Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Montenegro and Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Croatia
Podgorica / Zagreb, May 17, 2010
Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Montenegro and Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Croatia express concern for the manner of conduction of cases for war crimes in Montenegro and Croatia. We believe that war crimes cases in Montenegro and Croatia were considerably conditioned by political circumstances and not enogh independent. This is reflected in preinvestigation and investigation phases of cases, preparation of indictments, conduction of trials and delivering judgments.
Insufficient processing of crime committers is noticable, in the first line of committers of crimes commited over people who were not Montenegrins and Serbs in Montenegro, or war crimes committed over population who were not Croatians in Croatia. Lack of processing of more-positioned persons and order-issuing persons is also evident because trails have been conducting against direct committers, and executors of commands.
Verdicts, as the one for Morinj in Montenegro, or the ones for Lora in Croatia represent the obstacle for exercising justice rather than satisfying it. Such verdicts are scandalous and cause wonder of those who expect justice to be served.
Montenegro and Croatia as the region countries, who went so far in the process of Euro-integrations, have to assume responsibility for processing crimes more seriously, and their political judgment as well. Each different intention represents crimes justifying. Thus, except they are leaders in Euro-integrations, they are also leaders in ommitting issues such as facing past.
Judiciary and government bodies and officials in Montenegro and Croatia have to divert focus in processing crimes from irresponsible and non-transparent goals for protection of committers and politicians who played very important roles in committed crimes on victims of committed crimes and justice to be served. If this does not happen, Montenegrin and Croatian political elite become, through national policies and acts of their citizens who are not accused, active participants of fascistic crime activities from early 90s.
Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Montenegro and Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Croatia, consider that only people who are against this state can provide us the access to the European Union, and the ones who search for faciing with past. Those intending to cover and justify crimes, can not do that or must not do that because of their own involvement in it.
