UNMIK-UNMIK Police-KFOR- Press Briefing, 18 March 2002

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell
KFOR Spokesman Drew Andersen

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

First I am very happy to welcome and introduce Police Commissioner Stefan Feller, whom many of you may remember when he served here earlier....Commissioner Feller would like to say a few words as he starts his new mission...

Police Commissioner Stefan Feller

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, to all of you and to all of these microphones here. I will have to get familiar with this again because I would like to introduce myself with the words it is good and I feel comfortable to be back. Maybe some of you might recall my face.

I would like to take this opportunity to make first public statement about my return to UNMIK, because as you may know I have served in Kosovo previously between May 2000 and May 2001 and I served in the function of the Deputy Police Commissioner – Operations, and in the absence of the Commissioner I also made the experience how to do things out of perspective of an UNMIK Police Commissioner. I am right now honored and proud to be back having been appointed by the United Nations as the next Police Commissioner for United Nations here in Kosovo.

It has been an outstanding opportunity, I would like to mention, having served under two previous Police Commissioners, this is to mention Mr. Sven Frederiksen from the Danish Police Forces who served here between 1999 and of 2000 and then under command of Mr. Christopher Albiston who served here since then until the end of his tour of duty few weeks ago, and so it is now up to me to participate here again and to continue to commit myself to the work those two have already begun.

I would like to mention that it is an honor to commit myself within the UN to serve the Kosovarian populace and to support their elected leaders and to build up an administration of its own within the regulations of UNSCR 1244 and as the outgoing Commissioner I monitored it because all of these Press conferences are published in the internet and it is was quite useful for me, and I could prepare myself a little bit better then, so I read what Mr. Albiston told you in his final statement; and I would like to emphasize that I will continue with that what he already did and what Mr. Frederiksen started before; to carry on and to emphasize the increasing role of the KPS is one of my major objectives and to combat organized crime and other severe cases of crime within Kosovo and to increase our abilities to do this will also be my top priority in my commitment to this place here.

As I have been out of Kosovo for ten months I am in the lucky position to compare what I left with what I am right now discovering here; and I can just bring in to two bullet points; many things have already increased here, changed here, I can see it even after being here in Kosovo for a few days but there is a lot of things to be done still to increase the role of the police in the role of the law right now here in Kosovo.

I would like to conclude my brief remarks by saying that police officers are not satisfied with any security situation unless every case is solved and surely no society exists without some degree of criminality and accidents, but we need now to take a deep breath and then continue our work to reach a state that is comparable to the levels of the security throughout Europe.

I would like to end because I am really sorry that I have a meeting immediately after this meeting because everyone I taking my time right now but you will get a brief CV of myself within the next days from of the Press and Media Office of the UNMIK Police Commissioner.

Thank you very much for your attendance and again I am glad to be here.

SM: Thanks Stefan, shall we spare you from questions this time?

SF: I would be very glad because right now I am not in the position to answer them, not only due to time constraint but also because I have to get familiar with the details.

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

SRSG Michael Steiner travels today to Skopje to meet with FYROM President Boris Trajkovski, following the president' s invitation. They will discuss regional issues and methods of cooperation.

SRSG Steiner last week completed his initial tour of world capitals. He found the leaders with whom he spoke supportive of developments in Kosovo and of the UNMIK mission.

His last visit was with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov in Moscow on Friday. There, the SRSG received strong support for UNMIK and a pledge by Russia for a continued contribution. FM Ivanov said he intended to continue all possible cooperation in achieving the mission's objectives under 1244.

SRSG Steiner received specific and strong support in all capitals for UNMIK’s fight against organized crime, as this was seen as a top priority for the international community.

In that regard, he will sign today or tomorrow a regulation authorizing UNMIK Police to undertake certain covert measures in investigating crime which were previously unavailable under applicable law.

The Regulation on Covert and Technical Measures of Surveillance and Investigations will enable UNMIK to use technical measures such as interception of telecommunications, search of postal items, covert photography or video surveillance in private places, use of tracking or positioning devices orinterception of communications through computer networks, when an investigative judge issues an order for each of these measures.

This evidence can be used in courts and can be the basis of a judicial decision.
This regulation will enhance UNMIK's capability to fight organised crime.

We will have a press release on the regulation later today.

We also have a press release outside on the Registration and reregistration of persons from FYROM with temporary protection in Kosovo.

UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell

New Police Commissioner Arrives

UNMIK Police are pleased to welcome Stefan FELLER (Germany) as Police Commissioner, replacing Christopher ALBISTON (UK). Commissioner Feller is a familiar face, having previously served as the Deputy Commissioner for Operations until May of 2001.

We are particularly fortunate that his previous experience in Kosovo has given him an immediate insight into the policing needs here and the workings of the UNMIK Police & KPS. Having served under both previous Commissioners, Mr. Feller is a link from the past to the future and is the right man to provide continuity & leadership.

Death Of A United Nations Police Officer

UNMIK Police are deeply saddened to report the death of one of our officers.
The body of a 36 year-old male officer was found in his residence on Sunday morning, March 17th. He had served in the Kosovo Mission for approximately 18 months.
The initial investigation has discovered no signs of foul play.

We extend our condolences to his family, friends, and contingent.

His personal details, such as name and nationality, cannot yet be disclosed because the family has not been notified.

Arrests For Illegal Demonstration

There has been an ongoing dispute over ownership of a rock quarry in Pristina Region.
On March 8th, UNMIK Police and KFOR went to the quarry to assist with the execution of a court order to restore possession of the facility to the original owners. Approximately 38 illegal workers were peacefully escorted off the property.

On March 12th, a demonstration by the illegal workers blocked the road in an attempt to prevent the new employees from going to work. UNMIK Police responded and met with the parties involved. The dispute was ended by negotiations. The demonstration ended peacefully.

Last week, on March 14th, about 50 of the illegal workers again blocked the road. UNMIK Police responded but negotiations to end the demonstration failed. All of the demonstrators were taken into custody and transported to the police station. Their statements were recorded and they were released pending court appearance.

Questions:

Q: If NATO is considering possible troop reductions, can I ask the number of what do you believe to be the security of minorities in Kosovo and in relation to that question for UNHCR perhaps, how many Serbs returned to Kosovo since June 1999?

KFOR: Perhaps I can only reiterate the point I made earlier on there. Part of the review that is ongoing will take into consideration a number of issues and as I’ve already said troops are part of that review. However, I will use the statement used by Lord Robertson on Monday last week where he said that if troop reductions and only if troop reductions duty …. than as I have already reiterate it would be considered…. in length the security situation and as already suggested a robust military force would remain in Kosovo.

UNHCR: Since June 1999 we’ve had approximately 1500 Serbs returning, mainly spontaneously. For example, last year we had just under 700 coming back home, also most of them came back spontaneously.

Q: How do you see the security situation for the Serbs since the last six months – bad, very bad, good, very good?

SM: It is hard to quantify but I believe the rate of violent crime has reduced.

DC: I would say that the security situation has improved although it is hard to quantify that because two communities do reside in their own solitude. A review of last week’s criminal activities shows that I believe only one, possibly two ethnically motivated crimes. A waste majority of crimes with which we deal are within the same ethnic community – burglaries, car thefts, robberies. Albanian on Albanian, Serb on Serb. The number of actual crimes motivated by ethnic hatred is actually very low now.

SM: On the other hand there is very little freedom of movement so; you can say that the minorities are not really exposed to the majority population, as Derek has said.

Q: What information can Mr. Steiner provide about possible involvement in criminal activities of the members of the parliament and what would be his reply on the demand of the Serb coalition Povratak to get another ministry in the Kosovo government?

SM: He has already said there won’t be any other ministries. There may be other posts discussed but not a full ministry post. Regarding the charges of criminality, this seems to be an inside Povratak fight going on. Basically, all Assembly members were vetted to a certain degree by Police and KFOR. We did not do a full investigation on them all, but they were basically vetted. If there is specific evidence of crime then that evidence has to be submitted to UNMIK Police and we will do a full investigation, but we have received no specific evidence or charges against the Assembly members Povratak.

Q: How are your going to prevent Mr. Covic from blackmailing Serb deputies. He has been giving a hard time to Rada Trajkovic, I think, in recent statements.

SM: Well, I’ve lived in the Balkans about six years. There is no way of controlling people’s very creative use of language, particularly politicians’… Regarding Mr. Covic, We could ask that he play a more positive role perhaps: we have seen some strange political discourse, particularly in the past few weeks. But we have free speech here.

Q: Does the recent meeting Mr. Covic had in Zvecan mean he is interfering in Kosovo?

SM: No, he comes and meets with members of Povratak, or they go to Belgrade. We can’t find a problem with that.