VZCZCXRO1416
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVB #0579 2141417
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011417Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8539
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0013

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000579 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KCRM KHDP MASS MARR PARM HR
SUBJECT: ZAGREB ACTIVITY REPORT - AUGUST 1 
 
REF: ZAGREB 00576 
 
¶1.  (U)  WITNESS SUPPORT PROJECT ACHIEVING SUCCESS: In a 
recent meeting, UNDP officials announced that their pilot 
program to provide witness support services in three county 
courts and the Zagreb municipal court assisted more than 100 
witnesses in serious crimes trials during its first three 
months of operation.  UNDP also reports that several other 
courts are expressing interest in the program.  The program 
funds positions for an administrator and deputy in each court 
as well as training, while the courts provide waiting rooms 
and offices.  Beginning in October 2009, the eight positions 
will be fully funded by Ministry of Justice.  The UNDP 
program for courts complements USG efforts through the ICITAP 
program to develop witness support programs for police and 
prosecutors. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) ITF RELYING ON US FUNDS AS DEMINING DONATIONS 
DECLINE:  According to the coordinator in Croatia for the 
International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 
Assistance (ITF), donors for Croatian demining efforts are 
quickly evaporating despite large areas of the country still 
waiting to be demined.  She cited Croatia's development, 
highlighted by its NATO membership and expected EU accession, 
as the main reasons why potential donors are reluctant to 
fund demining projects in Croatia, focusing instead on 
neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The coordinator also 
reported that the United States continues to be ITFs largest 
donor, providing more than 18 million USD to date for 
demining programs in Croatia.  In the first half of 2008, 
USG-funded projects totaling more than 1.2 million USD, 
cleared landmines from 525,000 square meters of homes, yards, 
and arable land. 
 
¶3.  (U) SAKIC FUNERAL FALLOUT:  Reaction to the July 24 
funeral service of former Jasenovac concentration camp 
commander Dinko Sakic continued to receive media attention 
this week. The priest who led the service, Vjekoslav Lasic, 
has a history of glorifying Croatia's Ustasha regime. 
According to media reports, the priest said "I am proud to 
have seen my friend Dinko Sakic laid out in his Ustasha 
uniform, and Croatia and our people must be proud to have had 
him."  The priest's comments led Ephraim Zuroff of the Simon 
Wiesenthal Center, who played a role in bringing Sakic to 
trial in Croatia, to call on President Mesic to give a "clear 
and unequivocal reminder that Dinko Sakic was a mass 
murderer... and that one of Croatia's greatest achievements 
was his prosecution and punishment."  On July 27, Mesic's 
office released a statement saying that the president has 
repeatedly deplored all crimes committed by the Ustasha 
regime and branded it as a criminal regime.  Mesic called on 
the government to take appropriate measures to prevent 
Sakic's funeral from damaging Croatia's reputation and from 
influencing Croatia's youth.  A GOC spokesman said the 
government agrees with the president's statement but added 
that the funeral was a family matter in which the government 
bore no responsibility.  He added that any decision on 
pursuing charges against those who spoke at the funeral is 
left to the State Prosecutor's office. 
 
¶4. (U) SERBIA WILL NOT SEND AMBASSADOR BACK TO CROATIA: On 
August 1, Croatian daily Vecernji list reported on Serbia's 
decision to continue to withhold its ambassador to Croatia 
while sending its ambassadors back to the European Union 
countries which recognized Kosovo.  Citing "domestic 
political sources," Vecernji said that Serbia is doing this 
for internal political reasons because it needs "an enemy to 
flex its muscles on."   A Croatian Foreign Ministry spokesman 
told Vecernji that Croatia expects the Serbian ambassador to 
return to Croatia soon, as doing so would show that Serbia 
understands that a good relationship between the two 
neighbors contributes to peace and stability in South-Eastern 
Europe. 
 
¶5. (U) CROATIA SIGNS ARRANGEMENT FOR MANPADS DESTRUCTION WITH 
USG:  On July 30 Minister of Defense Vukelic and Ambassador 
Bradtke signed an implementing arrangement to provide one 
million dollars of USG assistance for the destruction of 929 
SA 7 Strela missiles and to conduct security site upgrades. 
Please see ZAGREB 00576 for more information. 
Walker