|
UNMIK-KFOR-UNMIK Police-UNHCR Press Briefing, 16 July 2001 UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel Susan Manuel Property Sales The Interim Administrative Council will tomorrow receive a draft regulation on interethnic policy sales. This is not, as has been reported, a ban on sales of Serb property. The regulation proposes to set up a mechanism with which the Municipal Administrator can review proposed sales in certain mixed neighborhoods where the minority population has been leaving in great numbers-due to what we believe is strategic buying of minority properties by organized groups with the aim of ethnic cleansing. The draft regulation would call on the municipal administrator to review the terms and backgrounds to proposed sales in these few, key, ethnically mixed neighborhoods. These would be neighborhoods where the SRSG ahs determined the minority population has been vulnerable or subject to forced or strategic buying patterns. When the Municipal Administrator is satisfied the proposed sales are bona fide and the seller is offering his property of his own free will, he will approve the sale. This is only a draft, which the IAC will discuss next week. Again it is not a ban on any property sales, but a review process designed to protect the minority communities. The IAC will also get a briefing on the work of the Housing and Property Directorate. Missing Serb Meeting The acting SRSG Tom Koenigs will meet at noon today with a delegation of the families of missing Serbs . The family organization has been conducting protests for several days in Gracanica. Serb Convoy Regarding the Serb aid convoy, KFOR may have more on that, but basically we are glad that the convoy situation was resolved so that the humanitarian aide could be delivered by KFOR while any potential security incident was avoided. In terms of UNMIK we were not officially notified about the convoy's arrival until 12 July, which was too short in terms of the 96 hours required notification for high-level visits to Kosovo. The security simply could not be arranged in time, therefore acting SRSG Tom Koenigs instructed ComKFor and UNMIK police to prevent the convoy's travel throughout Kosovo as planned. A compromise solution was apparently reached on the 13 of July for a smaller convoy to come on Sunday: however, the convoy organizers chose to go ahead and attempt entrance on Saturday morning with the full entourage. We are grateful to all involved that the aid was delivered without incident. We do not oppose such visits but we have a clear policy on notification in order to make the needed security arrangements. Racial Discrimination Regarding articles in the press on the charges by two UNMIK staff members of racial discrimination at UNMIK, the SRSG ordered the establishment of a review panel 10 days ago. This panel has been investigating the allegations raised by the two UNMIK staff members, and will present its findings to the SRSG by 25 July.. The Secretary General's spokesman Fred Eckhard has said that the two staff should have waited for the outcome of the investigation before making their charges public. However the allegations are being taken seriously and the panel has been conducting extensive interviews into the case. Serb Registration The IOM and the Serb Commissariat of Internally Displaced Persons have signed an MOU on setting up registration of Kosovo Serbs for the upcoming elections. Details should be forthcoming in a press release from OSCE this afternoon. Axel Jandesek Serbian Convoy It has been a busy weekend for some of us in KFOR these days. Despite the celebrations of the French National Day, we have been tasked to manage a large Serbian convoy. The convoy, consisting of ten busses with more than 300 people and five trucks of humanitarian aid supplies, arrived yesterday morning at Gate 1. The convoy was planned to proceed to several Serb enclaves in Kosovo. Due to a security assessment, KFOR stopped the convoy at Leshak/Lesak, in order to prevent any unforeseen incidents. Since humanitarian aid is welcome at any time, KFOR's intent was to deliver these goods as soon as possible to the desired destinations. Because of some protests amongst the population against the convoy, KFOR decided to transfer all supplies onto KFOR lorries and allow a small group of Serb representatives to monitor delivery. Five small convoys them took the aid supplies top enclaves in Babimoc/Babin, Grace/Grace, Obiliq/Obilic, Prelluzhe/Priluzje, Gobulja and Plemetin/Plementina and Caravadice/Crkvena Vodica. The first cargos arrived at the desired destinations by Saturday 2215. The operation was successfully completed by Sunday at 1415. Border Patrol KFOR Multinational Brigade South border patrols have been successful in preventing illegal border crossings at the southern border of FYROM. Over the weekend a total of 20 persons have been interfered by KFOR patrols. On Saturday morning, a group of 14 individuals were stopped after having illegally crossed the border from the FYROM to Kosovo. Turkish KFOR patrols arrested three individuals 2 kilometres south of Vranishte/Vraniste. the company came along with 21 horses and mules. They were handed over to KFOR military police. Another group of four individuals was arrested Saturday evening on a track to Restelice/Restelica, 1.5 kilometers inside Kosovo. The people , aged between 20 and 25 years old, crossed illegally from the FYROM, but were stopped by Austrian KFOR border patrols. The last illegal border crossing from FYROM to Kosovo has been detected yesterday evening. Two persons crossed the border at Kobilica area. Finally I will have to announce two media events. Multinational Brigade East invites the media to attend a ceremony commemorating the donation of a ladder/fire truck to the Ferizaj/Urosevac community today at 1600. Brig. General William David will ceremoniously turn over the keys to a new ladder/fire truck, costing approximately 170,000 DM to the Vice President of the Municipal Assembly Mr. Faik Grainca. The ceremony will take place in Ferizaj city center. The second event to announce is the upcoming visit of NATO military Committee on the 20th of July. Members of the media are cordially invited to attend a press conference at Film City on Friday, July 20 at 1415. The chairman of the Military Committee Admiral Guido Venturoni and COMKFOR will give a briefing. Spokesman Derek Chappell Respect for the KPS On the 5th of April a young KPS officer just finishing his evening shift in Gjakova region stopped a car that he had seen committing a traffic violation. The immediate reaction of the driver was to shout obscenities and abuse at the KPS and to threaten to kill him. The driver then left his car and violently attacked the officer. The male Albanian was subdued and arrested. The KPS officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries to his arm and leg. Sadly, this is becoming a very familiar story. Threats and assaults against Kosovo police officers as they perform their daily duties are becoming depressingly normal. In the past two weeks we have documented 16 cases of death threats and physical attacks against KPS officers. Last night again, two officers were attacked as they questioned two suspects near Decani. Many of these incidents arise from very simple vehicle stops for minor traffic offences. Some arise from criminal suspects seeking out KPS officers off duty and threatening them for arrests they made on duty. In the past we have pointed out that there is a willingness in Kosovo to use extreme violence to settle minor disputes. I have called it casual violence. It seems that there is now a casual willingness to use violence against those people who have courageously decided to serve and protect their fellow citizens as Kosovo police officers. We will not tolerate the development of a culture of casual disrespect. The male in the Gjakova case was arrested and taken to courts where he received a 30 day sentence in Dubrova prison. From 17 cases of assault/threats against KPS officers, we have arrested 17 K-Albanian males, against whom we will seek the strongest penalties. We are giving Kosovo a democratic and professional police service. Many of these KPS officers are young, idealistic, full of pride and hope for the future, but Kosovo will, ultimately, get the police it deserves. These officers' attitudes and daily performance will be shaped by the respect they get from the public. Violence and disrespect will only discourage and harden them. The KPS is a cornerstone for the future of Kosovo. A public refusal to accept legitimate, fair and equitable law enforcement will be seen as evidence of social immaturity and could effect further political evolution. Weapons Seizure UNMIK Police continue to intercept military weapons and ammunition. On the 14th July, near the village of Ribnik, in Gnjilane region, police seized a large amount of military equipment that was located in a cache in a field. Items seized include: 1 large box of 120mm mortars Those items are believed to have been recently stored at the location for onward shipment into FYROM. They have been handed to KFOR for disposal. Overview Looking back on the last week, no murder case was recorded. The number of 8 recorded attempted murders is exactly the same like the week before. The number of kidnappings increased from 1 to 5 cases. The number of arsons has dropped from 8 to 4 cases this week. Across Kosovo, 138 persons were arrested, the majority being in
Prizren, Pec and Gnjilane. 16 persons were arrested for outstanding
major crimes like murder, kidnapping and rape. Astrid van Genderen Stort' Refugee Update Over the weekend UNHCR Kosovo reported a large flow of new arrivals into Kosovo. Since Friday 13 July close to 1,000 new arrivals were reported by UNHCR's field teams. The majority of the new arrivals were from Skopje and left for precautionary reasons and in anticipation of the outcome of the official negotiations. There were also people from the villages of Jazince and Sforce who reported an increased build up of Macedonian military and army in their region. At the same time however a limited number of people continued to return to FYROM, in particular to the Skopje area. UNHCR continues to address the problems that have been encountered by those wishing to return without proper documentation. Even though UNHCR field teams over the past days reported a relaxation of the return policy at the Blace border and several families without valid passports were allowed to cross, there were at the same time still people rejected at the border. The issues continues to be addressed at higher levels as the policy at the border continues to be inconsistent. FYROM UNHCR's Special Envoy Eric Morris visited Skopje on Friday and had meetings with the US Special Envoy Mr. James Pardew and the Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General Mr. Pieter Feith. During these meetings the urgent need for humanitarian access to the affected villages was discussed as well as assistance for the displaced communities of all ethnic background. Earlier that week Mr. Morris met with the EU Representative Mr. Francis Leotard. In all meeting the Special Envoy stressed also the need to reduce the fear and mistrust between the population by working with both communities and mixed villages. While the situation in FYROM was not a case of ethnic cleansing, if there were to be a growing separation of populations, the consequences would be the same, he said. On Thursday afternoon Mr. Morris. visited the mixed village of Hasan Beg/Sinkilovic and met with Albanian representatives. In addition he also visited a collection center in Draga Stojanova where he met with ethnic Slav displaced persons, mainly from Aracinovo village. The Special Envoy will visit Aracinovo today for the second time, Lipkovo tomorrow as well as collective centers for the displaced Macedonian Slavs. Last Tuesday the Special Envoy visited the village of Aracinovo. This was the first time that UNHCR had been granted access by the Macedonian authorities since the conflict spread to the village near Skopje. The village appeared to be deserted and the Special Envoy noted a high level of destruction of homes. Mr. Morris met with both Albanian and Macedonian elderly villagers, who claimed that only elderly people who had no place to go stayed in the village. They said there were about 10 families or 60 people remaining in Aracinovo out of an estimated 7,000-10,000 population. Questions: Q: Susan, I guess Mr. Djindjic has informed you about his visit. He has
specifically asked Mr. Haekkerup to help to arrange meetings with Mr.
Thaci and Mr. Ceku. Have you heard anything about it? Haekkerup to set it up. So Mr. Haekkerup did contact both those gentlemen and they told him they would be perfectly willing to meet with Prime Minister Djindjic but not in Kosovo, in a more neutral location. I believe they said they wanted to broaden the agenda beyond the missing people. Since then we haven't heard back from Mr. Djindjic's office. We all read the press reports this weekend. We are asking our office in Belgrade to clarify and discuss with Djindjic's office what his next proposal is. Q: Have you (Derek) heard of any reports that the US government might
cut the funds for Kosovo Police School in Vushtrri? Q: Are you aware of any talks between the Albanian leaders and Zoran
Djindjic before Mr. Haekkerup was contacted by Mr. Djindjic? Q: I want to ask about the property law. You said that…..I mean that
you want to stop kind of ethnic cleansing. What do you base your statement
on? Is there ethnic cleansing going on in Kosovo? Q: Yesterday a KPC commander in brigade 324 was arrested. His name is
Rushdi Saramati. There were no details on why he was arrested and the
reason. Q: EU countries are looking at the circumstances of the black list of
President Bush and they are also planning to put some new names on the
list to stop these people from entering EU countries for some of the
people here from Kosovo. Can you give us the names and why? Q: To UNHCR. What is the number of the displaced Macedonian Slavs in
Macedonia? Q: On Saramati case. You are saying there is substantial information
that he poses a threat to Kosovo. This sounds somehow like the American
list. He poses a threat to Kosovo or he is involved in Macedonia. What
kind of information we are talking about? Is he considered to be a
murdered or something like that or is he considered to be raiding the
rebels in Macedonia? Q: Can we get some more names from your list? I assume there are
others on it. Q: Yes. Q: You have arrested Mr. Saramati twice. This is not the first
time. He was kept in prison for more than thirty days. Q: Do you call KFOR an organized organization when you don't even
have any information about the arrest? Q: Does Mr. Saramati know why he was arrested? Q: Can we know why he was arrested? Q: Who will be in charge? Civilian courts or military
courts? Q: So, Axel, you do not know the reasons? Is it because you do not know
or because you are not giving them to journalists? Q: Why? Why are there things that we no longer see information on the
press releases from KFOR? Do you guys have a policy now of not
telling certain things to the media? Q: You said that General Skiaker has the right to take a decision on
the Saramati case. Can you read for us the decision of the
General?
|