The Ugly Side Of the War

Let's start with Hrtkovci. A village whose population is 70% Croat, 20% Hungarian and 10% Serb. Its record was blotted once in 1941, when groups of Serbs were taken to a nearby crossroads and shot; some of their neighbors, according to the testimonies, threw boiling oil over them. They were either killed or had to leave the village.

The latest events: four young men from different Croatian families in Hrtkovci enlisted in The Croatian National Guard (CNG). All four families left Hrtkovci soon after that. Most of those who stayed joined the Yugoslav Peoples' Army and spent the war in the battlefields of Slavonia.

The biggest problem: the moving out. It began on May 6, when Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), read out a list of families that should leave Hrtkovci because of their "disloyalty". Their sin, according to Seselj, is "sympathizing with the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) and the DZVM (Democratic Community of Vojvodina Hungarians)". Seselj did not bother to provide any proof (if proof is at all necessary, since being a supporter of a legal political party can hardly be termed a sin). Instead, rumors started going around that Seselj's men, dressed in CNG uniforms, collected more than 300,000 German marks in the village "as aid to the Croatian army". On that occasion - as they now like to brag in cafes - the donators' names were carefully written down. These are the names that figure on Seselj's list.

A rather dubious story, although apparently quite convincing for those who are ready to believe such things and promptly force all those named to leave. Of course, it goes without saying that the most luxurious houses (most of them the fruit of years of hard work abroad) belong to the people on Seselj's list.

According to those familiar with the present situation in Hrtkovci, Seselj's men are behind the moving out. The most zealous of all are those who recently went through the same thing, i.e. Serbs expelled from Western Slavonia (Croatia).

Ostoja Sibincic, a refugee from Pakrac and, some claim, a member of the SRS, was recently elected president of the Hrtkovci Municipality. He was elected thanks to quite an unorthodox procedure allowing all those present to vote. Some 200 refugees from Western Slavonia were there to support the candidate.

The most tragic result of the entire action initiated on May 6 is the murder of Marika Stefanc, 45, whose single fault was that he belonged to a different people. Not even the arrival of a special unit of the Republican Police on June 27 could help poor Stefanc. He was murdered in the night between June 28 and 29.

After this incident, the until then silent and tolerant Serbian authorities reacted for the first time. Four people suspected of being involved in the murder of Stefanc are behind bars undergoing investigation.

Mr. Ilija Radulovic, an SPO (Serbian Renewal Movement) attorney, says that the engagement of the republican police reflects not only part of a large-scale farce, but the authentic ambition of some people in the force to do their job professionally. Other witnesses in the "case" also confirm that police was fair most of the time, which leaves room to assume that the problem is in those who give orders, and not in those who carry them out.

Mr. Dobrica Cosic, the President of a country full of such "haunted" places like Hrtkovci, said recently that, when it comes to minority rights, "Yugoslavia" exceeds world standards. The fact that Article 1 of the 1990 Constitution says that Serbia is a state of all its citizens does not mean that Seselj can commit several crimes (provoking racial and national animosity, inspiring actions that result in somebody's death) and remain unpunished.

One of the main reasons for the sanctions is the unsettled minority issue. "Yugoslavia" was asked to provide adequate mechanisms that would guarantee the implementation of minority rights that are so beautifully conceived.