UN SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT ON CROATIA

( Editorial: --> 7818 ) WASHINGTON, Mar 7 (Hina) - The United Nations Security Council Friday issued a presidential statement expressing concern over the increased number of instances of harassment of Serbs in the Danubian region, and called on the Croatian Government to ensure all necessary conditions which will provide full security to the Serb population, enable the return of all refugees and the full reintegration of the Serb community. As concrete steps, the Security Council demands the ensuring of means for the work of the Joint Council of (Serb majority) Municipalities, the setting of clear rules for the registration of refugees, and the drawing of a fair plan on the two-way return throughout Croatia. The Council demands that the Croatian Government fully and justly implement the amnesty law, immediately pass a fair law on tenancy and ownership rights and ensure equal chances for all in employment and economy, and enforce the law without discrimination. The Croatian Government is also requested to take all necessary measures to the effect of strengthening trust in local police. The Security Council voiced concern over the Croatian Government's lack of cooperation in complying with commitments from a basic agreement on the reintegration of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem of 13 January 1997, and an agreement on the return of refugees and displaced persons, signed with the UN transitional administration for eastern Croatia (UNTAES) on 23 April 1997. The Council took notice that the overall security situation in eastern Croatia continued to be relatively stable, but was concerned over increased harassment of the local Serb community and the Government's setbacks in implementing the national reconciliation process more efficiently on the local level. This worrying situation, the presidential statement said, alongside recent statements by Croatian authorities raised doubts regarding Croatia's commitment to the inclusion of ethnic Serbs and other minorities into Croatian society as full and equal members. Recalling the statement its president made on 13 February 1998, the UN Security Council called on the Croatian Government to once again publicly confirm and through practice demonstrate its commitment to the compliance with obligations from the basic and other agreements, and to do so also by achieving progress in national reconciliation on all levels. In particular, the Council called on the Croatian Government to take urgent and clear steps to ensure the protection, safety and rights of all Croatian citizens, and to build trust among the Serb community throughout Croatia. These steps should include measures to provide conditions which would enable local Serbs to stay in the region, facilitate the return of refugees and displaced persons, and respond to practical and economic issues stalling the return. The Security Council said the behaviour of Croatian police until the end of the UNTAES mandate was satisfactory and in that context approved of and supported the work of the UN civil police support group. The Council however noted that the public's trust in the police was low. It called on the Croatian Government to take measures, including public addresses and preventive police measures, to improve public trust in the police as part of a wider programme of measures aimed at preventing ethnically motivated crimes and ensuring the protection and equal treatment of all Croatian citizens regardless of ethnic descent. In its presidential statement, the UN Security Council pointed out that after the completion of the UNTAES mandate, the responsibility for the full reintegration of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia clearly lay with the Croatian Government. The United Nations will, in close cooperation with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, continue to follow the situation and remind the Croatian Government of its obligations, the statement concluded. (hina) ha 071341 MET mar 98