[ALBSA-Info] Judicial system in Kosova (Report)

[Agron Alibali]

Report on the Judicial System, Freedom of the Media and the Situation of
Minorities in Kosovo














 
 
co-financed by the European Community
European Initiative for Democracy & Human Rights

  in cooperation with theCouncil of Europeco-financed by the Government of
Austria
 

 
I. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM 

1. Some General Aspects of the Judicial System 

The mandate to administer the judicial system in Kosovo belongs to the
United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) .  OSCE, as a part of UNMIK,
shares the responsibility to ensure that all human rights concerns are
addressed through the over-all activities of the mission. The
Administrative Department of Justice is responsible for the overall
management of the judicial system and the correctional service. 

In accordance with Section 1 of Regulation 1999/24 of the Special
Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), the applicable law in
Kosovo is formed of the regulations promulgated by the SRSG and the law in
force in Kosovo on March 22, 1989.  SRSG's regulations takes precedent in
case of legislative conflict.  Where a matter is not covered by the laws
set out in Section 1 of the Regulation but it is covered by a law in force
after March 22, 1989 which is not discriminatory, the respective law shall
be applied (such application having an exceptional character).  In
addition, all those holding public office in Kosovo must observe the
internationally recognized human rights standards, in particular the
European Convention of Human Rights.  Another applicable international
human rights standard is the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, to which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is a party; therefore,
all entities governing in the territory are bound to ensure people in
Kosovo the rights set forth in this treaty. 

The emergency judicial system established at the beginning of the mission
was replaced by a regular judicial system. At present there are five
district courts, one in each of the five regions of Kosovo. District courts
hear cases that carry a sentence of more than five years imprisonment.  The
jurisdiction to hear cases that carry sentences of up to five years
imprisonment belongs to the municipal courts. There are twenty-four
municipal courts. Offenses carrying imprisonment up to two months are heard
by minor offences courts. Twenty-three such minor offences courts were set
up in Kosovo.  On the top of the judicial system is the Kosovo Supreme
Court, the highest appellate court.  Courts still lack material resources
and the infrastructure of some courts is poor. 

Judges and prosecutors were appointed and sworn into the regular judicial
system from January 2000 onwards.  Currently, approximately 400 judges and
prosecutors are serving. Although some Turks, Bosniaks and Roma judges
and/or prosecutors were appointed, the judiciary is still mono-ethnic.
Despite the efforts to recruit minorities, in particular Serbs, into the
judicial system, few of them applied, fewer sworn in and even fewer began
to work. One could fairly say that Serbian judges and prosecutors do not
participate in the Kosovo judicial system. The 1 February- 31 July 2000
report issued by the Legal Systems Monitoring Section (LSMS) of UNMIK Pilar
III (OSCE) gives two reasons in this respect: their security could not be
guaranteed and Belgrade had instructed the Serbian judges not to
participate in the judicial system in Kosovo. Reportedly, Serbian judges
and prosecutors work in unofficial parallel courts in places such as
Mitrovica, Leposaviq/Leposavic, Vushtrri/Vucitrn, Lipjan/Lipljan, Gracanica
and use Serbian laws .   

A general assessment of the functioning of the courts proves different in
the view of UNMIK Pilar III (OSCE) exercising independent monitoring and
the Kosovo/Albanian members of the judiciary.  While the OSCE found that a
significant number of courts failed to ensure fairness and effectiveness of
the proceedings, failed to act fully independent in cases involving
individuals belonging to ethnic minorities, lacked knowledge of
international human rights standards as well as professional legal
experience, the Kosovo/Albanian judicial actors seemed to be satisfied with
the courts functioning and have disapproved the OSCE findings and concerns.
 For instance, the Kosovo/Albanian co-head of the Department of Justice
expressed her dissatisfaction with the allegations of lack of independence
and impartiality in the 2000 (second) report issued by the LSMS - OSCE.
The Albanian official said that despite the Albanians' sufferance going
back as far as 1945, the Kosovo/Albanian judges are impartial and objective
where adjudicating cases involving Serbs .  Judges in Prishtina and
Mitrovica courts were satisfied that the judicial system is functioning
properly . However, judges and prosecutors in Prishtina criticized the
requirement of applying international law (as part of the applicable law in
Kosovo) and the current redrafting process, stating that they used to have
good laws and a good judicial system and do not see the need for changes .
On the other hand, one Kosovo/Albanian politician claimed that the judicial
system is not well established due to three major grounds: courts have to
enforce legislation adopted during the Yugoslav federation; few former
Kosovo police officers are serving while more of them should be included in
the current police forces, and; non-existence of public authorities formed
of Kosovars and established by the Kosovars .  Clearly enough, this was a
political message arguing for political independence/autonomy of the region.  

When asked to identify obstacles against independence of the judiciary and
well functioning of the judicial system, Kosovo/Albanians referred to low
salaries , physical insecurity, and poor infrastructure,  and did not point
out to areas such as procedural rules, lack of an effective defense, lack
of legal experience and insufficient training in both domestic and
international law, or possibility of bias .       

International judges and prosecutors were assigned to serve in Kosovo  for
the purpose of eliminating the concerns of biased proceedings and
decisions. As far as March 2001, four international prosecutors and eleven
international judges were assigned. One first concern raised the issue that
the limited and sporadic allocation of international judges to cases leads
to the unequal treatment of defendants, as cases of similar nature
involving parties from ethnic minority groups had been tried by panels of
various composition - with and without international judges.  Another
concern related to the limited role  played by international judges who
usually sit in panels where Kosovo/Albanian judges form the majority.
However, international judges could sit in majority panels if requested by
a party and approved by the SRSG following recommendation of ADoJ. 

Many of the Kosovo/Albanians did not receive well the international
presence in the judicial system.  

Outlining the shortcomings of the judicial system in Kosovo, the OSCE
Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law issued on April 19, 2001 a
report on criminal justice system in Kosovo.   The most critical matters
highlighted by the report were: the absence of a habeas corpus type
procedure by which a detainee may challenge the lawfulness of the
detention; the continued executive detention; the lack of procedure to
ensure effective access to defence counsel by detainees; concerns of bias
in criminal proceedings; lack of alternatives to detention for juvenile
offenders; lack of a mechanism to ensure appropriate treatment and fair
trial for the mentally ill; lack of victim and witness support, of
assistance and protection services.  Progress was also noted ("many cases
are being solved in a just fashion" and "more international judges and
prosecutors are involved in the system") as well as the still lack of
resources.

In parallel, the OSCE prepared a Strategy for Justice, published in June
2001.  In its introductory part, the Strategy argued that "Developing a
community in which the rule of law and human rights is respected, requires
that legislation, judicial and law enforcement practice and criminal
justice policy are not arbitrary but predictable, transparent, consistent
and principled" and asked for increased co-ordination of all the
authorities involved in the creation of a fair and effective justice system
in Kosovo.  The Strategy recommended in particular: the review of the
criminal justice policy and legal developments by a Criminal Justice
Advisory Group with consultation of local judges and prosecutors; the
review of all laws and regulations concerning the criminal justice for
bringing them in accordance with the human rights standards; set up of a
pre-trial review procedure to ensure speedier trials and standards of the
law enforcement techniques; set up subcommittees to advise on specific
issues of criminal justice policy; effective investigation of judicial
misconduct. 

The main extra-judicial body aimed at protecting human rights and ensuring
the functioning of the judicial system in accordance with the fair trial
rules is the Ombudsperson Institution, established in 2000 and based in
capital Prishtina.   In its first report , the Ombudsperson highlighted the
main obstacles to the independence and consequent credibility of the
institution: the SRSG was given potentially conflicting roles by the
regulation; alleged abuses by KFOR fall outside the Ombudsperson
jurisdiction and although the regulation permit an agreement with the
Commander of KFOR in order to allow the Ombudsperson to investigate cases
where KFOR acts as de facto police or run detention centers, such an
agreement has not yet been reached, leaving such KFOR related complaints
uninvestigated; the OSCE Mission in Kosovo exercises full control over the
funds spending by the Institution; severe restrictions have been imposed on
the salaries of the local staff members.  A major obstacle to the
effectiveness of the institution was identified as the lack of access of
many individuals to the institution and the very limited channels of
communication. 

The nature of the complaints registered with the Ombudsperson Institution
raise legitimate concerns with regard to the failure of the judicial system
in Kosovo to ensure - at least on a regular basis- the basic standards on
deprivation of liberty, fair trail, freedom from inhuman or degrading
treatment and the corresponding duty to investigate, right to free
enjoyment of property. Out of 184 issues raised before the institution
during its first three months of existence 88 were related to the above
mentioned matters.  Moreover, in its Special Report no. 3 , the
Ombudsperson found the practice of detention under executive orders as
contrary to Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The
Ombudsperson recommended the SRSG to immediately cease this practice, to
order the review of the lawfulness of such detention by panels of
international judges  and to promulgate a regulation providing for the
legal basis for compensation following unlawful deprivation of liberty.
   

2. Identified General Obstacles to the Good Functioning of the Judicial System

a) Impartiality of the Courts

The applicable law in Kosovo includes the European Convention of Human
Rights (ECHR) as well as other international human rights standards, such
as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).  The
right to a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal
established by law is guaranteed in Article 6 para.1 of the ECHR and
Article 14 para. 1 of the ICCPR.  It is unanimously recognized that
independence and impartiality of courts are prior conditions to the
fairness of the judicial proceedings. In accordance with the European Court
jurisprudence, the requirement of impartiality is subjected to both a
subjective and an objective tests. A judge shown as acting based on
personal bias following his/her personal convictions and beliefs would fall
the subjective test. The objective test imposes the principle that "justice
must not only be done, but be seen to be done", and therefore any element
supporting a legitimate fear of lack of impartiality would break this
requirement. 

On a general basis, one could fairly state that Kosovo/Albanians have
suffered in a way or another the repression of the Belgrade regime. Many of
those currently serving as judges and prosecutors left their positions in
1989-90 and joined the parallel governing structures.  In addition, during
the present UNMIK governing, some have expressed security concerns.   Under
these circumstances, concerns on the impartiality of judges and prosecutors
in Kosovo could seen as legitimate, in particular when Kosovo/Albanian
mono-ethnic courts hear cases where one of the party (defendant or victim)
is a member of the ethnic communities (such as Kosovo/Serbs,
Bosnian-Muslims or Roma) seen and held by Kosovo/Albanians as responsible
for their ten years of severe sufferance.  In addition, such concerns
proved real in a number of individual cases related to war and ethnically
motivated crimes instrumented by Kosovo/Albanian prosecutors and heard by
Kosovo/Albanian mono-ethnic courts or courts where Kosovo/Albanian formed
the majority. The independent monitoring proved that where Kosovo/Albanians
were victims of alleged crimes perpetrated by Kosovo/Serbs, the verdict was
of guilt even if the evidence was weak and contradictory. On the contrary,
where the victims were Kosovo/Serbs and charges were filed against
Kosovo/Albanians, either prosecutors dropped the case or the courts found
that there was not enough evidence to convict. In addition, violation of
the procedural rules, such as the extension of the pre-trail detention
beyond the one year limit provided by law followed the same ethnicity
patterns.    

Far from making an overall statement on the lack of impartiality of the
local judges and prosecutors in Kosovo -which, moreover, would not be
justified- the organization believes that the impartiality is such a basic
and essential pre-condition for the fairness of the proceedings and of the
judicial outcome that any possible concern, slight sign or mere possibility
of lack of impartiality in any individual case should be avoided.  

This is why the presence of international judges and prosecutors looks as a
legitimate need, at least for the time being.  

Unfortunately, the presence of the international judges and prosecutors in
the judicial system was not well received by many Kosovo/Albanians.
Although not explicitly denying the need of international judicial actors,
Kosovo/Albanian judges and prosecutors in the Prishtina municipal court
stated that well prepared local judges and prosecutors existed.  Their main
complaints focused on the lack of experience of some of the international
judges and prosecutors they have met, on the lack of co-operation with the
local judges and prosecutors and on the high discrepancy between the
salaries received by the international judges and prosecutors and those
received by the local ones.   By contrary, the president of the municipal
court in Mitrovica welcomed the presence of international judges and
prosecutors, arguing that he knew and liked them.  It seems that personal
experience matters significantly in such evaluations.  However,
Kosovo/Albanian politicians proved agreement in expressing disapproval with
regard to the assignment of international judges and prosecutors in Kosovo.
 Representatives of LDK and Alliance for Kosovo pointed out to the lack of
guarantees with respect to the impartiality of the international judges and
prosecutors, who, in their view, could also be biased.   Both used the
example of Sava Matic (a Serbian man), indicted in September 2000 for war
crimes against Kosovo/Albanian victims. The panel, composed of two
international judges and one Kosovo/Albanian judge did not find Matic
guilty of war crimes -for lack of evidence- but of light bodily injury
during an assault in April 1999 and convicted him to two years imprisonment
under the last charge. The decision was taken by the two international
judges in the panel while the Kosovo/Albanian judge dissented.  Both
politicians argued that the judicial finding proved biased on behalf of the
international judges, who ignored that the defendant had killed a large
number of Albanians, and suggested that panels should be composed of a
majority of Kosovo/Albanian judges.  By contrary, the judicial finding in
Matic case was welcome by a Serbian defending lawyer who argued that the
court proved impartial as evidence for the war crimes charge was weak.
Expressing doubts with regard to the qualification and skills of those
assigned as international judges and prosecutors, the two politicians
suggested that candidates be subjected to a prior-examination on
international law. Kosovo/Albanian co-head of the Department of Justice has
also been critical of international presence in the judicial system,
defining this as an interference of the international administration with
the courts.   

The International Helsinki Federation believes that the number of
international judges and prosecutors should be rapidly increased such as to
allow allocation of internationals to all cases involving war and
ethnically motivated crimes, for eliminating the risk of unequal treatment
of defendants or victims who are parties in such cases. In addition, it is
recommended that international judges should sit in majority panels and
that their allocation to war and ethnically motivated cases should be ex
officio rather than on request. The authorities assigning international
judges and prosecutors in Kosovo should make sure, prior to the assignment,
that the candidates have a very good knowledge of the international law
applicable in Kosovo.  Moreover, lawyers with professional experience in
post conflict areas should be preferred. The current situation in Kosovo is
difficult and sensitive enough to require highly competent and experienced
international staff in the judicial system for effectively and rapidly
achieving the goal of ensuring fair and speedy trials.      In parallel,
local judges and prosecutors should be intensively trained on the
international standards of fairness and should stay close to the
international judicial actors for a better understanding of the judicial
rules as well as for avoiding breaches of Kosovars' sensibility.
Co-operation between international and local members of the judiciary is
essential as well as a public campaign explaining the need, the benefits
and the limited duration of the international presence in the judicial
system.    

b) Independence of the Courts

In accordance to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence, judges
must be independent of the Government and of the parties.  The organization
identified some issues giving raise to concerns regarding the full
independence of judges.

Similar to most of the Central Eastern European countries which experienced
judicial systems where the prosecutorial power overcame the judiciary, the
relationships between judges and prosecutors in Kosovo seem quite close and
friendly, leading to overlapping roles during the judicial proceedings and
to an unacceptable influence exercised by prosecutors upon judges.  The
distinction between the executive -where prosecutors belong- and the
judiciary - formed in theory exclusively of judges- is not clear for many
local judges and prosecutors.  The latter are seen as equal to judges, and
judges often discuss the pending cases with the prosecutors.  This feeling
of "equality" on the judicial arena is probably maintained, among others,
by the equality between the salaries paid by UNMIK (out of the Kosovo
budget) to judges and prosecutors.  As such a situation could hamper
judges' decisional independence, the International Helsinki Federation
recommends that both categories should be made clear the distinction
between the role of the judges and that of the prosecutors in the judicial
proceedings, and should be trained to the result of avoiding joint
discussions and evaluations of the pending cases. 

Another matter of concern is the on-going examination and discussion of the
pending cases among judges and by judges with the courts' presidents.
Judges' decisional independence could also be hampered by such joint
evaluation of the facts, in particular where the courts' presidents are
involved.  Judges' training should consider this issue in order to help and
maintain the decisional independence.

Another ground which could lead to corruption -affecting the judicial
independence- is the level of salaries received by judges. The members of
the judiciary interviewed have complained against the low level of their
salaries, having also in view that the life costs in Kosovo increased
significantly following the international presence. Well aware of the UN
policy aimed at ensuring the sustainability of a country/region after the
withdrawal of the international mission, the IHF believes that judges'
salaries in Kosovo should be increased in order to avoid corruption within
the judiciary as this is an essential component of the judicial
independence which, in its turn, is a basic component of any democratic
society. 

Allegations of interference of the UNMIK officials with the judicial
process were also made by the Kosovo/Albanian co-head of the Department of
Justice.  Such allegations, however, were not sustained by the interviewed
judges.  Nevertheless, the mere possibility of such interference should be
eliminated, and both local judges and international staff should be make
aware of the highly negative impact of such interventions upon the
decisional independence.  Where such attempts become known, the
international authorities should adopt a clear and public attitude of
condemnation.

c) Applicable Law, Knowledge of International Law 

A continuing confusion exists among the judiciary and the lawyers on the
applicable law in Kosovo, in particular with regard to the human rights
standards. While regulation 1999/24 provides for the applicability of the
international human rights legal standards, there is a lack of clarity with
regard to which law takes precedence over which law, as well as a lack of
knowledge of the international human rights standards and of how such
standards should be implemented. All judges interviewed  said they are not
familiar with the European Court's jurisprudence or other international
human rights standards.  In addition, the international co-legal director
of the Kosovo Law Center  stated that the interpretation of the law is not
part of the legal culture in Kosovo, and therefore interpreting the
domestic law in accordance with the international human rights standards is
a difficult process.  If the legal actors lack the knowledge of the
international law, this is even more true with regard to the parties
involved in judicial cases. 

Although the supremacy of the international law is implicit, it is not
clearly stated by the regulation mentioned above, and many judicial actors
are confused over the priority in case of legislative conflict.  In
addition, it is not clear that international and local staff holding public
offices in Kosovo is aware of the international human rights standards by
which they are bound. 

Domestic law as well as all regulation issued by the authorities in Kosovo
must be fully and urgently reviewed and/or redrafted as to ensure that the
enforceable provisions are in accordance with the international standards
on human rights.  It is hard to expect the local judges and other lawyers
to apply the international law without clear indications and without an
experience of doing so.  As the training aimed at giving this knowledge to
the Kosovo judicial actors has long term results, the only appropriate
solution for the time being is the amendment, by experts, of the current
applicable law in order to give the locals clear legal instruments.       


II THE SITUATION OF THE MEDIA - FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The media situation following the end of the war and throughout the year
2000 was characterized by a mushrooming number of the Albanian-language
media - particularly printed media - and difficulties experienced by
Serbian-language media, as well as those of other minorities, despite the
attempts of UNMIK and the OSCE to re-establish a print and broadcast media
system representing all ethnic groups in Kosova. 

Thus there were 7 dailies being published in Albanian on Kosova providing
for considerable diversity with a total circulation of some 35.000 copies.
The largest one among them is Bota Sot with an estimated 18.000 circulation
that is believed to be very close to the largest Kosvoa Albanian party the
LDK. International media observers however consider it to be biased and
resorting often to hate speech despite the LDK and its activists claiming
to be themselves victims of politically motivated violence. Koha Ditore
(second largest with some 9.000 circulation) and Zeri are considered to be
dailies with an independent orientation. Epoka e Re and Gazeta e Re,
newspaper with smaller circulation are believed to be closer to PDK
circles. Two newspapers have ceased being published during the year, Dita
and Kosova Sot.  

There are currently no Serbian  printed media outside Serbian enclaves in
Kosova. Belgrade press, such as Politika and Express as well as Blic and
Danas is distributed for free in enclaves. Recently a Kosovo Serb newspaper
called Novo Jedinstvo has started being published in Kosovo enclave of
Grachanica. Their overall circulations is believed to range up to ten
thousand copies according to international sources. 

The Bosniak community publishes in Prizren its weekly Kosovski Avaz which
is distributed in Prishtina and Peja. The Turkish community publishes its
weekly Yeni Donem. No Roma language publication are available yet. 

Media in Kosova are overseen by the OSCE Temporary Media Commissioner . the
Commissioner may impose fines and sanctions on media that do not observe
the applicable laws or decrees of the interim adminstration. The Media
Commissions is expected to be replaced soon with an Independent  Media
Commission. 

Two  fines have been mandates so far and the cases are being appealed at
the Media Appeals Board. 
One of the related newspapers, the daily Dita, has in the mean time been
closed due to the process. It was related to an Unmik Serbian employee
called Petar Tucholski, who had been accused in Dita of being a war
criminal, publishing also his adress and picture in its article of April
28. On may 15 Tucholski body was found dumped in near a village in the
suburb of Prishtina stabbed to death in the chest. Another similar
reporting that was taken as a case of incitemnt was published again in Dita
on July 4 named 12 Kosovo Serbs in Gjilane as alleged war criminals and
also attacked openly Serbian orthodox priests. A week later three priests
in the region were objects of a shooting incident. 

In practice, the media situation reflected the political realities exiting
in Kosova.  The security vacuum and deep social divisions caused by the
recent past also affected the work of journalists in Kosova. Thus despite
the premises for fully free media in Albanian especially, the issue of
self-censorship of journalists and publishers is present. Thus domestic and
international organizations maintain that self-censorship on Albanian
media, with reporters and editors actively ignoring some of the most
pressing issues and problems facing Kosova. This phenomen curtails the full
freedom of expression is due to implicit and/or explicit harrasment and
potentially dangerous intimidation by certain segments in Kosova such as
various political or criminal extremist groups. 

The self-imposed silence has damaged the media's credibility as a reliable
source of information. 

>From May to December  2000 the OSCE journalists protection programme has
registered 33 cases of incidents of intimidation of journalists such as
anonymous and personal threats, assaults, bombing incidents. etc. related
to their work. Among them  the gravest one has been that of the journalist
Shefki Popova that was found killed during last summer. The case however
has not yet been clarified. A bomb was reported to have been hurled into
the home of the journalists Rexhep Kastrati of Bota Sot. 

When accepting the objection about caving in to intimidation Albanian
journalistsfeel that the UNMIK has failed to combat the general climate of
insecurity in Kosovo.

The way the minorities were potrayed in the media affected the development
of a climate of inter-ethnic tolerance. 

The former Kosova Public RTV renamed RTK (Kosova), operated under the
control of the OSCE, which was trying to establish a media control board to
uphold professional standards and guard against media bias in this
influential medium. RTV  broadcasts now three hours per day, one hour
longer than early last year. Prior to the collapse of the former
Yugoslavia, it had broadcast all day on two channels. 

RTK TV broadcasts five to eight minutes of Serb language programin daily
and occassionaly also in Turkish. It does broadcast aslo ten minutes of day
of Bosnian language news produced by Unmik TV. There is no Kosovo Serbian
tv station. Kosovo Serbs receive however the Belgrade Serbian State Radio
and TV as well as few local radios that broadcast in Serbian such as Radio
Contact and Radio Mir as well as foreign broadcasts in Serbian. Radio Blue
Sky, Unmik's radio channes also broadcasts some of its contents in Serbian,
as well as on Radio Kosovo second channel.


III ABOUT THE SITUATION OF MINORITIES

Kosovo with an estimated total population of 2 millions, and an estimate of
10 % minorities before the war (8% Serbs, 2 % others) , had at the
beginning of the year 2000 an estimated number of around 100,000 remaining
Kosovo Serbs, around 30,000 Roma, up to 35,000 Muslim Slavs, over 20,000
Turks, up to 12,000 Gorani, and some 500 Croats.  

Rahovec/Orahovac, in the centre of Kosovo, was chosen for our visit,
because its Serbian (and Roma) enclave is not only relatively big, but also
totally separated from the rest of the town, and in an area in Kosovo,
where there had been one of the highest rates of killings of Albanians
before and during the war.  Janjevo, around 50 km southeast of Prishtina,
was chosen, because it inhabits also a Croatian minority and we originally
had wanted to visit both the Roma and the Croat minority there. In the
shortness of the time it was not possible to visit all the minorities, so
we wanted at least to cover the two biggest.

a) Social Security - Economic Situation

Example 1: the Roma minority in Janjevo:

In the village of Janjevo used to live 570 Roma. Now there are only 220
Roma left. Besides, there is a Croat minority about 350 persons.

The Albanians number 3.500 persons. The Roma live a very poor life, mostly
of humanitarian aid. That means, that they get per month 12 kg flour, 1
litre oil and 1 kg beans. 

Traditionally Roma were tradesmen, selling things at the markets. Since the
war started, the situation changed drastically. With the exception of one
person - who is working for a project of UNMIK - all Roma from Janjevo are
without a job.

There was a perception that Roma would be discriminated against in the
delivery of social welfare.  We were told that it was handed over a list of
11 persons to the responsible person, who should get this social welfare,
but only 4 of them received it. Though being blind and without parents,
Elvis Gradina (22) was cut off this social welfare. The same happened to
the social welfare of Gjerajiva Gashi (70), paralysed already for 10 years
and having only one jobless son. In another case, in Dana Gushterica, where
the lists for the decisions had been prepared by an ethnic Serb, a blind
Roma with children, who are as well blind, got only 65 DEM/month, although
the maximum for such cases is 180 DEM/month.

At he recent meeting, the Roma representative were told by the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG), and head of UNMIK, Paul
Haekkerup, that the humanitarian aid would stop in March. No alternatives
were given to them.

Example 2: the Serbian minority in Rahoves/Orahovac:

4.000 Serbs had been living in the enclave of Rahoves/Orahovac immediately
after the war, incl. refugees from downtown and outside the town. When we
visited it there were only around 600 Serbs and around 100-200 Roma left.

We were told that 60-70 % of the people are hardship cases with nothing to
live from, but some humanitarian assistance and this only if one has a
child less than 5 years, or is an elderly person. The help amount is 80-90
DEM/month for the whole family, plus some food and sometimes hygienic
articles. The chief of the "Centre for Social Service" is Albanian and it
is up to him, who is getting assistance.

People who have employment work in school (paid by UNMIK), as interpreters
or in the one restaurant in the enclave. 

b) Cultural Rights - Schools

Example 1: the Roma minority in Janjevo: 

The schools are mixed: at one floor are taught Albanian kids and in the
other the Croat and Roma kids. There is one Roma teacher and he gives, once
a week, lectures in Roma language. Due to the lack of appropriate teachers,
there are working persons just with a secondary school education.
>From 49 Roma children, who should go to school, only 17 are attending it.
It is, because those children have nothing to dress to go to school.

Example 2: the Serbian minority in Rahoves/Orahovac:

The Serb enclave has, as well, a lack of teachers. There are 50 children
going to school in Orahovac. One teacher has, usually, two classes. Like in
Janjevo, many teachers are not professionals.

c) Freedom of movement & The security situation

The freedom of movement is severely restricted due to the sole existence of
the enclaves. People from the enclaves simply cannot leave these very small
territories without a KFOR escort. But the enclaves only exist, because of
the assessment of the respective minorities (mainly Serbs and Roma) as well
as by UNMIK and KFOR, that their security of the can only be secured in the
enclaves.

Example 1: the Roma minority in Janjevo: 

In the phase immediately after the war (June-August 1999) there occurred
several physical attacks by ethnic Albanians against members of the Roma
minority. In one case, a bomb was thrown on the house of a citizen, and in
another the bomb was thrown between two cars owned by Roma. There occurred
also some smaller incidents, like the breaking of windows by throwing
stones or the fixing of leaflets with texts like "Roma, leave to Italy.
Otherwise we kill you". We were told that the attackers came from
neighbouring villages, and that none of the perpetrators was found by the
police.

The Roma leave Janjevo only when picked up by KFOR to go for meetings in
Prishtina.

Example 2: the Serbian minority in Rahoves/Orahovac:

There are predominantly elderly people in this enclave. For the youth there
was a new youth centre adapted by a German NGO, being not ready yet. There
are cafes, where they drink and spend all the money they have.

After the freedom of movement, the lack of financial assistance is the
second biggest problem in the enclave. Many of the IDPs  would be willing
to come back from Montenegro and Serbia because of their houses in
Rahovec/Orahovac, but they don't have enough means.

Private houses and the Serbian Orthodox church were destroyed, flats were
taken over and the property of expelled people was robbed. The houses in
downtown of Orahovac, belonging to Serbs, were mostly burnt down.
Albanians, who live in Serb owned flats, do not pay any rents. Some Serbs
(guarded by KFOR) tried to visit their flats, but the Albanians, now living
there, did not let them in. Only some 30 meters outside the enclave and
only three days before our visit, a house was burnt down, where a 70 years
old man had lived. Before that several bombs had been thrown at this house,
until finally KFOR had offered to rebuild it, and had evacuated the man in
order to do that. 

There is only one ambulance in the enclave and it has hardly more than
painkillers. If somebody gets sick, KFOR takes this person to Mitrovica or
Kosovo Polje. KFOR was, in many cases, willing to buy medicine on their
behalf, but the medicine is expensive.

We were told that the last 6 months have been more or less calm and it got
only worse in the last month. Until 4 weeks ago, there have been once a
week an UNHCR convoy from Rahovec/Orahovac to Zvecan, escorted by KFOR,
that was stopped in the meantime due to security reasons.

And we were told that the best solution would be, if the Serbs would be
transferred as refugees to third countries. All the 1.500 people in
Orahovac and Velika Kloca  would accept that, even though people have an
inclination to stay, where they belong. "What/s the point to live in a
place, where all the time houses are burnt down, grenades are thrown…
People here live like criminals, who were sentenced to prison".

d) Minorities and the Penal System

We were told by a Serb ex-officio-lawyer in Mitrovica, that by the Serbs
the courts are perceived as biased, especially with war crimes and genocide
cases. Courts decide "guilty" even with a lack of evidence.
As a general problem we were told, that the police files are in English
while the simultaneous translation in courts is mostly in Albanian and
Serbian. An additional problem is that there are only three Serbian
ex-officio defence lawyers available inside Kosovo at the moment.

e) What the Kosovo Albanian politicians say

We were told by Mr. Kole M. Berisha, the Vice-President of LDK, that he
sees the way for improvement through general elections and central
authorities. The judiciary needs to be fully established, and the Kosovar
police KPS needs more authorization, to the conjunction with the
international authorities. There should be a selection and re-qualification
process of former policepersons in a much higher number than is done at the
moment, and the police should have all the police segments that are usual
(incl. a civil police). All this, as well as a more rigorous control of the
Kosovar borders, would contribute to an improvement of the general security. 

Mr. Berisha assessed that the security situation is being much better now
than before. There were still ethnically motivated killings, but there were
also continuously public declarations from all the political parties
against the violence. Mr. Berisha saw a need for the experience of
international judges and prosecutors and acknowledged that Albanian and
Serbian judges could be potentially one-sided and biased. He though also
expressed that by principle he is in favour of a fully impartial judicial
system dealing with crimes as crimes, as crimes should not dealt with
through an ethnic bias.

In his opinion, the Serbs are still subject to the influence from Belgrade
and don't recognize the new reality. For example they boycotted the
municipal elections. 

Their integration into the municipal assemblies could be a first step for
their integration into the Kosovar society.

The Vice President of Alliance for the Future of Kosova (AAK), Bajram
Kosumi, stressed that the security situation was satisfactory, but that he
was discontent with the quality of some UNMIK regulations, lacking
sufficient analysis.

Kosumi suggested general elections. Afterwards better laws could be made,
than at the moment. The number of local policepersons should be much
higher; and the international police should come from EU-countries only.

His opinion is, that UNMIK didn't do much to integrate the population. In
the enclaves there would be security, but their whole existence would be
the absolute opposition to integration.

f) What the minorities say about the future of interethnic relations:

the Serbian minority in Rahoves/Orahovac:

They don/t see any signals from the Albanians for the opening of a
dialogue. The cooperation is restricted to situations, where Albanians
(guarded by KFOR) bring in goods, get paid and then drive back. Or when an
Albanian wants to buy the house, or some land, from a Serb, he has to
contact him to negotiate about the price



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