S/PV.3753 Security Council

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 Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. 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/1997/195. 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 report of the Secretary-General of 5 March 1997 (S/1997/195) on Croatia, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolutions 1009 (1995) and 1019 (1995). It also recalls the statement by its President of 20 December 1996 (S/PRST/1996/48). “The Security Council remains deeply concerned that, although the Government of Croatia maintains that it has deployed the necessary number of police officers, Croatian Serbs continue to live in conditions “The Security Council welcomes the fact that difficult living conditions for remaining Serbs have been considerably eased during recent months by intensive humanitarian programmes conducted by international organizations. In this context, it calls upon the Government of Croatia to assume fully its responsibilities, in cooperation with all relevant international organizations, to ensure that the social and economic situation of all inhabitants in the former Sectors improves. “The Security Council expresses its concern that there continues to be little progress with regard to the return of Croatian Serb displaced persons and refugees to the areas. It calls upon the Government of Croatia to accelerate its efforts to improve conditions of personal and economic security, to remove bureaucratic obstacles to the rapid issue of documentation to all Serb families and to resolve promptly the property issue, by a return of property or just compensation, in order to facilitate the return of Croatian Serbs to the former sectors. “The Security Council calls upon the Government of Croatia to remove uncertainty about the implementation of its amnesty law, in particular by finalizing without delay the list of war crime suspects on the basis of existing evidence and in strict accordance with international law, and to put an end to arbitrary arrests, particularly of Serbs returning to Croatia. “The Security Council recalls the obligations of Croatia arising from relevant universal human rights instruments to which it is a party. It welcomes the commitments undertaken by the Government of Croatia in relation to the Council of Europe, including its signature of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and expects that the Government of Croatia will implement those commitments fully. “The Security Council is concerned that the Government of Croatia continues to withhold its full “The Security Council stresses the importance of the effective implementation of the measures outlined in the paragraphs above for promoting confidence and reconciliation in Croatia as well as for the peaceful This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/1997/15. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda.