Briefing Notes, 23 May 2002

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
Spokesperson of OSCE Alexandre Benz
Spokesperson of EU Monique De Groot

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

Let me begin by reading the statement issued by the UN Security Council last night in New York:

"Members of the Security Council discussed the situation in Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the work of the Kosovo Assembly and the upcoming session.

"Members of the Council called on Kosovo's elected leaders to work constructively, in full cooperation with UNMIK, for the full implementation of resolution 1244, and to focus the attention of the Assembly on addressing the three urgent matters for which the Assembly has responsibility, in accordance with the Constitutional Framework. Members of the Council reaffirmed the Security Council's position in its Presidential Statement of 7 March 2001 that the border between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia must be respected. Members of the Council expressed concern about reports that the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has been shot at from the territory of Kosovo.

"Members of the Council reiterated their full support for the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary General."

SRSG Michael Steiner today delivered this letter along with a statement by the EU Presidency to Assembly President Nexhat Daci. The EU statement "supports the view expressed by Mr. Steiner that any act or resolution by the Assembly on matters reserved to the SRSG are null and void….and it urges the Assembly to discharge their duties within the remit defined by the Constitutional Framework for the benefit of all the people of Kosovo."

Yesterday Mr. Steiner wrote a letter to Dr. Daci expressing the "serious concerns" raised by the UN in New York and from various capitals that the Assembly of Kosovo might adopt a resolution contrary to the provisions of the Constitutional Framework.

The letter went on to say, "I reiterate that under Article 9.1.26 a of the Constitutional Framework the Assembly cannot validly take any decision on matters outside of the areas of responsibility of the Provisional Institutions of Self -government."

"I urge you to give careful consideration to the damaging effect such an ultra vires action would have on the Assembly of Kosovo in the eyes of the international community," Mr. Steiner wrote, asking Mr. Daci to bring the letter to the attention of the Assembly before today's meeting.

In other news, yesterday 26 Kosovo Albanian detainees were released from Dubrava prison. These were among the group of 146 prisoners who were transferred from Serbian prisons to Kosovo on 26 March. That group, and the psychiatric patients who arrived a few days later, were the last known Kosovo Albanians held in Serbia since Yugoslav forces moved approximately 2,000 prisoners from Kosovo to other facilities in Serbia in June 1999.

Just after the transfer, 80 of those prisoners were released, based on a review of their case files by international judges. The judges determined that those prisoners should be released due to legally deficient convictions or because of the context in which the crimes for which they were charged were committed.

Subsequently, the case files of 26 remaining detainees transferred from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been reviewed by UNMIK under the auspices of international judges and prosecutors to determine whether their trials conformed to international human rights standards.

Following this review, release orders for the 26 detainees were authorized yesterday by the SRSG Michael Steiner and signed by Clint Williamson, Director of the Department of Justice.

Other prisoners transferred in March, whom international judges determined had committed recognised crimes and whose convictions were legally valid, are serving out their sentences in Kosovo.

Regarding Dubrava, 23 corrections officers from Germany have arrived today. They will be deployed to Dubrava prison where they will improve the efficiency and security of Kosovo's major prison.

Alexandre Benz, OSCE

PREK Registration Open for Review

The New Party of Kosovo (PREK) recently established by Dr. Bujar Bukoshi has completed its registration requirements with the OSCE Political Party Registration Office. A final decision on registration will be given following a fourteen-day period when the public can come to the Office and make comments. PPRO will take pertinent comments into consideration in making its decision of registering the party.

The OSCE Political Party Registration Office has been given the responsibility of registering political parties under the UNMIK Regulation 2002/8, which amends the regulation 2001/16 "On the registration and operation of political parties in Kosovo". Once all registration materials have been submitted - including the party's programme, statute and logo - they are made available to the public for review and comment.

According to the Regulation, "anyone who wishes to object to an application for registration of a political party on the basis of any of the provisions of the […] Regulation may submit such objections, in writing (together with any information or material substantiating the objection), to the Office within 14 days of the application".

Promoting transparency in the political party registration process is part of OSCE's ongoing commitment in supporting the development of democratic institutions in Kosovo. The Political Party Registration Office is located in the OSCE election building in Pristina. Anyone wishing to view the document can come between 10:00 - 12:00 any weekday from 24 May through 7 June.

Monique De Groot, EU

EU Presidency statement

" The Presidency of the European Union is following with concern reports on a meeting of the Kosovo Assembly with the intent to pass a resolution that would encroach upon the competencies of the Special Representative of the Secretary General. The Presidency supports the view expressed by Mr. Steiner that any act or resolution by the Assembly on matters reserved to the Special Representative are null and void. The Presidency urges the Members of the Kosovo Assembly to respect both Resolution 1244 and the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-government. The Members of the Assembly must discharge their duties within the remit defined by that Legal Framework for the benefit of all the people of Kosovo."

Unfortunately there have been cases of incorrect reporting in the media this week. I would like to say that the UNMIK EU Pillar supports and stimulates independent media and investigative journalism.

But let me please stress once more that it is also the responsibility of the media to report accurately. We are always willing and accessible to provide confirmation of facts regarding Pillar IV matters.

CFA

Prizren municipality is being certified today for collecting property tax. The Minister of Finance and the head of CFA are attending this certification ceremony. Prizren is the fourth municipality certified to collect property tax.

Macro economics Seminar

The CFA together with the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Riinvest and the Statistical Office of Kosovo will organise a seminar about the role of donor activities in Kosovo in a National Account context. The seminar will take place tomorrow from 10:00 to 11:00 in the Statistical Office of Kosovo.

SM: Regarding Monique's comment on accuracy, yesterday we wrote a letter to the newspaper "24 Hours" protesting the fabrication of a story about our press officer in Mitrovica Gyorgy Kakuk. The story was full of made up incidents involving a day in northern Mitrovica when the reporter was not even present.

We have asked KFOR to suspend the press card of one reporter who made up stories and quotes, and we will do it again if this continues. I fully understand mistakes due to translation when we have this language barrier. But too often we see things in the press that are completely made up. If you are interested in creative writing, I suggest you take up novels. If you don't have a story one day, please don't make it up.

Questions:

Q: The assembly of Kosovo seems to be very insistent on adopting a resolution for the protection of the territorial integrity of Kosovo. Do you think that Mr. Steiner will use his veto to oppose the adoption of such a resolution?

SM: I really cannot hypothesize at this point, you will know within a couple of hours what happens today.

Q: The international authorities have recently suspended their activities in the northern part of Mitrovica. Have those activities been restored yet?

SM: Well, I believe the police are back. Today I think you guys have reported that our Serbian staff, who live in the North, are coming back to work in the South. So, I think things are quite normalized again in Northern Mitrovica, but that does not mean that we are not planning further presence in the North.

Q: Will UNMIK issue a request to the Bridge Gangs to allow UNMIK and UNMIK Police to resume their activities in the North?

SM: They are not preventing our activities in the North.

Police: We have now put patrols, we have mobiles patrols and we are responding to criminal incidents with KFOR.

Q: For KFOR, we hear that the North Atlantic Council is visiting Kosovo today, can you inform us who is the meeting with and what is the background?

KFOR: Yes, the Military Committee for the North Atlantic Council, Military Committee will be visiting Kosovo today and they were in Skopje yesterday. What they are doing is a bit of fact finding and it is no more than that. They have not come with any specific message, they were in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 14 May - so, and they are just having, what we call in Britain 'a round robin', having a little round. They will meet with KFOR this morning; have had a briefing with COMKFOR - just a chat about the general security situation, reorganization, the restructuring and the proposed reorganization and restructuring. I believe they will be in MMB Centre this afternoon.

Q: Will there be any media opportunity at MNB Centre today?

KFOR: There are no specific plans for media opportunity because it is a private visit by the NATO Military Committee.

Q: Is there more information about the prisoners who escaped from Dubrava?

Police: There is no additional information about the prisoners. We circulated their descriptions; we circulated their photographs throughout all of Kosovo. We have also circulated their description and photographs to neighbouring police agencies but there has been no sighting of them today.

Q: It seems that the Security Council is really adamant on respecting the border agreement, thus giving away a part of the territory of Kosovo to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Do you think that the insignia, that is the map of Kosovo on the soldiers of KPS and KPC members will also change?

SM: Well, what is the amount that was included, 400 hectares?- From what I have seen on the map, you would have to make a very fine cut of the insignia. I think the shape of Kosovo looks the basically the same but let us compare the maps and see if it looks any different. On the map, it is a little sliver but I don't know how that reduces down to the insignia that people have on their arms.

Q: Susan, you said that 26 Serb prisoners were released ….

SM: No, not Serb prisoners, Albanian prisoners! Wasn't that clear? 26 Kosovo Albanian prisoners were released yesterday. These were among the group of, I think, 146, who were the final prisoners held in Serbia and in March we brought them here. On that day or the next day in March, 80 were released. We told you then that there was another group that we were waiting for more information on their files; we were studying their files. Now the Department of Justice deduced that 26 more should be released and that is what happened yesterday, but they were Albanians no Serbs. There is a press release available on the number of released and remaining prisoners.