“The fact that the Gotovina case is practically holding hostage the entire nation is inconceivable and intolerable from the point of view of human rights”, say eljko Tanjic and Gordan Crpic, members of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, who recently participated in the European meeting of Justice and Peace Commissions in Lisbon. The reference is to the case of the Croatian General Ante Gotovina, who is being sought for the killing of 150 Serbs and the deportation of a further 150,000-200,000. The failure to arrest or charge General Gotovina has so far blocked the start of negotiations for Croatia’s membership of the EU. Gotovina is also accused by the International Penal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of having committed war crimes against the Serb population during the conflict in Croatia in Croazia (1991-1995).”We were given assurances that the tribunal in The Hague would deal with personal responsibilities [for war crimes] and that nationality would not be a criterion that would influence the Court’s judgement”. This has not happened, according to Tanjic and Crpic, with unforeseen consequences for the States that rose from the ashes of the former Yugoslavia. With regard to the case of Gotovina, the members of the Justice and Peace Commission affirm: “It’s difficult to believe that over 4 million people can’t sign agreements with the EU for their future due to the actions of a single man”. The members of the Commission further underline the “grave” situation of Catholics in Croatia: although they form the majority in the country (according to a recent survey they represent 87.83% of the population), they live in the condition of a minority due to their lack of visibility at the social and political level.
