On International Day of Disappeared UN launches
call for action
30 August 2004 – Noting that the
enforced disappearance of people around the globe continues
unabated and is even growing in some countries, the United Nations
today marked International Day of the Disappeared with an appeal
to all governments to take preventive action and end impunity
for the responsible security forces and armed bands.
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances expressed particular concern over the situation
in Nepal, where the number of alleged disappearance has risen
to 130 for the first half of 2004 as compared to 18 for all
2003, Russia with more than 270 cases, and Colombia where more
than 890 cases remain to be clarified.
In UN-administered Kosovo where some 3,000
people are missing in the wake of ethnic fighting between Serbs
and Albanians, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special
Representative Søren Jessen-Petersen called for the enhanced
cooperation of every organisation.
“Where are they?” he asked in
a message on the Day. “Far more should be done to shed
light on the fate of missing persons. All those involved in
issues relating to missing persons must speak with one voice
to exert pressure at every level so that the process of identification
is accelerated. It is clear that not enough is being done to
ease the suffering of the affected families.”
The Geneva-based Working Group noted that
while in the past disappearances were mainly associated with
the State policies of authoritarian regimes, they now occur
in the context of much more complex situations of internal conflict
generating violence, humanitarian crises, and human rights violations.
“The Working Group calls upon
all governments to take action to prevent disappearances, and
in particular to end the practice of secret detentions,”
it said in a message. “All governments must end impunity
for security forces and armed bands who perpetrate disappearances,
and must make every effort to discover the fate of disappeared
persons, share that information with family and friends of the
disappeared, and provide compensation in the case of death.”
Kosovo's ethnic minorities need continuing
protection, UN refugee agency warns
24 August 2004 – Highlighting a
surge in the number of murders of Kosovo Serbs over the past
year, the United Nations refugee agency has issued three linked
reports showing that inter-ethnic relations in the troubled
province are so fragile that minority groups continue to need
international protection from the threat of violence.
The reports from UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that Kosovo's minority groups are
at risk of attacks ranging from acts of stone-throwing to violent
assaults, forcible displacement and even murder.
Briefing reporters today in Geneva, UNHCR
spokesman Ron Redmond said the series of reports show that 12
Serbs were killed between January and November last year, compared
to five for all of 2002.
Then, in mid-March this year, Kosovo's ethnic
tensions spilled over into several days of public violence and
riots. During that period at least 19 people were killed and
hundreds of others were injured, while many homes, churches,
monasteries and other buildings of significance to minorities
were damaged and destroyed.
Mr. Redmond said the events of March led UNHCR
to conclude in one of the reports that Kosovo's minorities,
especially its Serbs, Roma, Ashkaeli and Egyptians, need further
protection from the international community.
Mr. Redmond said some Kosovo Albanians also
need protection, including those in ethnically mixed marriages
and people considered to have associated with Serbian authorities
before 1999.
The reports also argued that it is not reasonable
to forcibly return members of Kosovo's minority groups to other
regions of Serbia and Montenegro, citing the hardships facing
many of the tens of thousands of internally displaced persons
(IDPs) already living there.
There has only been a small amount of voluntary
returns within Serbia and Montenegro since 1999. About 1,030
people have returned to their homes so far this year, bringing
the total to nearly 11,000.
Kosovo's permanent future status has
not yet been determined. Since 1999, the UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been helping the people of the
province to establish a UN-led interim civilian administration
under which they can progressively enjoy substantial autonomy.
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Kosovo: UN and Council of Europe sign important
human rights accords
23 August 2004 – In an effort
to enhance the establishment of human rights in United Nations-administered
Kosovo, top UN and European officials today signed two agreements
that seek to monitor compliance with important international
principles and prevent torture and other inhuman or degrading
treatment.
“The agreements are a significant milestone
providing practical monitoring arrangements which extend coverage
of important human rights protections under Conventions of the
Council of Europe to Kosovo,” the UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said in a statement in Pristina, capital
of the ethnically-divided province.
The signing by Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
Special Representative Søren Jessen-Petersen and Secretary-General
of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer marks the successful
conclusion of more than 18 months of negotiations.
UNMIK has administered Kosovo for the past
five years since North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO)
intervention forced the withdrawal of Yugoslav Serb troops after
fierce fighting between ethnic majority Albanians and minority
Serbs.
Under an accord on technical arrangements
related to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers will
monitor compliance with the Framework Convention in Kosovo and
UNMIK will provide the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers
with relevant information.
The second agreement on technical arrangements
related to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture
and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment allows an independent
committee of experts to examine the treatment of persons deprived
of their liberty in Kosovo by UNMIK.
Fund for UN staffer slain in 2003 Iraq terror
blast to help students of world affairs
18 August 2004 – On the eve of the first anniversary of
an unprecedented terrorist attack against the United Nations
headquarters in Baghdad, officials from the American University
in Cairo (AUC) today said a fund set up to memorialize one of
the victims is paving the way for a better future by helping
students of international affairs.
The Nadia Younes Memorial Fund honours the
legacy of the late Egyptian UN staffer - one of 22 people killed
in the 19 August bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad -
by supporting education and opportunity for countless students
from her country and the region.
At the time of her death, Ms. Younes was in
Baghdad working as a senior aide to Sergio Vieira de Mello,
the top UN envoy in Iraq, who was also killed in the 19 August
tragedy, which will be commemorated at a series of solemn events
around the world tomorrow.
"AUC is honoured to have been selected
as the institution to establish the Nadia Younes Memorial Fund
in tribute to and in commemoration of Nadia Younes' many achievements,"
Ken Manotti, the University's Vice President of Institutional
Development, told the UN News Service.
Recalling her "extraordinarily charismatic
character," he said Ms. Younes remains an ideal role model
for generations of young and aspiring Arabs. "She had a
truly outstanding career in the United Nations and was an accomplished
and respected human being whose contributions will guide and
inspire the youth of Egypt and the region for generations to
come."
Out of a target of $300,000, $225,000 has
already been pledged to the Fund, which will be used for the
Nadia Younes Conference and Meeting Room at AUC’s Model
United Nations Centre. It will also endow the Nadia Younes Annual
Lecture to invite accomplished international leaders to speak
at the University.
In addition, the Nadia Younes Award for Public
and Humanitarian Service will be established, allowing the University
to recognize and reward the graduating senior who has exhibited
the most commitment to community and humanitarian service.
Mr. Manotti voiced hope that the remaining
$75,000 would be raised to reach the target, making it possible
to inaugurate the first lecture and confer the first award later
this year.
Ms. Younes, who had taken courses at
the AUC, joined the UN in 1969, eventually working as Deputy
Spokeswoman for then Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar.
She also headed the UN Information Office in Rome, worked as
Chief of Protocol in New York, and led the UN's communication
team in Kosovo. She was officially posted to a top-level job
at the World Health Organization (WHO) when she was sent to
Baghdad to help the UN mission there.
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Lawyers warn against UN tribunal forcing Miloševic
to accept defence counsel
17 August 2004 – The health and
rights of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Miloševic
could be jeopardized if the United Nations war crimes tribunal
trying him for genocide forces him to accept defence counsel,
rather than represent himself, according to lawyers appointed
by the tribunal to ensure he receives a fair trial.
In a submission to the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, made
public yesterday, two amici curiae, or "friends of the
court," said Mr. Miloševic has the right to prepare
his own case - "even if he knowingly risks his own health
in the process."
They also said medical experts should examine
the former Yugoslav leader to determine if he is fit enough
to stand trial at all and, if so, whether his health can stand
having to give evidence for possibly weeks at a time.
The trial of Mr. Miloševic is scheduled
to resume on 31 August with the opening of his defence case,
after several adjournments by judges because of the accused's
health problems, which include heart trouble and exhaustion.
The three ICTY judges hearing the case are
considering whether to appoint counsel for Mr. Miloševic
- who has previously refused to accept any lawyers - in a bid
to ease his workload and thus the pressure on his health.
But Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins, two of
the three amici curiae in the case, said appointing counsel
could lead to further delays because the new lawyers would need
to familiarize themselves with the case.
"To impose counsel against the will of
an accused is to contravene his right to self-representation,"
they argued, noting that this principle is backed by international
legal conventions.
The lawyers said that "the potentially
defective way in which the defence may be conducted by an imposed
counsel, against the Accused's wishes, may constitute significant
grounds of appeal."
Mr. Kay and Ms. Higgins urged the ICTY to
delay any decision until Mr. Miloševic has the chance to
begin his defence case on 31 August, when it can determine whether
he is physically able to present his own case.
Mr. Miloševic is facing charges
of genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes for
his role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo during
the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
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Kosovo holds key to regional peace, new UN
envoy says on arrival
15 August 2004 – Arriving in Kosovo to take up his duties
as head of the United Nations Interim Assistance Mission (UNMIK)
there, Søren Jessen-Petersen today emphasized the province's
crucial role in regional stability.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, the envoy said Kosovo
is the last piece in the puzzle taking the western Balkans from
the conflicts of the 1990s towards normalization, stabilization
and European integration.
"I firmly believe
that there will be no normalization, no stabilization in the
western Balkans unless the issue of Kosovo is resolved,”
he said. Stability, normality, clarity of status in Kosovo will
benefit not only Kosovo, its inhabitants, but the entire region.”
He pledged to work hard with his colleagues
in UNMIK, with the provisional authorities and with all concerned
to help Kosovo advance for the sake of its people.
Kosovo faces hurdles despite some progress
since March clashes - UN official
5 August 2004 – Despite some progress
in Kosovo since violent clashes in March, the province faces
an uphill challenge in moving forward along the path of normalization,
ethnic reconciliation, strengthening its still-fledgling democratic
institutions, and creating a tolerant, inclusive society, a
senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
In a public briefing, Hédi Annabi,
the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations,
welcomed the commitment shown by Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo
Serb leaders to the creation of a multiethnic Kosovo, as well
as efforts to move the political process forward.
"Developments since March have shown
that although responsibility for progress ultimately rested
with Kosovo's representatives and its people, the international
community's - and this Council's - consistent support and active
engagement remain indispensable," he stressed.
Two days of widespread violence in March left
19 people dead and hundreds of homes and religious and cultural
sites damaged or destroyed. While there has been much reconstruction,
nearly 2,400 people remain displaced as a result of the unrest.
Kosovo minority communities, especially the
Kosovo Serbs, "continue to live in precarious security
conditions," Mr. Annabi said, calling for the necessary
improvements that would allow all the province's displaced people
to "feel confident enough to return to their homes."
Mr. Annabi said that since March, work in
Kosovo has focused on fostering confidence between communities
and advancing their dialogue. He reported progress in the standards
implementation process - a scheme to reach goals necessary to
making a determination on Kosovo's status - but called on Kosovo
Serbs to engage in the effort "in order to address their
concerns."
The peacekeeping official also saw advancement
in joint efforts by the UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Provisional Institutions to reform the
local government.
Looking to elections scheduled for October,
Mr. Annabi stressed that operational responsibility for the
polling rests with the people of Kosovo. "While the technical
groundwork for inclusive elections with the participation of
all of Kosovo's communities is being laid, the participation
of Kosovo Serbs in the elections remains unsure," he said,
pledging UNMIK's continued efforts to secure their involvement.
"Participation in the democratic electoral
process and a re-engagement in Kosovo's Provisional Institutions
are in the interests of Kosovo Serbs, and the international
community's concerted support for efforts to ensure their participation
is crucial," he emphasized.
Zoran Loncar, Serbia’s Minister of Public
Administration and Local Self-Government of Serbia, told the
Council that although much of the political effort had been
aimed at alleviating the consequences of the attempted “ethnic
cleansing” in Kosovo in March, the consequences of the
pogrom by Kosovo Albanian extremists and terrorists committed
against the Serbs were far from being addressed. As it was virtually
impossible for international troops and the civilian presence
to effectively protect basic human rights of Serbs, the Government
of Serbia had proposed in April a plan for a political solution
through territorial autonomy and firm institutional guarantees.
For his part, Ambassador Agim Nesho of Albania
called for the rapid implementation of the “standards
before status” policy and the creation of a democratic
and multi-ethnic society where the rule of law and tolerance
prevailed. That could only be achieved when the legitimate organs
of Kosovo’s democratic institutions possessed complete
responsibility for their society. For that to happen, it was
necessary to transfer UNMIK’s competences to Kosovo’s
executive institutions, and to restructure the Mission’s
role from a monitoring and decision-making body to an advisory
one, he said. In addition, he supported an expanded dialogue
between Pristina and Belgrade, and pledged Albania’s commitment
to furthering its dialogue with Serbia and Montenegro.
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More work needed to repair physical, psychological
damage in Kosovo - Annan
3 August 2004 – While there has
been some progress in reconstructing buildings and restoring
community relations in Kosovo after March's deadly outbreak
of ethnic violence, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says a lot
"remains to be done to repair the physical and psychological
damage."
Almost 2,400 people are still displaced from their homes and
minority groups in the province continue to lack freedom of
movement and access to public service, Mr. Annan says in his
regular report to the Security Council on the work of the United
Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
He says the leaders of Kosovo's majority Albanian community
must reach out to the minority groups, such as the Serbs, who
were the target of two days of violence in March that left 19
people dead and hundreds of homes and religious and cultural
sites damaged or destroyed.
The Secretary-General also calls on leaders of both the Albanian
and Serbian communities to translate their joint declaration
last month to reconstruct damaged houses and to help the internally
displaced return home from words into actions.
But he says he is concerned that the Kosovo Assembly's recent
moves to amend the province's constitutional framework are beyond
its powers and a sign that its members are not focused on tackling
"Kosovo's immediate priorities."
Those priorities include the process of standards implementation,
a UN-supervised plan which sets specific goals in such areas
as the building of democratic institutions, the enforcement
of rights for minorities and the creation of a functioning economy.
Its provisions include the holding of free and fair elections
and the establishment of an impartial legal system.
UN officials have said previously that any decision on Kosovo's
permanent future status can only be determined after the standards
have been achieved.
In his report Mr. Annan also says he has received the review
of Ambassador Kai Eide of Norway, who was tasked in June with
probing the political implications of the violence in March.
He says he will now study Mr. Eide's recommendations.
The Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting Thursday
on Kosovo, which has been under the administration of UNMIK
since June 1999.
