Commission to Determine the Fates of Victims after World War II Established

Although the plan was for DP President Ivan Penava to join the Government as one of the vice-presidents, in accordance with the new agreement with the Croatian Democratic Union, he will lead the Commission to Determine the Fates of Victims of Crimes Committed Immediately After World War II, which the Government established at its session on Thursday.

The newly established Commission will be an interdepartmental body responsible for considering the historical circumstances and facts related to the suffering of victims of crimes committed in the period immediately after World War II.

“It will continue with everything that the Ministry of Croatian Veterans has been doing on this topic in recent years, with a strong focus on the search for missing persons from the Homeland War. We believe that this is one of those major tasks that has remained unfinished, and therefore we expect the contribution of this Commission, which will report on its work to the Government, and it is important for the fate of the victims,” emphasized Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

“Every victim demands to be shown dignity and I think that this Commission will contribute to the processes that have already begun, but have not been completed in the way that we as the Government would like,” he added.

The tasks of the Commission include collecting relevant data on victims from all available sources, analyzing, documenting and systematically recording the established data, cooperating with competent bodies, scientific and expert institutions, monitoring the practice and experiences of other countries and international organizations that deal with determining the fates of crime victims, as well as providing proposals and opinions to the Government.

Although after last year's parliamentary elections, the agreement between the Croatian Democratic Union and the Homeland Movement was that the leader of the Homeland Movement, Ivan Penava, would join the Government this year as one of its vice presidents, after the recent local elections, this agreement changed. So now Penava will remain in Parliament as deputy speaker, and will also lead this Commission.

Members include Zvonimir Frka-Petešić as a representative of the Office of the Prime Minister, Darko Nekić from the Ministry of Croatian Veterans, Andreja Metelko-Zgombić from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Irena Petrijevčanin from the Ministry of the Interior, Dražen Vrselja from the Ministry of Culture and Media, and Dinko Čutura and Miroslav Akmadža as representatives of the Croatian State Archives and the Croatian Institute of History.

The Commission will meet as needed at the call of the President Penava, and in its work representatives of other competent bodies and institutions, as well as experts in specific fields, may also.

Source: HRT