13 February: Security Council stresses UN-OSCE cooperation
The President of the Security Council issued a Statement S/PRST/1998/3 on 13 February addressing the situation in Croatia, whereby it noted that, despite the positive conclusion of UNTAES and the efforts of Croatia, including its request for the establishment of the civilian police support group, the Croatian Government remained responsible for the rights and safety of members of all ethnic groups within the Republic and bound by its obligations and commitments under the Basic Agreement and other international agreements. In this regard, the Council called upon Croatia to intensify efforts to promote full reintegration of the region, in particular to resolve property issues and other problems which hindered the return of refugees and displaced persons, to protect human rights, and to improve public confidence in the Croatian police. The Council strongly supported the closest possible cooperation between the United Nations and OSCE in the region, encouraging the Support Group and the OSCE mission to keep each other fully informed.

6 March: Security Council calls on Croatia to
fulfil its obligations under the Basic Agreement
In another Presidential Statement issued 6 March, the Security Council S/PRST/1998/6 expressed concern at the Croatian Government's lack of compliance with obligations assumed under the 1995 Basic Agreement and the 23 April 1997 agreement between UNTAES, UNHCR and Croatia concerning the return of refugees and displaced persons. The Council was concerned about increasing incidences of harassment and intimidation of the local Serb community in the region and the failure of Croatia to apply effectively the process of national reconciliation at the local level. Thus, the Council called upon the Croatian Government to publicly reaffirm and by its actions to demonstrate its commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the Basic Agreement and to take prompt and unequivocal steps to ensure the safety, security and rights of all Croatian citizens and to build confidence among the Serb community, including funding the promised Joint Council on Municipalities. It called upon Croatia to establish clear procedures for the documentation of refugees; issue an equitable plan for nationwide two-way returns; implement fully and fairly its amnesty legislation; ensure fair employment benefit practices and equal economic opportunity; and ensure the non-discriminatory application of the rule of law. The Council stressed that following the termination of UNTAES, responsibility for the full reintegration of the Danube region rested clearly with the Government of Croatia. The United Nations, for its part, would continue to work closely with OSCE in monitoring the situation and reminding Croatia of its obligations.

30 March: Ethnic composition of police changes
The Representative of the Secretary-General reported on 30 March 1998 that the ethnic composition of the police in the region was changing incrementally. Croats now accounted for 51 per cent, Serbs for 45.8 per cent and other ethnic groups for 3.2 per cent of the police in the region. Serb officers, leaving at the rate of 10 per month, were not being replaced with new Serb recruits. To maintain the agreed ethnic ratio, UNPSG proposed two options: posting new Serb officers from other parts of Croatia; or reducing the number of Croats.

11 June: Core issues to rebuild multi-ethnic communities remain unresolved
The Secretary-General reported on 11 June 1998 to the Security Council S/1998/500 that all 180 civilian police monitors were deployed in 14 Croatian police stations in the region and within the departmental Croatian police headquarters in Vinkovci and Osijek, where they maintained round-the-clock coverage of police activities. UNPSG was monitoring local police operations at all levels; patrolling, including joint mobile patrols; participating in and following up case investigations by the local police until such cases are transmitted to a court or public prosecutor; human rights monitoring; and providing guidance and limited training to the local police force. The performance of the Croatian police was measured against international standards for law enforcement agencies.

As of 7 June, 794 Croats, 673 Serbs and 49 persons of other ethnicity were serving in the police. Working conditions, salaries and welfare benefits within the local police force were now the same for all officers regardless of ethnicity, and no discriminatory practices were evident. Police response to ethnically related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation was often satisfactory; and seventy-five per cent of all incidents in the region related to property disputes between potential returnees and resident displaced persons. Public perception amounted to the opinion that harassment went unpunished, thus lessening local faith in the police and the judiciary. Meanwhile, UNHCR estimated that since 1996 about 42,500 Serb residents and displaced persons emigrated from Croatia - more than 2,200 requested asylum in Norway.

The Secretary-General observed that some core issues remained unresolved, including abolishment of discriminatory property laws and establishment of effective mechanisms allowing owners to recover their property. The Government had to adopt a comprehensive nationwide programme for returns and to develop a balanced reconstruction plan. A wide gap continued to exist between commitments reconfirmed repeatedly at the highest official level and implementation at lower levels. These factors combined to produce a perception among the local Serb population that they had no future in Croatia.

2 July: Croatia called upon to improve police response to ethnic incidents
The Security Council noted with concern in Presidential Statement S/PRST/1998/19 of 2 July that, despite the large presence of the Croatian police, ethnically-related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation cases have not been stopped but increased.The Council expressed grave concern that a large number of Serbs have emigrated from Croatia since 1996, due to continued security incidents, ethnically-related intimidation, a dire economic situation, bureaucratic hurdles, discriminatory legislation and a stalled return programme, all of which hindered the restoration of a multi-ethnic society. The Council therefore welcomed the adoption by the Government of Croatia, on 20 June 1998, of a nationwide programme for the return and accommodation of displaced persons, refugees and resettled persons (S/1998/589) and called for its prompt and full implementation at all levels, including the abolition of discriminatory property laws, so as to allow owners to recover their property.The Council also called for implementation of the convalidation law and the amnesty law, the functioning of local municipalities and the permanent funding of the Joint Council of Municipalities, as well as improved police response to ethnically-related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation. Measures should be taken to strengthen public confidence in the police, including through public information and police preventive action. The Security Council welcomed the decision of the OSCE Permanent Council of 25 June 1998 to deploy civilian police monitors to assume, after 15 October 1998, the responsibilities of the United Nations Police Support Group. It supported the establishment of a timetable for the handover of the functions of the Support Group to the OSCE and agreed with the intention of the Secretary-General to reduce gradually the number of civilian police monitors.

23 September: As ethnic incidents, violence and vandalism increase in severity, Croatian police response meets international standards for law enforcement On 23 September, the Secretary-General reported to the Security Council S/1998/887 that contrary to improvements in the security situation, the severity of ethnically related incidents has increased, with more violent cases, increases in ethnically related shootings, explosions, assaults and vandalism have been recorded. On a positive note, the Croatian police performance and overall police response to criminal activity now met international standards for law enforcement agencies as described in the "United Nations Criminal Justice Standards for Peacekeeping Police "(2nd vol 1996). Some 120 officers from all ethnic groups attended training courses within the region sponsored by the Austrian Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Weekly instruction, supported by UNPSG, was provided at the station level for all police officers. in response to complaints, the police filed charges in more that 75 per cent of cases, but performance of the police was undermined by a yet inefficient judicial system. As of September, the local police force has a strength of 1,522 officers, including 801 Croats, 672 Serbs and 49 officers of other ethnicity. Full proportionality at all levels, including in senior and command positions, was respected.

On 26 June 1998, the Government of Croatia adopted a Programme for the Return and Accommodation of Displaced Persons, Refugees and Exiled Persons, which was developed in close cooperation with UNHCR, the United Nations, OSCE and the Article 11 Commission. The return programme committed the Government to legislative changes, including rescinding the law on the temporary takeover and administration of specified property and the law on the leasing of apartments in the liberated areas. A key factor in the implementation of the return programme was the establishment of housing commissions in all areas of return by 31 July 1998. Since the return programme was adopted, 10,411 requests for return to Croatia have been submitted by Croatian Serb refugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska) to the Croatian Government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees (ODPR). All of these requests have been submitted with UNHCR assistance, which reported that 3,810 individuals have been cleared for return. According to the Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees, 22,501 Croatian citizens of Serb ethnicity have returned to Croatia from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and another 22,300 Croatian citizens of Serb ethnicity have returned to other parts of Croatia from the region.

The Support Group and OSCE established a Joint Steering Committee to oversee the transition process to hand over policiing tasks to OSCE by 16 October 1998. An operational concept, very similar to that used by the Support Group, has been developed for the ensuing OSCE mission, which already received many pledges from nations willing to contribute police monitors. Many them wer already serving with the Support Group and thus experienced in the tasks and familiar with the region. Gradual downsizing of the Support Group began in mid-August to ease the transition to the OSCE police monitoring mission, which was to deploy the first of its 120 police monitors in the region by mid-September.

It was the Secretary-General's observation that progress in building a functioning multi-ethnic police force was a noteworthy achievement for Croatia's Danube region. International monitoring and advice have been essential factors in securing improvements in police performance. The maintenance of an ethnic balance in the police force was foreseen as an essential element in preserving the prospects for multi-ethnicity in the region and in enhancing confidence in the police force - it should should thus remain a priority for the Government of Croatia. Overall, the Government of Croatia has taken a number of steps towards meeting its commitments to the international community. It has generally met its employment and other obligations concluded in various reintegration agreements with UNTAES. A comprehensive nationwide return programme has been introduced, and some discriminatory legislation has been repealed. On the other hand, the key-issue of two-way returns remained unresolved; some discriminatory legislation continued to be in force; implementation of the convalidation law remained incomplete; the Government's commitments to the Joint Council of Municipalities were not fulfilled; and the national reconciliation programme has not been vigorously pursued. The ultimate responsibility for these matters rested with the Government, but continued international support to facilitate two-way returns was necessary. Taking into account the overall stability of the security situation, the Secretary-General felt confident that the Support Group could continue with the drawdown of its personnel and terminate its operations as scheduled on 15 October 1998, with OSCE assuming responsibilities for international monitoring from that date on.

27 October: Secretary-General notes in final report seamless transition
from the Support Gorup to OSCE on 16 October
On 27 October 1998, the Secretary-General submitted his final report on the United Nations Police Support Group to the Security Council S/1998/1004 . The Secretary-General stated that the mandate of the Police Support Group has been fully completed and came to an end on 15 October 1998. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took over the police monitoring responsibilities on the following day. The transition was seamless and 118 OSCE police monitors have been deployed in all local police stations previously staffed by the Police Support Group. Sixty of those police monitors have served previously with the United Nations. The Ministry of the Interior of Croatia has confirmed to OSCE that its police monitors will enjoy the same access to police stations, documents and police operations, including investigations and checkpoints, as the Police Support Group operation.

The Secretary-General evaluated the overall security situation in the region as satisfactory, although a continuing and worrying trend of ethnically motivated incidents. Police performance has improved notably since the beginning of the Police Support Group's mandate and the Government has taken steps to ensure that continuity. The Secretary-General recommended measures to enhance public confidence in the police force through an active public information campaign, police preventive action and the institution of a community policing programme. Refugee returns to Croatia, under the auspices of the Programme for the Return and Accommodation of Displaced Persons, Refugees and Exiled Persons (S/1998/589) continued, albeit slowly. No progress, however, was achieved in the restitution of property to Croatian citizens of Serb ethnicity. The number of Croat displaced persons returning to the region was also below all expectations, despite a surplus of available reconstructed housing in the region. The main impediment to return stemmed from the lack of employment in the area. Thus, in addition to non-discrimanatory policies, economic revitalization and reconstruction in the region were important elements in creating an environment supportive of sustainable and durable returns. To that end, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supported Government efforts to develop and implement a national reconstruction plan. At the same time, the Joint Council of Municipalities, established under the 1995 Basic Agreement , was on the brink of collapse and undermined local confidence in the continued implementation of the commitments made by the Government of Croatia. Complete liquidation of the Police Support Group was expected for 15 December 1998.

In his final observations, the Secretary-General stated that the conclusion of the Police Support Group's mandate marked the positive outcome of the use of civilian police personnel to ensure the consolidation of peace after the withdrawal of a much larger operation. In fulfilling its mandate, the Police Support Group helped to prevent the return of instability to the region. It proved to be a cost-effective instrument in helping to maintain conditions conducive to an orderly hand-over to OSCE pending the ultimate transfer of full responsibilities to the national Croatian authorities.

6 November: Security Council welcomes smooth
transition of policing responsibilities to OSCE
Likewise, the Security Council welcomed in a Presidential Statement delivered on 6 November S/PRST/1998/32 the successful conclusion of the Police Support Group's mandate and the smooth transition of responsibilities to the police monitoring programme of OSCE. The Council recalled the commitment of the Government of Croatia to ensure that OSCE police monitors had the same access to police stations, documents and police operations, including investigations and checkpoints, as that accorded to the United Nations police support group. Expressing appreciation to all participants in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in the Danube region of Croatia, the Security Council stated that their dedication and perseverance made a significant contribution to regional peace.