Скачать или смотреть CROATIA: GOSPIC: MASS GRAVE INVESTIGATION

(18 Apr 2000) Croat/English/Nat
United Nations investigators have begun digging in central Croatia at what appears to be the site of a mass grave.
The operation is part of an investigation into possible war crimes in the town of Gospic.
Investigators are searching for bodies of ethnic Serbs who may have been killed during the 1991 Serbo-Croat war.
An eerie silence hangs over the town of Gospic, 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the Croatian capital, Zagreb.
United Nations investigators began digging up what appears to be a mass grave here on Tuesday.
U-N officials believe there may be several bodies in the grave, but just how many it isn't yet clear.
It's feared they may be the bodies of ethnic Serbs, executed during the violence that erupted in 1991 during the break-up of the Yugoslav republic.
During the war old ethnic rivalries flared once more and families and friends were separated.
The Croatian government says it's helping in the investigations and will work closely with the United Nations.
SOUNDBITE: (Croatian)
"There are some justified suspicions in the city of Gospic that some war crimes have been committed so representatives of the Justice Ministry will remain at the site doing investigative work. I guarantee that if war atrocities are proved I will do everything in my power to bring those responsible to justice."
SUPER CAPTION: Branko Margan, Croatian Deputy Justice Minister
Croatia's minority Serbs took up arms in 1991 to oppose its independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Backed by Slobodan Milosevic's government in Belgrade, Serb rebels slaughtered thousands of Croats.
Human rights groups believe Croats killed Serb civilians in this small town in revenge.
This investigation comes three years after a former military intelligence official revealed what happened in Gospic.
The government of the late Franjo Tudjman had banned tribunal investigations here.
But after his death and the ouster of his party from power, Croatia gave U-N investigators permission to look into the slayings.
Residents of Gospic fear they may be unjustly accused of being war criminals.
SOUNDBITE: (Croatian)
"Some people are making an unnecessary fuss over these issues. This was a war where everyone had to defend themselves. This incident has greatly upset the local people. There have been times in war when there have been terrible atrocities against humanity, and if it proves true in this case then we will seek justice."
SUPER CAPTION: Ante Frkvic, Prefect Lika-senj County
The residents say they don't want to become known as people who commit atrocities and are concerned it will reignite old hostilities.
They have started a petition against the investigation in the hope that it will be stopped.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are not aggressors. We are just defending our country, and I don't know how they can put us together with people who attack and destroy all of Gospic and all Croatia."
SUPER CAPTION: Ivan Hekman, Gospic resident
A Croatian investigative judge and a district attorney are taking part in the investigation.
Reporters are not being allowed to approach the digging site.

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