United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Press Briefing Notes, 3 June 2003

UNMIK Spokesperson Sunil Narula
KFOR Spokesperson Gary Bannister-Green
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell
OSCE Spokesperson Sven Lindholm
EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot

UNMIK Spokesperson Sunil Narula

SRSG in Tirana

SRSG Michael Steiner is in Tirana today. He will meet President Moisiu, Prime Minister Nano and Foreign Minister Meta. He and the Foreign Minister will hold a joint press conference at noon.

Press conference to launch RRRF

The Office of Returns and Communities is organizing a press conference this afternoon at 1530 hrs in our first floor conference room to launch the Rapid Response Returns Facility (RRRF). This facility has been established by ORC and UNDP, in cooperation with UNHCR, order to provide a rapid, flexible and coordinated response to small scale individual (or "spontaneous" returns). It will be managed by UNDP and have the ability to provide housing assistance and socio-economic support such as materials for small-scale agricultural projects or livestock. It is being initially funded by Norway and the US. The head of ORC Peggy Hicks, head of the US office Reno Harnish, a representative from the Norwegian embassy in Belgrade and the head of UNDP Robert Piper will be at the press conference.

Task Force on Returns

The Task Force on Returns is meeting tomorrow at 1500 hrs. As you know it is a high-level forum designed to provide coordination and policy support for the return of displaced persons and refugees to Kosovo. SRSG chairs it and its members are: the COMKFOR, all the Pillar heads, the Police commissioner, the Prime Minister, the inter-ministerial coordinator for returns and the head of UNHCR.

Photo opportunity

Lower Saxony delegation meeting with the SRSG tomorrow morning at 10.15. There is a photo opportunity.

Joint press conference – SRSG and Javier Solana

Mr. Javier Solana, the EU High Representative of the Common Security and Foreign Policy will be arriving tomorrow. He and SRSG Michael Steiner will hold a joint press conference on Thursday, 5 June at 1315 hrs in our first floor conference room in the main HQ. Mr. Solana will meet the SRSG, COMKFOR and PISG and political leaders of Kosovo.

KFOR Spokesperson Gary Bannister-Green

KFOR operations in conjunction with UNMIK-P and KPS, over the past week have resulted in the confiscation of the following illegal weapons and ammunition:
12 Rifles
1 Pistol
127 Grenades/Mines
4,480 Rounds of ammunition

In the afternoon of Saturday 31 May 2003, 3 K-Albanian males attempted to steal cabling at Slatina Airport. They were apprehended by a KFOR patrol and have been handed over to the KPS who are investigating the incident. This was the second incident at the airport within a week where there have been attempts to steal infrastructure. Fortunately none of these incidents have resulted in any serious damage to equipment or impacted on the airport’s operational capability. KFOR considers such actions not only to be criminal, but also to be reckless and dangerous acts that could have affected the airports capabilities. We take the security of the airport seriously and take appropriate measure to guarantee it; we will not tolerate such actions by irresponsible criminal individuals.

On Saturday 7 June 2003 KFOR will be supporting the OPFARKKOS NGO in the holding of a sports competition for disabled children in Pristina. Full details of this competition will be announced at a special press conference held by Lieutenant General Fabio Mini, COMKFOR, and Mr Shaqir Haxhaj, President of OPFARKKOS, at HQ KFOR at 1000hrs on Wednesday 4 June 2003. All accredited journalists are invited to attend and should register with the Captain Athanasios Zormbas, on 044 501 031 by 1700 hrs today.

Finally we would like to thank the press for their excellent coverage of International Peacekeepers Day, and for their positive and informative reporting of KFOR’s role and contribution to peace support operations as well as the commemoration of fallen peacekeepers.

UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell

Suspicious Death

On Monday, 02 June 2003, officers from Pec Police Station were called to a home on Adem Thaqi road where members of the public reported seeing a body lying in the garden. Upon arrival, police found the dead body of a 35-year-old woman resting against a fence. A rope was tied around her neck and the rope was then tied to the fence. We have established that she lived at the home with her husband. The exact circumstances of her death are not clear and her husband has been arrested for investigation.

Arrests for Counterfeiting Documents

Police in Pec have been conducting an extensive investigation into the production and supply of false driving documents. On 29 May, KPS investigators arrested 8 people in the Pec region for involvement in this organised criminal business. Those arrested included customers who had purchased false documents and those involved in producing them. Police also seized a laminating machine, 4 computers and computer discs which are being examined.
This is a KPS led investigation that is continuing and we expect further arrests to be forthcoming.

Arrests for Corruption

Two persons have been arrested at the Driving Test Centre in Pec for bribery and corruption. KPS officers on duty at the station observed irregularities in the test procedure and took both the applicant and the driving examiner into custody.

Open Day at Obilic Police Station

This Thursday, 5th June, Obilic Police Station will be holding an open day for the public. The community is invited to come to the Police Station to meet their local KPS officers and to see exhibits and demonstrations by specialist units. On display will be the newly formed Motorcycle unit, Traffic Police vehicles and equipment and the Bicycle Patrol. The KPS K 9 squad will be presenting demonstrations with their dogs. Local police will be available to talk to the public and offer advice on crime prevention and security.

The media are warmly invited to attend this first open day at a Police Station and to informally meet the officers who serve the community of Obilic.

OSCE Spokesperson Sven Lindholm

Last week, Ambassador Fieschi gave his status report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna. Since then there have been a number of replies from delegations, which I will read to you here. EU statement from Greek Presidency: “The Union reiterates its full support for the ongoing process of transferring non-reserved competencies to the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo. The Mission's institution-building role will remain essential in
this process. […] We share Ambassador Fieschi’s view that Institutions have been created but democratic standards, human rights and the rule of law have yet to be institutionalized. […] The EU supports the OSCE's continued leading role in the election working group, which updates the rules of future elections in co-operation with local and international representatives.

The US Mission to the OSCE: OSCE's role as a monitor and advisor on human rights and rule of law issues in Kosovo is more important than ever before. Ambassador Fieschi is right to point out the changing context of the OSCE's work in this area as more responsibilities shift
to the Provisional Institutions. […] On the issue of elections…We encourage the members of the [elections] working group to take full advantage of that forum to shape and develop a new electoral system for Kosovo. We support OSCE's efforts to hand over as much responsibility as possible to local control for the 2004 elections, but we also firmly believe that it is the job of OSCE to lead and guide this process, and not the Kosovo Assembly.

Today, the Election Working Group is again meeting, and the Chair of the Assembly Gender Committee will participate to discuss women’s representation in political life and the electoral system in Kosovo

On 3 June the KJI will host a seminar on criminal procedure law. Criminal law judges and prosecutors have been invited to attend this event which will cover the flow of the main trail and obstacles to a guilty verdict.

On 4 –6 June and 9-11 June the KJI will hold the next sessions of the Professional Skills Training Course for groups of minor offences court judges. All Kosovo judges and prosecutors will be invited to the second phase of training. Topics include making a clear argument, the structure of an argument, legal interpretation, the role of investigation in
making a decision.

Tomorrow evening, the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, will be in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica. Mr. Duve will take part at an open forum to take place this evening at 19:00 in the Mobile Culture Centre. The forum will allow the youth of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica to discuss media-related issues.

EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot

An IMF mission is arriving today in Pristina. It will, together with the World Bank and the European Mission look at the old macro-economic situation and follow up by making recommendations to the PISG and UNMIK.