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UNMIK-KFOR-UNMIK Police-UNHCR Press Briefing, 09 July 2001 UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel Susan Manuel Acting Chief of Mission SRSG Hans Haekkerup is on leave until 22 July. PDSRSG Gary Matthews has been called home on a family emergency and will also be away for several days. Tom Koenigs is the acting chief of mission. IAC The IAC tomorrow will discuss the transition in the municipalities and will get an update on operations and financing of the PTK. They will also be briefed on plans for a pensions strategy. Pristina Hospital Administrator The Department of Heath and Social Services has appointed co-head Pleurat Sedjiu as Interim Administrator of Pristina Hospital after the resignation of Dr. Veton Hoxha on Friday. Dr. Sedjiu will hold this post until a new Board of Directors is established. Dr. Hoxha said he was resigning due to allegations brought against him in the press. The Department of Health and Social Welfare will commission an independent audit to be carried out to examine these allegations. Water Shortage While there has been a lot of rain recently, and the reservoir is fairly full, we still have a precarious situation with water. Foreigners have been struck by a particular phenomenon here, which is road and sidewalk watering. While it is one thing to clean the ground in front of a shop, the watering of a road or sidewalk will not produce anything no matter how long you water it. Roads don't grow by watering them. Sidewalks don't grow. Only natural things grow with the help of water. Secondly, watering roads and sidewalks is currently punishable by a 100 DM fine. We once again appeal to people to conserve water. Water cuts in Pristina are still taking place, due to an inadequate capacity to treat water. Cuts go on around Pristina from 1 p.m. onwards daily. A Municipal Executive Order is also in place which bans using hoses for watering: The order, effective from 15 May to 31 August, seeks to conserve drinking water and bans its use for washing cars, sidewalks, pavements, streets or even plants using hose pipes. Any violation of the executive order can result in a fine of 100 DM. The municipality can also take other measures as are necessary and reasonable to prevent the waste of drinking water. The good news is that Germija swimming pool will open within a week. Small Arms Destruction Finally to note that today is International Small Arms Destruction Day, UNDP will hold an event to destroy some 500 small arms, at 2 p.m. at the KFOR Obilic Destruction Facility. The Kosovo members of the IAC are expected to participate along with UNMIK officials. The media is of course invited. Sqdrn. Ldr. Roy Brown Update A generally quiet weekend in Kosovo, although KFOR's operations against weapons smuggling have continued: Two lorries stopped in the village of Sisman, west of Dakovica were found to be carrying suspected contraband cigarettes, flour and a large quantity of cash - some DM16 500. In the Multinational Brigade East area, on Friday, soldiers from the 2-502nd Infantry Battalion intercepted a supply train of five horses south of Sasare. A significant number of weapons were seized and one man detained. Weapons Seizures Last week I gave you some figures on the numbers of individuals detained as a result of our operations on the Kosovo / FYROM border. This week, let me give you some numbers for the weapons seizures resulting from the same operation. Since 4 June this year we have confiscated: Over 500 rifles An unrelated weapons find was made east of Rabovce, in the Multinational Brigade Centre area of responsibility, yesterday. A local notified one of our explosives ordnance disposal teams about the location of a possible mine. On investigation this turned out to be a weapons cache, containing; three AK-47s, one SKS rifle, two rifle grenade launchers, 15 full ammunition magazines and over 100 loose rounds of ammunition. Such assistance from the general public is extremely valuable and we are encouraged by the increasing number of occasions that help of this kind is offered. With the cease fire holding in the FYROM, a number of individuals are returning to their homes and villages. We understand their desire to return and encourage it. We also understand their use of traditional paths and routes across the border. But with our anti smuggling operations and border patrols still in place, and the dangers from minefields that are still in the border region this is not good practise. We would ask through the press that these individuals are advised to return via the recognised border crossing points. UNHCR are working with the FYROM authorities to ensure that these official routes are available to all. This coming week sees the start of Exercise Rapid Guardian, with a para- drop tomorrow - which will now take place at 1600, a change from that previously advertised. A mobile press facility will be established at the Drop Zone. Transport will leave here at 1415. Journalists that wish to attend this event, please sign up on the list that is available in the foyer downstairs. Neeraj Kunar Singh Anti-Prostitution Drive Continues During the last month we have seen several major operations by UNMIK Police in virtually all parts of Kosovo to apprehend operatives involved in the flesh trade. If it was Prizren in the 2nd week of June and Gnjilane in the 3rd week, last week it was Pristina's turn for a large scale anti-prostitution drive. On Wednesday, July 4th, investigators of the UNMIK Police Trafficking and Prostitution Unit (TPIU) interviewed 15 foreign female "dancers" working at the 'Masazh Bar' on Sunny Hills. Eight of those females stated that they had been instructed by the owner and manager of the Bar to work as striptease dancers and have sex with the customers. They further revealed that they had been sold several times in the course of their trafficking into Kosovo before finally landing up in Pristina. On the basis of the statements of the women, UNMIK Police arrested two K-Albanian male suspects who have been detained for further investigations. 11 female victims are presently undergoing counseling in the IOM prior to their repatriation to their respective countries. During another operation on the night of 6th July, 11 females from Romania, Moldova and Ukraine were found to be working as dancers at the Miami Beach Nightclub in Pristina. These women were interviewed by TPIU investigators and have been advised to register with the TPIU. No arrest or seizure was made in this case. Such operations will continue in future to keep tabs on the women perceived to be at a high risk for subjection to prostitution. The registration of such target groups with the TPIU would help monitor their movements and activities better and serve as an insurance against their possible exploitation. Landmine Blows up Tractor in Mitrovica On the 6th of July, the small Serb village of Priluzje in Vucitrn woke up to a loud explosion and flying debris. At about 0800 hrs, as a young K-Serbian man of 30 years left for the day's work, his tractor was blown up by a land mine just outside the village. The explosion blew a crater one-and-a-half meter in diameter and the parts of the tractor were scattered over a distance of up to 50 to 100 meters. Preliminary reports indicate that seven kilograms of explosive was used. Miraculously, the victim survived the explosion and was admitted to the North Mitrovica Hospital with severe physical injuries. UNMIK Police is investigating the circumstances of the explosion and how the mine came to be in such close proximity of the village. Wanton Shooting over Petty Dispute Late in the evening on 7th July in Pec Town, two neighbours, both K-Albanian males, had an argument over a property dispute. Suddenly, one of them went to his house, took out a pistol, returned and shot the other in the stomach. That the offender had not premeditated such an act was obvious from the fact that he was so shocked and overcome by the gravity of his crime that he then tried to take his own life by shooting himself in the neck. The bullet grazed the rear of his head but did not kill him. Now the victim is fighting for his life in Pristina hospital while the perpetrator of the offence is himself admitted in the local hospital with less serious injuries. He now faces serious criminal charges on his discharge from the hospital. In a sudden rush of blood, a not so uncommon civil suit had become a
major criminal offence that had endangered two lives. The reason? Ready
availability of an illegally held weapon that promised its possessor an
easy solution that never was. If firearms are used to settle petty neighbourhood squabbles, we still remain far from achieving a civil society in Kosovo. The only way to prevent such occurrences, is for the people to voluntarily give up their illegally held weapons and put their trust in the law enforcing agencies. "Happy Fire" has Not-so-happy Consequences Sunday, the 8th of July, was celebration day in Srbica (South Mitrovica) where hundreds of people participated in a wedding ceremony before moving on to Prekaze village for the remaining part of the ceremony. But it ended in a rather unpleasant manner for a local 12-year-old boy. In what is termed as "happy fire" resorted to during such ceremonies, several thousand rounds of automatic weapon fire were heard during the celebrations at Srbica and Prekaze through the night of 7th/8th July. The people doing the firing concealed themselves in a wooded area away from the view of police and KFOR. At 0100 hrs, a 12-year-old K-Albanian boy was walking on the streets of Prekaze village when he was struck on the right leg by a stray bullet that fell from the sky. The severity of his injury required the victim to be moved to Pristina hospital for further treatment. It could well have ended in his funeral had the bullet landed on his head or other vital part of the body. UNMIK Police is investigating the circumstances under which the boy sustained the gunshot wound and the possibility of this being an unfortunate result of what is called "happy fire" cannot be ruled out. Branding Cattle for Security Cattle theft has been a common problem in most parts of Kosovo. Investigation into such cases has been largely constrained by the difficulty of identifying the cattle and hence of proving their ownership. To overcome this problem, the UNMIK Police in Mitrovica have devised a scheme for branding the cattle, a hitherto unheard of practice in this part of the world. The idea was mooted by the South Mitrovica Police Station Commander,
Ken Davis, who has previous experience of branding cattle in the ranches
of Western United States from where he hails. As a pilot project, last
summer 41 cows were branded in the village of Svinjare with the help of a
local veterinarian. Records of the brands were kept at the police station
and with the veterinarian. Encouraged by the success of the operation, the Mitrovica Police is now in the process of expanding the cattle branding operation to cover larger groups this year. Overview Looking back on the last week, one murder case was recorded which is the same as in the week before. Four aggravated assaults were reported as compared to ten in the previous week. The number of kidnappings dropped from three to one while the number of arsons increased from two to eight cases this week. Across Kosovo, 151 persons were arrested, the majority being in Prizren, Mitrovica and Pec. Overall crime rate has increased marginally from 468 cases the week before to 513 cases this week, whereas intimidation and assault cases still form the majority of the reported incidents. Astrid van Genderen Stort Figures Total Number of Arrivals Since the Beginning of the
Conflict: 73,085 Overall Situation As a result of the rather shaky ceasefire, people continued returning to fYROM. As of Monday 9 July a total of 8,873 people have been reported returning to fYROM, leaving a total of 64,212 people inside Kosovo as refugees. In the region there are still over 100,000 people displaced. The main border crossing used for return was Blace. The only people allowed to return by the Macedonian authorities were those with valid passports. The only destination of return was Skopje and its suburbs. Very few people were reported arriving or returning across Jazine/Globocica border crossing. Fighting continued around Tetovo and Radusa throughout Friday. The road from Tetovo to Jazince/Globocica border crossing was blocked on Friday with several roadblocks occupied by respectively the Macedonian army, the NLA and Macedonian civilians carrying kalashnikovs. On Saturday 7 July the road to Tetovo was reportedly accessible again but hardly any movement was reported over the weekend. UNHCR is closely monitoring the return movement and has been discussing the issue of return of those without valid passports with the fYROM officials. Regardless of the rate of return UNHCR has still had several requests for housing and assiststance at the Kacanik transit centre. Most of these people had just been rejected at Blace border and had nowhere to return to (or felt uncomfortable returning to their host families) Questions: Q: Can you provide any information on the UNMIK Police officers who
were alleged to be involved in prostitution? Q: Does KFOR have any details of the visit of Pardew and Leotard to
Kosovo? Q: Is the UN aware that Macedonian peace talks are taking place in its
territory? Q: How do you feel about the fact that they are meeting in your
territory? Q: The leaders of the NLA are in Kosovo participating in the peace
talks. Will the UN or KFOR arrest them? Not just foot
soldiers, but leaders. Q: I understand that the top leaders are here and they even met with
some NATO leaders…. Q: It looks like the UN has a laisse faire policy toward the NLA in
Kosovo. Is that official? Q: The UN has taken action against the 5 KPC member on the US
blacklist. Will there be |