AMBASSADOR BEKIC ADDRESSES UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

( Editorial: --> 7223 ) GENEVA, April 16 (Hina) - A Croatian delegation on Thursday addressed a UN Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva during discussions on the human rights situation in several countries. Delegation head Ambassador Darko Bekic welcomed the cooperation and work shown to date by the special UN human rights rapporteurs, and said their six-year presence in Croatia dated back to the first days of aggression against the country. "Circumstances in the region of the former Yugoslavia in the meantime have not changed, and following the end of the UNTAES mandate and peaceful reintegration, Croatia can fully turn to strengthening the institutions of civil society," Bekic said. "Cooperation between Croatia and the United Nations in the area of human rights should be primarily based on programmes of technical help and cooperation which was suggested by the former UN rapporteur Elizabeth Rehn. "In this way existing state bodies for human rights issues would be strengthened," Bekic mused. (Hina) mb /as 161621 MET apr 98