August 12, 1999
August 12, 1999
Contact HRF Communications (212) 845 5245 media@humanrightsfirst.orgHuman Rights First Releases Report on
Kosovo Refugee Protection and Peace-buildingRecommendations Cover Role of KLA, KFOR’s capacity to ensure safety
New York, August 12, 1999 -- The physical protection of minorities is the most pressing human rights protection concern in the current volatile situation in Kosovo, said Human Rights First in a report released today. The report, "Refugee Protection and Peace-building," assesses the present protection situation of refugees, returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and minorities in Kosovo.
Despite the installation of an international administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the presence of NATO forces on the ground (KFOR), the security situation for Serbs and Roma is increasingly precarious, and many have left Kosovo out of fear for their lives.
"The indigenous civil administration has collapsed and there is no effective functioning police system or judiciary," said Human Rights First Executive Director Michael Posner. "Neither UNMIK, which is mandated by the UN Security Council to carry out civil administration functions including maintaining law and order, nor KFOR, which has responsibility for ensuring law and order until UNMIK can take over, have been able to do so."
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has stepped into the power vacuum. The report highlights that, while its "mayors" and other administrators have restored services and even some kind of public order in some areas, KLA members or supporters are linked with much of the violence and some of the crimes since the arrival of KFOR.
"Peace-keeping troops should be trained in law enforcement and policing techniques," said Posner, who also called on the US and other governments to "urge the KLA publicly to undertake to honor and implement basic human rights norms. The KLA should also be pressed to take active steps to prevent human rights violations by its members and supporters, and assume responsibility where human rights violations have been committed by KLA members or supporters."
The report also contains recommendations on other protection needs of refugees, returnees and IDPs in Kosovo, and the need to support the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and future domestic prosecutions for war crimes and other criminal offences. It urges the US and other governments to help the leadership of UNMIK articulate a longer term vision for Kosovo, based on human rights principles. The recovery and reconstruction process should be developed in the wider context of current regional initiatives, aimed at preventing renewed violence and displacement in the future.