Even the bad sessions at the HCA were educational, such as when Peter  
Galbraith arrived and gave an impromptu session. He was just like US  
foreign policy: friendly and liberal on the surface, but underneath,  
evasive and arrogant and completely wrapped up in his own self-interest.  
Some of his statements were outright lies (The US played no role in  
helping the Croatians in Operation Storm) and some were so offensive that  
I had to write them all down. For example, one woman from Danish  
Parliament asked him who in the upcoming Dayton meeting would be  
representing the perspective of a multi-ethnic Bosnia: Milosevic? Tudjman?  
Izetbegovic? His answer: "the Americans will. Because we are the most  
multi-ethnic country in the world and we understand the importance of  
this." Another quote; "All Western democracies treat their citizens  
equally." That one got a ripple of laughter from the audience. Most of the  
time he just slipped around people's questions and evaded them. It was  
educational to watch how he did it. We all need to become more skilled at  
asking  questions so that we don't give the likes of him loopholes to jump  
through.

I assume that you have read the email reports that our friend from Glina,  
Radovan, who attended the HCA at the invitation of Peter Galbraith, was  
arrested when he arrived back in Split as a spy.

>From BALKAN-PEACE-TEAM@BIONIC.zerberus.de
Sat Nov  4 20:19:04 1995
 
THIS IS AN UPDATE I SENT TO AN ORGANISATION (SOS ALERT) IN
GENEVA, AN  ORGANISATION CONTACTED BY OUR ANNIE CANIZARES
AND TO A GERMAN  PARLIAMENTARIAN GERT WEISSKIRCHEN WHO ASKED
FOR ADDITIONAL INFO AS WELL.I SEND THIS TO YOU ALL JUST FOR
YOUR INFORMATION. MANY GREETINGS,
DAVE
 
                    O T V O R E N E   O C I
             Croatian Branch of the Balkan Peace Team
////////////////////////////////////***\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
          *Participant hCa conference Tuzla arrested*
 
[Thursday, 26-10-1995 -  Split]
 
Radovan Jovic was a participant from Belgrade at the 4th hCa
conference in Tuzla. He had been invited to the conference
personally by Peter Galbraith, the US Embassador. Together
with many others he arrived late at night/ Tuesday morning,
04.15 from Tuzla at the hotel Alga in Tucepi, Croatia where
all the participants were supposed to spend the night before
travelling further either to Zagreb, Prague, Budapest or
Belgrade. The following (Tuesday) morning (approximately
11.00) special police in civil (4 police men from "Service
for the Protection of the Constitutional Order") came to the
hotel to arrest him. As he was not able to walk, because of
a severe pain in the back/ spine which paralysed parts of
his body, the police transported him by ambulance around
12.00 o'clock. They stated they would take him first to a
hospital in Makarska and afterwards to a hospital in Split.
Attempts to locate him there failed.
 
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Zagreb Mr.
Smiljan Reljic, assistant to the Minister of Internal
Affairs (Ivan Jarnjak) stated that on Monday, 23-10-1995,
criminal charges had been filed against 15 persons on
suspicion that they were spies for the intelligence of the
so-called "Serbian Republic of Krajina". They had been
captured in a joint action by the "Service for the
Protection of the Constitutional Order" of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and the "Office for National Security". The
15th 'spy' had not been captured yet.
 
Radovan Jovic was one of the 14 captured. Radovan Jovic had
been captured 20 minutes before the beginning of the press
conference, stated Mr. Smiljan Reljic.
 
Mr. R. Jovic is currently in custody of the Military Court
of Zagreb.
 
*Additional information about Mr. Jovic*
 
Radovan Jovic (17.04.1951) worked as a judge at the
Municipal Court in Glina in the former so-called "Serbian
Republic of Krajina". After the "Maslenica-action" in
January 1993, during which the Croatian army retook a piece
of territory near Zadar, unofficial talks started between
Croatian government and Krajina Serb authority
representatives in Austria. Three of these meetings were
held in Vienna and Graz (twice). UN representatives were
present there as well. Mr. Jovic was one of the negotiators
from the Krajina Serb side. Mr. Jovic promoted a peaceful
resolution of the conflict between both sides. After one of
these meetings in 1994 the Knin authorities dismissed him as
a judge because of his position in the talks.
 
In 1994 he also attended a conference of intellectuals from
Croatia and Serbia organised by the Croatian magazine
"Erasmus". When he returned he found his house in Glina had
been mined. In March 1995 the Krajina Serb army decided to
mobilise him. He refused to go into the army and then he was
sent to prison. After an intervention of the US Ambassador,
Peter Galbraith and other international organisations the
Knin authorities had to set him free. In May 1995 he went on
a study trip to the US (organised by the US Embassy)
together with three Croatian human rights activists and upon
return he decided to go to Belgrade instead of back to
Glina. In Belgrade he now is a member of the Serbian
Helsinki Committee.
 
(PS Two local human rights activists seem to think he might
be a 'double' spy. No further info about this so far)
 
Source: Otvorene Oci Split/ Tanja Tagirov (Arkzin), Lino
Veljak (Action of Social Democrats), Bodo Weber (Dalmatian
Committee of Solidarity Split)/ Milorad Pupovac (Serbian
Democratic Forum)
************************************************************
 
Names, addresses and faxnumbers of responsible authorities:
* Ivan Jarnjak (Minister of Internal Affairs)
  Smiljan Reljic (Assistent to the Minister of Internal
Affairs)
  Ministarstvo Unutarnjih Poslova (Ministry of Internal
Affairs)
  Savska Cesta 39
  10000 Zagreb  Croatia
  Fax: 385 1 443715
* Dr. Ivica Kostovic  (Deputy Prime Minister, responsible
for human rights issues)
  Vlada Republika Hrvatske (Government of the Republic of
Croatia)
  Trg Sv. Marka 2
  10000 Zagreb
  Fax: 385 1 4550284
* Kresimir Mudrovcic (President of the Military Court in
Zagreb)
  Vojni Sud u Zagrebu (Military Court Zagreb)
  Trg Nikole Subica Zrinskog 5
  Fax: 385 1 271617
>From hca@antenna.nl
Orig-To: HCALIST@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.apc.org
subject: protest to Mr. Granic
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 08:12:11 +0000
 
Dear friends,
you all know what happened on the way back from Tuzla. Mr.
Radovan  Jovic, one of the participants from Serbia was
arrested, and  moreover, the treatement that all the
participants from Serbia and Montenegro received was harsh
and rude. We are therefore doing everything possible to
protest against this to the Croatian authorities. The
American, the Dutch, the Swedish and the German Embassies in
Zagreb are exercising strong pressure abouth the case.
 
Probably Mient Jan and Gert Weisskirchen are going to Zagreb
soon, to talk to different people and try to visit Mr. Jovic
in prison. It would be very good if you also do something in
your country. Some hCa committees are already organizing
press-conferences and some are mobilizing their governments
to put pressure on the Croation authorities. Attached to
this is the protest letter we sent to Mr. Granic, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Croatia. You can also use it. If you
want to have more information about the arrests and about
Mr.
Jovic, please contact us as soon as possible.
 
Regards,
Tatjana
| Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Western Liaison Office
| P.O.Box 85893, 2508 CN The Hague, The Netherlands
| phone: 31 70 35 55 444; fax: 31 70 35 55 199
 
 
Subject: trip through Croatia
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 1995 23:08:48 +0100
LONG JOURNEY FROM TUZLA
 
Dear friends,
 
This letter is to inform you about experience of the group
of participants of t
he IV Annual  Assembly of the hCa from Serbia and Montenegro
on their way back from Tuzla. As you know, two buses with
almost half of the participants from Serbia and Mon
tenegro stayed in Metkovic for 9 and half hours waiting for
clearance of visas for their fellow-participants from the
former Soviet Union. During that time the group was not let
out of the buses save when the toilet was needed. The food
provided as lunch packages
in Tuzla was not sufficient, nor water was provided during
that time. After 3 a.m., when
 Ms. Mary Kaldor and Mr. Mint Jan Faber came back to
Metkovic, the group was allowed to enter  Croatia.
 
The group reached Tucepi at 4:30 a.m. and had to live the
hotel "Alga" at noon.
 However, sometime between 8:30 and 11:15 a.m. our colleague
and fellow-participant  Mr. Radovan Jovic, an ex-judge from
Glina, was arrested in his room (no. 333) where due to the
blockage of the spine he was lying in the bad. He was
arrested by 4 persons in
civil suits and taken by the ambulance followed by a regular
police car with two uniformed
police officers. Few minutes after, 4 undercover agents from
the room and 2 more left
the parking lot in front of the hotel. We were informed that
he was to be taken to
the hospital for the first medical aid and then to be
interrogated. Our request that our law
yer, Mr. Nikola Barovic, and our physicist, Dr. Dragoslav
Pavlovic, accompany him was denied. Let us add, that police
has checked  Mr. Jovic identity in Metkovic - his passport
was the only one that was returned with the delay and with
request from the police officer to see his face.
 
We have informed Mr. Peter Galbraith immediately, as well as
the ambassadors of
Spain, Hungary and Germany, the hCa, the Croatian Helsinki
Committee, the Anti-War Campaign (Zagreb), Dalmatian
Solidarity Committee (Split), attorneys-at-law, Mr. Srdj
Jaksic (Dubrovnik, participant at the Assembly) and Mr.
Mirko Francheski (Split), media, and Yugoslav Mission in
Zagreb.
 
We left Tucepi after two officers form the Public Security
Office, as they introduced
themselves, spoke to Nikola Barovic and Vladan Vasilijevic
about the arrest of
Mr. Jovic at 3:30 p.m. They informed Mr. Barovic and Mr.
Vasilijevic that they did not know where Mr. Jovic had been
taken to nor by whom. Furthermore, they suggested that the
arrest might been undertaken by uncontrolled group, though
it was obvious to all people present at the hotel that it
was done by the police. That gave room for doubting about
the life of Mr. Jovic for it wouldn't be the first time that
someone simply disappeared.   ( It was only on October 25,
that the secretary from the American Embassy informed us
that the Ambassador was informed by the Ministry of Interior
of Croatia that Mr. Jovic was in prison in Zagreb. We got
this information only when we entered Hungary, at 8 a.m.  )
 
This is a starting point of a long and miserable trip we had
through Croatia Lunch packages were not provided for all
participants. Water was not provided at all. Nevertheless,
stops were not made to enable travelers to continue their
journey in dignity. Moreover, even necessary stops were made
only twice and along the road, in the bushe. The idea of the
police was obviously to keep us away from telephone lines
and to get us
out of Croatia as soon as possible, though our visa was
valid until midnight, October 25,
1995. Even participants who had menaged to extend their
visas were asked to leave the
territory of Croatia.
 
The group was de facto arrested. Even travelers from Split
and Zagreb were not let out of
the buses without checking of their identity documents. The
trip took longer than
necessary, for the police controls were changing almost each
20 kilometers, always with
the delay and with counting of the passengers as if we had
been let of the busses.
Moreover, the behavior of the drivers and representatives of
the bus company was
outrageous. Besides helping the Croatian police in their
endeavor, they asked passengers
that were left without water, to pay 1 DEM for coffee and
requested from the police to
continue the trip even when the police was willing to stop
so that they can make it faster to
Prag. Needless to say that the only support we had was the
support from our coordinator Ms Lidija Grebo, and our
colleagues from Split and Zagreb, who went through all this
misery with us. Therefore, we accepted information on Ms.
Grebo resignation with deepest
sorrow.
 
All this that happened during the trip through Croatia did
not spoil nice memories we have
of Tuzla Assembly and Tuzla itself, but puts people on alert
with regard to future similar
endeavors. Especially the fact that one of the participants
was arrested during that trip.
 
With best wishes for the future work of the hCa,
 
Sincerely yours,
 
For the group of participants of the IV Annual Assembly of
the hCa in Tuzla from Serbia
and Montengro,
 
Elena Popovic
Belgrade, October 28, 1995
 
 
rom GOEDELE@s4.hca.cz
Tue Oct 24 19:04:17 1995
Orig-To: HCALIST@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.apc.org
URGENT
 
RADOVAN JOVIC, A PARTICIPANT TO THE FOURTH HELSINKI CITIZENS
ASSEMBLY IN
TUZLA, BH. AND MEMBER OF THE BELGRADE CIRCLE HAS BEEN
ARRESTED TODAY 24
OF OCTOBER BY THE CROATIAN AUTHORITIES. RADOVAN JOVIC IS A
FORMER JUDGE
IN THE KRAiJNA.
 
HE WAS ARRESTED IN THE HOTEL IN TUCIPE NEAR SPLIT WHERE THE
PARTICIPANTS
STAYED ON THEIR WAY BACK FROM BH. AT THE MOMENT OF HIS
ARRESTATION MOST
OF THE WESTER PARTICIPANTS HAD ALREADY LEFT THE HOTEL.
MISTER JOVIC IS
ILL, THE EVEING BEFORE HIS ARREST HE COULD HARDLY WALK
WITHOUT THE HELP
OF FRIENDS.
 
ACCORDING TO THE LIMITED INFORMATION WE HAVE RECEIVED UNTIL
NOW, HE HAS
BEEN ACCUSED OF (CONTRA-)ESPIONAGE AND HE WILL HAVE TO
APPEAR FOR A
MILITARY COURT. APPEARENTLY 14 OTHER PEOPLE HAVE ALSO BEEN
ARRESTED ,
HOWEVER THEY WERE NOT PART OF THE DELEGATION TO THE HCA
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 
AS SOON AS WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION WE WILL INFORM YOU
 
Please state this fact in your press releases about the
assembly and try
to put pressure.
 
Goedele De Keersmaeker
hCa Executive Director
 
PS Closing statement and other information on the results of
the Assembly will follow later.
## Message from 24.10.95 forwarded
## Origin   : HCA@hca.cz
## Creator  : otvorene-oci_st@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.apc.org
 
Dear Srdjan, thought it was good to send you this message as
well. Any  suggestions for action? Greetings, dave
 
 O T V O R E N E   O C I
 
Dear readers,
 
Radovan Jovic was a participant from Belgrade at the 4th
Assembly in
Tuzla. Together with many others he arrived late at night/
Tuesday
morning, 04.00 at the hotel Alga in Tucepi where all the
participants were
supposed to spend the night before travelling further either
to Zagreb,
Prague, Budapest or Beograd. The following (Tuesday) morning
the pain in
his spine, which he had felt for a few days already, got so
bad that he
could hardly move. Friends decided to call an ambulance,
which came
immediately to pick him up and bring him to the hospital.
 
Exactly what happened in the meantime is not known, but at
15.00, Tuesday
afternoon, during the Croatian radio news it was announced
that 14 Serb
spies had been arrested. Radovan Jovic was one of them.
 
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon (24-10-1995) in
Zagreb Mr.
Smiljan Reljic, assistant to the Minister of Internal
Affairs (Ivan
Jarnjak) stated that on Monday, 23-10-1995, criminal charges
had been
filed against 15 persons on suspicion that they were spies
for the
intelligence of the so-called "Serbian Republic of Krajina".
One of the
persons had not been arrested yet. Radovan Jovic had been
captured 20
minutes before the beginning of the press conference, stated
Mr. Smiljan
Reljic.
 
Radovan Jovic (44) worked as a lawyer in Glina in the former
so-called
"Serbian Republic of Krajina". He had some problems with the
local
authorities and even was in prison for a month there. Now he
has been
arrested and is supposed to be in Split in the Military
Barracks.
According to a Split lawyer he was transported away from a
Split hospital
at 12.40 Tuesday afternoon.
 
As Mr. Radovan Jovic was a participant at the hCa conference
in Tuzla and
was returning from Tuzla with the hCa bus convoy I thought
it was
appropriate to inform you immediately about this event. My
suggestion is
that you undertake some action, but of course that is up to
you.
 
I will give you the phone number of Mr. Ivan Jarnjak,
Minister of Internal
Affairs: 385-1-6122129 and of Mr. Smiljan Reljic, Assistent
to the
Minister of Internal Affairs: 385-1-6122111
 
Yours sincerely,
Dave Bekkering
(participant of the 4th hCa conference in Tuzla)
Otvorene Oci Split/ Balkan Peace Team