[NYC-L] Kosovo's media should take advantage of its freedom of info. act!

[elona g]

http://www.kosovo.com/news/archive/ticker/2005/January_14/9.html

The Great Bazaar
TOL Kosovo
14. 01. 2005.

TRANSITIONS ONLINE (CZECH REPUBLIC)

by Marek Antoni Nowicki 13 January 2005

Kosovo's media should take advantage of the province's freedom of
information act as a vital tool to expose corrupt practices that often
relate to basic life issues, says the region's ombudsman.

Corruption is not limited to higher political and business circles or
mafia networks but exists within all of Kosovo's institutions, from
schools and courts to hospitals and other public services. On any given
day, Kosovars must haggle and bargain just to get ordinary things done.
In fact, one would be hard-pressed to encounter an individual who did
not have to pay some form of kickback at some point.

These exchanges are so trivial they rare ly come up when corruption is
discussed.

It is not uncommon to hear chilling stories from families about doctors
or nurses refusing to treat urgent cases unless an additional, 
sometimes
considerable "fee" was paid--in cash, on the spot. Stories of students
buying their exams abound. Nor is it uncommon to hear from people who
have taken a case to court and received an emergency decision, only to
see the same judge reverse the decision after an intervention by the
opposite party.

One wonders in such cases: how can judges known for their lengthy
procedures render a judgment within weeks, or days?

These abusive practices are so pervasive that corruption, 
paradoxically,
becomes difficult to prove. People become slaves to this situation:
since corrupt practices are so widespread and often relate to basic 
life
issues, most people keep silent for fear of having even bigger problems
next time around. Rules of silence and re venge are significant
contributing factors. Kosovo is a small, tightly knit community of
families, and not just on the ethnic Albanian side. Those living in
small towns know intimately these characteristic social dynamics.

Under these circumstances, is anyone able to speak openly about this,
ready to talk about such practices in concrete terms? Can you imagine
angering a doctor by alerting the police (assuming they respond) to his
demands for extra payments, or even refusing to pay, only to find that
the next time you need urgent medical care you will be forced to fend
for yourself?

Ironically, in an environment in which people have to top up legitimate
fees in order to get results, the society begins to rely on such a
kickback system in order to trust at least the basic quality of the
service for which they are paying. People who follow the system are
rewarded, while those who refuse to pay up appear foolish.

The matter of illegal construction provides a good example.

In some neighborhoods, zoning rules prohibit the construction of
additional floors. Needless to say, nearly every house there has had a
second floor added. A resident wants to build a floor legally and
approaches the municipality to request the necessary permit. He is
promptly refused because the law states that such an addition is
illegal. He can't help but wonder how so many others add floors to 
their
homes without the slightest trouble, when not all of it can be 
explained
by nepotism. If violations of construction law and urban planning are
openly tolerated while people asking for permission are rejected, many
will inevitably ask, how much and to whom?

Illegal construction not only perpetuates a system of extortion 
payments
but has other implications as well. In this example, neighboring houses
are often damaged when nearby residents illegally develop their
property. The co mmunity inevitably suffers because of the passivity and
neglect of public officials who follow their own entrepreneurial
instincts rather than their mandates. Victims of this system are left
without any means of legal redress. Those who can't pay are left 
without
access to public services. The rules of how to function in a society 
are
irrevocably altered when the law is rendered irrelevant and 
institutions
devalued.

That's the situation facing Kosovars today.

How can the losers in this system be made to talk about it? There are
legal tools and mechanisms at the public's disposal, but the problem is
that law alone does not change society; it only helps advance a process
of transformation that must come out of society itself.

A key role here falls on the media, especially the independent media.

They have the potential to act as a tool of public opinion, by
questioning, investigating, and exposing the dark corners of public
life. It is their obligation and civic mission to bring to the 
attention
of the general population all important social issues. The media have
the unique power to demand transparency in the operations of
governments, public institutions, and business.

But while the media have this power, it is not clear that they use it.

One year ago, Kosovo adopted a legal procedure that allows anyone to
gain access to official documents. This freedom of information act is 
an
important tool to monitor authorities and hold them accountable. It is
also considered a vital anti-corruption instrument.

For this tool to become meaningful, it must, of course, be used.

Given the existence of this law, how am I to interpret the fact that
after one year, I have not received a single complaint concerning a
refusal of this access? Does this mean that all such requests have been
granted without difficulty--that public institutions h ave become fully
transparent already? That would be rather naive. The reason is probably
a lack of public awareness about the existence of this law and of
understanding of its exceptional importance.

And this speaks very much to the media, to journalists. Journalists 
must
have the constitution and the drive to be tough, to push, ask 
questions,
be unpopular, and take risks. The role of the media in Kosovo is
especially critical because Kosovo hasn't had any robust opposition
until now: the media, in a sense, have to act as such an opposition and
not simply as a mouthpiece for the status quo, which is all too often
the case.

After five years in Kosovo and one heart attack, I'm weary of being the
only entity considered as a form of opposition. Who is going to step
forward to reinforce this work? Everyone suffers from corruption, and
everyone has a stake in combating it.

Marek Antoni Nowicki is the ombudsman of Kosovo. His column, Off the
Record, from which this piece is adapted, is published every first and
third Friday in Koha Ditore. Kata Mester also contributed to this
column. Please send your comments to:
ombudspersonkosovo at ombudspersonkosovo.org.



		
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