Croatian parliamentary envoy Andrija Hebrang said at Bleiburg field in Austria on Saturday that here were killed those who did not have the right to a trial and because they were different from their killers.
"We are talking about the disarmed Croatian army which, under all international conventions, should have been treated as civilian prisoners," Hebrang told reporters before a commemoration to the post-WW2 Bleiburg victims.
"We are talking about tens of thousands of women, elderly people, children, and priests whose bones lie in 900 mass graves, most of which have not been discovered, whose message is that we must prosecute the perpetrators of those crimes," said Hebrang.
"Croatia is the last European country which has not solved communist crimes and even though it adopted the Council of Europe declaration and adopted a resolution in the Croatian parliament, we have done nothing to punish the criminals, we haven't even named them."
Hebrang said children and future generations must be taught the truth, without which there was no reconciliation, adding that in Croatia there was a deep rift between the heirs of those who committed crimes and the victims of those crimes and their heirs.
"Those who committed crimes must admit to them and repent, and then we will forgive and close that chapter in Croatian history."
Asked if Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks did not come to the commemoration to avoid possible booing, Hebrang said Seks had to cancel his arrival for health reasons.
"He is too brave a man to fear booing and every politician must be ready both for applause and for booing and Seks has given very much for the Croatian state."
Asked to comment on an alleged Austrian police ban on any displays of photos of Croatian army general Ante Gotovina, Hebrang said Gotovina was a hero of the Croatian Homeland War, that the Hague war crimes tribunal's verdict against him was not final, and that no one had the right to take down his pictures.
He is one of the most deserving people for the independent and free Croatian state and I am deeply convinced that he will be acquitted in appellate proceedings, said Hebrang.
He was speaking to the press before a commemoration on the 66th anniversary of the Bleiburg killings and the Way of the Cross marches in Bleiburg field.
The commemoration is held annually in honour of fleeing Croatian soldiers and civilians who were handed over by allied forces to Tito's Partisans in Austria at the end of the WW2. Thousands of them were killed by the Partisans without a trial at Bleiburg field and during death marches back to Yugoslavia known as Way of the Cross marches.
