Nachricht Nummer : 161 Übertragungszeit : 8 min 14 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ZER.sub.org Betrifft : Zagreb Diary 21 June, 1993 Erstellungsdatum : 21.06.1993 23:23:00 S+2 Realname: Wam Kat Zagreb Diary 21 June, 1993 Dobar dan, Imagine that Hajduk Split plays in the European Football League against Ajex Amsterdam and 15.000 Torcida's will go to see the match in Amsterdam. Or the Bad Blue Boys accompany Croatia (Dynamo Zagreb) to Liverpool in their match against the hooligans from to UK. "I am sure he says that we are as civilised as all the football fans around Europe. "Some high UNPROFOR official has said most of the football stadiums in Croatia are totally safe and that in his opinion the European football officials easily could allowed Croatian clubs to join the European competition. Since the football stadion in Serbia are also absolute shelling free, we went on brainstorming what will happen if the football league also allows Serbian clubs in the Eurocups. Dynamo Zagreb against Red Star Beograd somewhere in Brussels on neutral ground with UNPROFOR as referees. And so we went on to late in the night, the next morning, just after 7 Paula, Vanja, Alex and some others came to pick me up to go to Pacras. I was surprised to see a small red Renault behind our nice Ford from NeXus and in the car some officials from HCA (Helsinki Citizens Assembly), who arrived yesterday evening late from Sarajevo. They were stocked their since Monday last week. Just before we get on the highway we passed to old refugee camp Rasnik Gaj, the buildings are now mostly thrown down, and some HV soldiers guard the place. Paula told that she went to look a few weeks ago and immediately when she drove up the place she was held at gun point and the soldiers grimed to her saying there are no Muslims here anymore. Ones on the high way to Kutina, the highway continues all the way to Beograd by the way but just before Novska it goes in to the UNPA zones and is controlled by Krajina Serbs, we stopped at the first tank station to get petrol. Remarkable that the tank station and restaurant on the way are still open, more than one car every 5 minutes not more traffic goes over this way and most of then are UN or UNCHR vehicles anyway. In Kutina we left the highway, drove along the new HV army barracks there, a few months ago there weren't so much barracks, Paula said, and just about 7 kilometre before Pacras we met the first UNPROFOR checkpoint of the Canadian battalion. Not much activities there it seems, since in a tent at the checkpoint a whole battery of fitness equipment stood. For the rest a nice female soldier who waved us through when she show my blue UNCHR pass. Just before Pacras we pass by a former mostly Serbian populated village, which is totally destroyed, mostly the blown up from the inside. In the last nearly two years not much more violence has happened and most in and on most of the houses mother nature took over. Green plants on the stones, in the former living rooms, on where there use to be a roof and it gives the feeling that it all happened a lot of years ago, like the deserted villages in the middle of France. In Pacras we drive along totally and half destroyed houses, most not destroyed by shelling it looks but by heavy street fighting (although some grenade holes in the street show that also shelling has taken place), in front of the red cross building a long line of people waiting for their food parcels. We drive to the town council building, most of the official and utility building are in the part of Pacras under control of the Croats, "the other side" part of the town is more a kind of suburb. The United Nations office of Vienna has there office there and there we people we coming for, with this office we hope to start the rebuilding project in this area. Helping them with International volunteers to rebuild the village on both sides of the cease fire line. "There is not much chance of going to the other side today", the Irish official of UNDP says who we met in the office and waiting for his "boss", who is for a short meeting at the "other side" we walk to a bar called Skorpia (famous Yugoslav automatic gun), with a huge picture above the take of the defenders of the town, with their Skorpia's aimed at the camera. In the small park in front of the town council a statue stand to remember the second world war, it is a monument of a dying soldier, a grenade made huge holes in his neck and breast. Walking from the town council to the bar I found a handful riffle shells and give them to Aida, who is busy with them for the rest of the day to figure out what kind of peace souvenirs we can make from them. My proposal is to melt them a make broken riffles from them. Sitting in the sun enjoying the peace full country side we talk a bit over the experiences the HCA people had in Sarajevo. One of them tell that somebody offered him to shoot for 50 DEM a bullet through his bullet free jacket so he can tell abroad a more exiting story. He is allowed to take the jacket of before the guy would shoot. A few minute later some other officials of UNDP based in Pacras arrive and tell that the first results of the referendum has come in, in Krajina part of Pacras about 6 of 20.000 votes were against the unification with the Bosnian Serbs. According to the stories on every station and official building was hanging a poster with the text "One people, one nation, one country. The referendum was perfect organised according west European standards, according the same person of UNDP, who was there during the referendum. But this means also that none of the Serbian officials in Pacras at the "other side" at this moment can give a permission for our delegation to enter the "other side". He also told that UNPROFOR has agreed that on the "other side" in the UNPA zones the soldiers are allowed long weapons (riffles and such). So we drive up to the warehouse to see the already active local working brigades and the place where the volunteers will sleep. The rooms in the building formerly have been used by HV and the left overs, some army boots, a poster for joining the professional army and empty bottles made the announcement unnecessary it was easy to figure out ourselves. In the building almost everything is available, only for showers the volunteers have to travel to a nearby villages. Back at the main square, we have to wait again, and some locals tell that those people who had been demobilised at the end of last week in the area are re-mobilised today. And there the big word came out, I was the only one which could come with the UN officials to see the local authorities at the other side. So we, the "boss from UNDP" and me, walked up the UNPROFOR checkpoint defining the village in two and before they really has check our official passes the already opened the gate. The last 500 meters from the checkpoint to the Krajina Serbian town council of Pacras we hitch with a CIVPOL (Civilian Police of UNPROFOR) car, driven by a France, together with an Argentinean and another Latin American. The town council on the "other side" is in a normal living house, just when we want to go in a representative of UNHCR came out, it was the Dutch field operator of Daruvar, as always at such moment I hardly can talk my mother tongue. But of course it is a little crazy to explain there in five minute informal what you are doing there. When he left I look a bit around and see a car with a Dutch number plate, but obvious local commercial standing at the other side of the street. Further on cars with the new Krajina numberplates (in stead of the red star the flag of Serbia), old yugo numberplates, of course none numbers and also as in Croatia some with German export numberplates. Nothing special just as everywhere just behind the front lines. In the building we meet up the local officials, a little counter to what I expected, the meeting didn't started with drinking a nice glass, but directly with doing business after the a few jokes. In principle they, the local Serbian officials, smoking Astral cigarettes (a Croatian brand), agree with the proposal from UNDP to join the rebuilding project on both sides and welcomed the idea that also International volunteers will work in the future on their side. I must say that it was a very constructive meeting, but in many way simular like the many meetings I have had in the last year with local and regional authorities. The representatives from CARE and the Vienna office of UN, all from Austria, explained their plans. They like to set up a project in which people rebuild their own houses, and can buy building material from them if they have money, but they also can earn the materials for their houses to help with social rebuilding projects (building ambulanta, social centre, cleaning the roads, removing the totally destroyed houses, etc.). And we pay better than the Serbia Militia said a representative, Yes, but some times there are things you don't do for money was the reply. I explained that we, SunCokret and Anti War Campaign, would like to help this project by organising help from volunteers from abroad as SunCokret is doing with volunteers for the projects in refugee camps. After that we went to look the proposed ware house on this side of the line, it was the garage, guarded by local soldiers in blue uniform and the with the Serbian flag on it and accompanied by some bottle, which obvious didn't contain water, for the utility company of the town, most truck were taken to the from here seen "other side", only two garbage trucks stayed behind, with extra ventilation holes, like the roof of the building. From here we had a great view over the Croatian part of Pacras, you got clearly see the destroyed houses and church and the hospital, with big grenade holes in it. Behind us by the way the left overs of what use to be the Orthodox church and grave yard. Then we went down the road to see the street on the border line, which CARE from Austria like to rebuild. Platzer the UNDP chef walked, or rather ran, since he was late, straight through the UNPROFOR checkpoint in the direction of the minefield and that stirred up the blue helmets. Do you know that you can get killed there, they shoot on every thing which has no blue helmet, we can drive you there, have you inform call-up sign one, who are you, etc. By the time they had an approval back from their HQ we were already back at the check point and got the lesson that this was not the procedure and that the running from Platzer and me through the village really waked up some people, they had the feeling that something special was going on and they came down a little angry that nothing was happening, telling us not to jog through their village again without reason. After that we had a short look at the schools and ambulanta at this side of the line, since all the building stand as said on the from here "other side" they have improvised the schools in two small supermarkets and the ambulanta in another shop. They explain that in principle they like to school and ambulante like an emergency solution and don't want to build a real school on "this side", since the real school and hospital is at the "other side" and sociologically building a school at this side was expressing that the separation would stay for ever, their will be a day that we can use that hospital again. Now I am writing this down in feel a double meaning of it, but it was absolute not meant that way, I have at least not the feeling when I listened to them, in his mixture of Serbian, English and German. After that I walk back with to members of the town council to the main checkpoint, the others have another official meeting some where in the area here. We pass the main street between the two part of the village and one shows me a pile of stones and explain me that that use to be his house. We pass the Serbian checkpoint, which I had forgot to see on the way in, greet the guard, who are sitting in the shadow, drinking and talking. And in front of the Canadian UNPROFOR checkpoint we say good-bye and the hope to see each other again soon. We have explained them that we start with foreign volunteers on the Croatia controlled side of the village, but also would like to work on their side later in the summer. I pass the Croatian checkpoint, were nobody is sitting, walk a few metre were there are an uncountable amount of gun shell are laying and are back on the main square. There I meet up with the others who had to stay at "this side" and who have been had a tour around the town. We decided to start getting home and after the promise to return in ten days for the last information exchange before the first group come we are back on the road again. A little later we are passing the chemical plant in Kutina, which remind we on a warning from Tuzla the other day, the town defender said that they are again willing to use all the chemicals of the chemical factory and blowing that up would create an environmental disaster for whole Europe, I look at this plant and get this cold feeling. We arrive back on the highway to Zagreb and stop at the first restaurant parking our little van behind a fleet of UK UNHCR trucks, returning back to base. On the terrazzo are sitting about 15 of this though guys and look at Paula, one of our proud truckers from the women for peace. A little later we sit in the shadow waiting for pohoni sir (backed cheese) and I hear from the kitchen the song "The wind of changes" from the Scorpions, look at the HCA delegate from Poland and laugh. Bok I Mir from Zagreb, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ Zagreb Diary can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de or wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org. Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3, 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. ## CrossPoint v2.1 ##