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Sommaire
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As seen as told, part two, 14 june-31 october 1999
OSCE 6 december 1999
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK) was established through OSCE Permanent Council (PC) Decision 305 of 1st July 1999, following the dissolution of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) on 9th June 1999. PC Decision 305 determined that OSCE would constitute a distinct component within the overall framework of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and as such derive its legal authority from United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1244 (1999). Despite a change-over from KVM to OMIK, the human rights component ascribed to OSCE remains essentially unchanged. OMIK assumes the lead role in matters relating to institution-building, democratisation and monitoring, protecting and promoting human rights. OMIK's human rights mandate includes 'unhindered access to all parts of Kosovo to investigate human rights abuses and ensure that human rights protection and promotion concerns are addressed through the overall activities of the Mission.' This report, Kosovo/Kosova : As Seen, As Told Part II, was produced under field mission conditions to complement Kosovo/Kosova : As Seen, As Told, a compendium of human rights violations documenting the OSCE-KVM period from October 1998 to June 1999. Together, the reports provide an extensive insight into the tragic events that have taken place in Kosovo over the last 12 months. The report contains a foreword by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Bernard Kouchner, outlining the UN's response to the sober contents of the report. There is an introduction by the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Daan Everts, critically appraising the environment in which the human rights violations catalogued in the report have taken place. There is also an overview of the OSCE field operation and the institutional framework to provide information on the context within which the events have taken place.
Structure of the Report
This report documents human rights violations committed during the period from mid-June 1999 until the end of October 1999. The information contained was gathered first-hand by OSCE officers in the field, many of whom were experienced from the time of the OSCE-KVM. OMIK Regional Centres have been established in Pristina/Prishtine ; Pec/Peje ; Kosovska Mitrovica/Mitrovice ; Prizren/Prizren ; and Gnjilane/Gjilan mirroring the field deployment of other elements of UNMIK and of KFOR. This OMIK organisation is reflected in the report format. The report comprises a substantive body of the text, which is a human rights analysis by the five regions, and three annexes. The Regional Centre components of the report each provide information and analyses under the headings of overview ; security situation ; civil administration ; and human rights trends and patterns. This report framework illuminates the discernible patterns across Kosovo/Kosova while also revealing the regional-specific, or regionally magnified human rights violations. The first annex of the report provides a chronology of alleged human rights violations and events from mid-June to 31st October 1999. The second annex highlights two of the gravest classifications of alleged human rights violations : the right to life and threats to physical integrity. The third annex includes a listing of gravesites from the recent conflict that have been documented by the OSCE in co-ordination with local organisations and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Findings of the Report
In the period covered by Kosovo/Kosova : As Seen, As Told Part II, no community has escaped breaches of human rights, including the Kosovo Albanians. Particularly in the Kosovska Mitrovica/Mitrovice area, their freedom of movement and rights of access to education and healthcare have been violated. The report testifies to this and does not minimise the effect on the individuals concerned. However, the overwhelming weight of evidence points to violations against non-Albanians. One discernible leitmotif emerges from this report. Revenge. Throughout the regions the desire for revenge has created a climate in which the vast majority of human rights violations have taken place. Through the assailant's eyes, the victims had either participated, or were believed to have participated, in the large-scale human rights abuses described in Kosovo/Kosova : As Seen, As Told ; or they were believed to have actively or tacitly collaborated with the Yugoslav and Serbian security forces. Within this climate of vindictiveness a third category of victims emerged : those individuals or groups who were persecuted simply because they had not been seen to suffer before. While the desire for revenge is only human, the act of revenge itself is not acceptable and must be recorded and addressed. The effects on the Kosovo Albanian population of accumulated discrimination and humiliation over the past decade is documented and cannot be doubted. Neither can it be doubted that the ethnic cleansing during the war had a deeply traumatic impact on the Kosovo Albanian community, leaving virtually no family untouched. Given this stark backdrop to the post-war setting, only a strong law enforcement system can prevent the climate of vindictiveness that perpetuates violence. The absence of such a robust response has contributed to the lawlessness that has pervaded post-war Kosovo/Kosova, leaving violence unchecked. The first, obvious, group that suffered revenge attacks are the Kosovo Serbs. Despite the generally accepted premise that many of those who had actively participated in criminal acts left along with the withdrawing Yugoslav and Serbian security forces, the assumption of collective guilt prevailed. The entire remaining Kosovo Serb population was seen as a target for Kosovo Albanians. The report repeatedly catalogues incidents throughout the area where vulnerable, elderly Kosovo Serbs have been the victims of violence. The result of this has been a continuous exodus of Kosovo Serbs to Serbia and Montenegro and an inevitable internal displacement towards mono-ethnic enclaves, adding fuel to Serb calls for cantonisation.
Other particular victims of violence documented in the report are the Roma and Muslim Slavs. Many Kosovo Albanians labeled the Roma as collaborators : accused of carrying out the dirty work, such as disposing of bodies, they were tainted by association with the regime in Belgrade. The report documents the decimation of the Roma community in many parts of Kosovo/Kosova, driven from their homes in fear of their lives. The Muslim Slav community, largely concentrated in the west of Kosovo/Kosova, may share the same faith as the Kosovo Albanians, but they are separated by language. To be a Serbo-Croat speaker in Kosovo/Kosova is to be a suspect and can be enough in itself to incite violence. Other non-Albanians that feature in the report as victims of human rights violations include the Turks and Croats. A disturbing theme that the report uncovers is the intolerance, unknown before, that has emerged within the Kosovo Albanian community. Rights of Kosovo Albanians to freedom of association, expression, thought and religion have all been challenged by other Kosovo Albanians.
The report reveals that opposition to the new order, particularly the (former) UCK's dominance of the self-styled municipal administrations, or simply a perceived lack of commitment to the UCK cause has led to intimidation and harassment. A further aspect of inter-Kosovo Albanian intolerance has been the challenges made in the Pec/Peje area to the rights of Catholic Albanians to express their religion. Violence has taken many forms : killings, rape, beatings, torture, house-burning and abductions. Not all violence has been physical, however, fear and terror tactics have been used as weapons of revenge. Sustained aggression, even without physical injury, exerts extreme pressure, leaving people not only unable to move outside their home, but unable to live peacefully within their home. In many instances, fear has generated silence, in turn allowing the climate of impunity to go unchecked. The report shows that not only have communities been driven from their homes, but also that the current climate is not conducive to returns. As a result, the spiral of violence has driven a wedge between Kosovo/Kosova's communities, making ever more elusive the international community's envisioned goal of ethnic co-existence. The report highlights that although many incidents were disparate, individual acts of revenge, others have assumed a more systematic pattern and appear to have been organised. The evidence in part points to a careful targeting of victims and an underlying intention to expel.
This leads to one of the more sensitive areas of the report, namely the extent of UCK involvement in the period from June to October 1999. A consistent reporting feature has been assumed UCK presence and control. The report is littered with witness statements testifying to UCK involvement, both before and after the demilitarisation deadline of 19th September ranging from reports of UCK 'police' to more recent accusations of intimidation by self-proclaimed members of the provisional Kosovo Protection Corps (TMK). It is clear that the UCK stepped in to fill a law and order void, but this 'policing' role is unrestrained by law and without legitimacy. The highest levels of the former UCK leadership and current provisional TMK hierarchy have openly distanced themselves from any connection of their members to the violence that has taken place. They highlight the ease with which criminal elements who were never part of the UCK are now exploiting the UCK umbrella for their own nefarious purposes. Close scrutiny by the international community is needed to prove, or disprove, the veracity of these claims. The report also highlights many instances of other human rights violations, such as denied access to public services, healthcare, education and employment which have also been used as a tool by both the Kosovo Albanians and the Kosovo Serbs to prevent the integration of traditionally mixed institutions. Restricted access to education, with its long-term implications for the life-chances of those affected ; poor healthcare ; limited employment opportunities - these are the emerging elements that lock segments of the population into a cycle of poverty and divide communities both on ethnic and on economic grounds. They constitute violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Conclusions
It is clear that the deficiency in the law enforcement capability provided by the international community and the lack of sufficient assistance in the administration of justice has fostered the climate within which the human rights violations documented in this report have taken place : impunity for the acts committed has resulted from failures to conduct serious investigations and this impunity, in turn, has perpetuated the violence. Establishing the rule of law is an essential element of OMIK's institution building mandate. Whoever the victims are, and even if they were themselves responsible for human rights or humanitarian law violations, their rights are inalienable and cannot be negated : life, liberty, security of person, freedom from harassment and a fair trial are rights, not privileges. For those who perpetrated, encouraged and organised the violations listed in this report, those rights also pertain. Additional investigative resources must therefore be put in place urgently, including investigators and forensic teams and the facilities to enable them to function. The legal and judicial framework must be strengthened so that periods of pre-trial detention can be reduced and trials conducted in a timely manner. The infusion of more international police and international judicial experts would greatly assist in ending the cycle of impunity. The international community, through UNMIK, has the opportunity to positively influence the development of civil society in Kosovo/Kosova. Support for UNMIK's efforts to establish the rule of law is central, and critical, to this. With the rule of law comes the redress of grievance and freedom from arbitrary and discriminatory action. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is committed, together with its UNMIK and Kosovo/Kosova partners, to work for the improvement of human rights conditions in the area. By identifying and denouncing the violations that have been committed to date, we are all better positioned to construct a Kosovo/Kosova that is founded on the principles of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
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