Harassment, funding shortfall,
hamper return of displaced in Kosovo – UN envoy
24 June 2005 – Low-level harassment,
curtailed freedom of movement, lack of employment opportunities
and a dearth of funding were cited as obstacles to the successful
return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kosovo, in a
statement issued today by the representative of United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the rights of such persons.
“Particularly deplorable
is the fact that considerable numbers of IDPs are forced to continue
their dismal lives in camps and elsewhere because there is no
donor money available to implement their return,” said Dr.
Walter Kalin, the Representative on the Human Rights of Internally
Displaced Persons said.
He also expressed his concern
that there is no clear responsibility for IDPs assigned to the
UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) or the Provisional Institutions of
Self-Government there, saying that the focus of attention has
been on the return of refugees who had crossed borders.
He said the lack of attention
was particularly applicable for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian
IDPs who, together with the other non-Serb minorities, feel caught
between the two main ethnic communities in Kosovo.
Dr. Kalin also appealed
to the international community to provide resources to immediately
evacuate the Roma population affected by lead poisoning in camps
in Northern Mitrovica. “A failure to act now would amount
to a violation of the right of the affected children to have their
health and physical integrity protected,” he said.
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Kosovo: UN envoy opens conference
on province’s future
13 June 2005 – The top United Nations
envoy in Kosovo today said that it is time for the province’s
majority and minority communities to move toward the resolution
of Kosovo’s status by showing that they can build a stable,
tolerant, multi-ethnic and democratic society.
“The time has come for
all sides to put short-term politics aside and to get involved,
to talk openly, frankly, passionately and constructively about
the concrete issues and make the changes which we all recognize
are needed,” said Søren Jessen-Petersen, the Secretary-General’s
Special Representative, as he opened a two-day conference in Pristina
on the “Future Status of Kosovo.” The meeting was
organized by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.
He said the conference was bringing
together Serbs and Albanians to discuss security, standards, local
government reform, ethnic reconciliation and the resolution of
Kosovo’s status, in light of the comprehensive review of
progress requested by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and endorsed
by the UN Security Council.
The Helsinki Committee
says it hopes the conference fully mobilizes local leaders to
make far-reaching decisions for Albanians and Serbs and to take
it upon themselves to carry those decisions through. The conference,
the committee says, is part of a larger project, called “Belgrade-Pristina:
Steps to Build Confidence and Understanding,” realized with
the support of the United States Institute of Peace.
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Deputy Secretary-General Fréchette
in Kosovo reviewing UN mission's steps to prevent abuse
5 June 2005 – United Nations Deputy
Secretary-General Louise Fréchette arrived today in Kosovo,
where she is slated to hold talks with senior officials and meet
with peacekeepers as part of her ongoing bid to prevent sexual
exploitation and abuse by blue helmets.
Speaking to the press at the
airport in Pristina, Ms. Fréchette said she would be reviewing
the situation of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) with its chief,
Søren Jessen-Petersen.
“Part of my focus will
be also to look at the measures that have been taken by UNMIK
to prevent and ensure that there is no sexual exploitation on
the part of our people here,” she said, adding that the
UN is working “to make sure that we are doing everything
that we can to prevent” the practice.
The Deputy Secretary-General
said she looks forward to discussions with the leadership of the
mission as well as with the President and the Prime Minister.
“It will be a quick visit but it is a very important mission
for the UN and I am sure it will be a very productive one.”
On Saturday, Mr. Jessen-Petersen
said 2005 is a decisive year for Kosovo, citing broad-based agreement
on the way forward, and a clear timetable that could lead to the
beginning of negotiations on final status in the second half of
this year.
“It is essential, not
only for Kosovo but also for Serbia and Montenegro and the wider
region, that we seize this opportunity to contribute to the normalisation
and stabilisation of the region,” he said in an address
to the Bertelsmann Foundation Forum in Zagreb.
The envoy recalled that the
Security Council has strongly backed Secretary General Kofi Annan's
recommendation to move ahead this month with a comprehensive review
of progress in implementing standards needed to build a rule of
law based, multi-ethnic and democratic society. He said there
had been “tangible progress,” but acknowledged “room
for significant further improvement in some areas, notably in
the field of freedom of movement and returns of internally displaced
persons.”
With Kai Eide, currently Norwegian
Ambassador to NATO, just appointed to undertake the comprehensive
review, Mr. Jessen-Petersen said that process was expected to
be completed by late summer. If the review finds sufficient progress,
status talks would then start later in autumn, most probably beginning
of October, he added.
“Elements are in place
now for tackling the Kosovo quandary,” he declared. But
for this effort to succeed, he cautioned that the European Union
“must remain focused, engaged, and in step with its international
partners, including the United States.”
That, he said, would
be the only way to “move Kosovo from what is still a holding
operation toward a durable solution.”
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Annan appoints special envoy
for review of Kosovo
3 June 2005 – United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has appointed Ambassador Kai Eide, Permanent Representative
of Norway to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as
his Special Envoy to carry out a comprehensive review of Kosovo.
The comprehensive review will
be initiated this summer, in accordance with Security Council
resolutions. It will consist of consultations with the parties
and the international community, and be broad in scope to assess
the current situation and the conditions for the possible next
steps in the process.
“Mr. Eide’s previous
experience with the United Nations and his in-depth knowledge
of the Balkans make him the ideal person for this endeavour,”
said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The review will look at
the actual political realities as well as the formal preconditions
for launching the future status process on the basis of continuing
and effective progress towards implementation of the Standards
for Kosovo, which are to be achieved to establish in Kosovo a
multi-ethnic, stable and democratic society founded on the rule
of law.
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Fréchette to visit Kosovo
as part of tour to eliminate sexual abuse in peacekeeping
3 June 2005 – Deputy Secretary-General
Louise Fréchette will be travelling to Kosovo on Sunday,
resuming her visits to peacekeeping missions to reinforce Secretary-General
Kofi Annan’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation
and abuse for United Nations personnel.
As she has in previous stops,
the Deputy Secretary-General will review the status of relevant
prevention and enforcement measures in place at the UN Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Ms. Fréchette will be
in Kosovo from 5 to 7 June to be followed by a visit to Burundi
from 8 to 10 June.
She has already visited
UN peacekeeping missions in West Africa from 28 February to 6
March 2005, including those in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte
d’Ivoire.
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