CROATIA: EARTHQUAKE APPEAL – PLEASE DONATE – PLEASE HELP!

Earthquake in Croatia – Petrinja – Photo: Cropix

After the 5.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Zagreb in late March 2020 dozens of smaller earthquakes have been persistently hitting Zagreb and its surrounds, devastating the city of Zagreb, a new vicious wave of earthquakes are currently in their severity breaking 140-year records.

At least six people have died and dozens are injured following a strong magnitude earthquake of 6.4 points on Richter Scale that hit central Croatia Tuesday 29 December 2020; this came after 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit on Monday 28 December 2020 in the morning, causing major damage to homes and other buildings in towns of Petrinja and Sisak southeast of the capital Zagreb, where earthquake tremours these past days have caused further damage to the city not fully recovered from March 2020 devastation.

Earthquake in Croatia – Petrinja and Sisak towns devastated Photo Cropix

A young girl is among the dead and at least 26 people have been injured, six seriously. The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit 46km southeast of Zagreb on Tuesday 29 December (about 11.30pm AEDT). Emergency Services are still going through the rubble and destruction in search for victims and survivors. The earthquake was felt throughout the country and in neighbouring Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. It was felt as far away as Graz in southern Austria, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Croatia 28/29 December 2020 Earthquake devastation Photos Cropix and Pixsell

The same area was struck by a 5.2 quake on Monday and several smaller aftershocks were felt Tuesday.

“This is like Hiroshima — half of the city no longer exists,” said yesterday Darinko Dumbovic, the Mayor of Petrinja. “The city has been demolished, the city is no longer liveable,” he said. “We need help.”

Earthquake in Petrinja Croatia Photo: Hina

While there are several Appeals for Earthquake relief in Croatia as a matter of personal tradition I chose to donate funds through Croatian Red Cross and Croatian Caritas (Hrvatski Caritas).

I ask you to please help and donate to the Earthquake Appeal in Croatia using your preferred charitable/humanitarian appeal and if you wish to choose the Red Cross below are the datils of how to make a donation:

Croatian Red Cross

Hrvatski crvani kriz (Croatian Red Cross)

Address: Ulica Crvenog kriza 14, 10 001 Zagreb, Croatia

You can donate cash for the people affected by the earthquake in Petrinja and Sisak via following account:
Bank: Privredna banka Zagreb d.d.
IBAN: HR6923400091511555516
Ref./Call number: 770
For payments from abroad – SWIFT CODE: PBZGHR2X

You can also donate via mobile banking application and barcode:

Legal persons can contact Croatian Red Cross via email: donacije@hck.hr

Croatian Red Cross Donation webpage:

Croatian Caritas

Should you wish to choose Croatian Caritas to donate for earthquake relief Appeal please visit their webpage on link below and click the Donate button (“Donirajte ovdje) on the right side of webpage: https://www.caritas.hr/2020/12/29/hrvatski-caritas-pomaze-stradalima-u-potresu-u-petrinji-i-sisku/

My thoughts and prayers are with all who are affected by the earthquakes in Croatia. May God grant them protection and speedy recovery.

God bless all and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity! Ina Vukic

While new mass graves in Croatia are dug up President Josipovic nebulises Serb war crimes

At the mass grave in Taboriste near Petrinja Photo: Anto Magzan/Pixsell

After five years of silence and inactivity a yet another mass grave has been dug up in Croatia. A mass grave found several days ago, in Taboriste near the town of Petrinja, was made public on Thursday March 15. Remains of 8 people, Croatian civilians, have been dug out near Petrinja’s rubbish dump site.

In the heat of the 1991 war in Croatia civilians were dragged out of their homes, murdered at the doorstep of their homes, wrapped in blankets, tied with rope, transported on trucks and buried deep in the ground. The criminals (Serbian aggressors) tried to cover up their deeds and deceive everyone so they covered the corpses with animal carcasses: human corpses mixed with slaughtered cows in nearby Gavrilovici, carcasses of cats and dogs thrown in the mix. 

Utter horror. Utter atrocity.

The air in Taboriste is heavy, the scene sickening to intolerable levels, Vecernji List article says.

Predrag Matic Fred, minister of Croatian War Veterans visited the mass grave site at Taboriste.

This is a hard story, one of the hardest in this job. We are standing at the 43rd mass grave in this region, and the work the professional teams, led by Grujic (Ivan Grujic, war veterans deputy minister) , is a humanitarian and civilization matter. Although Croatia is already recognized as a professional in this work, as we have more than 80% positive results in victim identification, we won’t rest until the last victim is found. We owe that to the victims and members of their families, whose lives during the past years have been anything but normal. We’re still searching for 1768 persons.”

In autumn 1991, the Petrinja area was captured by Serb forces and the Yugoslav National Army, which expelled the Croats from their homes, killing many of them. Until today, 45 mass graves had been found in the area around Petrinje. In August 1995, the Croatian army retook the territory in operation Storm, and most of the Serbs fled the territory.

The mass grave in Taboriste is the 145th mass grave found in Croatia since the end of the war of independence in 1995.

4,683 people have been exhumed from both individual and mass graves, of which 3,262 people have been identified.

Having visited the Taboriste mass grave site, Croatian Army Lieutenant Colonel Ivica Pandza Orkan said: “After this discovery we expect that someone will answer for these crimes. 1600 people were murdered in this area, 14 children among these victims. Dario Juric was two and a half and his brother Tomislav four years old.”

Away from this mass grave site in Taboriste there are still around 15,000 missing persons from Croatia, who “disappeared from the face of the earth” during the war.

It is frustrating and angering that Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, when referring to relations with Serbia, does not demand more forcefully Serbia’s cooperation in assisting with the location and identification of graves left in Croatia by thousands of Serbs who fled Croatia in 1995 and ended up in Serbia. A better cooperation from Serbia would mean a quicker resolution and closure on the matter of missing persons – and above all justice. Getting the information from Serbs on yet uncovered mass graves would also benefit the Croatian evidence against Serbia in the court case of genocide Croatia lodged against Serbia in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

On March 16 he told the weekly NIN: “relations between Serbia and Croatia were better now than they had been a few years ago, and the likely political consequences to their mutual genocide lawsuits had been exaggerated”.

The public, and therefore the political scene, in both countries is very sensitive when it comes to this issue. At the same time, the effects of the lawsuits might be overestimated as far as what is believed the suits can achieve …

Josipovic said numerous open issues remained. “These are serious problems, but with what we have accomplished in our relations so far, we have created a good foundation to start talking very openly about these problems, and to finally start solving them, one by one,” he said.

Diverting the issue of fully resolving the question and facts of genocide committed by Serbs during the 1990’s war to political gains or losses, and considering the withdrawal of Croatia’s claim against Serbia at ICJ will only benefit Serbia and not Croatia. Josipovic should not be nebulising, speaking vaguely about Serb war crimes in Croatia, almost turning them into dust-specks that can be easily bypassed or blown away with political rhetoric,  referring to many as “problems” or “serious problems”.

He, and the Croatian government, should be naming clearly and precisely these crimes; advocating strongly without holding back for Serbia to come clean and hand over all the records it holds of unsolved war crimes. Otherwise how will full justice be served, how will the aggressor be justly punished and answer for its crimes. In the EU circles Croatia should employ unwavering pressure to be placed upon Serbia to reveal the destiny of murdered thousands of people still missing from 1991/92. Otherwise, the desired goal of good relations between the people of Croatia and Serbia will most likely never be achieved. And, Serbia will slip quietly into EU membership without having to account for its part in the full range of genocidal operations against Croatian people.

One cannot but feel that the Croatian President and Government are walking on eggshells when it comes to addressing war crimes committed by Serbs in Croatia. Almost as if they don’t want to make any waves that would obstruct the building of amicable relations between Croatia and Serbia that European Union expects. For crying out loud – there should be no walking on eggshells when it comes to the pursuit of justice for the victims.  Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

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