violence, (non-)reporting of these
crimes and weaknesses of domestic system of providing assistance to
victims of sexual violence / With the votes of representatives
of 113 member states, on 24 September 2013, the UN General Assembly
adopted the Declaration on Sexual Violence which contains a series of
commitments that each country should fulfil in order to stop rape and
sexual violence being used as the weapons of war. The objective of the
Declaration is to improve the status of victims of rape and sexual
assaults and to prevent such crimes.

Member of Serb military formations was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for war crime committed by killing a married couple of Croat ethnicity

New indictments

a) Indictment against seven JNA members for the war crime committed by physical abuse, rape and property looting

b) Indictment against Josip Boljkovac for the execution of civilians from the area of Duga Resa in mid-1945 / Boljkovac is charged that from 07 May 1945 until mid-June 1945, in his capacity as Head of the Commission of People’s Protection Department (the OZN) for the Town of Karlovac and the District of Karlovac, he ordered a large number of civilians from the area of Duga Resa and the surrounding villages to be arrested under suspicion that they had collaborated with the Ustasha authorities. Six identified persons and fourteen, for the time being non-identified,
arrested persons were interrogated for several days and then, upon Boljkovac’s order, on several occasions were taken away, killed and buried in the area of Vidanka Curak. One male person, who resisted the arrest and apprehension, was killed near the Duga Resa railway station.

Forceful removal of bilingual signs and destruction of monuments dedicated to Serb victims – creates a climate which does not contribute to determining of the truth about killings and committed crimes / Dialogue is needed in Vukovar and in the rest of Croatia. This dialogue would include a discussion on crucial issues from our past which continue to burden our daily life: war crimes, still missing Croats and Serbs, the same modality for memorials dedicated to civilians who died during the war irrespective of their ethnic affiliation, and the model of multi/intercultural life. Without this dialogue, people will continue living in a climate with countereffects on coexistence, reconciliation and willingness to testify on crimes committed by members from „one’s own side“ and revealing the truth on the killing of missing persons and and places of their burrial.

More on destroyed monument dedicated to the villagers of Golubić

Defendant accused for war crimes Tomislav Merčep attended the Anniversary on the Forming of the 204th Vukovar Brigade / The broadcast of Merčep’s presence in Vukovar on 22 September 2013 at the laying of wreaths and lighting candles at the Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery and his attendance at the ceremonial Academy marking the 22nd
anniversary on the forming of the 204th Vukovar Brigade, was presented by certain media as the comeback of a long- absent hero whereby there was no mention and public condemnation of the crimes.

Dissolution of the dispute with the European Commission and proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia / On 18 September 2013, the Republic of Croatia and European Commission reached a compromise according to which the amendment to the Law on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters with EU Member States, known in the public as „Lex Perković“ would enter into force by 1 January 2014 at the latest. This amendment will remove the time restriction which prevented the application of the European arrest warrant (EAW) in respect of the criminal offences which were committed before 7 August 2002.

In the attachment below, there is the electronic version of the report.