UN tribunal opens trial
of Milosevic for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
26 September – Prosecutors at the
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) today opened the trial of Slobodan Milosevic
for crimes allegedly committed in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On 11 September, the prosecution wrapped up
its arguments against the former Yugoslav President on charges
relating to war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo.
This morning in The Hague, Prosecutor Carla
Del Ponte and another member of the prosecution team, Geoffrey
Nice, presented the 61 charges against Mr. Milosevic, which include
counts of genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide, war crimes,
crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
Mr. Milosevic then began to respond in
his own defence, and is expected to continue with his response
tomorrow morning, according to UN officials.
UN announces start of DNA-testing of exhumed
bodies in Kosovo
24 September - The United Nations
today announced that, for the first time, exhumed bodies in Kosovo
will undergo a large-scale DNA-led identification process, so
that survivors can find out what happened to their missing family
members.
The new initiative announced today in Pristina by the head of
the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Michael
Steiner, and the head of the International Commission on Missing
Persons, Gordon Bacon, will seek to find matches between blood
samples collected from family members and the DNA of exhumed bodies.
The DNA identification process is expected to continue into early
next year.
"The families of the missing have already had to wait a long
time for answers," said Mr. Bacon, adding that now more of
them "will have closure."
The ground was prepared for the project in 2000 when family members
with missing loved ones began donating blood samples to be matched
against exhumed bodies. More than half of the over 5,500 samples
donated by family members have been DNA tested logged into a database.
Top
of page
Kosovo: UN probe finds no mass grave in Orahovac.
19 September- An investigation by the United Nations Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has determined that allegations of a
mass grave in the southwestern part of the province are “completely
unfounded,” the Mission said today.
An UNMIK team, which included three forensic
experts from the Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, conducted
a “thorough investigation” into Serbian media reports
that a cemetery in Orahovac/Rahovac may contain a mass grave of
Kosovo Serbs killed after June 1999.
A Serbian pathologist, Dr. Slavisa Dobricanin,
visited the site on Tuesday and confirmed the previous finding
of the UNMIK Missing Persons Unit that it contained no fresh graves.
The Unit had previously dug 17 test sites in the area.
The police had conducted the excavations following
the guidance of a Serb family who believed suspicious activity
had taken place at the cemetery in the past three years, the Mission
said.
Top
of page
Yugoslavia's humanitarian situation has stabilized,
but aid still needed - UN Report.
13 September - Democratic reform has stabilized the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia, but persisting humanitarian challenges must be
met with international aid, according to a report by Secretary-General
Kofi Annan released today at United Nations Headquarters in New
York.
"As the transition continues - with new
opportunities for durable solutions being provided, capacity of
State basic services being increased and the need for humanitarian
assistance being reduced - the country still hosts more than 600,000
refugees and internally displaced persons, and specific vulnerable
groups remain dependent on humanitarian assistance to meet their
basic needs and help them to rebuild their lives," Mr. Annan
notes.
Kosovo presents perhaps the most urgent situation
in the country, according to the report, which notes that problems
there are "difficult and protracted." Despite some improvements,
"the slow pace of returns of ethnic minorities and continued
restrictions on the freedom of movement of minorities within Kosovo
remains a great cause for concern."
In response, the Secretary-General stresses
the need for a strong commitment by the new Kosovo Government
to support a multi-ethnic society, reconciliation between majority
ethnic Albanians and minorities, and the return of minorities
presently outside of the province to their former homes.
"While humanitarian needs have declined
significantly since 2001, continued donor support to United Nations
agencies in the short and medium-term will be crucial to meet
immediate basic needs," the Secretary-General says.
Around the world, UN staffers mark 11 September
with solemn ceremonies
11 September – United Nations staff members around the world
today marked the anniversary of last year's terrorist attacks
against the United States with tributes to the memory of those
who perished.
In Kabul, UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva
told a government-sponsored ceremony that Afghanistan was one
of the countries most directly affected by the events that took
place a year ago. "May this remembrance here, and others
which are happening around the world today, be the inspiration
for the people of Afghanistan and the international community
to recommit themselves to the task, though long and difficult,
of bringing about the political and physical reconstruction of
Afghanistan and the well-being of the Afghan people," he
said.
The spokesman also read out Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's message marking the occasion, which stresses that
the memory of those who died nearly a year ago in the terrorist
attacks should serve to inspire a better, more just and more peaceful
world.
Africa's commemorations included a ceremony
in Kinshasa which was attended by the Secretary-General's Special
Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amos
Namanga Ngongi, as well as Deputy Special Representative Lena
Sundh. That memorial service at the Cathedrale du Centenaire also
drew the participation of government officials and representatives
of UN agencies and the diplomatic corps.
At a US-sponsored ceremony in Pristina, the
Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, Michael
Steiner, paid tribute to the memory of "the thousands of
women and men who were victims of hateful intolerance in New York
and Washington." He said the living must honour the dead
through action, adding that for those working in the province,
"that means redoubling our commitment to make Kosovo a place
where all its people can live in dignity and security."
And in Switzerland, Sergei Ordzhonikidze,
the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, issued his own
statement calling on all to remember and honour "the courage
and dignity of the thousands who lost their lives, the fortitude
of their bereaved families, and the bravery of the countless workers
engaged in the rescue and recovery work." Terrorism, he said,
"constitutes a serious and immediate threat to international
peace and security and everything that we as a human family believe
in, and the UN will continue to take a lead in combating it in
all its forms."
Top
of page
UN envoy witnesses key agreements between Kosovo
and Albania
10 September - The head of the United Nations Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Michael Steiner, today travelled to
the Albanian border town of Morina to launch a new reciprocal
programme on insurance.
According to an agreement signed yesterday in
Tirana, people travelling between Kosovo and Albania will no longer
need to purchase additional insurance, as policies will receive
mutual recognition in both places.
Aiming to consolidate law enforcement
efforts, Albania and Kosovo also signed yesterday a memorandum
of understanding, witnessed by Mr. Steiner, the Secretary-General’s
Special Representative for Kosovo, and the Albanian Foreign Minister,
Ilir Meta, concerning the exchange of information on organized
crime, corruption, trafficking and drugs.
UN Forum to examine civil groups' support for
societies emerging from conflict
6 September - President Vojislav Kostunica of Yugoslavia and the
deputy Foreign Minister of East Timor, José Luis Guterres,
are among the featured speakers scheduled to appear at an upcoming
United Nations conference that will explore the role of the international
community in supporting societies emerging from conflict.
Expected to join the two officials at the 55th
Annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which
gets underway on Monday, are outgoing UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Mary Robinson, and the Special Representative of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi.
The three-day event, organized by the UN Department
of Public Information (DPI), is slated to examine such topics
as the re-establishment of the rule of law and good governance
in war-torn societies, the restoration of social services, economic
recovery, psychosocial reconciliation, and the process of military
demobilization.
“Rebuilding countries emerging from conflict
is a theme about which there is a great deal to learn and many
opportunities for joint action, pooling the resources and expertise
of the United Nations, governments and NGOs,” the Secretary-General
says in a message to the Conference.
Speaking on the importance of civil groups in
post-conflict societies, Conference Chair Sherrill Kazan explains,
“NGOs are at the heart of the recovery process – they
are usually there before and stay after the international community’s
involvement in conflict areas.”
Top
of page
UN focusing on law and order, elections and returns
in Kosovo, Security Council told
5 September – The United Nations Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) is continuing its efforts to uphold the rule
of law, moving forward with preparations for the upcoming municipal
elections and working on creating conditions conducive for the
return of minority communities, a senior UN official told the
Security Council today.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations Hédi Annabi said the recent arrests of several
former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), including
the detention last month of a former high-ranking officer suspected
of illegally detaining, torturing and murdering five Kosovo Albanians
in the late 1990s, had resulted in some tension.
While the Kosovo Albanian leadership had initially
characterized the arrests as political, it now had a better understanding
that they were the result of lengthy investigations carried out
in accordance with established judicial procedures, Mr. Annabi
told the open meeting, which was chaired by the Foreign Minister
of Bulgaria, Solomon Passy, and saw the participation of nearly
20 speakers.
Meanwhile, preparations for Kosovo’s municipal
elections on 26 October were proceeding smoothly, Mr. Annabi said,
with the electoral campaign scheduled to begin on 10 September.
As of 30 August, the Election Commission had certified 500 out
of a total of 5,500 candidates, with the remaining candidates
slated for certification this week. They came from a broad range
of political entities: 21 were Kosovo Albanian, 26 Kosovo Serb,
5 Roma, Egyptian or Ashkali, 5 Bosniac/Gorani, and 1 from Kosovo’s
Turkish community.
As for the return of internally displaced persons
(IDPs), Mr. Annabi voiced concern over recent statements by Kosovo
Serbs about plans to block crossing points on the boundary if
they were not allowed to return en masse.
UNMIK’s return policy was based on
the right of individual return in an organized, sustainable way,
with careful preparation of infrastructure and inter-community
relations, he stressed, adding that several incidents in recent
months illustrated the fragility of the reconciliation and confidence-building
process. Return-related projects required further funding as well,
and the Mission had had extensive contact with the donor community
toward that end.
Top
of page
