U.S. accuses Croatia of crimes against refugees

[Reuters]

GENEVA (Reuter) - The United States accused Croatian leaders
Monday of failing to protect refugees from ethnic minorities
returning to their homes.
``Croatian authorities have failed to protect the victims
and have often perpetrated the crimes,'' John Kornblum,
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, said.
He appealed at a U.N. humanitarian meeting in Geneva for
Croatia to end intimidation against minority refugees returning
under last year's Dayton peace accord which ended 43 months of
war in former Yugoslavia.
``These heinous acts send a chilling message to those who
remain in eastern Slavonia and to those who might return to
other parts of Croatia,'' Kornblum said.
``Zagreb must end this intimidation. The international
community will hold the government of Croatia accountable for
failure.''
Eastern Slavonia is a Serb-held Croatian enclave bordering
the Yugoslav republic of Serbia and is due to return to Zagreb's
control.
Thousands of people were killed or expelled from the region,
which saw some of the worst fighting in the war sparked by
Croatia's bid for independence from Yugoslavia.
The U.N. Security Council in November extended its
5,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Eastern Slavonia until the
middle of 1997. Elections in the area are expected to be held in
April.
Kornblum said much still had to be done under the Dayton
accord.
He said only 250,000 displaced Bosnians had so far gone home
out of 870,000 initially hoped for when Dayton was agreed.
``Even more troubling, more than 90,000 people who were in
their residences a year ago have fled,'' Kornblum said.
Nearly 2 million people remain displaced a year after the
signing of the Dayton peace accord.