CRO AMBASSADOR DESCRIBES PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT AS TURNING POINT I

I $ N FOLLOWING HUMAN RIGHTS WASHINGTON, March 19 (Hina) - Croatian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, on Wednesday described the UN Security Council's Presidential Statement on Croatian Serbs' rights in the liberated areas as a "turning point" in the future following of human rights in Croatia by the UN Security Council. In the statement the Security Council requested the Secretary- General not to submit a separate report on Serbs' rights but to include it within his next report on UNTAES which should be submitted by the beginning of July 1997. The Croatian diplomacy had advocated that the issue of following human rights in the Republic of Croatia should be removed in future from the agenda of the Security Council, as it did not constitute a threat to international peace and security, Simonovic said adding that the Croatian diplomacy proposed that this issue, which is very important for Croatia, should be considered within UN relevant bodies such as the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. By Wednesday's Presidential Statement, the Security Council had accepted these justified Croatian demands, he added. The UN Secretary-General would report on development in human rights' protection in Croatia next time within his regular report on UNTAES, which would be submitted by July 1, 1997, to the Security Council. In this way, the human rights situation in Croatia as a separate item had been removed from the Security Council's agenda, Ambassador Simonovic said. The issue of the human rights in Croatia was a serious question with which Croatian authorities had to continue to deal seriously, he stressed and added that in this context, Croatia would appreciate and welcome well-meaning efforts of the international community. According to him, the question of human rights in Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) or in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the human rights situation was graver, had not been discussed along with the following of the human rights in Croatia, due to opposition of some influential Security Council member-states. At the end, Ambassador Simonovic voiced satisfaction with the contents of the Security Council Presidential Statement. Although the tone of the statement was critical in some places, we could be satisfied with its whole contents, Croatian Ambassador said. (hina) mš 192343 MET mar 97