
The Guardian.co.uk Vernon Bogdanor : “Douglas Hurd’s handling of misguided UK policy on Bosnia contributed to Europe’s worst war crime since 1945”
Croatia, the War, and the Future
Ina Vukic

The Guardian.co.uk Vernon Bogdanor : “Douglas Hurd’s handling of misguided UK policy on Bosnia contributed to Europe’s worst war crime since 1945”

Reblogged from Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog By Jack Vrett Last month, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) heard oral arguments in the important case of Prosecutor v. Gotovina. The case concerns the decisions of General Ante Gotovina, the commander of Croatian forces during Operation Storm in August of 1995. The […]

ICTY, Hague, 28 June, acquitted – mid-trial! – former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic of one charge of genocide but upheld 10 other war crimes counts related to atrocities in Bosnia’s bloody war. Although Karadzic sought by way of motion to court to be acquitted of all 11 charges of war crimes, he succeeded in […]

(Reuters) 26 June 2012 – “Serbia’s special war crimes court on Tuesday sentenced 14 former Yugoslav Army soldiers and paramilitaries to a total of 128 years in jail for the 1991 killings of 70 Croat civilians, some of whom were ordered to walk through a minefield. In a ruling Belgrade hopes will boost its chances […]

According to article published in Vecernji List, Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor is currently undertaking preliminary investigations against unknown persons, journalists and editors of some media in Serbia, for inciting war crimes and calling upon people to perpetrate them during 1990’s. A letter by Serbia’s chief prosecutor for war crimes, Vladimir Vukcevic, reportedly says: “that the […]

Incredulous! No system of justice is perfect, but in a case such as the ICTY case against Serb Ratko Mladic for Srebrenica genocide (1995) and other atrocities of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Balkans War of 1990’s the prosecution’s adherence to rules of evidence (including disclosure) must be water tight and without […]

Communists used to (and still do) attack people, instead of sticking to truth or having to answer complaints against them. Perhaps he learned this trade from Slobodan Milosevic whom he called a nice man. Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister, decided to reply to Florence Hartmann’s condemnation of his presence in Sarajevo’s commemoration of 20th anniversary […]

According to the Croatian Defenders internet portal more than 70% of Serbian citizens have a negative attitude towards the Hague tribunal (International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia/ICTY) and consider that the Hague trials do not contribute to the reconciliation process. These are the results from recent research ordered by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights […]
Welcome to my blog. Here I will bring to you a variety of topics covering the documented truth about that terrible war that Croatia had to endure during the period between 1991 and 1995 and about Croatian political history that shaped a wonderful nation of people.
Croatian people wanted independence for centuries, just as they had it until the twelfth century but fate was not on their side – others wanted their beautiful land. In late 1980′s the will to break free from Yugoslavia which suffocated freedom and self determination through harsh communist party rule finally bore the desired fruit.
In June 1991 Croatia declared its independence; soon after the aggressive war against Croatia broke out. The struggle of the Croatian people for self-determination was a just one. But I fear genuine justice has not been served as there have been, and there still exist, international covert and overt moves to equate victims with aggressors continue in attempts to change history. Truth often becomes obscured and lost and that is why I have chosen to write this blog, to concentrate on actual events and issues about Croatia – wishing it a bright and freedom-loving future.
It certainly was not easy to come out of the war that was fought on two fronts:
1. On the military front the world’s public has seen the indiscriminate bombardment of Croatian cities, towns and villages from land, sea and air; the destruction of civilian targets including homes, schools, hospitals, churches, factories and cultural monuments; the blockading and destruction of roads, bridges and ports; the blockading of power, water, food and medical supplies. What hasn’t been shown on our television sets is the forced clearing and evacuation of towns and villages, followed by looting, torture, rape and murder carried out by the Serbian forces, who were initially backed by the federal Yugoslav army that was largely constituted by Serb nationals; the transportation of multiple hundreds of innocent Croatian civilians from Croatia into concentration camps Serbia (Begejci, Stajicevo, Sremska Mitrovica... from October 1991, and later (1992) transferred into Serb-held camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Omarska, Keratern, Manjaca, Trnopolje).
2. The second front was the war of political propaganda centred on: misinformation about the rights of minorities in Croatia; portrayal of the Croatian people as Ustasha or Fascists; the representation of the Croatian defence forces as illegal paramilitary units; the representation of the Croatian and Slovenian republics as unreasonable secessionists who are unwilling to negotiate; a regurgitation of distorted facts about World War II.
Indeed Croatia had an absolute right to defend itself and this is often forgotten if not often denied it.
Ina has been a tireless volunteer on humanitarian aid and fundraising for victims of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially war orphans. From1991 to beginning of 1994 she contributed in lobbying for international recognition of Croatian independence and Croatia’s rights in defending its territory and people from military aggression by Serbian forces. For this dedicated voluntary work Ina was awarded two Medals of Honour by the first president of the Republic of Croatia in 1995 (Commemorative Medal of the Homeland War and Order of the Croatian Trifoil). Ina has also written and published books in the English and Croatian languages on topics of migration and parallel lives; she has also written many articles for newspapers in Australia and Croatia on the plight of Croatian people for freedom and self-determination.

Blessed Aloysius Stepinac Feast Day September 7

