BY EXPROPRIATION TO ETHNIC CLEANSING

Construction of Training Grounds of the Army of B&H Federation

AIM Sarajevo, 8 July, 1998

The controversial construction of the Combat Centre of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, although at first sight practically resolved, in public, primarily among the population of the Livno municipality, it is still the topic of numerous polemics. And while on the one hand, the Ministry of Defence has already started the construction, on the other, the population of Serb ethnic origin which will solely be affected by expropriation of land where the centre will be constructed, has announced lodging of complaints. The Serbs are declaring that out of the total of 900 refugees families 700 wished to return to this region, but this move has practically made it impossible.

The Combat Centre of the Army of the Federation was founded by a decision of the president and the member of the Presidency of B&H, Alija Izetbegovic and Kresimir Zubak on 18 December, 1996, on the territory of Canton 10. Almost a year and a half later, to be exact, on 14 May, 1998, this decision was ratified by the Government of the Federation, and then preparations for its construction began. The Centre will extend on the territory of four municipalities - Livno, Tomislav Grad, Kupres, while the artillery range will be located solely on the territory of Glamoc municipality. All this on the parts of the listed muinicipalities where mostly Serb population used to live before the war.

And while on the one hand, the Serbs from Glamoc stress that they have been "against the construction of the Centre from the very first day and they were not included in decison-making", the federal Ministry of Defence claims that despite numerous invitations, representatives of the Serb people have not responded and have not attended a single scheduled meeting. Moreover, they claim that despite the initial discontent of the international community concerning the decision on construction, the cooperation is more than satisfactory now.

"Everything that we have done so far was under supervision of the international community and everything was done completely legally. In the beginning of realization of this project, representatives of SFOR even interrupted the construction a few times", said representative of Ministry of Defence of the B&H Federation, Miroslav Prce, at a recently held press conference on this topic.

Prce failed to mention what was the reason for the pressure, but as it was possible to find out unofficially, SFOR primarily demanded just compensation of property or any other solution which would not be at the expense of possible returnees.

"This question will be favourably solved. Owners of the land which will be expropriated have already been registered and we will do everything to justly compensate for their property. Even to the Serb population which forms the majority on the mentioned territory", says Prce and adds that the persons who are not satisfied with the compensation will have the right to instigate court proceedings pursuant the law.

Data from the field show that the population which will be affected by expropriation is not just "mostly" but only Serb. Out of the total of 118 families whose property will be compensated for, all are members of the Serb nation. Majority of them have already announced the possibility of lodging a complaint.

"Our stand concerning this process is negative and we were against construction of the Centre from the very first day. However, when we tried to protest we were told that it was an accomplished fact and that all our property will be justly compensated for. As far as we know the purchasing price of the land has not yet been determined, but I can already responsibly claim that the people are embittered and that majority has already announced that they would claim their rights in court", says Bozo Jovicic, president of the municipal council in Glamoc.

According to his words, from the total of 900 families which have lived in this region before the war, 700 have expressed the wish to return. Moreover, data Jovicic has at his disposal differ from those presented to the public by the Ministry of Defence of the Federation. The president of the municipal council claims that instead of 118, 271 houses will be included in the expropriation, five cemeteries and two churches.

Dust concerning construction of the Combat Centre, that is, the artillery range, probably would not have been kicked so high had the process taken place in some other parts of the Federation, the ones where the Serbs did not wish to return, or at least had not expressed a wish to return. As it is, the process is acquiring in significance due to the fact that with the final variant of the construction, instead of the one in which expropriation of the Bosniacs' and the Croats' property was also planned, the problem was resolved solely at the expense of the Serb population.

"Wishing to reduce the number of lots to be expropriated as much as possible, we reduced the initial variant which included expropriation of land of 862 families down to only 118. We have given up on the initial variant which planned expropriation of the Croats' and the Bosniacs' land", says Prce and adds that construction of the Centre has acquired more significance in public than it deserves and that expropriation had existed on the territory of B&H before the war.

In view of the importance of realization of this project, expropriation of some houses of possible returnees will not significantly affect the construction of the Centre, especially because the whole process, from the legal aspect, will be carried out without major complaints. Morally, prevention of return of 118 families of Serb ethnic origin to their prewar homes directly affects return of at least the same number of Bosniacs and Croats in whose homes the Glamoc Serbs are staying. The process of return of refugees has like who knows how many times before lost the race with armament. And where it really stands is best illustrated by the latest comment of the representative of the Ministry of Defence of B&H Federation, Miroslav Prce, who said the following:

"We are in a situation in which those who have started the war will be the first to get compensation for their property. Let the Croats and the Bosniacs be enabled to return to Republika Srpska, and we will be the first to implement the Dayton accords".

Zana ANDRIJEVIC

(AIM, Sarajevo)