"There you go, now they want to accuse Tudman of trying to divide Bosnia and merge a part of it with Croatia. Everyone here knows that Croats defended themselves and that they were victims. The evidence for that is the number of expelled Croats and destroyed Croat villages. How could we divide Bosnia if we were under siege, weaker in terms of manpower and machinery, and there was no way for us to link up to the Croatian border? We did not conquer anybody's territory. Both The Hague and the International Community are aware of that, but obviously they have their reasons for such claims," was a response of an inhabitant of Novi Travnik.
"If pressure against Croats in central Bosnia continues, we will all end up in The Hague. Croats are the majority of prisoners in The Hague, whilst nobody has been held responsible for the crimes against Croats," are the thoughts of another inhabitant of Novi Travnik. Other inhabitants of that town agree with his assessment. During attacks by the Bosnian Army and Muslim units, Novi Travnik was under siege and suffered serious damage.
"If somebody shoots at you, you shoot back, but you may not destroy an entire village full of civilians and expel them from their homes, burn the village, rape their women, kill their children," are the words of the President of the Hague Court, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. Croats from Travnik and Novi Travnik respond to her words by asking: "Why, then, are they not seeking and indicting Muslims? So many Croatian children and civilians were killed, slaughtered, so many villages were burned and so many were expelled! Why then don't they come and get them?"
"I was captured by Muslims. There were also Mujahedins among them. They repeatedly hit me in the kidneys with billiard balls tied in bed-sheets. That lasted for half a year," was the testimony of a young man who did not want to reveal his identity due to safety reasons. "I was recovering in Germany for a long time, but I have not yet recuperated," he stated.
His friend, who managed to escape from imprisonment, witnessed a Moslem soldier hit a prisoner over the head with his rifle-butt. "His eye fell out as a result of the blow," he stated.
We heard many testimonies about violations of the right of war, genocide, ethnic cleansing and the killing of children. Croats from Central Bosnia share the opinion, based on the work by the Hague Tribunal so far, that the court is not interested in Muslim crimes committed against Croats. Testimonies have been recorded, but the people feel that it was done superficially.
Croats feel discriminated in other fields as well, especially pertaining to reconstruction and toleration of the intimidation of Croats in the Travnik region. So far eight of them have been killed, while numerous incidents and intimidation are not even recorded anymore. They are disappointed with the International Community, which treats Croats differently if similar events occur in Stolac and Mostar.
"According to some estimates, Croats in the Municipality of Travnik have received only 10 percent of the aid delivered by the International Community. About 3,000 buildings have been destroyed, while reconstruction is progressing slowly. About 700 houses and about the same number of apartments that belong to Croats have been occupied. There are still about 15,000 Croat refugees from the municipality, while according to the census of 1991 there were about 26,000 Croats in that municipality and about 30,000 Moslems. They have expelled all the Croats. There are more expelled Croats from the Municipality of Travnik alone, than Bosniaks from all the areas of Central Bosnia under the Croat control. All the suburban settlements in Travnik were predominantly Croatian. Croats even owned most of the land in Travnik itself. The Muslims have taken that and now it is very difficult to recover that property," stated Ivo Markovic, secretary of the Travnik Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) branch, who lives not far from Novi Travnik.
"More houses belonging to Muslims are being reconstructed than those belonging to Croats," testify Markovic and other Croats as well. "My relatives waited for help with reconstruction, while the Muslims were immediately delivered building material," stated a young man who was wounded on four occasions, adding, "What a shame."
Chairperson of Travnik's Municipal Council Marinko Matosevic emphasizes that Croats do not have access to jobs. "For example, there is not a single Croat on the Management Board of 'Borac'. Croats do not have absolutely any rights when the economy, media, etc., are in question."
There are no Croatian schools in Travnik. There is only a Catholic School Center, while the mayor has denied public transportation to Croat pupils. Croats do not receive scholarships. "Croats are discriminated against in all areas," stated Matosevic. Workers in the Center for Social Work have not received salaries for seven months. Last November there was a proposal to hand out 120 plots of land that belong to Croats. "They do not respect the law, just like officials in the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Hercegovina," stated Matosevic. Apart from that, recently a plot of land was granted for the construction of an Islamic Center in Kalibunar near Travnik. That was done illegally, because Center is supposed to be built on privately owned land. Matosevic has documents backing this up, which he sent to the Office of the High Representative, from whom he has yet to receive an answer.
Matosevic's only solution to the problem in the future is to reorganize the municipality according to the Mostar model. However, negotiations are progressing slowly, because the Bosniak side is avoiding that issue.
Apart from that, Bosniak authorities are relocating Muslims from Sandzak [region in Serbia with large Slavic Muslim population], the Republic of Srpska, the Federation of B-H and from Kosovo to Croatian areas, which is changing the ethnic composition of the population in the municipality.
"We are aware that many representatives of the International Community are corrupt. The proof for that is the reconstruction of cultural centers and companies, without the knowledge of Croats who used to be directors in them before the war. Following the opening, those same international representatives go on drinking binges and dinners with Bosniak leaders. They are aware that 80 percent of Bosniak houses have been reconstructed, while only about 20 percent of Croatian houses have been completed. Apart from that, Bosniaks are even building housing which did not exist prior to the war. What's more, that is occurring in Croatian settlements and in Travnik itself. Even they are asking where the money for those houses came from! Therefore, they also suspect corruption," stated a person close to Travnik executive authorities, who due to personal safety wanted to remain anonymous.
"Numerous companies are sold to Arabs and other buyers without the knowledge of Croats. When the privatization issue comes up, Croats will not be able to participate, because everything will have been sold. The only way out is the reorganization of the present Travnik municipality into several smaller municipalities," asserts Matosevic.
"The goal is to make the lives of Croats in Travnik difficult, because that town was always a center for Bosnian Croats. They want to force them to emigrate," opines another Croat. However, from a total of 15,000 expelled Croats from the Municipality of Travnik, about 12,500 have already registered for return. But, a number of them were subjected to eviction and expelled from Bosniak and Serbian houses onto the street, in Vitez for example. While Moslems in municipal structures skillfully avoid that, Croats are expelled without any problems. For now there is no sign that there is an intention to solve anything in the dark "Travnik chronicle" [a famous novel by the Nobel prize winner Ivo Andric], even though Croats, as a constituent nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, have the right to the equal treatment by law.
Translated by Croatian Information Center