DISMEMBERMENT OF THE FEDERATION

VARES CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

AIM Vares, January 9, 1996

The folly due to which everything that exists in B&H is attempted to be divided into Serb, Croat or Muslim for years now, conceived yet another paradox: a new Social Democratic Party was established in Vares, but denoted as "Croat". Therefore, a single-national, civic social democratic party!?

This brought Vares, a place in Central Bosnia on 390 square kilometres and with 22,114 inhabitants according to the 1991 census, into the focus of interest again. Indeed, in the past several decades, this industrial, mining town has not been mentioned as much as in the past five years. Unfortunately, less and less for anything that is good.

Practically for the first time in its history, Vares became the target of political interest when its inhabitants in the first 1990 multi-party elections in B&H, placed trust in representatives of the regime which was evidently already leaving the scene. Namely, communists who were in power at the time, with their name changed on the eve of the elections into the Party of Democratic Changes - League of Communists of B&H (SDP-SK B&H), and then reformed into the Social Democratic Party of B&H (SDP B&H) as they are called now, won the elections here with 39 per cent of votes. With another civic party, the Party of Reformists (now the Union of B&H Social Democrats - UBSD) which won 16 per cent of the votes, Vares had all the presumptions to become an oasis of peace and togetherness with civic-orientated local administration, just like Tuzla where the mentioned UBSD is predominant. This is especially true since in Vares, the coalition of civic parties had a larger share in power than national parties which won power in B&H but got only 26 per cent of the votes here (the Croat Democratic Community - HDZ), and 17 per cent (the Party of Democratic Action - SDA).

Ethnic composition of this workers' town, according to data from the last census before the war was the following: 40.6 per cent of the Croats, 16.4 per cent of the Serbs, 9.3 per cent of Yugoslavs, and 3.3 per cent of members of other ethnic groups. Nowadays, four years later, its ethnic composition does not resemble this variety from the time before the war at all.

After the beginning of the war in B&H, lawlessness, anarchy and general disorder gained control in Vares, too. In such surroundings, leaders of the extremist faction of the HDZ, Zvonko Duzinovic and Ante Pejcinovic, with ardent support of their party colleagues from Kiseljak, Busovaca and Vitez, forcibly took power over from the SDP. This opposition party (although due to its representatives in the Government and the Presidency at the time, it became one of the ruling parties again) is unable to change anything. Partly due to its specific coalition with the HDZ-SDA authorities, partly due to the increasingly totalitarian regime which these two parties have established on the territories they control.

From the moment the HDZ forcibly took over power, life in Vares became very compicated for non-Croat population, but especially for members of other political parties. Vares SDP was lying low, and leaders of the ruling SDA were seeking refuge in fleeing from the town and founding the government in exile with its seat in the near-by village Strijezevo for some time, and later on in Dubravine close to Breza. Soon after it had grabbed power, the HDZ (with the assistance of Karadzic's SDS from Ilijas) started planned eviction of Serb population of the Vares municipality. Naturally, leaders of the local HDZ charged dearly (in German marks) for their services of "saving" the Serbs from this, but also Kakanj and Zenica municipalities, so war years 1992 and 1993 were marked in Vares municipality by ethnic cleansing directed by national parties.

However, developments in the field towards the end of 1993 and defeat of the Croat Defence Council (HVO) near Kakanj, cut off the Vares HDZ and placed their military units in an unenviable position, squeezed between the Army of B&H on the one, and Karadzic's formation on the other side. In such a position, and in accordance with the plan of the then leader of the HDZ, Mate Boban, on eviction of the Croats from Central Bosnia into Herzegovina, hasty negotiations were organized with Karadzic's men in Okruglica, Ilijas and Pale, on transferring the inhabitants from Vares over "Serb territories" to Kiseljak. Money taken for the "transfer" of Vares Serbs in 1992, is now being returned by the leaders of the HDZ who are paying for this counter-service. At the time, two tents pitched near Vares served as a bank for paying and charging for these services.

Unwillingness of Vares Croats to leave their homes was melted by fear of revenge after a horrible massacre in the near-by village of Stupni Do where the extremists of the HVO, under command of Ivica Rajic of Kiseljak, massacred 38 inhabitants of the village and destroyed and set fire on the village. Fear of revenge and accelerated approaching of the Army of B&H to Vares demarcation lines, forced long columns of people to start on their way to near-by mountains. Forty eight hours before the Army of B&H entered the town, about ten thousand citizens of Vares had already left their homes. Conscripts were prevented to leave Vares by Karadzic's soldiers who wanted in this way to render impossible any enforcement of the HVO in Herzegovina where conflicts were still going on, so they found refuge in the near-by village of Dastanjsko. They are still there now.

In the meantime, Ivica Rajic is one of the accused in the Hague for committed war crimes, Zvonko Duzinovic was allegedly liquidated in HVO faction conflicts, and President of the municipality promoted by force, Anto Pejcinovic, emigrated somewhere to Canada where he is writing feuilletons about happenings in Vares and sending them to a local Croat-Boshniak weekly to be published.

What happened later is more or less known. The Army of B&H entered an almost deserted town (out of about nine thousand Croats, just 755 welcomed the Army of B&H), then exclusively Boshniaks-Muslims returned to town, and neither the Washington Agreement nor proclamation of the Federation helped the Croats return to their homes. Municipality authorities of the town now held by the ruling SDA permit the Croats who had fled just "tourist" tours of the town, but not to return. Vares has become a weight on the balance of federal platitude on parity of return of the refugees - "as many Muslims return to Stolac, that many Croats will return to Vares"...

Yet, the appointed arbiter of the B&H Federation, American Robert Owen, does not seem to be interested in political and military turmoils in Vares. He addressed a letter to all political parties which should form new municipality agencies according to results of the by now forgotten 1990 elections. The international arbiter, in accordance with his legal prerogatives, determined that the head of the municipality should be elected (pursuant election results) from the ranks of the SDP, and the President of the Transitional Municipal Council from the HDZ. The block of parties which, apart from the HDZ, should participate in municipal authorities, the SDP, SDA, UNSD and the DSS, supported candidacy of a member of the HDZ for the post of the President of the Transitional Council, but at ten sessions already, the HDZ failed to give its consent.

"They, in fact, do not accept the fact that everything is done pursuant to documents and the decision of the arbiter", Avdija Kovacevic, President of the Vares SDA claims. "They reject the Election Law, results of the census and election results."

At the last session held in the end of last year, representatives of the HDZ actually definitely derogated the decision of the Arbiter of the Federation refusing to accept and denying the right of the SDP to propose the future head of the municipality. In this way, Vares HDZ assumes almost full responsibility for failing to implement the Constitution of B&H Federation in this part of it. However, regardless of the extent to which politics opposes solutions which do not suit it, life in the established peace such as it is has already started to show effects. Namely, the Federation has penetrated into Vares after all - 4,173 Croats managed to return to this town.

On the other hand, political controversies and different concepts concerning resolution of the Bosnian crisis led to a status quo in Federation shifts of Vares local administration. Probably in the attempt to avoid orders of the federal arbiter Owen concerning the mayor of Vares who should be from the ranks of the SDP, the newly established party is called the Croat SDP!? Gradimir Gojer, Vice-President of the SDP (the original one) declared that "the HDZ did not hesitate to form the Croat SDP headed by Petar Ravlija, deputy in R/F B&H Assembly from the HDZ, in Dastanski in order to neutralize the SDP in Vares". Accusing the HDZ, but the War Presidency of Vares Municipality as well (mostly members of the SDA) that they are not allowing Social Democrats to take control and elect one of their members, Resad Zutic, municipal head, Gojer added:

"Acting of the HDZ in Vares is shameful. We have tried to meet the leadership of that party, but they turned a deaf ear to this initiative. That is how they avoid facing the truth which they will nevertheless have to face in the end!"

Of course, the leadership of the SDP has tried to accuse the HDZ for an attempt of "destroying the SDP" on "ethnic grounds". But, judging by everything that has been happening between the federation partners, from Mostar via Usor all the way to Vares, this is not a case of "destroying" the SDP. We would somehow survive that. This is rather a case of destroying the Federation. It is questionable whether we will be able to survive that.

ESAD BAJTAL