S/PV.3677 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of July, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Mr. Nabil Elaraby, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of June. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Elaraby for the great skill with which he conducted the Council’s business last month. I am quite certain that Ambassador Awaad will convey this very sincere and unanimous tribute of the Council to Ambassador Elaraby, and I take this opportunity to thank the entire Egyptian delegation for the way in which it supported its Ambassador during his presidency of the Council in June. Adoption of the agenda

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Croatia, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the further report on the situation of human rights in Croatia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1019 (1995), document S/1996/456. Following consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “The Security Council has considered the further report of the Secretary-General of 21 June 1996 (S/1996/456) submitted pursuant to its resolution 1019 (1995) on Croatia. “The Security Council is deeply concerned at the failure by the Croatian Government to take sufficient measures to safeguard the rights of the local Serb population and to ensure their safety and well-being. The Council is also deeply concerned at the Croatian Government’s failure to promote conditions, including satisfactory procedures, facilitating the return of all Croatian Serbs who wish to do so. The Council strongly deplores such failure to act. “The Security Council notes that the Croatian Government has begun to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms, and that it has considered various initiatives for the protection of minority rights. Nevertheless the Council underlines that the Croatian Government must undertake determined and sustained efforts to ensure respect for and protection of the rights of Croatian Serbs and to provide for their safeguarding in the legal and constitutional framework of the Republic of Croatia, including by the reactivation of the relevant articles of its Constitutional Law. The Council reminds the Croatian Government that its obligation to promote respect for and protection of such rights cannot be made conditional upon other factors, including upon political negotiations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. “The Security Council reiterates that all States must cooperate fully with the International Tribunal and its organs established pursuant to its resolution 827 (1993). It notes the cooperation by the Croatian Government with the International Tribunal to date, and reminds the Croatian Government of its obligation to execute arrest warrants in respect of any person in its territory indicted by the Tribunal. The Council calls upon the Croatian Government, with due respect to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to use its “The Security Council will continue to follow this issue closely. It requests the Secretary-General to keep it regularly informed on measures undertaken by the Croatian Government in the light of this statement, and to report in any case no later than 1 September 1996.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/1996/29. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of the item on its agenda.