SADRZAJ:

1.    VICTIMS OF THE ICTY IN THE HAGUE

2.    MAYOR RICHARD M. DALEY - CITY OF CHICAGO

3.    SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE, PARIS

4.    GREETINGS TO THE HOLY FATHER IN MARIJA BISTRICA

5.    POPE'S SPEECH AT MARIJA BISTRICA

6.    POPE CELEBRATES EUCHARIST IN MARIJA BISTRICA

7.    ANTONIO CASSESE / MADELEINE ALBRIHT - THE HAGUE

8.    DR. SIMUN SITO CORIC OSTAO PREDSJEDNIK HSK-A

9.    REZOLUCIJA HRVATSKOG SVJETSKOG KONGRESA

 


TO:  AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - NEW YORK

        INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - NEW YORK

        INTERNATIONAL HELSINKI FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - VIENNA

RE:     VICTIMS OF THE ICTY IN THE HAGUE

Dear Sir / Madam,

We greet you most warmly, and thank you in advance for your attention.

With this letter, we wish to ask you to place under your watchful eye the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) being conducted in The Hague, especially its treatment of the Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

There are far too many indications, even proof, that this international tribunal, apart from its unquestionably important work, has many defects and has its own victims, thus doing a painful injustice to a great number of people. These are some of the most conspicuous facts:

ICTY rules are not in accord with the conventions on human rights

The ICTY abides by the rules which are so imprecise and general that they leave a lot of room for arbitrariness on the part of ICTY officials. The ICTY violates all the conventions on human rights in three cases in particular:

  1. It hold suspect in pre-trial detention for an unlimited period of time;
  2. The suspects are compelled to prove their innocence, instead of the ICTY proving their guilt;
  3. It has not as yet been stipulated:
  1. who bears responsibility for those innocently indicted, and,
  2. who is to pay indemnity to ICTY victims, i.e., those acquitted.

ICTY's justice on the basis of real guilt or by national affiliation?

So many indictments have been filed against Croats - they now make half of the detained in The Hague. This is at least due to two dubious reasons, to say the least.

First, the entire world knows who are the main originators and perpetrators of crimes on the territory of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Second, of the tree nations, the Croats suffered most heavily: their number was halved by aggression and ethnic cleansing, so that their very survival in Bosnia-Herzegovina is under threat.

Continuing the trend of the former communist state, during this war alone, the Serbs have expelled 165,000 Croats from their homes, and 140,000 Muslims and others. In the years that followed the war, the ethnic cleansing of Croats continued up until today for many reasons, including some inappropriate moves by the international community, so that just 400 thousand Croats remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To make maters worse, such an atmosphere has been created in the international community that makes it possible for the ICTY to summon to The Hague any of the surviving Croats who spearheaded the defence or protected their families and villages from Serbian or Muslim troops.

False indictments

There is more evidence that the ICTY brings down charges without prior verification of field data, as well as on the basis of information falsified by the Muslim secret services. For instance, the ICTY has indicted and slandered, via world media, Stipe Alilovi} from Vitez, charging him with war crimes. This man traveled to The Netherlands for treatment even before the outbreak of hostilities, and was bed ridden in a hospital, fighting cancer, right up to 1995, when he died, in addition, the ICTY was forced to release another three Croats from prison in The Hague, for their indictments proved entirely groundless. It is a known fact that there are other indictments drawn up in this manner. Indictments for some suspect were amended while they were held in captivity just to create a sort of legal base for the case. Such actions by the ICTY seem to surpass the credulity of medieval witch trials, and at least where Croats are concerned, it is only the "arguments" of the diseased Stipe that can make the ICTY check the collected "evidence".

And the question still remains unanswered: who will, and in what way, compensate these people for their terrible suffering, standers, and for their and their families, destroyed business life, people who were pronounced "alleged" (sometimes even this qualification was left out) war criminals by world media?

Self-will and blackmailing in trials and sentences

Following long-time uncertainty and delay in the commencement of the trial (many prisoners had to await the start of the trial for more than a year in detention, Bla{ki} for 455 days), despite the fact that all of the indicted Croats, but for one exception, went to The Hague on a voluntary basis, the ICTY blatantly violated the human rights of some of the prisoners in the very trial.

Thus, the ICTY prosecution brought in false witnesses against Croat indictees, some of whom were even representatives of the international community.

Furthermore, there are unambiguous indications that during the process itself some individuals were blackmailed by the ICTY by means of threats: they are persuaded to "cooperate", that is, to testify falsely against their fellow countrymen, and if they refuse, they are threatened with unjustifiably harsh sentences. Referring to reliable sources, media has reported that Ante Furundzija, due to similar blackmailing and his "disobedience", was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. At any rate, his heavy sentence merits a review of his treatment by the ICTY: he voluntarily surrendered to The Hague tribunal, was charged with watching a rape, and had only one witness against him, who was by all medical finds a mentally disturbed person.

ICTY's cynicism toward Croatian victims

Croatian Foreign Minister dr. Mate Grani} stated long ago that the ICTY and the UN Security Council has been presented with 14 documented, so-called "clear cases", i.e., cases of mass war crimes committed against Croatian civilians outside the scope of military operations.

However, up to the present, there has been no other reaction than the smiles and promises by top world officials that the culprits will be brought to justice.

It is evident that the ICTY's actions, aside from not showing the most elementary reverence for Croatian victims, give an impetus, to notorious Muslim criminals involved in the ritual slaughter of Algerian type in the heart of Europe.

ICTY as means of promoting political interest of particular forces

World mass media, too, are beginning to realize that the ICTY, instead of professionally performing the tasks it was founded for, is abusing its powers and working toward the promotion of global political interests, of particular forces by exerting pressure on smaller nations. Moreover, it is obvious that the ICTY is making calculated efforts to equate the Croats and Croatia with the main culprits for the war and war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, irrespective of the fact that they were the main victim of the horrid aggression, i.e., its tolerance on the part of the most powerful international factors.

Given all the afore-mentioned facts, we kindly request that you raise your voice in defence of the human rights being violated and those being victimized by the ICTY in The Hague.

The Croatian World Congress will try to point to human rights violations by the ICTY also through legal action but we do not expect to achieve a great deal, because we still today live under circumstances, where we are charged and tried by the same people.

Therefore, we believe that your respected organization will make a contribution to the ICTY, to carry out its duty professionally, instead of doing a grave injustice to a large number of unprotected people and nations under international cover.

Besides, that ancient rule is still valid, namely that it is better, when there is no other way to release a hundred guilty than to convict one innocent person.

Prof. dr. Simun Sito Coric

President of The CWC

Bern, 21. 1. 1999.

Note: The Croatian World Congress (CWC) is a non-government international organization, active in about 30 countries, and as such is a member of the United Nations. Its president, Prof. Simun Sito Coric, Ph.D., is a Franciscan and writer.


OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

CITY OF CHICAGO

RICHARD M. DALEY

MAYOR

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Aloysius Stepinac was born on May 8, 1898, to a peasant family in a village near Krasic, Croatia; and

WHEREAS, on October 26, 1930, Stepinac was ordained a Roman Catholic priest; seven years later, on December 7, 1937, Stepinac became archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia; and

WHEREAS, in response for his refusal to sever his ties to the Roman Catholic Church, the communist government for former Yugoslavia falsely accused him of Nazi collaboration. Following a mock trial on October 11, 1946, he was found guilty and imprisoned for sixteen years; and

WHEREAS, on January 12, 1953, Pope Pius XII made Stepinac a Cardinal. Although a Cardinal, the communist government refused to allow him to perform his duties and he remained in Krasic under house arrest until his death on February 10, 1960; and

WHEREAS, in June, 1993, an autopsy was performed on Cardinal Stepinac’s body and it revealed that he was systematically poisoned while he was imprisoned and therefore died a martyr; and

WHEREAS, the Croatian-American community, which comprises approximately 150,000 individuals in the city of Chicago, seeks to honor the memory of Cardinal Stepinac by designating Princeton Avenue between 26th and 33rd Streets as "Cardinal Stepinac Way":

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD M. DALEY, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, do hereby proclaim October 3, 1998, as CARDINAL STEPINAC DAY IN CHICAGO, in recognition of his lifelong dedication to the cause of political, religious and human rights that has made him a symbol of greatness to the Croatian-American community and to the city of Chicago.

Dated this 1st Day of October, 1998.

Richard M. Daley

Major

 


Bern, October 2, 1998.

 Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Paris

“… This great man of the Church has been sentenced as a nazi collaborator. We Jews deny this. We know from his past, from 1934 and onwards, that he has been a true friend of the Jews… He was one of those rare people in Europe who stood against nazi tyranny… Throughout the entire period of the nazi regime, this man, now a victim of a shameful trial, spoke out openly and without fear against racial Nuremberg laws. His opposition to nazi terror never subsided…”

Louis S. Breier, October 13, 1948.

Honoured Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Croatian World Congress** and myself. We are surprised and very dissatisfied with your reaction to the beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. We were quite astounded that you, who come from a millennium old tradition which holds the truth to be sacred above all else and who understand, best of all in this world, the painful dimensions of humiliation and human suffering, have raised a stern voice against a man who suffered for fifteen years, “… confined to his small house, cut off from the world, physically at the very end, and who grew before the eyes of the faithful to a martyr’s aureole.” (Le Monde, December 2, 1960).

Would the American Congress, or Winston Churchill, or the leader of the Jews during that period, Luis S. Brier, or other numerous important persons throughout the world, have complained without reason, opposing the Yugoslav Stalinist fury against Cardinal Stepinac? Even one of the top officials of the authorities that sentenced him, Milovan Djilas, testified on behalf of Stepinac: “He was truly just, but how many times throughout history have just people been sentenced out of political necessity?” (Croatian Review, 1956, no. 202). Yesterday’s public statement issued by the Co-ordination of Jewish Municipalities in Croatia reads: “Jews in Croatia are grateful to Cardinal Stepinac for his actions during the Ustashi Independent State of Croatia (NDH), during which he stood in support of saving many Jews. He personally saved from Ustashi and nazi terror the residents of the ‘Lavoslav Schwarz’ Retirement Home, a number of groups of Jewish children and a few hundred converted Jews in mixed marriages… ” (Vjesnik, October 1, 1998).

The very moment one glances over the documentary material on Cardinal Stepinac, it is clear that he bravely fought against nazism, fascism and communism, the three greatest evils of the 20th century. He directly and publicly protested against every evil before the faces of the highest authorities: against the persecution of the innocent, concentration camps and the ‘yellow star’. Cardinal Stepinac demanded laws be just, and that rights and obligations be equal for all (e.g. his May 23, 1941, letter to the Minister of the Interior, Andrija Artukovic, his public speech made on February 23, 1942, and letter of protest to the head of state, A. Pavelic, March 6, 1943).

Knowing all of this, I agreed with some of my friends who are respected Jews. One of them commented that your statements against Stepinac “truly overdid it with your zeal.” They agreed with me that through this kind of action against Cardinal Stepinac you are doing harm to the credibility of your praise-worthy institution before numerous people; by forcing guilt where there is none, as well as making us - who have been connected to the Jews, throughout their millennium old tradition, in various ways of life and love - unnecessarily bitter.

In the hope of future truthful words from all sides and lenient times for all mankind and nations, with honour I greet you!

 

Prof. Dr. Šimun Šito Coric,

President of the Croatian World Congress

** The Croatian World Congress is the largest organisation of Croats living abroad and their friends and is active in all countries where Croats and their descendants live in larger numbers. It is a non-government organisation member of the United Nations.


October 3, 1998

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY FATHER IN MARIJA BISTRICA

Msgr. Josip Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb, President of the Croatian Conference of Bishops

Holy Father!

At this solemn and holy moment, there are three brief sentences in which I should like to summarize all the thoughts and desires, all the joy and happiness that we experience during your second visit to Croatia, particularly the Church in our beautiful Homeland and wherever Catholic Croats live.

We greet you.

We thank you.

We congratulate you.

 

1.    We, all the faithful and people of good will throughout our Homeland, greet you through my voice. We, all the participants in this magnificent celebration, attended by high officials of the Croatian Government, greet you.

We, the cardinals and bishops, guests attending from around the whole world, greet you. We, the Croatian Catholic Episcopate with our two eminent cardinals, Franjo Kuharic and Vinko Puljic, especially greet you. We, priests, deacons, monks, nuns and all the faithful of Jesus present here, greet you.

Blessed are you, Holy Father, who comes to us in the name of the Lord!

2.    We thank you because "in concern for all the Churches" (cf. 2 Cor 11:28) you express your fatherly concern and love toward our Church and our Homeland.

We thank you because during your second apostolic visit, you are linking two great centers of Croatian, Church and state history — Zagreb and Split, thereby pointing out the need and goal of Church unity and state unity.

At the same time, you particularly direct our attention — via the holy martyr St. Domnius (sv. Dujam), the founder of the Church in Split — to the ancient Christian roots upon which Croatian Christianity was grafted in the 7th century. You also point out a contemporary martyr and witness to the faith and fidelity to Christ and his Church, the archbishop of Zagreb and cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Alojzije Stepinac.

Thank you, Holy Father, especially for this great gift, our newly beatified model whose legacy compels us to be faithful to the Catholic Church unto the grave.

Thank you for coming here, to our beloved Croatian national shrine of Our Lady of Bistrica, in order to guide our gaze to Her, the Star of the new evangelization, who is so dear to your heart.

You have come here to perform the beatification our Servant of God, an act of your supreme apostolic authority, on precisely October 3, the date when the innocent Alojzije Stepinac presented his famous testimony before the communist court in 1946. It was not a speech in his defense. It was a confession of faith in the holy things for which he lived, the holy things which he defended and the holy things for which he was prepared, with a clear conscience, to die at any moment. These were God, Christ Jesus — true God and true man, the honor of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Church, the sanctity of marriage, the right of young people to sound religious instruction, and the fundamental rights that every person has according to God.

On this anniversary, October 3, you wish to call these holy things to mind among us all, the entire Church in Croatia and the entire Croatian nation, the entire Catholic Church and all people of good will. Thank you!

3.    Finally, Holy Father, we congratulate you.

In several days, on October 16, the Feast of St. Hedwig, the Polish queen, you will complete a full twenty years of your blessed pontificate. Thus, you will enter the ranks of the bishops of Rome to whom Divine providence has granted the longest apostolic service to the Church and mankind. Blessed be God for this gift to you and to us!

While we congratulate you, Holy Father, for this gift of God, we address our prayers to the Almighty God: May God grant you a long life, keep you in his service and make it possible for you, like John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ in his third millennium.

Today, at this very solemn moment, your first teaching, which you addressed to all people during your first Eucharist on October 22, 1978, reverberates in our souls and hearts in an entirely new and encouraging manner: "Do not be afraid to embrace Christ, accept His authority! (...) Do not be afraid! Open the door wide for Christ! Open the borders of the states, economic and political systems, the broad field of culture, civilization and development to his redemptive authority. Do not be afraid! Christ knows what is in a person, only He knows! (...) Let Christ speak to man. Only He has the words of life, yes, eternal life!"

On this unique day in Croatian holy history — by the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God and his servant Alojzije — in a new and powerful way, through a gift of the Holy Spirit, may this come about in all of us!

Holy Father, teach us this again and sustain us with your apostolic blessing!


POPE’S SPEECH AT MARIJA BISTRICA

October 3, 1998

1. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). Christ’s words, which we have just heard, bring us to the very heart of the Mystery which we are celebrating. In some sense they contain within themselves the entire Paschal Event: they direct us to the death of the Redeemer on the Cross on Good Friday, and at the same time they point us toward the morning of Easter.

We refer to this Mystery every day during Holy Mass when, after the consecration of the bread and the wine, we say: "We proclaim your death, O Lord, we proclaim your resurrection; we await your return in glory". The "grain of wheat which falls into the earth" is first and foremost Christ, who on Calvary died and was buried in the earth in order to give life to all. But this mystery of death and life also comes about in the earthly existence of Christ’s followers: for them too, being cast into the earth to die remains the condition for all authentic spiritual fruitfulness.

Was this not the secret also of your unforgettable and unforgotten Archbishop, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, whom today we contemplate in the glory of the Beati? He took part in a unique way in the Paschal Mystery: as a grain of wheat he "fell into the earth" in this land of Croatia and, by dying, bore fruit, much fruit. "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates this life in this world, will keep it for eternal life" (Jn 12:25).

The words of the Second Letter to the Corinthians, which we have just heard, are closely bound up with the Event which we are celebrating. Saint Paul writes: "As the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ" (2 Cor 1:5). Are these words not a meaningful commentary on Christ’s words about the grain of wheat which dies? Those who abound in sharing Christ’s sufferings also experience, thanks to him, the profound consolation which derives from the outpouring of good which has its origin in the Cross.

2. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). Today we are filled with joy as we join in thanking God for the new fruits of holiness which Croatia offers to the Church in the person of the martyr Alojzije Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.

Through the centuries, martyrs have abounded in these lands, from the time of the Roman Empire on, with figures like Venantius, Domnius, Anastasia, Quirinus, Eusebius, Pollio, Maurus and many others. In later centuries they were joined by Nicholas Tavelic and Marcus of Krizevci, and many confessors of the faith during the Ottoman rule, up to those of our own time, among whom the luminous personality of Cardinal Stepinac stands out.

By their sacrifice united to Christ’s suffering, they bore an extraordinary witness, which with the passage of time has lost none of its eloquence, but continues to spread light and to inspire hope. At their side many other Pastors and simple faithful, men and women, also sealed their adherence to Christ by shedding their own blood. They are part of the great assembly of those who, vested in white garments and bearing palms in their hands, now stand before the throne of the Lamb (cf. Rev 7:9).

Blessed Alojzije Stepinac did not shed his blood in the strict sense of the world. His death was caused by the long suffering he endured: the last fifteen years of his life were a continual succession of trials, amid which he courageously endangered his own life in order to bear witness to the Gospel and the unity of the Church. In the words of the Psalm, he put his very life in God’s hands (cf. Ps 16:5).

3. Very little time separates us from the life and death of Cardinal Stepinac: barely thirty-eight years. We all know the context of this death. Many present here today can testify from direct experience how much the sufferings of Christ abounded in those years among the people of Croatia and those of so many other nations of the continent. Today, reflecting on the words of the Apostle, we wish to express the heartfelt hope that, after the time of trial, the comfort of the Crucified and Risen Christ may abound in all who dwell in this land.

For all of us, a particular cause for comfort is today’s Beatification. This solemn act takes place in the Croatian national shrine of Marija Bistrica on the first Saturday of the month of October. Beneath the gaze of the Most Blessed Virgin, an illustrious son of this blessed land is raised to the glory of the altars, on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. It is an historic moment in the life of the Church and of your nation. The Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb, one of the outstanding figures of the Catholic Church, having endured in his own body and his own spirit the atrocities of the Communist system, is now entrusted to the memory of his fellow countrymen with the radiant badge of martyrdom.

The Episcopate of your country asked that the Beatification of Cardinal Stepinac take place here, in the Shrine of Marija Bistrica. I know from personal experience the significance that the Shrine of Jasna Gora had for the Polish people at the time of Communist rule, a Shrine closely linked to the pastoral ministry of the Servant of God Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski. I am not surprised that this Shrine, or that of Solona which I shall visit tomorrow, have had a similar importance for you. For some time I have wanted to visit the Shrine of Marija Bistrica. And so I gladly accepted the proposal of the Croatian Episcopate and today celebrate the solemn beatification ceremony in this significant place.

I cordially greet the Croatian Bishops assembled here, especially Cardinal Franjo Kuharic and the Most Reverend Josip Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb and President of the Croatian Episcopal Conference. I also greet the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops from other countries who have joined us for this occasion. I cordially greet the priests, the men and women of consecrated life, and all the lay faithful, as well as the representatives of the other religious confessions present at this celebration. My respectful greetings also go to the President of the Republic, the Head of the Government, and to the country’s civil and military authorities, who honor us by their presence.

4. "If anyone serves me, he must follow me" (Jn 12:26). Blessed Alojzije Stepinac took the Good Shepherd as his sole Teacher, following his example to the end and offering his life for the flock entrusted to him at a particularly difficult period of history.

The person of the new Beatus sums up, so to speak, the whole tragedy which befell the Croatian people and Europe in the course of this century marked by the three great evils of fascism, national socialism and communism. He is now in the joy of heaven, surrounded by all those who, like him, fought the good fight, purifying their faith in the crucible of suffering. Today we look to him with trust and invoke his intercession.

Significant in this regard are the words spoken by the new Beatus in 1943, during the Second World War, when Europe was in the grip of unheard-of violence: "What system does the Catholic Church support today, while the whole world is fighting for a new world order? We, in condemning the injustices, all the killing of innocent people, the burning of peaceful villages, the destruction of the labor of the poor, . give this answer: the Church supports that system which is as old as the Ten Commandments of God. We are for the system which is not written on impermanent tables, but which has been written by the hand of the living God on the consciences of men" (Homilies, Addresses, Messages, Zagreb, 1996, 179-180).

5. "Father, glorify your name!" (Jn 12:28). In his human and spiritual journey Blessed Alojzije Stepinac gave his people a sort of compass to serve as an orientation. And these were its cardinal points: faith in God, respect for man, love towards all even to the offer of forgiveness, and unity with the Church guided by the Successor of Peter. He knew well that no bargains can be made with truth, because truth is not negotiable. Thus he faced suffering rather than betray his conscience and not abide by the promise given to Christ and the Church.

In this courageous witness he was not alone. He had at his side other courageous souls who, in order to preserve the unity of the Church and defend her freedom, agreed to pay with him a heavy price in imprisonment, mistreatment and even bloodshed. To these generous souls - Bishops, priests, men and women religious, and lay faithful - we offer today our admiration and gratitude. Let us listen to their urgent call for forgiveness and reconciliation. To forgive and to be reconciled means to purify one’s memory of hatred, rancour, the desire for revenge; it means acknowledging as a brother even those who have wronged us; it means not being overcome by evil but overcoming evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21).

6. May you be blessed, "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all comfort" (2 Cor 1:3), for this new gift of your grace.

May you be blessed, Unbegotten Son of God and Saviour of the world, for your glorious Cross, which in the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, has won a splendid victory.

May you be blessed, Spirit of the Father and the Son, Paraclete Spirit, who continue to manifest your holiness among men and unceasingly carry on the work of salvation.

Triune God, today I wish to thank you for the strong faith of this your people, despite the many trials encountered through the centuries. I wish to thank you for the countless martyrs and confessors, men and women in every age, who have arisen in this blessed land.

"Father, glorify your name!" (Jn 12:28).

Blessed be Jesus and Mary!


POPE CELEBRATES EUCHARIST IN MARIJA BISTRICA

HINA, October 3. 1998

MARIJA BISTRICA - Pope John Paul II shortly after 10am on Saturday began a Eucharist celebration in Marija Bistrica, Croatia’s premier Marian shrine.

The celebration gathers almost 500,000 faithful from all over Croatia. In attendance are more than 1,000 priests, including 100 bishops, archbishops and cardinals, as well as several thousand nuns of all orders.

The Pope and the priests wear crimson chasubles and collars, the colour of martyrdom, all in memory of late Croatian cardinal Alojzije Stepinac whom today the Pope will beatify.

The Pope’s walk to central altar of the Church In The Open, in the company of Archbishop of Zagreb Josip Bozanic, was greeted by the faithful’s long applause and hymn-singing.

Present at the Eucharist is also Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and his wife Ankica, representatives of the diplomatic-consular corps, of other religions in Croatia, other high-ranking Croatian church and state officials, public and cultural dignitaries, and Vatican officials.

Archbishop Bozanic thanked the Holy Father for connecting during his second visit to Croatia two great Croatian centres of church and state history, Zagreb and Split, thus marking the necessity and task of both church and state unity.

The Archbishop of Zagreb also thanked the Pope for the impeding beatification of Cardinal Stepinac.

The field in front of the altar is dominated by the motto of the Pope’s visit to Croatia "You Will Be My Witnesses" and the motto of Cardinal Stepinac "In Thee O Lord I Place My Faith". The altar is decorated with flowers in white and yellow, papal colours.


Antonio Cassese, President of The International Criminal Tribunal - The Hague        

Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State - Washinton, D. C.

 

Dear Justice Cassese and State Secretary Albright,

Thanking you in advance for your efforts and attention regarding the trial of Croatian General Tihomir Blaskic, I am turning to you Justice Cassese, as president of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, and to you Secretary Albright, as a representative of the United States, the country with the most powerful role in the process of establishing peace and prosperity on the territories of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, with this letter of appeal and protest.

  1. On the occasion of this trial, reasons are multiplying - and not only in the eyes of the Croatian public -- for great doubt about the professionalism and impartiality of the International Tribunal in The Hague and, by extension, about the confidence and morality of the most powerful players on this planet. But words of warning were uttered long ago: "If salt losses its taste, what will we use for salt then?" Such indisputable voices are reaching us with greater frequency from the 30 or so nations in which the Croatian World Congress operates. The world is starting to realize that the fact that the Croatian nationality in Bosnia-Herzegovina ultimately suffered the most, since it was the only one severed in two by this war, is still being ignored. Namely, as you too undoubtedly know well, nearly half of the Croats in B-H have been forced from their homes &endash; about 165,000 by the Serbs and 140,000 by the Muslims.

  2. How much the weight of the court is obviously appropriated by Muslim "evidence" against accused Croats on the one hand, and how high the degree of the verification of this evidence is by The Hague court on the other, is best illustrated by the following facts. Among the accused are those who never held a weapon in their hands or who, during the entire conflict, were outside the area in question. The most dramatic example is Stipe Alilovic of Vitez, who in February 1992. went 2,000 kilometers away from Bosnia to receive medical treatment, which he obtained in The Netherlands, just 100 kilometers from The Hague itself. He remained in a hospital bed here until 1995, when he died of a serious carcinoma illness and was buried near The Hague. I am certain that, for the future and righteousness of people, the question will long remain: Could not the "witnesses" and jury in The Hague find at least a slightly more believable "offender" than the late Stipe, who had none other than Dutch doctors by his bedside during his entire "accused" period? This kind of superficiality on the part of the International Tribunal in The Hague surpasses even the credulity of the mediaeval witch trials. I ask myself, does an accused Croat have to be in the same situation as the late Stipe so that, only then, the "testimony" against him will be verified with at least a little more seriousness?

  3. After so much insistence on the need for a quick trial of General Blaskic, how can his 455 days of "waiting" in prison before the trial itself be justified? Will anyone be held accountable for the consequences of such reluctance on the part of the International Tribunal in The Hague? That ironic ancient Roman proverb &endash; "the powerful do not sin" &endash; could then apply to some of those in charge of this court.

  4. This focus toward Croatia and the accused Croats is beginning to appear extremely disproportionate and even staged, even trough the whole world and its most powerful governments know well who the main authors and culprits are of the bloodshed and other crimes on the territories of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Yet they continue to take no significant action to bring these offender before the court of justice. There are more and more justified reasons for the conviction that this court is not actually trying General Blaskic but rather Croatia and the Croatian people in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

  5. In addition, it looks like this trial &endash; like the newest prevention of economic assistance to Croatia &endash; is being used to pressure Croatia for the benefit of foreign political interest, which rightly brings into question the morality of the protagonists of such pressure. Furthermore, by way of the proceeding in and around The Hague, it is becoming easier and easier to form the impression that someone very powerful drew a plan of how the Croats needed to be equalized with the main offenders and calculatedly punished, regardless of the fact that they were the primary victims of terrible aggression, or rather of the allowance of such an aggression by the most powerful international players.

  6. It is also necessary to stress the fact, and consider it in its proper place, that the proceedings and atmosphere surrounding the International Tribunal in The Hague are not healing the people and peoples in the southern Slavic territories but are rather causing even more distrust and enmity among them.

  7. And, in conclusion, I know personally that the other accused Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina are not afraid to be put on just trial for their actions. They would without delay (like General Blaskic) sit on a regular Croatia Airlines flight and place themselves in the hands of the International Tribunal in The Hague &endash; if they could be certain that fair, professional and dignified proceedings, unlike those we described above, would await them there.

Consequently, it is with immense humanness that I beseech you, respected Justice Cassese and Secretary Albright, to do everything in your power to correct and in the future avoid all publicly known and unknown faults and iniquitous biases of the International Tribunal in The Hague and its leaders.

With great gratitude and deserving respect,

Simun Sito Coric, Ph.D.

Bern, 9. July 1997.

N.B.  The Croatian World Congress is a non-governmental international organization that operates in some 30 countries and is lead by president Dr. Coric, a Croatian Franciscan priest and writer.


SIMUN SITO CORIC OSTAO PREDSJEDNIK HRVATSKOGA SVJETSKOG KONGRESA - Vecernji list, 7. srpnja 2000.,  Z. Despot

Razocarani smo demontazom osobe i djela dr. Franje Tudmana

ZAGREB - Izborom novog vodstva te izglasavanjem rezolucije jucer je u zagrebackoj Staroj gradskoj vijecnici zavrsila 4. konvencija Hrvatskoga svjetskog kongresa. Za predsjednika Kongresa u iduve vetiri godine ponovno je izabran dr. fra Simun Sito Coric, koji je jucer na konferenciji za novinare javnost upoznao i sa sadrzajem rezolucije, podijeljene u 12 tocaka.

Respektirajuci novu hrvatsku vlast, Kongres ce i dalje suradivati sa svim relevantnim cimbenicima naseg naroda. Nezaobilazno je uzeti u obzir svu slojevitost hrvatskoga izvandomovinstva. Nadalje, smatramo vrlo stetnim svako marginaliziranje Hrvata izvan Hrvatske, pri cemu mislimo i na hrvatske prognanike iz BiH u Hrvatskoj kao i na Hrvate u Jugoslaviji.

Na sljedecem popisu stanovnistva Hrvatske nuzno je popisati i njihove potomke izvan domovine. Zatim nas zabrinjava sadasnje smjenjivanje djelatnika i gašenje sluzbenih institucija za suradnju s Hrvatima izvan domovine. Treba bez otezanja uciniti da drzavljani Hrvatske i BiH s boravkom izvan Hrvatske dobiju mogucnost dopisnog glasovanja - nabrojao je dr. Sito Soric neke tocke rezolucije.

Kongres je, naglasio je njegov predsjednik, ogorcen sto pojedinci iz aktualne hrvatske vlasti cesto ponavljaju fraze o deset mracnih, izgubljenih godina, cime, kaze fra Coric, porucuju da je hrvatski narod gubitnik zato sto je doslo do stvaranja hrvatske drzave.

Posebno nas razocarava aktualno stjerivanje u sutnju ili pokusaji totalne demontaze osobe i djela glavnog predvoditelja stvaranja hrvatske drzave, predsjednika dr. Franje Tudmana - dodao je predsjednik Kongresa.


PREDSJEDNIK MESIC PRIMIO IZASLANSTVO HRVATSKOG SVJETSKOG KONGRESA - HR - TV

ZAGREB, 7. srpnja - Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske Stjepan Mesic primio je izaslanstvo sudionika 4. konvencije Hrvatskoga svjetskog kongresa s njegovim predsjednikom Simunom Sitom Coricem na celu. Predsjednik Mesic istaknuo je da trebamo uloziti napore kako bi se Hrvatska demokratizirala i dostigla standard razvijenih zemalja te da se vise ne mjeri prema Srbiji i Albaniji, nego primjerice prema Austriji i Svedskoj. To je zadatak naseg narastaja, a mi mozemo mnogo uciniti jer Hrvatska je zemlja sansi, mozemo aktivirati svoje resurse i proizvodnju kako bi postala zemlja izvoznica. Danas smo zaokupljeni time kako provesti reviziju pretvorbe i dobiti uspjesan menadzment da bismo kao zona sigurnosti dobili kapital koji ce aktivirati nase resurse te ostvarili nekoliko projekata koji su za nas vazni i koje bi i Europa trebala prihvatiti.

Predsjednik je istaknuo kako politika ne bi trebala previse opterecivati hrvatske iseljenike, nego bi trebali lobirati za svoju domovinu bez obzira na promjenu stranke na vlasti i vlade. Predsjednik Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa Simun Sito Coric izrazio je zadovoljstvo sto je predsjednik Mesic primio izaslanstvo cetvrte konvencije HSK. Upitan kako ocjenjuje govor predsjednika Mesica o odnosu prema iseljenim Hrvatima, Coric je kazao da je predsjednik govorio nacelno i da na to nema nikakvih primjedbi, ali da iseljene Hrvate zanimaju i brojne pojedinosti.


SITO CORIC: HRVATSKI SVJETSKI KONGRES I DALJE CE SURADJIVATI S BITNIM CIMBENICIMA U DOMOVINI - HR - TV

ZAGREB, 7. srpnja - Predstavnici Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa najavili su da ce i nakon promjene vlasti suradivati sa svim bitnim cimbenicima u domovini. Postujemo vlast kojoj je narod dao povjerenje, suradivat cemo sa svim bitnim cimbenicima u domovini u cuvanju hrvatskih interesa i vrijednosti, izjavio je novinarima Simun Sito Coric, koji je na 4. konvenciji Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa dobio povjerenje da i iduce cetiri godine bude predsjednik te krovne hrvatske iseljenicke organizacije. Na konvenciji, odrzanoj od 5. do 7. srpnja u Zagrebu, donesena je rezolucija od 12 tocaka u kojoj HSK poziva sadasnju hrvatsku vlast da osigura kontinuitet kontakata s Hrvatima izvan domovine i suraduje s njima. To je, kaze Coric, vazno kako dijaspora ne bi morala od nule graditi odnose sa svakom novoizabranom vlasti.

HSK u rezoluciji trazi da se uzme u obzir sva slojevitost hrvatske dijaspore zbog gasenja sluzbenih institucija za suradnju s Hrvatima izvan domovine, smatra da treba poceti izradu ciljanih programa povratka, te napraviti dugorocan plan povratka barem glavnice ostecenim stedisama u hrvatskim bankama. U pogledu zastupljenosti u Saboru, kongres smatra da bi bilo najdjelotvornije da Hrvati po kontinentima i zemljama gdje zive u velikom broju sami biraju one koji ce nadstranacki prenositi njihove interese, a predlaze i uvodenje dopisnoga glasovanja. Vrlo stetnim HSK oznacava marginaliziranje Hrvata izvan Hrvatske, a tu, napominje, misli i na hrvatske prognanike iz BiH - koji se ne smiju dovoditi u priliku da moraju odlaziti u trece zemlje, kao i na Hrvate u SRJ.


MESIC S PREDSTAVNICIMA HRVATSKOG SVJETSKOG KONGRESA - (Hina)

Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske Stjepan Mesic primio je danas izaslanstvo sudionika Cetvrte konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa na celu s njegovim predsjednikom Simunom Sitom Coricem.

ZAGREB, 7. srpnja (Hina) - Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske Stjepan Mesic primio je danas izaslanstvo sudionika Cetvrte konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa na celu s njegovim predsjednikom Simunom Sitom Coricem. Predsjednik Mesic je istaknuo da danas - kada je Hrvatska neosporna cinjenica - trebamo uloziti napore da se ona demokratizira i dostigne razinu standarda razvijenih zemalja te da se vise ne mjeri prema Srbiji i Albaniji, nego primjerice prema Austriji i Svedskoj.

"To je zadatak nase generacije, mi mozemo puno uciniti, jer Hrvatska je zemlja sansi, mozemo aktivirati svoje resurse i proizvodnju kako bi postala zemlja izvoznica. Hrvatska moze postati financijsko i gospodarsko srediste ovog dijela Europe i moramo ici brzim koracima prema nasim strateskim ciljevima Europskoj uniji i NATO paktu. Europska unija ce nam omoguciti da postanemo bogati, a članstvo u NATO-u omogucit ce nam sigurnost", kazao je predsjednik Mesic. Danas smo zaokupljeni time kako provesti reviziju pretvorbe i dobiti uspjesan menedzment da bismo kao zona sigurnosti dobili kapital koji ce aktivirati nase resurse te ostvarili nekoliko projekata koji su za nas vazni koje bi i Europa trebala prihvatiti.

Prvi je projekt gradnja Jadransko-jonske autoceste i kad se taj dio poveze sa zapadnom Europom, onda je na tom prostoru prakticno europsko udruzivanje fizicki zavrseno, a politicko je samo pitanje vremena, drzi predsjednik Mesic. Hrvatska je zainteresirana i za ponovno otvaranje plovnog puta Dunavom kako bi se aktivirali resursi Vukovara i citavog Podunavlja cime bi omogucili funkcioniranje velikog dijela hrvatskog gospodarstva koji gravitira prema Dunavu. To se moze postici aktiviranjem svih zemalja kroz koje Dunav prolazi, naglasio je predsjednik Mesic.

Prema Predsjednikovim rijecima treci se projekt odnosi na kaspijsku naftu koja bi isla preko Rumunjske, Madarske i Hrvatske i dalje prema Europi cime bi se oslobodili monopola ruske nafte i osigurali energenti za citavu srednju Europu. Hrvatska je također zainteresirana za izgradnu plinovoda kojim bi se iz Norveske doveo plin u Hrvatsku odnosno Jadransko more kako ne bismo ovisili o ruskom plinu, rekao je predsjednik. "To su projekti na kojima trenutno radimo i trazimo formiranje fonda u koji bi nama prijateljske zemlje i međunarodne korporacije uplacivale dio sredstava za dovrsenje tih projekata. Na taj bismo nacin dobili kapital na duzi rok otplate, povoljniju kamatu i aktivirali hrvatske resurse i potencijale i stvorili modernu europsku i bogatu Hrvatsku. Price o tome da Hrvatska moze biti srednjoeuropska vojna sila su previse optimisticne, ali mozemo zivjeti u demokraciji i gradanskim pravima, slobodi medija i bogatstvu hrvatskih resursa", rekao je Mesic. To ovisi o svima nama, porucio je predsjednik Mesic izaslanstvu Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa, dodavsi kako hrvatske iseljenike politika ne bi trebala previse opterecivati, nego bi trebali lobirati za svoju domovinu onako kako to čine Zidovi za Izrael, bez obzira na promjenu stranke na vlasti i vlade.

"Pozivam vas da nam u tome pomognete", kazao je predsjednik Mesic u prigodnoj rijeci izaslanstvu Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa.

Predsjednik Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa Simun Sito Coric izrazio je zadovoljstvo sto je predsjednik Mesic primio izaslanstvo Cetvrte konvencije HSK i prigode da im moze osobno reci sto je najbolje za Hrvate izvan domovine, ali i da mu iseljenici mogu reci sto mogu uciniti za Hrvatsku i ona za njih i kako bi zajednicki radili u hrvatskom interesu i afirmaciji hrvatskih vrijednosti.

Upitan kako ocjenjue govor predsjednika Republike o odnosu prema iseljenim Hrvatima, Coric je kazao da je Predsjednik govorio nacelno i da na to nema nikakvih primjedbi, ali da iseljene Hrvate zanimaju i brojne pojedinosti.


KONVENCIJA HRVATSKOG SVJETSKOG KONGRESA OD 5. DO 7. SRPNJA - Hina, Vjesnik, 29. lipnja 2000., str. 4.

ZAGREB, 28. lipnja - Cetvrta konvencija Hrvatskoga svjetskog kongresa (HSK) odrzat ce se od 5. do 7. srpnja u Zagrebu, najavilo je u srijedu Glavno tajnistvo te krovne hrvatske iseljenicke organizacije. Kako se ocekuje, ta ce se konvencija baviti ciljevima i zadacima Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa, najbrojnije hrvatske nevladine udruge koja djeluje na svim kontinentima, a bit ce rijeci i o ostvarivanju dosadasnjih ciljeva i zadataka. U tijeku zasjedanja bit ce izabran novi Izvrsni odbor i predsjednik Hrvatskoga svjetskog kongresa za iduce cetverogodisnje razdoblje. Predsjednik HKS - a Simun Sito Coric rekao je da ce u tijeku zagrebackog skupa biti upriliceni neformalni sastanci s clanovima Vlade i drugim duznosnicima hrvatskoga javnog i kulturnog zivota kako bi se sto uspjesnije ostvarivala veza Republike Hrvatske i hrvatskog izvandomovinstva koje ima oko 3,5 milijuna Hrvata i gradjana hrvatskog podrijetla u oko 60 drzava. O ciljevima i zadacima Hrvatskoga svjetskog kongresa nakon Cetvrte konvencije novinarima ce govoriti novoizabrani duznosnici na tiskovnoj konferenciji 7. srpnja u Starogradskoj vijecnici. Hrvatski svjetski kongres sada okuplja 29 nacionalnih kongresa iz 29 drzava u kojima u vecem broju zive hrvatski iseljenici.


Sudionici IV. Konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa, 07. SRPNJA 2000. HRVATSKI SVJETSKI KONGRES I SMJENA U HRVATSKOJ MATICI ISELJENIKA

Prvog radnog dana 4. Konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa u Staroj gradskoj vijecnici nas je posjetio i odrzao nam govor predsjednik UO HMI, gospodin Jaksa Kusan. On je u svome, u mnogocemu kontradiktornom, govoru nastojao objasniti razloge smjene ravnatelja HMI Ante Belje, pa je izmedju ostalog rekao da se ‘nitko ne osvecuje nekom zbog onoga sto je u povijesti radio’. Pitamo se sto je to Ante Beljo ‘u povijesti radio’ sto bi bilo protiv interesa hrvatskog naroda? Zatim je Jaksa Kusan izjavio da se ‘ne radi o politickoj smjeni’ ravnatelja HMI - a. Pa ako je tomu tako, zasto je za ravnatelja postavljen Boris Maruna, clan SDP - a, dakle onaj isti Maruna kojem Hrvati izvan RH nisu pruzili nikakvu podrsku na proteklim izborima?

Drugog radnog dana Konvencije delegatima je iz HMI stigla ‘Otvorena poruka Hrvatima u svijetu’, koju potpisuju Boris Maruna i Jaksa Kusan, a u kojoj se izmedju ostalog tvrdi kako je ‘Matica u proteklom vremenu svoje veze sve vise ogranicavala na istomisljenike, bilo drustva ili pojedince, koji su slijepo slijedili politiku Hrvatske demokratske zajednice (HDZ)’. Nasa iskustva u kontaktima s HMI u posljednjih sedam godina ne poklapaju se s onim sto Boris Maruna i Jaksa Kusan porucuju Hrvatima u svijetu. Naime, HMI smo u tom periodu dozivljavali kao otvorenu ustanovu koja se iz godine u godinu razvijala u pozitivnom smislu, kao ustanovu koja je nama u iseljenistvu bila na usluzi po bilo kojem pitanju, pa i onim pitanjima koja nisu imala izravne veze s tom ustanovom; osoblje HMI bilo je uvijek susretljivo, kompetentno i ljubazno - uvijek spremno pomoci. U usporedbi s drugim hrvatskim ustanovama, ministarstvima i sl., na rad HMI - a nije bilo nikakvih primjedbi.

Stoga kad Boris Maruna i Jaksa Kusan kazu da ‘...nije bilo hrabrosti a ni dovoljno sposobnosti da se izadje iz uskog okvira jednih te istih akcija...’, te ‘...umjesto da bude sirom otvorena i svijetu i domacoj javnosti, Matica se pretvorila u jednu od najzatvorenijih ustanova u Hrvatskoj’, onda je to klasican primjer obmanjivanja hrvatske javnosti, kako bi se lakse pregrizla politicka smjena Ante Belje. Nacin na koji je Ante Beljo smijenjen podsjeca na nacin i metode kojima su se sluzili srpski ekstremisti kad su protjerivali nesrpsko pucanstvo s okupiranih teritorija tijekom Domovinskog rata.

Rezultati rada HMI u proteklih sedam godina nikako ne mogu biti rezultati nesposobnog ravnatelja. To sto Ante Beljo pripada stranci koja je izgubila na proteklim izborima je sasvim nesto drugo. Zato smatramo da je smjena ravanatelja HMI udar na hrvatsko iseljenistvo. Naravno, mi cemo i dalje suradjivati i kontaktirati s HMI, ma tko tamo bio ravnatelj, jer to je nasa ustanova, ustanova za nas i zbog nas koji zivimo u iseljenistvu. Na narednoj konvenciji Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa osvrnut cemo se na rad HMI. Uistinu se nadamo da ce naredne cetiri godine proteci u dobroj suradnji izmedju HMI i nas u iseljenistvu.

Sudionici IV. Konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa

U Zagrebu, 7. srpnja 2000.

 

Domovinski ured, Meduliceva 13, 10000 Zagreb,

Tel. +385 1 4848 630,

Fax +385 1 4848 634


Ante Beljo reagira na ocjene Jakse Kusana: APSURDNO JE DA SE TUDjMANA OPTUZUJE ZA UDBINA SURADNIKA! Slobodna Dalmacija, 08. srpnja 2000.

U razgovoru s Tihomirom Dujmovicem u Slobodnoj Dalmaciji od 23. lipnja u dva navrata Jaksa Kusan spominje i moje ime. Na pitanje novinara kako tumaci cinjenicu da je Franjo Tudjman dobio putovnicu prije drugih hrvatskih disidenata J. Kusan odgovara: “Odgovor na pitanje zasto je Udba bas Tudjmanu dala putovnicu kriju Udbini dosjei.... Tu su se poklopili interesi: desne emigracije koju nikakvi uvjeti nisu zanimali, Udbe da se sacuvaju glave, a kako vidimo i funkcije i Tudjmana koji je pod svaku cijenu htio uspjeti.”

Novinar nastavlja s pitanjem: “Dobro, to je odredjeno objasnjenje za doista nevjerojatan uspjeh Franje Tudjmana, no kako se dogodilo da 1990. emigraciju niste predstavljali ni Vi ni Maruna, Radja, Vinko Nikolic ili Gojko Boric, nego Beljo, Mudrinic i slicni marginalci emigrantske scene?”

J. Kusan odgovara medju ostalim: “Tudjman je imao cvrstu opciju podjele BiH, dogovora s Milosevicem, opciju jedne nedemokratske drzave koju vodi samo on, na koju mi koji smo voljeli misliti svojom glavom nikada ne bismo pristali... Umjesto nas njemu je na raspolaganju bila desna emigracija i uz nju dio ljudi koji je imao novce... Osim toga vrijeme ce pokazati da je Udba ovdje napravila odredjeni dogovor s dijelom emigracije s kojim je bila i prije u kontaktu i u toj prici za nas nije bilo izgleda.”

Nismo desnicarska skupina

I daljnje pitanje: “Zasto je po Vasem misljenju doslo prakticki na pocetku do zahladjenja odnosa izmedju Hrvatske bratske zajednice i Tudjmana, s obzirom na to da mu je mogla biti sjajna logistika, organizirana i financijski jaka?

Odgovor J. Kusana: “To je ozbiljna organizacija, cvrsto ustrojena, s jakim unutarnjim sustavom i vode je ozbiljni ljudi kojima ne mozete prodavati ono sto je Tudjman prodavao Susku i Belji. Oni su bili voljni pomoci, ali transparentno i jasno, a ne na Tudjmanov nacin i njemu je to bilo jasno.”

Postavljati upitnost zasluga pok. predsjednika Franje Tudjmana u stvaranju samostalne hrvatske drzave kao i njegovu brigu o svim Hrvatima ma gdje oni zivjeli, bilo bi smijesno. Njegov izbor suradnika na putu do tog cilja pokazao se ispravnim jer je samostalna i demokratska Hrvatska ostvarena poslije 878 godina. Stvarao je Hrvatsku drzavu na hrvatskoj pomirbi i jedinstvu, a prihvacao sve one kojima je ideal samostalne drzave bio iznad svega. Zazirao je od svih tajnih sluzbi svijeta i njihovih agentura koje su zastupale globalne interese svojih zemalja i kojima su hrvatski interesi, gotovo u pravilu, bili suprostavljeni. Suradjivale su te sluzbe pocesto s jugoslavenskom Udbom. Optuzivati dr. Tudjmana za suradnika Udbe apsurd je, a cinjenica da je dr. Tudjman u interesu stvaranja hrvatske drzave prihvatio ruku pomirbe od svih onih koji su se u prvim danima stvaranja samostalne drzave stavili na raspolaganje i ponudili svoju pomoc – kako pojedinci iz Udbe, tako i iz JNA - je cinjenica kao i to da su ti pojedinci svojim znanjem i uvidom u stanje tih sluzbi, koje su bile okosnice jugokomunisticke i velikosrpske dominacije, mnogo pridonijeli sacuvanju tisuca ljudskih zivota, sprjecavanju unistenja materijalnih dobara i uspjehu nasih obrambenih akcija u vrijeme kad se nismo imali cime baviti.

Sto se tice Tudjmanove suradnje iskljucivo s desnom (ekstremnom) emigracijom, to takodjer nije istina jer niti jedna od spomenutih osoba (Susak, Beljo, Mudrinic) nisu pripadali nikakvim desnicarskim skupinama. Mi smo imali i previse saznanja o infiltriranosti ljudi u takve skupine iz raznih svjetskih obavjestajnih sluzbi, a pocesto i Udbe, o cemu pise i Kusan, pa smo zbog toga i ostajali “politicki marginalci”, bavili se vise kulturnoprosvjetnim i sportskim radom, a politickim tek usputno ili indirektno.

Ja sam od 1970 do 1991. godine bio clan HSSa u Sudburyju, Ontario i kroz to vrijeme mnogo ucinio na preuredjenju i prosirenju Hrvatskog doma u tom gradu, koji je napravljen 1933. godine, te na organizaciji Saveza hrvatskih izvandomovinskih skola i Hrvatskokanadskog folklornog saveza. S pok. Gojkom Suskom sam suradjivao na istim projektima, a od 1988. na organiziranju i odrzavanju Katedre za hrvatski jezik na Sveucilistu u Waterloou. To vrijedi i za ostale iz tzv. Norvalske grupe - Ljubu Krasica i Vinka Grubisica.

Za samostalnu Hrvatsku

Ponosan sam na sve njih i na nas nemali doprinos u ostvarenju hrvatskog vjekovnog sna o samostalnoj drzavi. Uvjeren sam, i s tim cu uvjerenjem ostati, da je u ono vrijeme velikih svjetskih promjena koncem 80ih godina jedini dr. Franjo Tudjman imao odlucnosti i karizme, poznavao nasa povijesna zbivanja i tragedije, te vojnu struku i jugosustav iznutra kao preduvjet za pozitivan ishod nadolazece borbe. Vecina hrvatskog naroda to je prepoznala i dala mu je punu podrsku. Kad se spominju i neka druga imena iz iseljenistva koja nisu bila ukljucena prilikom stvaranja hrvatske drzave, cinjenica je da su gotovo svi bili ukljuceni ili u stranacke ili u drzavne aktivnosti. Tako je g. Boris Maruna u Hrvatskoj matici iseljenika bio ravnatelj od 3. 9. 1990. do 4. 12. 1992., glavni i odgovorni urednik casopisa “Matica” od 5. 12. 1992. do listopada 1995., a od 5. listopada 1995. formalno se vodi kao urednik istog casopisa sve do odlaska na bolovanje 5. 1. 1996. na kome ostaje do zakljucenja radnog odnosa u HMI, 14. rujna 1998. godine.

Istovremeno dok je bio na bolovanju u HMI, gosp. Maruna je bio glavni i odgovorni urednik novina Matice hrvatske za knjizevnost, umjetnost i znanost “Vijenca” (s kontroverznim financiranjem) od broja 40 iz 1995. do broja 101 iz 1997. godine. Poslije smrti pok. Vinka Nikolica od srpnja 1997. uredjuje i “Hrvatsku reviju”. Podjele na hrvatskoj politickoj sceni u zadnjih vise od stotinu godina su daleko manje ideoloske podjele na one lijeve i desne, a daleko vise podjele na one koji su bili opredijeljeni iskljucivo za samostalnu hrvatsku drzavu i one kojima su sve druge opcije bile mnogo blize srcu. Vjerovao sam da se u nase vrijeme broj takvih visestruko smanjio u odnosu na vremena iza nas, ali me, na zalost, svakodnevna dogadjanja upucuju na suprotno.

Pok. Vinko Nikolic je na moj poziv stigao iz Spanjolske i prenio casopis ”Hrvatska revija” u Hrvatsku. Bio je ravnatelj u HMI od 4. prosinca 1992. do 30. svibnja 1993., a poslije toga pa do smrti zastupnik u Zupanijskom domu Hrvatskom drzavnog sabora. Njih obojica su po povratku uz odredjene drzavne funkcije od “nedemokratske HDZove vlasti”, kojoj je narod u demokratskoj Hrvatskoj dao povjerenje ni manje ni vise nego osam puta od 1990. do sijecnja 2000. godine dobili i drzavne stanove u kojima i sada gospodin Maruna zivi na Trgu burze, a udovica pok. V. Nikolica u Vodovodnoj ulici.

O podjeli BiH ovom prigodom ne zelim raspravljati - previse je komplicirana problematika da bi se o njoj moglo nesto reci u nekoliko recenica. Uglavnom, zna se tko je svojatao cijelu BiH i vise od trecine Hrvatske. Zna se tko je na referendumu u BiH odlucio o njezinoj samostalnosti i cjelovitosti. Zna se tko se tim odlukama suprotstavio i okupirao vise od 75% teritorija. Zna se tko i kako je branio ostatak nepokorenog dijela. Zna se i tko je sve iz svijeta pomagao Srbima da zadrze okupirano i konacno tko je nagradio Srbe za genocid i agresiju sa 49 posto BiH teritorija.

U lavljim celjustima

Zna se tko i danas ne zeli nista uciniti da se stvore barem donekle zadovoljavajuci uvjeti za povratak Hrvata na podrucja tzv. Republike Srpske. Zna se i tko cini sve da se Hrvate iz BiH odsijece od njihove maticne drzave jer su spoznali da se Hrvate moze unistiti samo onda ako im se razbije jedinstvo i ako im se stave u prvi plan njihove medjusobne svadje i podjele. Sto se tice doprinosa Hrvatske bratske zajednice u stvaranju hrvatske drzave i demokratskim promjenama u Hrvatskoj 1990., a posebno humanitarnoj pomoci hrvatskim prognanicima, on je izuzetno velik. Nikakvih konfliktnih situacija izmedju predsjednika Tudjmana i bivsih Vlada i HBZa nije bilo. Kad je u pitanju suradnja HBZa i HMIa, ona je bila na visini. I sam sam clan HBZa vec vise od dvadeset i pet godina i svoje sam prve clanke o novijoj hrvatskoj povijesti objavio u “Zajednicaru”, glasilu HBZa, uz izuzetno dobru suradnju s predsjednikom g. Bernardom Luketicem, pise u svom odgovoru Ante Beljo.


RONALD BROWN AND COLLEAGUES HONOURED

Zagreb, July 2.1996. - The families of 33 Americans who died in a tragic plane crash near Dubrovnik last April where honoured at the Croatian Embassy in Washington last night. Croatian Ambassador, Miomir Zuzul, presented medals of honour to the families of the victims. Ambassador Zuzul told the families of Former Secretary of Commerce, Ronald Brown and his colleagues that their loved ones knew their mission was not only an effort to widen American exports and investments but a unique opportunity in building peace and stability in middle and eastern Europe. The new U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Cantor also attended the ceremony. He will lead a new mission to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina later this month.


CROATIA SEEKS ANSWERS FOR THOSE MISSING DURING THE WAR

The Parliament's House of Representatives began discussing the report on the work of the commission for those captured and missing submitted by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ivica Kostovic. It was stated that some 2,686 people are still on the missing list and that Belgrade will be asked to provide information on what had happened to them.

This proposal was backed by all the House of Representatives deputies who also agreed that the issue of the missing does not only have a humanitarian aspect, but also has to with the country's foreign policy and this should be one of the key issues to be resolved in the process of normalising relations with Serbia.


NEWS FROM BOSNIA...

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe head, Plavio Cotti has announced that the election in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be held on September 14. Cotti warned though that accused war criminals in powerful positions still posed a threat to the peace.

Assistant United States Secretary of State John Kornblum begins a two day visit to Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia on Wednesday. With President Tudman he will discuss the Bosnian Federation and its law on defense and Croatia's cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. In Belgrade Kornblum will also talk about cooperation with the tribunal with President Milosevic, while in Sarajevo he will head a meeting of the Federation Forum together with Bosnian President Izetbegovic.

German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel has expressed his desire that the elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are the foundations for peace, be free and fair. He called on all of the participants in the elections to make them a sucess by promoting the freedom of thought and movement throughout Bosnia.

Bosnian Serb deputies in their mountain assembly in Pale, broke off their session on Wednesday morning without any concrete conclusions as to the destiny of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. In presence of Karadzic himself, the deputies debated on how their leader should depart from the political scene, whic has been sought by the international community, and from Tuesday finally, by the Belgrade regime. So called speaker of the assembly Momcilo Krajisnik stated that the deputies where ready to remove all barriers that would hinder the Bosnian election scheduled for the 14th of September. Krajisnik did not stipulate what where these barriers were.

Meanwhile it seems that Karadzic has set unacceptable conditions for his resignation, if, amongst other things, the world recognised the Bosnian Serb entity as a state and gave the disputed northern Bosnian town of Brcko to the Serbs.


MAY 16 th 1996

OSCE Official Resigns From His Post

The representative for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE section chief for human rights in Sarajevo, William Stubner, resigned from his position on Wednesday, while he will step down at the end of the week.

The Washington Post stated that Stubner, who was also delegated to help in the preperation of election in Bosnia in September, said that he had resigned, because he thought that the realisation of elections in the given time frame was unrealistic.

Another OSCE spokesman in Vienna told the Post that none of the preconditions for elections in Bosnia, such as freedom of the press or the return of refugees, will be fulfilled by election day scheduled by the Dayton agreement for September the 15th.

According to an internal OSCE document, experts stipulate that the elections will not be able to be held before the November the 1st.


BLEIBURG COMMEMORATION

The anniversary of the Bleiburg massacre which is on the 15th of May, and the killings of innocent Croatians that ensued after this date in 1945, was remembered on Sunday at the Bleiburg field in southern Austria. A commemoration service and wreaths were laid at the place on the Bleiburg field where the first killings were committed (by communist Yugoslav forces). The holy mass was led by Father Sebastian Golenic, from the Croatian Catholic Parish in Salzburg, Austria, while the Croatian parliaments lower house speaker Vlatko Pavletic, also addressed the gathering.


MAY 09 th 1996

WREATH LAID ON ANNIVERSARY OF WW2 VICTORY

A Croatian parliamentary delegation headed by lower house speaker Vlatko Pavletic, will laid a wreath on Thursday on the anniversary of the victory of the anti-fascist coalition in Europe and the world. The wreath was placed at the Croatian Homeland Monument at Medvedgrad, overlooking Zagreb.

AMNESTY LAW WILL NOT INCLUDE GORAN HADZIC

The war amnesty approved by the Croatian Government for around 10,000 Croatian Serbs, that is due to be passed by emergency procedure by the Croatian Parliament, will exclude 15 Serbs charged in their absence with war crimes during attacks upon Croatia. One of them is Goran Hadzic who is now the Serb leader in the occupied parts of eastern Croatia. The Vjesnik newspaper stipulated on Wednesday that, "he can do himself a favour by voluntarily surrendering to Croatian authorities". According to Reuters Hadzic and three other rebel Serb leaders were charged in a 1993 trial with ordering long-range rocket attacks on Croatian towns along the Adriatic coast that killed several civilians and wounded dozens. Hadzic was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison, by a Sibenik court. He was also a suspect in an investigation initiated last year by a court in Osijek, in connection with the Serbs' horrific siege of Vukovar. The Vjesnik report continued that the amnesty would help UN administrators distinguish between Serb rebel bosses and ordinary citizens and further Zagreb's goal of regaining the occupied parts of eastern Croatia as soon as possible and without bloodshed.

MILOSEVIC NAMDED AT THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL

At the trial of Dusan Tadic before the International War Crimes Tribunal in Den Haag, the offender carefully watched Dr. James Williams Gow, professor at Kings College in London, explain to prosecutor Grant Niemann the political circumstances which led to the breakup of Yugoslavia and to the formation of new nations, as well as to the war and to the accused crimes which Tadic took part in.

The plaintiff went on to create a political frame, possibly for other trials, which might prove to be more important than this one. At present, Niemann has submitted seventy various documents, both written and spoken, which should help in the stipulation of all future punishments. The indictment has propagated the trial and has warned other potential perpetrators, before all, the Yugoslav National Army (in Croatia's case) and Serbia (in the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina).

In terms of Croatia, Dr. Gow explains, the Yugoslav National Army had three different goals: first was to preserve Yugoslavia, afterwards to keep Croatia in it (since it wasn't able to retain Slovenia) and when that didn't succeed, it wanted to amputate Croatian territory with Serb inhabitants and connect them as a "community of all Serb nations". That was substantiated in General Veljko Kadijevic's book "Moje vidjenje raspada" (My views on the downfall ). The objective of the Yugoslav National Army was to lavishly equip the Croatian Serbs and paramilitary forces that were fighting against Croatian authorities (which it also repeated in Bosnia-Herzegovina). The Yugoslav National Army was on the side of the Serbs even before it became the Serbian Army, and this was proved when it disarmed territorial defenses everywhere except in areas with Serb populations, and then later armed the Serbs with those very weapons!! That which General Kadijevic calls "liberation", Dr. Gow calls occupation. He showed the responsibility of the Yugoslav National Army on the basis of the means which it used, which was evident from the video that the prosecutor showed in court, along with a statement from General Zivota Panic that his army (he was the commander of the Novi Sad corps) didn't "liberate" Vukovar "house by house" but by the use of heavy artillery.

The prosecutor prepared a videotape which was supposed be an encumbrance to Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. It was derived from "unknown sources", which was the formal reason that the court did not broadcast it since Tadic's defense asked that that material not be put in court files. However, the transcript of that film, and maybe even the film itself, prove to be definite sources-attached is the entire tribunal documentation. It deals with the taping of the conversation between Milosevic and Karadzic which Ante Markovic showed to the federal government in September of 1991 when the Serb President suggested to the future President of the "Republic of Serbia" to contact General Nikola Uzelac (commander of the Banjaluka corps) because he "knows everything". In general, Dusan Tadic is just an extra at the Hague Tribunal. More important people have been appearing in court, not physically, but who knows - perhaps as possible perpetrators.


REZOLUCIJA HRVATSKOG SVJETSKOG KONGRESA

Sudionici IV. Konvencije Hrvatskog svjetskog kongresa (HSK) odrzane u Zagrebu od 5. do 7. srpnja 2000., koji su dosli iz raznih zemalja svijeta gdje Hrvati i njihovi potomci zive u znacajnijem broju, donijeli su sljedecu rezoluciju:

1.      Respektirajuci novu hrvatsku vlast, izabranu odlukom vecine nasega naroda ovim potvrdjujemo, da ce HSK i dalje suradjivati sa svim relevantnim cimbenicima nasega naroda u cuvanju i postizanju nedvojbenih hrvatskih interesa i vrijednosti, posebice u njegovanju potpune suverenosti RH i BiH pred mogucim najavama stvaranja asocijacije Zapadnog Balkana i bilo kojih drugih politickih asocijacija. Tu posebice imamo u vidu rastucu snagu HSK-a kao jedine hrvatske udruge organizirane u tridesetak zemalja svijeta, vrijedna iskustva tamosnjih hrvatskih Ijudi i njihovih potomaka, te sve veci utjecaj HSK-a kao nevladine udruge s punopravnim clanstvom u UN-u.

2.      Nezaobilazno je uzeti u obzir svu slojevitost hrvatskog izvandomovinstva, od onih generacija koje vise ne govore hrvatski do onih koji se najcesce ubrajaju u "strane radnike", kao i autohtone Hrvate. Stoga smatramo da je nuzno da se na drzavnoj razini formira stalni strucni gremij, koji bi proucavao i pratio hrvatsko izvandomovinstvo. Nakon svih eksperimentiranja kroz ove godine, vrijeme je da Vlade RH i BiH, stvore i ustale mehanizme stalnih institucija u domovini koje ce se brinuti za hrvatsko izvandomovinstvo i koje ce mu stajati na raspolaganju.

3.      Smatramo vrlo stetnim svako marginaliziranje Hrvata izvan RH. Tu mislimo i na hrvatske prognanike iz BiH u RH, koje se niposto ne smije dovoditi u priliku da moraju odlaziti u trece zemlje, kao i na Hrvate u SRJ. Svjedoci smo po svijetu kako i bogate drzave imaju i te kako potrebu dobrog odnosa sa svojim iseljenicima, i to ne samo preko kulturnih institucija, nego su im vazni za turisticke, gospodarske, bankarske, znanstvene i druge potrebe. Uz to, vazno je da se nikakve odluke o Hrvatima u drugim drzavama ne donose bez savjetovanja s njima. Mi smo za sve razumne mjere stednje koje se poduzimaju, ali je vrlo stetno zatvarati hrvatska diplomatska predstavnistva upravo u nekim mnogoljudnim hrvatskim sredinama. Stednja kao motivacija tog postupka malo kome zvuci uvjerljivo!

4.      Na sljedecem popisu stanovnistva RH, nuzno je popisati Hrvate i njihove potomke izvan domovine. Mozda bi pri popisu rodbina u domovini upisivala svoje u tudjini, ili bi se mogao pronaci neki jos bolji nacin za to.

5.      Zabrinjava nas sadasnje smjenjivanje djelatnika i gasenja sluzbenih institucija za suradnju sa Hrvatima izvan domovine pa trazimo da drzavne ustanove pocnu praviti nacionalne programe za povratak iseljenika koristeci se pozitivnim iskustvima iz Izraela i Irske. Ta dosad su se u Hrvatsku iz inozemstva vracali samo oni koji su sami sebi sve mogli osigurati.

6.      Sto se tice hrvatskih predstavnika izvan domovine u Hrvatskom drzavnom saboru bilo bi najdjelotvornije, da Hrvati po pojedinim kontinentima i po zemljama visoke koncentracije hrvatskih iseljenika sami biraju izmedju sebe one koji ce nadstranacki najbolje prenositi njihove interese, ali i ostala dobra iskustva u domovinu kroz Hrvatski drzavni sabor. Takodjer je vazno ukljucivati sposobne Hrvate izvan domovine da djeluju u hrvatskim diplomatskim i drugim institucijama.

7.      Treba bez otezanja uciniti ono sto prakticiraju druge zemlje, tj. da drzavljani RH i BiH s boravkom izvan nje dobiju mogucnost dopisnog glasovanja, jer zbog razdaljina, ono bi ih oslobodilo od poznate dosadasnje diskriminacije na izborima. Uz to, uistinu je nemoralno i nedemokratski prijetiti i svetiti se s pozicije vlasti Hrvatima izvan RH sto su ono svojih malo glasova na izborima dali ovoj, a ne onoj stranci.

8.      Pojedinci aktualne hrvatske vlasti cesto nas ponavljanjem fraze o deset mracnih, izgubljenih godina, ogorcuju porukom da je hrvatski narod gubitnik zato sto je doslo do stvaranja hrvatske države i da treba nastaviti tamo gdje smo bili u vremenu prije nje. Zabrinjavaju nas i ocite nejasnoce u sluzbenom prezentiranju i cuvanju nacionalnih interesa, rastakanje temeljnih vrijednosti na kojima je stvorena hrvatska drzava obezvrjedjivanje zasluga onih koji su najvise dali za njeno ostvarenje, tj. braniteija i invalida domovinskog rata. U tom nas kontekstu posebice razocarava aktualno stjeravanje u sutnju ili pokusaji totalne demontaze osobe i djela glavnog predvoditelja stvaranja hrvatske drzave, predsjednika dr. Franje Tudjmana. Zabrinjava nas sto ima znakova da se vraca organizirani sustav denunciranja, tajno skupljanje klevetnickih "saznanja" i smjenjivanja Ijudi zbog "politicke nepodobnosti". Ocito, bez nekih vodecih u hrvatskoj vlasti, medije ne bi toliko preplavile ceste diskvalifikacije Ijudi, a sto onda skrece pozornost s rjesavanja glavnih problema u drustvu.

9.      Molimo hrvatske vlasti da ucine sve sto je u njihovoj moci, kako bi trojica dugogodsnjih hrvatskih politickih zatvorenika u SAD sto prije ugledali svoju domovinu, te da bi se hrvatske zatvorenike u Den Haagu, kao i one koji bi jos mogli biti optuzeni, zastitilo od samovolje i igre politickih interesa svjetskih mocnika.

10.  Zbog humanitarnih razloga i krsenja Ijudski prava, potrebno je da Vlada RH ispita ratne zlocine pocinjene u mirno doba od svibnja 1945. do 1947. godine, da se grobovi i grobnice identificiraju i da se pocinitelji privedu javnom sudjenju i kazne po zakonu. HSK si zadrzava pravo zapoceti taj postupak preko mjerodavnih medjunarodnih institucija, ako Vlada RH ne poduzme potrebne mjere.

11.  lako se Hrvatska nalazi u teskoj gospodarskoj krizi, nuzno je napraviti dugorocni plan povratka barem glavnice svim ostecenim stedisama u hrvatskim bankama. Razlog je opravdan: drzava nas je i sluzbeno preko svojih predstavnika nukala da stedimo u hrvatskim bankama, a njena tijela nisu ni stručno ni redovito nadgledala rad novcanih institucija.

12.  U zakljucku, HSK poziva sadasnju hrvatsku vlast da osigura kontinuitet kontakta s Hrvatima izvan domovine i suradjuje s njima, tako da hrvatsko izvandomovinstvo ne bi moralo od nule graditi odnose sa svakom novoizabranom hrvatskom vlasti i umjesto poboljsanja, dozivljavati stagnaciju plodnih odnosa nakon svake promjene politickih struktura.

Sudionici IV. Konvencije HSK-a

 

Zagreb, 7. srpnja 2000.