The recent sentence issued by the International Penal Tribunal in The Hague on three former Yugoslav officers accused of the massacre of Vukovar in 1991 has been received with some bitterness by public opinion in Croatia, believing the sentences inflicted by the court too lenient. The Commission of Justice and Peace of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference also commented on the affair on 1st October, in a statement signed by its chairman, Auxiliary Bishop Vlado Koi?. “The positions and the emotions of Croatian citizens in reaction to the sentence express in a justified way all the dismay and mistrust in the Court’s ability to recognize the truth and apply justice and the law according to international standards”, says the statement which identifies the “lack of a clear definition of aggressor and victim” and a “lack of familiarity with the context in which the crimes took place” as some of the causes “that led to so shameful a sentence”. “The Commission of Justice and Peace joins with all citizens and institutions that consider this sentence flouts and ignores the principles of justice and equity on which Europe and the world family of nations and countries ought to be built. The Commission expresses its solidarity with all those who are suffering as a result of this sentence, in particular, the families of the victims and of those who were killed in the heroic attempt to defend Vukovar and in the tragic days that followed its fall”. At the same time, the statement exhorts “all Catholics and members of other Christian churches and other religions to join together in prayer for all the victims of the war in Croatia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly at Vukovar. May this prayer be aimed at obtaining not only justice, but also forgiveness and reconciliation”.
