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UNMIK/PR/590 SRSG to Sign Terrorism Regulation Following an extraordinary session of the Interim Administrative Council, SRSG Hans Haekkerup said he will promulgate a regulation on the Prohibition of Terrorism and Related Offences. The new regulation will be the third part of a package designed to combat terrorism and armed violence in Kosovo and to prevent its export outside the territory. According to the regulation, any person who commits an act of terrorism could face a prison sentence of between 10 and 40 years. Someone who prepares to commit an act of terrorism, or who attempts, incites or aids another to commit a terrorist act, shall also be punished. Conspiring to or being complicit in a terrorist act are also criminal offenses under the regulation. Anyone who dispatches or transfers armed groups, equipment, explosives, arms, ammunition or other material for purposes of terrorism into or outside the territory of Kosovo commits a criminal act and could face a 10 to 15 year prison sentence. A person who has credible information about plans for a terrorist without reporting the information to law enforcement authorities can receive a prison sentence, as well as anyone other than close family members who assists a person after committing a terrorist act. Collecting funds or recruiting people for purposes of terrorism; providing or receiving training in making materials for carrying out terrorist acts are punishable by prison terms of up to 15 years. Organizing, directing, providing support and/or participating in a terrorist organization is also a punishable crime. Terrorism is defined, according to applicable law, as the commission of one or more of the following offences with an intent to create a serious threat to public order, to coerce a government or international organization, or to intimidate or endanger a civilian population: "Murder, grave bodily injury, hostage-taking, kidnapping, unlawful detention, poisoning of food or water, causing general danger, destroying or damaging public utilities, making or procuring weapons or instruments; unlawful possession of weapons or exploding substances; endangering internationally-protected persons; hijacking of aircraft; jeopardizing the safety of an aircraft's flight; unauthorized acquisition or use of nuclear materials; or jeopardizing safety by nuclear materials." The draft regulation had been discussed previously in the IAC where some technical disagreements remained. However, the SRSG said he would sign it, pending final approval by the United Nations legal office in New York. The IAC also discussed the Principles on Return of people displaced from and inside Kosovo. All IAC members were in basic agreement with the 12 principles. However the LDK representative asked to wait for the return of party chairman Ibrahim Rugova on Monday before expressing formal endorsement. The Principles affirm the right to return as a fundamental human right which must be respected. Return must be voluntary and conducted in safety and dignity to the displaced person's place of origin. Returns should also be sustainable in terms of accommodation, access to public services and social and economic opportunities. Returnees should also be able to enjoy freedom of movement. Joint planning for returns will go on in multiple geographic areas, according to the principles. UNHCR representatives told the IAC that some 10 locations are being examined as possible sites for the first phase of returns of Kosovo Serbs. These will be conducted in a low-profile, incremental and orderly fashion, and after consultation with representatives of all communities concerned. SRSG Hans Haekkerup told media after the meeting that the Principles of Return applied to all communities whose members may have been displaced. He said he will discuss returns as well as the issue of missing persons and detainees when he goes to Belgrade on Tuesday to meet FRY President Kostunica and Foreign Minister Svilanovic. To a journalist's question, he confirmed that he would propose that Kosovo Albanian experts attend exhumation work on corpses and mass graves in the process of being revealed in Serbia, but he added that Serb experts would be invited to participate in work done on mass grave sites still to be worked on in Kosovo.
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