Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 3 of Security Council resolution 1144 (1997) of 19 December 1997. It summarizes the activities of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) since my report of 12 March 1997 (S/1998/227 and Corr.1) and provides an overview of the activities of the United Nations system in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the same period. It also includes the recommendations requested in resolution 1168 (1998) of 21 May 1998.

2. UNMIBH continues to be led by my Special Representative and Coordinator of United Nations Operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Elisabeth Rehn (Finland). She is assisted in these tasks by Mr. Richard Monk (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), who serves as Commissioner of the International Police Task Force (IPTF). The authorized strength of IPTF has been increased to 2,057 in accordance with Security Council resolution 1168 (1998) relating to specialized training for local police in Bosnia and Herzegovina on key public security issues.

II. ACTIVITIES OF THE MISSION

3. During the period under review, in addition to its ongoing activities of monitoring, advising and training the local police, UNMIBH has carried out a number of initiatives, the three most important of which have been to commence the restructuring of the police services in the two still-outstanding cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation) and in the Republika Srpska; to introduce a common license plate in order to enhance freedom of movement within and between the Federation and the Republika Srpska; and to undertake preparations for a specialized training programme for the local police, as well as for a monitoring and assessment programme of the judicial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as requested in resolution 1144 (1997).

Police restructuring and training

4. The progress of UNMIBH in restructuring the police services of the Federation and the Republika Srpska is closely linked to the overall process of peace implementation. To varying degrees, the three parties have always been reluctant to transform the mono-ethnic institutions of the war period into multi-ethnic organizations suitable for building a new nation. Now, given the increasing - although still small - returns of refugees and displaced persons from minority groups, the resistance of the political authorities to the integration of police officers from minorities into their majority-controlled police forces has become more manifest. Integration is seen by the authorities as a tool for advancing minority returns, which, in their view, might lead to a weakening of the present majorities' position in the areas under their control.

5. As a result, UNMIBH has encountered serious obstacles in the Federation that have prevented the inauguration of restructured police forces in the Croat-controlled cantons 8 and 10, mainly owing to disagreements between Croat authorities and UNMIBH over issues pertaining to uniform insignias and minority representation. UNMIBH is also faced with significant implementation problems in the other eight cantonal police services in the Federation where inaugurations have already taken place.

6. After Croats rioted in the Drvar municipality in canton 10 (see para. 24), UNMIBH signed an agreement with the canton 10 authorities for the inauguration of that canton's police service. The agreement, however, could not be implemented because of persistent differences between UNMIBH and the Croat authorities over minority representation in the cantonal police service and over security for returning Serbs, including Serb police officers.

7. At the Federation level, the inauguration of the Ministry of Interior continues to be delayed. UNMIBH has been unable to resolve differences between the Croats and Bosniacs over the distribution of posts by ethnicity and over the division of responsibilities between the Minister and his Deputy. Furthermore, the failure of the Federation Government to pass the Law of Internal Affairs has placed legal obstacles in the way of reconciling the two parties.

8. While UNMIBH continues to pursue the establishment of integrated cantonal police services in the remaining two cantons and to certify and provide preliminary training to police officers, IPTF has also begun to address the operational difficulties that have arisen in the inaugurated police services of the other eight cantons. To do so, IPTF has formed "contract assurance teams", whose task is to assess each cantonal police force's level of compliance with the standards set by the 25 April 1996 Bonn-Petersberg Agreement. Based on an auditing procedure, the contract assurance teams have begun meeting with local and international officials in those eight cantons. The teams focus on the ethnic composition of the cantonal police services, the degree of cooperation between and among police officers of different ethnic groups, the quality of that cooperation, the operation of the cantonal police chains of command and the free flow of information between commanders of different ethnic groups, the degree to which the orders emanating from the chain of command are obeyed by officers of the different ethnic groups, freedom of movement within the canton and the quality and thoroughness of investigations carried out by the cantonal criminal police sections. These assessments will enable UNMIBH to evaluate the degree to which the cantonal police services are operating appropriately, to address problems that have arisen and to introduce the necessary changes to oblige police throughout the Federation to adhere to democratic standards of policing. A particular problem that remains is the very low level of Serb representation in the Federation police.

9. In the Republika Srpska, the apparent willingness of the new authorities to work with UNMIBH in implementing the provisions of Annex 11 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace is counterbalanced by the Government's internal divisions and the fear of a resurgent nationalist reaction in the run-up to the September 1998 elections. Progress in the restructuring has therefore been limited.

10. The process of restructuring the local police in the Republika Srpska officially commenced with the signing of the 17 September 1997 agreement between UNMIBH and the Republika Srpska authorities. Since then, UNMIBH has begun downsizing the Republika Srpska police service and certifying and training police officers. UNMIBH, however, has been unable to secure the integration of minority police officers into the police force, mainly because of the unsettled political environment in the Republika Srpska.

11. Notwithstanding the above, UNMIBH has now formulated a comprehensive strategy to reinvigorate the restructuring of the Republika Srpska police, which includes a detailed plan for the phased integration of minority police officers. Prime Minister Dodik and Interior Minister Stankovic have agreed, in principle, to create a multi-ethnic Republika Srpska police force with initial deployment in the zone of separation and in areas where minority returns have already begun or are imminent, in particular in the four "open cities" (Mrkonjic Grad, Sipovo, Laktasi and Srbac) that have already signed agreements with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that they welcome minority returns. Secondly, in accordance with an agreement with the multi-national Stabilization Force (SFOR), former members of the now-disbanded Republika Srpska Anti-Terrorist Brigade who have been certified by IPTF are being retrained in Banja Luka for their future incorporation into the Republika Srpska Special Police Service. IPTF has assisted the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior in developing this new branch of the Republika Srpska police, which will perform tasks not performed by the regular police service, such as ordinance removal, VIP protection and hostage rescue.

12. In addition to restructuring the police services of both entities, IPTF has also continued to assist them by coordinating their efforts to become better equipped and trained. With respect to equipment, UNMIBH has expedited and facilitated the distribution of reflective traffic vests, handcuffs, flashlights, hand-held stop signs, traffic cones, reflective armbands and police vehicles to the respective police services.

13. IPTF has also maintained its training programmes to help instill the necessary principles of democratic policing into the restructured police services. A total of 10,095 Federation police officers (88 per cent of the total) have completed the week-long human dignity class. In addition, 4,596 Federation police officers (40 per cent of the total) have completed the transitional training course, which is a condensed version of a police academy course and focuses on basic police skills. In the Republika Srpska, a total of 3,721 police officers (44 per cent of the total) have completed the Human Dignity Course and 187 police officers (2.2 per cent of the total) have completed the Transitional Training course. Efforts continue to assist the local police in developing modern police academies. The first class of 100 officers, which included 32 women and had a majority of Croat cadets, graduated from the Federation Police Academy on 31 March.

Freedom of movement

14. The second major substantive operational area with which UNMIBH has been occupied during the reporting period has been freedom of movement. IPTF has continued to implement and enforce its checkpoint policy as described in earlier reports (see S/1997/468, para. 5). On average, IPTF approves approximately 10 checkpoints per day, largely in high-crime areas and during special occasions, such as sporting events and political rallies.

15. A more fundamental change towards increased freedom of movement for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the introduction of a common license plate (see S/1998/227, para. 14). During the reporting period, one of the principal activities of Civil Affairs, working in close cooperation with the Office of the High Representative, has been organizing the production and monitoring the distribution of the new plates and registration documents. By 13 May, all cantonal interior ministries in the Federation and the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior had collected license plates and the requisite documents for distribution to the public. Without question, this initiative has been a success, as evidenced by the number of vehicles on the road with the new common license plate and the number of additional vehicles to which the new plate is affixed each day.

16. During the week of 18 May, IPTF and Civil Affairs confirmed that motorists throughout the Republika Srpska and in Bosniac-controlled areas of the Federation were receiving the new license plates and registration documents without difficulty. Unfortunately, officials in the Croat-controlled cantons and municipalities have not been as cooperative. Obstruction by Croat officials has included not issuing license plates at all and issuing illegal registration documents. In cooperation with the Office of the High Representative, UNMIBH has made strong representations to the Croat authorities on these cases of non-compliance.

17. The UNMIBH Human Rights Office has also contributed to enhancing freedom of movement throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina by closely monitoring criminal proceedings against five Republika Srpska residents who were arrested by Federation police in February and March. Three of the individuals had been detained on war crime charges, while the other two were arrested on common criminal charges for incidents that had occurred before the war. Republika Srpska authorities claimed that Federation officials had ordered the arrests in order to hinder Serb freedom of movement and prevent Serb returns to Sarajevo. In coordination with the Office of the High Representative and with the support of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, UNMIBH determined that the Federation police had the right to detain those arrested. Of the three alleged war criminals detained, one was released because of lack of evidence and one was tried and received a non-custodial sentence. One of the two men arrested for common crime killings was convicted of manslaughter and freed on bail pending appeal. The other individuals remain in detention.

Weapons inspections

18. As part of its regular operations, IPTF assisted SFOR's Operation Harvest programme, which provided amnesty for individuals turning in weapons, mines and ordnance to designated SFOR and IPTF sites in the period between 2 March and 15 May 1998. In cooperation with local police, IPTF and SFOR collected 6,799 mines, 5,873 combined artillery rounds, 2,412 small arms, 610,129 rounds of ammunition and 23,369 pieces of unexploded ordnance.

19. Following a review of its weapons inspections policy, IPTF has changed the frequency with which it visits local police stations. Inspecting police stations quarterly rather than monthly, IPTF thus conducted 90 weapons searches throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1 March and 20 May. Only four inspections in the Republika Srpska and four in the Federation resulted in the confiscation of illegal weapons. In total, IPTF collected 4,400 rounds of ammunition and 68 illegal weapons during these operations.

Incidents

20. In cooperation with the Office of the High Representative and SFOR, IPTF has continued to sanction local police officials who display gross non-compliance with agreements made by their political authorities on police restructuring, especially in areas designated for the return of minority refugees and displaced persons.

21. In the Croat-controlled municipality of Prozor, in canton 7, strong IPTF and Civil Affairs intervention with the cantonal Interior Minister resulted in the removal of the uncertified police chief, who had, over the past several months, refused to take steps to become certified, had not cooperated with IPTF efforts to implement joint Croat-Bosniac policing and did not investigate organized crime.

22. Between the beginning of the year and 20 May, there were 46 cases of attacks (arson and physical assault) against returning Bosniacs and Serbs in the Croat-controlled municipality of Stolac, in canton 7. As no progress was being made in the investigations of these crimes, IPTF wrote a de-certification letter against the Stolac police chief, who was subsequently removed by the cantonal Interior Minister. Thereafter, UNMIBH demanded, and municipal authorities acquiesced, to the co-location of a senior IPTF monitor in the office of the Stolac chief of police in order to monitor closely the daily operations of that municipality's local police.

23. In Drvar, another Croat-controlled municipality in canton 10, the police chief had failed over a period of several months to investigate properly dozens of attacks (arson, harassment, assault) perpetuated since the beginning of the year against Serbs returning to their homes. After the murder of two Serb adults and the failure of both the municipal and cantonal authorities to respond vigorously to the incident, my Special Representative, the IPTF Commissioner and the High Representative wrote to the cantonal authorities on 17 April to de-certify the Chief of Police and remove the Deputy Mayor of Drvar, and to call for the resignation of the cantonal Minister of Interior. In addition, IPTF deployed special investigative teams to Drvar to assist local police to conduct a comprehensive analysis of all recent incidents in the municipality.

24. Subsequently, on 24 April, a crowd of several hundred Croats attacked the municipal offices and the IPTF station in Drvar. The Serb Mayor (elected in the September 1997 municipal elections) was injured and evacuated by IPTF personnel, first to the IPTF station, and later by SFOR for treatment to Banja Luka. When the mob set fire to the IPTF premises, the IPTF personnel were evacuated to a nearby SFOR base. Later, an apartment complex housing Serb returnees was targeted and fires were set which left about 160 Serbs homeless.

25. Another case in which UNMIBH demanded the removal of a chief of police, followed an investigation by the UNMIBH Human Rights Office into allegations of torture and ill-treatment by Teslic police. Following repeated interventions with the Republika Srpska authorities by UNMIBH, the Teslic chief of police was replaced. In addition, a special investigation team was sent from the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs to look into the cases raised by the Human Rights Office.

Cooperation with other international organizations

26. UNMIBH continues to cooperate closely with other international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). During the reporting period, IPTF assisted in developing security plans with the local police for sessions of the municipal assemblies, and it is currently working with OSCE in preparation for the national elections scheduled for 13 September 1998. As part of the international community's response to the inability of the local political parties to reach an agreement on the establishment of a municipal government in Srebrenica after the September 1997 elections, Civil Affairs opened an office in that municipality. Along with IPTF, Civil Affairs officers also participated in the OSCE-managed post-election municipal certification process. UNMIBH Public Information officers have been full members of the OSCE Media Experts Commission since April.

Investigation of human rights violations by local law enforcement personnel

27. In addition to the investigation into human rights violations in Teslic (see para. 25), the UNMIBH Human Rights Office had taken up over 900 cases of alleged human rights violations as of 31 May. Many such cases relate to direct abuses by the police, while others involve local police negligence in responding to crimes against minorities. Still other cases pertain to property disputes involving abuses by housing authorities against minorities.

28. One particular case taken up by the Human Rights Office was the arrest in February of Goran Vasic, a Bosnian Serb accused of killing Deputy Prime Minister Hakija Turajlic in January 1993 while the latter was under UNPROFOR protection (see S/1998/227, para. 22). On 3 April, UNMIBH published a report on its investigation, and four canton 9 police officers from Sarajevo received letters of non-compliance for violations of Mr. Vasic's human rights. Since then, canton 9 has implemented a series of recommendations that were included in the UNMIBH report.

29. Criminal proceedings were initiated in April against two former military prison guards in a case involving two Bosnian Serb former prisoners of war who were held in secret detention by the Federation military between January 1996 and August 1997. The hearings are taking place before the Municipal Court in Zenica. My Special Representative had personally intervened with the Federation Government to ensure that the case would be brought before the judiciary as soon as possible.

Civil affairs

30. In addition to its daily activity of providing political advice to IPTF and the Office of the Special Representative, the UNMIBH Civil Affairs Office has been actively engaged in organizing and monitoring the production and distribution of the common license plates, as described above. Civil Affairs officers have also worked closely with IPTF on police restructuring in both the Federation and the Republika Srpska, as well as on matters relating to the de-certification of police officials. In order to enhance coordination, Civil Affairs officers have been deployed to work as advisers to the IPTF Commissioner and his Deputy Commissioner for Operations.

31. The Civil Affairs Office has also worked closely with the other international organizations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Drvar, for example, the Civil Affairs Office and IPTF developed operational plans with SFOR, the Office of the High Representative, and UNHCR to cope with the large number of Serbs who returned in early spring. After the murder of two Serb returnees (see para. 23), the Office sent a number of its officers to Drvar in order to develop a greater understanding of the evolving crisis in that municipality. After the riot described earlier, Civil Affairs officers worked together with IPTF, SFOR, the Office of the High Representative and UNHCR to produce a cohesive strategy.

32. Civil Affairs officers are closely interacting with UNHCR and the return and reconstruction task forces throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. On a practical level, the good offices of Civil Affairs have, for example, enabled public companies from the Federation and the Republika Srpska to re-link water distribution and thereby improve the availability of water in Sarajevo.

Other activities

33. Press and Information officers have participated in the full range of UNMIBH activities by providing timely and accurate information to the local press and populace. One special project has been the support extended to the founding of a Republika Srpska Student Union radio station in Banja Luka.

34. The Trust Fund Unit financed 22 new small-scale projects in canton 9 and continued to support the reconstruction of medical services and public housing in Sarajevo. It has strengthened its partnership with SFOR, which is managing the reconstruction of primary schools and health clinics in Serb Sarajevo.

35. The Trust Fund for the Police Assistance Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a voluntary programme designed to solicit funding from Member States in order to modernize and improve the quality of the equipment as well as supplement the training received by officers from the Federation and Republika Srpska police services. UNMIBH has identified 10 target areas for funding, including communications, forensic sciences, criminal investigations and police information management. Of the total contribution received in the Trust Fund as at the end of 1997 - $2,785,745 - 94 per cent has been obligated. Thus far in 1998 $5,354,303 have been received and are currently being programmed. In addition, $3,380,000 for the police development programme in the Federation have been provided bilaterally. Taking into consideration the contributions received by the Trust Fund and bilaterally, the shortfall for the police development programme stands at $55,766,000.

Administration of the Mission

36. During the reporting period, UNMIBH carried out an extensive evaluation of the role and operations of the Mission, which highlighted the need for greater coordination and sharing of information. In light of the reassessment, the new Commissioner has acted to shift emphasis from police monitoring to police development as the principal long-term goal of IPTF and to set clearer performance goals in order to measure progress on this and other IPTF objectives.

37. Because fresh responsibilities have been added to the role of IPTF by successive resolutions of the Security Council, the investigation of human rights violations, the development of local police and the monitoring of local police operational activity had unintentionally each developed separate lines of command. The Commissioner has now brought all three activities under the responsibility of the station and regional commanders reporting to the Deputy Commissioner (Operations). In the future, the latter will be held accountable for performance in these areas. For IPTF to be effective, better systems were needed for acquiring management information, reviewing all forms of internal training for monitors, investigating breaches of discipline and creating or implementing fresh operating procedures. New or improved units commanded by a second Deputy Commissioner (Operations Support) now exist to tackle these issues.

38. It is the intention of UNMIBH to make local police reform the principal long-term task of IPTF in the future. At the same time, IPTF will continue to play an operational role in monitoring the local police, including creating a secure environment for the return of displaced persons and refugees, dealing with illegal checkpoints, searching police stations and prisons for missing persons and investigating human rights violations. Misconduct in these areas will provide information about the type of additional training that is still required by the local police. Monitoring thus becomes a basis for police reform, and the results of the monitoring will feed directly into the reform efforts. At the same time, it will provide a means by which IPTF will be able to measure its performance and provide factual information to donor nations that progress is being made. Monitoring will also provide a sense of security to police officers from minority groups who are newly integrated in a formerly mono-ethnic police.

39. The most effective means of influencing local police reform is to co-locate selected IPTF monitors permanently with local chiefs of police or senior police officers in their place of work. By so doing, the IPTF monitors will be able to question directions and practices, know what additional training or equipment offers the most value for the money and form an opinion about the professional competency of the senior officers. Where intimidation against minority returnees is locally significant and doubt exists about a local senior officer's integrity, it will be easier to judge if that officer is part of that conspiracy of intimidation or is indirectly contributing to it by professional negligence.

40. The Ministers of Interior of both the Republika Srpska and the Federation have consented to the proposal to co-locate monitors alongside senior police officers and to the placement of an IPTF monitor in their respective Ministries. Implementation of this initiative will require careful planning. To be productive, it is vital that IPTF monitors co-located with local chiefs of police command respect and possess appropriate experience and knowledge of policing. The IPTF Commissioner is currently reviewing whether a sufficient number of officers with the appropriate qualifications are available within IPTF.

III. FOLLOW-UP TO RESOLUTIONS 1144 (1997) AND 1168 (1998)

41. In my previous report (S/1998/227), I outlined UNMIBH planning for the implementation of the requests contained in the conclusions of the Bonn Peace Implementation Council meeting, as endorsed in resolution 1144 (1997). Subsequently, in resolution 1168 (1998), the Security Council authorized the increase in the number of IPTF officers that I had requested to carry out specialized training in a number of fields related to key public security issues. As detailed planning had already been undertaken, requests to Member States for the provision of specialized police officers to conduct the training were sent out one day after the Council's adoption of resolution 1168 (1998).

42. In the same resolution, the Security Council acknowledged that success in the area of police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina was closely linked to complementary judicial reform and agreed to consider expeditiously an UNMIBH-led court-monitoring programme as part of an overall programme as outlined by the Office of the High Representative. In this connection, the Council requested that I submit "recommendations on the possibility of utilizing locally hired personnel as far as is practical and of voluntary funding".

43. As Security Council members will recall, I have provided in some detail my thinking on the court-monitoring programme in my previous report (S/1998/227, paras. 44-46). The basic personnel structure would consist of three professional officers in each of the seven regions in the UNMIBH area of responsibility to carry out the actual monitoring and reporting, as well as five professional officers at headquarters to analyse the reports and liaise with the other organizations on the design and preparation of the training and restructuring programmes. In this structure, it would be feasible - and indeed desirable - to incorporate one national officer in each region and one national officer at headquarters. All teams would have to be adequately equipped and supported by an appropriate number of language assistants.

44. For practical reasons, and in view of the sensitive nature of the task, the national officers in the regions would not be primarily involved in the monitoring itself. They would rather be mainly responsible for liaison with the local judicial authorities and for advising the international monitors on local juridical questions. At the same time, they could act as a focal point for the development in the region of the subsequent activities in the legal reform programme, including training and restructuring. The national officer at headquarters would participate in the broader assessment of the court system that would precede planning for future legal reform. He or she could also become the focal point for the subsequent training and restructuring activities.

45. As for the question of funding, I am aware that many troop- and police-contributing countries oppose the voluntary financing of mandated activities in United Nations peacekeeping operations. I share this view, as experience has shown that voluntary funding can be uncertain and is therefore not suited to financing mandated tasks. These tasks should be funded as an expense of the Organization.

IV. ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM

46. My Special Representative considers it of paramount importance to maintain and further develop a harmonious working relationship among the various United Nations agencies operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina through recognizing their common interests and concerns and coordinating their activities, in particular those aimed at elevating the status of human rights activities and working for better gender balance within the community of United Nations agencies. A key future task in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the development of an educational curriculum that will eliminate hate propaganda in history and language, as well as in cultural and educational materials.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

47. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continues to address food security emergency needs and to coordinate activities in the agricultural sector. FAO also provides vital technical assistance and advice and continues its specialized seed quality control project, while its seed multiplication project is being phased out at the end of May 1998. FAO also continues discussions on adherence by seed laboratories in Bosnia and Herzegovina to International Seed Testing Agency (ISTA) standards, which would allow the country to issue international seed certificates after laboratory accreditation by ISTA and eventually to export seeds on the international market. FAO is presently assisting the Federation and the Republika Srpska Agricultural Ministries in formulating mid-term strategies for sustainable development in all domains of agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

48. The Sarajevo field office, one of the three field offices established by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, supports the investigative efforts of the Office of the Prosecutor in The Hague. During the reporting period, the Sarajevo field office coordinated local police (monitored by IPTF) and SFOR security for its 1998 summer exhumations programme, which gathers evidence in support of ongoing investigations. Following encouraging discussions between the authorities of the Republika Srpska and the Office of the Prosecutor, the Tribunal has taken steps to establish a coordination office in Banja Luka.

International Labour Organization

49. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has continued to focus on training the vulnerable unemployed in construction trades in the northwest of the Federation (funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)); training the unemployed in electrical and mechanical trades in Gorazde (funded by the Government of Japan and UNDP); promoting micro-enterprise development through the new business development centres near Brcko, Bihac and Banja Luka and preparing for the establishment of similar centres around Sarajevo (funded by the Government of Italy and UNDP); and promoting social dialogue (funded by the Government of Italy).

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

50. In addition to its monitoring and reporting functions, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights continued to assess laws regulating the appointment of judges in the Federation. The report describing the main problems in that area is about to be finalized. The Office of the High Commissioner continued its activities in the judicial sector and participated in the establishment of an expert team to draft the new criminal code and criminal procedure code for the Republika Srpska. The Office continues its support for the human rights institutions established under the Dayton Agreement and has also contributed to monitoring the human rights aspects of the Sarajevo Return Declaration. The Office promotes implementation of gender-related activities within the United Nations agencies and initiated a specialized human rights training project for IPTF monitors.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

51. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continued its efforts to implement Annex 7 of the Dayton Agreement. It is estimated that, since the beginning of the year, some 20,000 refugees and displaced people have returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of these, only 230 people returned to the Republika Srpska. The number of displaced persons returning to their former homes since January 1998 is estimated at 3,840. Of this number, 2,000 returned to minority areas, with Drvar (estimated at 900) and Sarajevo (approximately 490) recording the highest numbers. UNHCR is concerned that fewer returnees are registering with the local authorities, often precluding their access to State-financed social services.

52. UNHCR continued to promote minority return through development of the "open cities" initiative. During the reporting period, UNHCR recognized the Federation city of Zenica as the eleventh "open city". UNHCR also promoted freedom of movement through its 24 inter-entity bus lines, which have transported 300,000 people across the inter-entity boundary line since the beginning of the year.

53. UNHCR continues, in close cooperation with the Office of the High Representative, to support the Republika Srpska and Federation ministries responsible for return and support of displaced persons. In March, the Federation finally passed housing legislation that brings it closer to compliance with the return guarantees included in Annex 7 of the Dayton Agreement. The Republika Srpska National Assembly is expected to consider draft property legislation shortly. UNHCR is cooperating with the Office of the High Representative and the Council of Europe in assisting both entities to draft new legislation on citizenship, immigration and asylum.

United Nations Children's Fund

54. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) continued to focus on its five ongoing programmes. In education, UNICEF promoted its interactive learning project in cooperation with universities, and purchased 10 world literature titles for distribution to all primary schools in both entities. UNICEF extended its psycho-social project to include training of teachers and psycho-pedagogues in secondary schools to address the needs of adolescents. Within its advocacy programme, UNICEF continued to train teachers on children's rights in cooperation with local non-governmental organizations. Large-scale training on leak detection and water quality monitoring proceeded under the UNICEF water and sanitation programme. UNICEF awarded the maternity wards of one hospital in east Mostar and another in west Mostar, the title of "baby-friendly hospital".

United Nations Development Programme

55. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) continues to focus its activities on multi-sectoral area-based development programmes, supported by selected national sectoral projects and assistance to policy development. The integrated programmes aim to combine physical rehabilitation and socio-economic infrastructure with community development efforts to promote social cohesion and create an enabling environment for the returning refugees and displaced persons, and to ensure their smooth reintegration with the population at large. The programmes increasingly place responsibility for management of the services on local authorities. The UNDP Village Employment and Environment Programme is now being implemented on a large scale. As a short-term bridging measure, the programme provides limited employment for the war-affected population while being geared towards helping to improve the seriously damaged infrastructure and the environment. These activities are combined with vocational training programmes and small and medium enterprise development programmes to ensure sustainability.

56. Preparations for the handover of responsibilities for demining in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations to the Government are on track for a handover on 30 June 1998. With the Republika Srpska Decree having been signed on 23 April and the Federation Decree due for signature at the end of May, the legal steps necessary for the establishment of institutional structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina for demining will be completed. Both the Commission for Demining of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Board of Donors meet on a regular basis, focusing their work on the establishment of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre and Entity Mine Action Centres and the development of a National Mine Action Plan. The UNDP Resident Representative co-chairs the Board of Donors, together with the Military Adviser to the High Representative.

57. It is thus envisaged that the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Programme will be fully established by mid-1998, incorporating and expanding the capacity already established by the Bosnia and Herzegovina/United Nations Mine Action Centre. The programme's activities will be undertaken through the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre in Sarajevo, which is responsible for overall coordination and guidance of mine clearing actions in the country, and the mine action centres being established in each of the two entities, which will be responsible for coordination and implementation of mine clearance in their respective areas. The training of management personnel in government institutions to implement the four component programmes (mine awareness, minefield survey, mine clearance and training) is a critical component of the UNDP programme. The programme also provides for close monitoring and quality control of all activities.

58. The Bosnia and Herzegovina/United Nations Mine Action Centre has trained, equipped and is deploying 160 personnel to clear mines in four regions (Bihac, Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla). Sufficient funds for the deployment of these demining teams have been secured until the end of June. A special UNHCR contribution of $2.6 million to the UNDP Trust Fund enables six additional demining teams to operate. These have been trained and are currently working in UNHCR-designated priority areas and other selected minority returns areas. The activities related to updating the minefield database, as well as to the mine awareness campaigns, are being continued under the present transition phase (1 January-30 June 1998).

59. The Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Programme is financed with contributions from various donors through the UNDP Trust Fund for Mine Clearance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was instituted on 12 November 1997. As indicated in the United Nations consolidated appeal implementation report, $5.3 million have been received to date and $4.25 million are in the pipeline. UNDP, which is responsible for the management and coordination of this Trust Fund, urgently requires further new commitments to this programme.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

60. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is concentrating its efforts on the development of school curricula. In consultation with the Federation Ministry of Education and in cooperation with other international organizations, UNESCO has analysed humanities textbooks for primary and secondary schools in the Federation and prepared a proposal for the development of a curriculum. UNESCO has also finalized a status report on school reconstruction in the two entities. In the area of cultural heritage, the Organization is preparing a project to reconstruct the Old Town of Mostar. In cooperation with Bosnian officials, UNESCO has also prepared a study of cultural heritage legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to assist in drafting new laws in this field. In Gorazde, UNESCO will shortly open a centre, managed by a local non-governmental organization, devoted to educational assistance to displaced women, and it is preparing income-generating activities for the north-eastern area of the Federation and the Republika Srpska.

World Bank

61. The World Bank remains focused on the three facets of its reconstruction mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina: aid coordination, project implementation and economic policy advice. On 7 and 8 May, the World Bank co-hosted with the European Commission the fourth donor pledging conference in Brussels, where 48 countries and 30 organizations pledged an additional $1.25 billion. Donors welcomed the cooperation between the Republika Srpska and Federation delegates and advocated financial support for programmes that facilitate the return of refugees and displaced persons.

62. Implementation of the 22 projects funded and managed by the World Bank in all economic and social sectors is also proceeding well, and the $5.1 billion reconstruction programme approved after the Dayton Agreement remains on track. Overall, disbursements on the Bank's $435 million portfolio have now reached 80 per cent of commitments. In the Republika Srpska, the Bank intends to disburse $70 to $80 million this year for a reconstruction project and a pilot credit line to local enterprises, as well as for existing programmes. In the Federation, the Bank recently financed the rehabilitation of the Sarajevo gas system. A forestry project for both entities is expected to be approved shortly. After having funded housing reconstruction in UNHCR target return zones, job-creation programmes, micro-credit and local infrastructure, the Bank is now preparing a local development project to help municipalities obtain credit for priority social and economic infrastructure projects.

63. The World Bank also supports the transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a market economy through economic policy advice to the authorities, in particular in the fields of public finance management, bank restructuring and enterprise privatization. Its recommendations in these areas will shortly be supported by two major adjustment credits for more than $100 million to provide Bosnia and Herzegovina with necessary budget and balance-of-payment support.

World Food Programme

64. In March 1998, the World Food Programme (WFP) led a joint food aid needs-assessment mission to review the implementation of its current programme and the impact on overall food security and to assess future food aid needs. The mission concluded that the food aid programme should be phased out by mid-1999. In the intervening months, WFP will refine beneficiary criteria in line with current social welfare policy, thereby facilitating a smooth transition of beneficiaries to government welfare programmes. The introduction of new beneficiary criteria in July 1998 is expected to reduce the beneficiary caseload from 570,000 to an estimated 225,000. In 1998, WFP experienced difficulties in obtaining food aid from donors, and shortfalls have led to reduced rations. This is particularly unfortunate at a time when WFP is attempting to phase out its programme in a responsible manner. During the final phase of the programme, WFP will continue to support small-scale, short-term rehabilitation activities in the transition away from direct aid to self-sufficiency.

World Health Organization

65. The World Health Organization (WHO) continued to concentrate on supporting the entities' Ministries of Health in reforming programmes in health care delivery and preventive health. In the Republika Srpska, health authorities are developing detailed operational plans based on their Strategic Plan for Health Care Reform, approved in May 1997. WHO helped to develop the Federation Strategic Plan, which has been delayed mainly because of differences among Croat and Bosniac health authorities. WHO also continues to promote reconciliation by bringing together health professionals from different ethnic groups on a regular basis. WHO experts continued to train family medicine teams, led discussion in a three-day seminar on domestic violence and helped local authorities address key public health issues, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, vaccination and environmental health. The first post-war joint Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation was formed to participate in the World Health Assembly, the annual global meeting of all WHO member States, in Geneva in May 1998.

V. OBSERVATIONS

66. UNMIBH will proceed with its programme to restructure the police services in the Federation and the Republika Srpska, but progress in implementing the programme will depend upon the ability of all members of the international community - the Member States, SFOR, the Office of the High Representative and the other international organizations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina - to secure compliance of the parties with the commitments they made in the General Framework Agreement for Peace. Of particular significance is the close relationship UNMIBH enjoys with SFOR, not only because the latter provides the general security framework within which the international community operates, but also because of the increasing rate of return of displaced persons and refugees and the potential for turbulence those returns can engender.

67. Very regrettably, the last three months have seen an increase in violent incidents aimed at returning refugees and displaced persons, in particular those belonging to minority groups. At the same time, resistance towards integrating minority officers into the police force has continued, especially in the Croat-controlled areas of the Federation and in the Republika Srpska. Even in the Federation cantons where police forces have been inaugurated, a number of operational difficulties have slowed the realization of multi-ethnic police forces. It seems that a decisive effort will be needed over the next months to begin to reverse this situation. UNMIBH, and in particular IPTF, will do everything in its power to further advance the restructuring of the local police forces in order to help create confidence for returning minorities. However, it would be overly optimistic to expect a decisive change before the nationwide elections scheduled for 13 September 1998.

68. Meanwhile, the groundwork has been done in the Federation and the Republika Srpska to move forward on police reform. In the Federation, the Bonn-Petersberg Agreement provides a firm base and legitimate target figures for the future multi-ethnic police. Progress has been achieved towards that aim, although the difficulties of the last three months have shown that police reform needs patience and persistence. In the Republika Srpska, a point has now been reached where the authorities are willing to accept first steps towards the inclusion of minority officers in their police force. Integrating minority officers in police units in the Republika Srpska will establish an important precedent. However, as in the Federation, and perhaps even more so, patience and perseverance will be needed for decisive police reform in the Republika Srpska.

69. The role of IPTF is changing. Monitoring, observing and reporting will continue, but the shift towards training and advising in the field, and in particular the selection of monitors who can work permanently alongside local chiefs of police or inside ministries of interior, will require officers with sound professional skills and a confident grasp of democratic policing principles. The IPTF Commissioner is preparing new guidelines on criteria for police monitors. In the meantime, however, Member States are invited to take note of the Commissioner's need for monitors with extensive operational experience, managerial knowledge and investigative skills. Security Council resolution 1168 (1998) recognizes the need for specialized IPTF monitors whose skills include substantive experience in organized crime, anti-corruption and drug control. In the meantime, IPTF will continue to assign monitors with detective skills to work on criminal investigations into serious violations of human rights.

70. In accordance with Security Council resolution 1168 (1998), UNMIBH is now prepared to move forward with a programme to monitor and assess the court system. This programme will include local professional expertise, both as a contribution to the monitoring activities and as a starting point for a subsequent reform programme.

71. I have been informed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Javier Solana that the NATO military authorities have developed an operational plan for the continuation of a NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that this plan was endorsed by NATO Foreign Ministers on 28 May 1998. The plan builds on the success of SFOR. I was informed that the planned force has the same unity of command, the same robust rules of engagement and similar composition and size. The NATO Secretary- General assured me that the planned force would continue, within its means and capabilities, to provide broad support for the implementation of the civil aspects of the General Framework Agreement for Peace. He noted that NATO preparedness for the continuation of a NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina is contingent on the necessary mandate from the Security Council. As I have stated in previous reports, I strongly believe that the presence of a credible military force is a pre-condition for the effective implementation of the mandate of UNMIBH and for further progress in the peace process in general.

72. On the assumption that there will be no significant changes to the security arrangements as currently provided by SFOR, I recommend that the mandate of UNMIBH be extended for an additional period terminating on 21 June 1999. Such a renewal would be a demonstration by the international community of its long-term commitment to the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on the security provided by SFOR, and with the political and financial backing of the Member States, UNMIBH can make a decisive contribution to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina by helping to establish a multi-ethnic and democratic police at the service of all citizens and a judicial system that provides justice to all citizens without discrimination.