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UNCLAS        ZAGREB 00182

SIPDIS
R 201326Z FEB 07

FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7322

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000182 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KIDE KTIA CJAN CASC HR
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES PROPERTY RESTITUTION, EXTRADITION, AND 
WITNESS FACILITATION WITH CROATIAN JUSTICE MINISTER 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Ambassador met February 15 with Croatian Justice Minister 
Ana Lovrin to discuss property restitution, negotiations on a new 
extradition treaty between the U.S. and Croatia, and witness 
support. 
 
Property Restitution 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador reminded Lovrin of their July 2006 
discussion on this subject, at which time Lovrin promised that the 
draft amendment which would give foreign claimants access to the 
1996 Law on Property Restitution on an equal footing with Croatian 
citizens would be passed by fall 2006.  To date, the draft amendment 
has not even been put before the parliament for consideration.  The 
Ambassador noted that, in his discussions of the subject with 
various officials, he has been told repeatedly that the amendment is 
unlikely to be passed in an election year.  The Ambassador advised 
Lovrin that, while resolution of this issue is not yet a big 
political issue in the United States, pressure is building.  He 
cited as an example next week's visit to Croatia of Special Envoy 
for Holocaust Issues J. Christian Kennedy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador recognized the difficulty Croatia faces in 
changing its law to resolve this issue, but expressed his hope that 
something could be done to at least create a process for those 
claimants whose cases were not covered by previous agreements. 
Lovrin confirmed that there has been no change in the status of the 
amendment since the Ambassador's last visit.  The decision of when 
to present the amendment to parliament is political and MOJ has not 
yet received the nod to go forward.  She is unable to predict when 
this might happen.  The Ambassador again emphasized the need for 
these claimants to have a process available to them so they could at 
least file their claims.  He left with the Minister a short paper 
with illustrative examples of American claimants who might benefit 
from passage of the amendment. 
 
New Extradition Treaty 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador advised Lovrin that we were interested in 
advancing, among other agreements, a new extradition treaty between 
the U.S. and Croatia.  We have long been concerned that the current 
treaty dating from 1901 is outdated and does not include 21st 
century crimes, such as drug trafficking and pedophilia.  The 
Ambassador informed Lovrin that, after years of responding that 
there were other priorities ahead of Croatia, US DOJ has at last 
agreed to consider opening negotiations, with a caveat.  DOJ needs 
the GOC's assurance that it will be willing to consider allowing the 
extradition of its nationals.  The Ambassador noted that Croatia 
would have to address this issue for EU accession to satisfy the 
requirement for exchange of nationals pursuant to the European 
Arrest Warrant.  He hoped that we could obtain some sort of 
assurance that the constitutional changes necessary to allow the 
extradition of Croatian citizens would be forthcoming, and that the 
United States might be able to benefit as well from this. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Lovrin sought confirmation that the United States did, in 
fact, extradite its nationals, so what we are seeking is only 
reciprocal cooperation.  However, Lovrin noted, it is not in the 
competence of MOJ to change the constitution.  She could only commit 
that Croatia will talk about this issue in the course of the EU 
accession process.  There are other changes to the constitution that 
will need to be made for accession; they will be made in a package 
at that time.  As the timing of Croatia's accession is still 
unclear, it is difficult to give any guarantee in advance. 
Assistant Justice Minister for International Legal Assistance 
Ljiljana Vodopija Cengic, also in attendance, expressed her belief 
that the US/EU Agreement on Legal Assistance covers extradition, 
thus this issue would be resolved when Croatia becomes an EU member. 
 We noted that extradition remains essentially a bilateral issue, 
despite the US/EU Agreement, and the issue of return of nationals 
would still need to be resolved.  The Ambassador asked if it would 
be possible to get from the Minister a letter at least saying that 
the issue will be addressed in the EU accession process.  Lovrin 
replied that the Ministry needs to look at the example of how other 
EU member states have handled this issue before any decision could 
be made.  Both sides promised to discuss the issue further at the 
working level. 
 
Witness Facilitation 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador noted the Ministry's efforts to address the 
lack of support for witnesses and victims in the judicial process, 
cited by the international community as a key gap in the integrity 
of Croatia's judicial process.  He offered USG assistance in support 
of the Ministry's efforts, for example, in the form of expert 
advice, staff training and study tours.  Lovrin gratefully accepted 
and promised to follow up with the Embassy. 
 
BRADTKE