Cablegate: Vukovar High Schools End Nine Years of Ethnic

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R 060858Z SEP 06
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001056

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM HR HUMAN RIGHTS
SUBJECT: VUKOVAR HIGH SCHOOLS END NINE YEARS OF ETHNIC
DIVISION

1. Demonstrating that ethnic reconciliation is slowly but
surely taking place even in regions most severely affected
by the conflict of the early 1990s, high schools in Vukovar
this year ended the practice of educating ethnic Serb and
Croatian students in separate schools. Ethnic Serb students
will still receive education with the Cyrillic alphabet and
in their "own" language, as is their right under the law,
but classes will take place in the same buildings and the
students will mix freely outside the classroom. This is an
encouraging sign, particularly in Vukovar where the scars of
the 1991 siege are still visible and reconciliation is
likely to take many years.

2. The principal of one secondary school in Vukovar told the
Embassy that the ethnic Serb community was able to overcome
some opposition by the conservative city government to the
idea of teaching both Serb and Croatian students in the same
school. The principal was pleased by the prospect of
preserving the minority right to classes in the minority
language while bringing the students closer together at
school. He credited the OSCE Mission with facilitating the
change. The OSCE Mission's political officer acknowledged
the right to separate education by law, but called the
Vukovar move a step in the right direction. He also
commended the Ministry of Education for efforts to diminish
possible tensions before the school year began. The
Ministry has worked closely with the OSCE Mission on the
"Children Together" project, designed to increase
interaction between children of Serb and Croat ethnicity
through art, literature and sports contests among children
in 30 ethnically mixed primary schools.

3. The NGO community was equally pleased by the move.
Vesna Terselic, a leding human rights activist and president
of the Peace Studies Center, welcomed the possibility for
children of different ethnicities to interact. "The
situation in Vukovar is special. We need to understand those
who wanted separate schools too, but this increases a number
of options and is therefore a positive step." The director
of the Center for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights in
Osijek, Branka Kaselj, said she thought it was high time to
introduce the measure, but noted that both children and
teachers will continue to need support to avert possible
misunderstandings.

BRADTKE

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