S/PV.4169 Security Council

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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. Following consultations, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council in commemoration of the tragic events at Srebrenica. “Five years after the fall of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Security Council pays tribute to the victims of one of the worst civilian massacres in Europe since the end of the Second World War. In the week after the fall of Srebrenica, a United Nations designated safe area, thousands of innocent civilians were murdered and thousands of others forcibly relocated as a result of the policy of ethnic cleansing. “The tragic events at Srebrenica must not be forgotten. The Council regrets the deplorable events and recalls its resolve to ensure that justice is carried out fully through the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and that such crimes are not repeated in the future. The Council stresses the importance that lessons be learned and acknowledges the Secretary-General’s report on Srebrenica, contained in document A/54/549. The Council reiterates its commitment to the full implementation of the Dayton Paris Peace Accord and to the establishment of multi-ethnic democracy and the rule of law throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia.” I now invite the members of the Council to stand and observe a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre. The statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2000/23. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.