UNMIK-KFOR Press Briefing: 3 July 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Nadia Younes
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slatten
UNMIK Police deputy Commissioner Stefan Feller

UNMIK Spokeswoman Nadia Younes

There has been a lot of speculation in the press and in the public about the understanding that Dr Kouchner signed last week with Bishop Artemije on behalf of the SNC in Gracanica. There has also been a lot of misinformation. So I will begin by trying to clarify what the local community offices are. I am pleased to have with us also the Deputy Police Commissioner for operations, Stefan Feller, who will give some information regarding the special taskforce that is being set up as part of the understanding that was signed last week. I will then pass the floor to KFOR and we’ll open it up to questions.

Let me start by saying that the Security Council resolution 1244 is very clear in mandating UNMIK to provide services to all Kosovars regardless of ethnicity. 1244 also mandates the international presence in Kosovo to maintain security and enforce law and order in the territory. The understanding that was signed last week is a reaction to reality on the ground:
· There is no security and no freedom of movement for Serbs and other communities in Kosovo.
· The access to municipal centres which provide services to Kosovars is made impossible to Serbs. In fact, they often risk their lives trying to reach those centers.
· The community offices, which are proposed are temporary in nature. Their aim is to assist not only Serbs, but all the communities in Kosovo, including the Albanian community in predominantly Serb Northern Kosovo.
· The creation of these offices was already included in regulation 2000/9 on the establishment of Administrative Department of local administration.
· Unfortunately, UNMIK was unable to include representative numbers of municipal workers from non-Albanian communities into the municipal structures.
· The draft regulation on self-government of municipalities which is under discussion now in the IAC foresees transformation of these community offices on a temporary basis into municipal community offices. Before the election in October, UNMIK plans to open all local community offices which will then be transformed into municipal community offices.

Let me give you some facts and figures. So far, 13 community officers have been appointed. Only one community office was established in Gracanica. The twelve other community officers are operating from the municipal administration offices. The plan in next month or two is to find space and offices for the rest.

The Understanding with the Serbs is the exact opposite of cantonization or partition. It is so because by making the community offices an integral part of UNMIK administrative structure and then part of municipal structure, it keeps it within the UNMIK and the municipal structure. It is not a separate structure run by the Serbs or any other national communities outside of the UNMIK context. The deputy police commissioner will brief on the special security task force, but let me be clear on behalf of Dr Kouchner: the Understanding that was signed with the SNC does not foresee the creation of Serb militias or a Serb Protection Corps. The protection and security of the Serbs and all other communities remains the task of UNMIK police and KFOR.
There has also been speculation that the 8 point plan that was signed last week was not discussed in the IAC. Let me say the following: the main thrust of the agreement that was signed last week was about ensuring security, including freedom of movement for the Serb community. All issues of security are the prerogative of the SRSG and are not part of the mandate of the IAC. The SRSG together with the commander of KFOR report regularly to the IAC and to the KTC on the security situation in Kosovo, but all decisions and measures on this issue are in the hands of UNMIK and KFOR and this includes security and law and order in Mitrovica and everywhere in Kosovo.

Let me also point out that the regulation set up to form the Administrative Department of Local Administration (regulation 2000/9) was discussed in the IAC before it was promulgated. This regulation, as I said earlier, foresaw the creation of community offices.

There are a few other things that do not pertain to what I was discussing:

Judicial appointments
Over the weekend, SRSG Bernard Kouchner has sworn in an international judge from Finland and an international prosecutor from Sweden. The international judge has been assigned to the Pristina District court and the international prosecutor to the Prizren district court. With these appointments, the strength of international judges and prosecutors has gone up to six (four international judges and two international prosecutors).

Strpce update
The 23 KPS officers in Strpce have returned to work. Fourteen of them had resigned conditionally. The others were on some kind of rotation duty. But today everyone is back to work.
 
Water
The good news now. The repair and upgrading of the Badovac water works has been completed successfully. On Saturday evening the affected areas started getting the water. The pumping capacity of the plant has more than doubled with the replacement of old pipes with the new ones. However, let me remind you, the municipal instruction on the regulation and restriction of drinking water, which came into effect on 29 June, will continue till 31 August.

KPC
Twenty members of the Kosovo Protection Corps are travelling to Austria tomorrow to participate in a three-day fire-fighting training programme, at the invitation of the Austrian government. The training will give the KPC core skills on which future, more intensive training in fire-fighting can be based. This course is part of the training programme coordinated by the IOM under the UNMIK-KFOR mandate.

Media alert
One last media alert. The regular Tuesday briefing on registration will be held tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at the OSCE  headquarters building.

I now give the floor to Deputy Commissioner Stefan Feller.

UNMIK Police Deputy Commissioner Stefan Feller

I want to add some comments to what Ms Nadia Younes already said. According to Resolution 1244, we have to establish and to maintain law and order in Kosovo and this is what we are doing since the very beginning. No one should hinder us in performing our duties better. This is our greatest challenge to find out if we can perform our duties better. This is what you find behind that special security taskforce. I have to underline that we do not provide any taskforce or any police force only for one group or one ethnicity here in Kosovo. This special security taskforce is a well-staffed planning mechanism established by us to improve the situation and to again find out if we can do things better in dealing with security, dealing with protection, to find out how the situation can be more secure and more peaceful here. This planning staff will develop further measures to improve communication between all the partners involved in the security situation here, for example, KFOR and civil administration. We have to also find out if there is any information and any improvement possible on the regional level. All of you know that we are organised in police regions in our areas of responsibility similar to the multinational brigades and to find out if there is any information and improvement possible at the provincial level dealing with the security situation. The planning staff has to create concepts on the issue of the situation of the Kosovo Serbs. But its work won’t finish once it has achieved this. It has to find out an overall approach on what has to be done regarding the security situation, how we can improve our common security measures. As a special police inspector I want to comment here, when the planning staff has established a whole security concept, we will present this concept.

Neighbourood watch is a concept that we will present in the near future as part of community policing. I have to say, not regarding the specific situation here in Kosovo, that community policing is a link of police to the communities. Neighbourhood watch is an initiative where you try to find out if anything can be done to improve the security situation here in Kosovo. So we have to cooperate not only with other institutions, for instance NGOs, but also we have to come together on a local level, on a neighbourood level with those who deal with the overall security and try to find out if there are common measures to improve the situation. To summarize it, this taskforce has to establish a more comprehensive and a more secure assessment of the situation and they have to do it regarding the situation of the Kosovo Serbs and they will not end their task then.

KFOR Spokesman Maj. Scott Slatten

On Saturday night, KFOR MNB East US forces were notified that a Serbian male had been shot and killed near the village of Gornji Livoc in what appears to be a dispute over cattle.
KFOR US observation helicopters were dispatched to search the area for four suspects that were observed fleeing the scene of the crime. During the search operation, seven suspects were detained for questioning but released by UNMIK Police due to a lack of evidence. UNMIK Police is continuing to investigate the murder.
At 3:45 a.m. today, KFOR US Military Police and Infantry soldiers reported an explosion of an abandoned Kosovo Albanian home in the village of Kabas.
UNMIK Police and KFOR responded to the scene. After arriving, they discovered four injured Kosovo Albanians living next door to the destroyed home. Two women, one of them pregnant, a 6-month old baby, and a man were among the injured. It was reported at 5 a.m. that all the injured had been released from the local hospital with minor injuries except for the pregnant woman. UNMIK Police and KFOR will continue to investigate the blast.
In MNB West Saturday evening, a Kosovo Albanian man stepped on a mine in the Bistriza Valley, on the outskirts of the Decane Monastery. KFOR Task Force Sauro dispatched an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team and an ambulance to the accident scene. The man was given first aid and medically evacuated to the Dakovica civilian hospital.
In MNB East last night, KFOR US soldiers reported that a Kosovo Albanian man discovered an Unexploded Ordnance while jogging near the village of Pasjane. He then picked up the UXO and transported it in his car to a KFOR US checkpoint and turned it in.
After investigation it was determined to be an 81mm mortar illumination round. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was dispatched to the checkpoint and disposed of the munition.
KFOR would like to remind the residents of Kosovo that UXO's are extremely sensitive to vibration or changes in temperature. If an UXO is discovered please notify KFOR or UNMIK officials immediately. Do not handle the munitions yourself. A specially trained EOD team will then assess the situation and dispose of the munitions in a safe manner.

A media administrative note
At 11:00 a.m. July 4, 2000, Brig. Gen. Tieszen, Commander MNB-E, will present a brief overview of operations and take questions from the media. The media will have an opportunity to view Camp Bondsteel's 4th of July celebration events.
Those planning to attend need to contact Task Force Falcon at Bondsteel or Staff Sgt. McGuire at the Press Information Center.

Questions

Q:  How many Serbs are involved in the taskforce and how many additional police forces are you planning to send to the Serb enclaves in Kosovo.

SF:  This is the planning staff of UNMIK Police so this taskforce consist of police officers. I can’t answer how many Serbs will be involved. If you ask how many police officers, let me tell you that we will send officers to the areas where the Serbian communities are in danger. This is a consequence of the concept we have to develop. We already have improved the visibility of our police. For instance, we have installed additional police substations to bring in more police capacity in all the things we are doing there. But this has to follow a comprehensive concept to best use our capabilities. The answer to how many police officers are in the Serbian minority areas cannot be answered. It depends on the security situation, which has to be assessed on a daily basis.

Q:  This assault which occurred involving two UNMIK police officers inside the Miami Beach café this morning, were these officers there on professional assignment or other activities, which were purely social?

SF:  I have no concrete information on this. The only fact I know is that two police officers were involved in this incident. We are investigating what happened and if they were off duty.

Q:  Following the Athens conference on the trafficking of human beings that took place last week, would you say that you are concerned about the potential presence of off duty UNMIK police officers in such places.

SF:  I will not answer this question because I have no information on what really happened there.

Q:  Have you tried to send Albanian graduates from the Kosovo Police School to the Serb areas and vice-versa. If so, how has that worked and can that be a model for the future special task force?

SF: Right now Serb KPS officers are performing their duties in the Serb areas and the Albanian officers in the Albanian areas and we are discussing where it is possible to do things in common because it is our general aim to see that things can be done in common. We are performing common duties in mixed areas.

Q:  A few days ago, Rada Trajkovic said Mr.Kouchner is preparing some kind of self-government for the Serbs. What kind of self-government for Serb enclaves are you preparing?

NY:  Well I have not seen what Ms Tajkovic said, I know what we had done and that is what I have been briefing you about today on the community offices in the areas where there are minority communities. And that is the kind of service that they cannot get at present because they are not protected and they don’t feel safe enough to go to the municipal administrations to receive those services. So those services are connected with improving the lives of the communities within the areas where they live.

Q: I think there is still some confusion about what exactly neighbourhood watch entails. I think there is a lot of concern in sections of the population about what that is. Would you clarify it again on whether it involves civilians taking a security role, in for example what happens under Mr.Ivanovic in Northern Mitrovica, as a neighbourhood watch type arrangement.
 
SF:  I will try to describe what neighbourhood watch is and it’s the same everywhere, whether in Kosovo or in my country. Neighbourhood watch can be described as a self-initiative of neighbourhoods which take an active role in giving  security to their own area. This is only an additional measure to improve security in addition to what you already have, like we have UNMIK Police and KFOR. They should always be unarmed, they are neighbours who know the neighbourhood, who want to take care of the security situation in their specific area and they want to give additional information to police and KFOR. They are or should be regularly visible. These neighbourhood representatives should have very good communication to the local police station. This communication link should entail the ability to immediately pass on important information for KFOR or UNMIK Police or any responsible point of contact and we are planning that certain responsible police officers in those police stations will be the points of contact, in which there are neighbourhood watch schemes.

Q:  Who would actually be responsible for selecting who would do the neighbourhood watching. Would it be the UNMIK Police or the local community? Another question. In the rioting in Mitrovica a couple of weeks ago, two Serbs were shot and the reports said it was by the UN Police and I was told an investigation was going on in it. Any results from that?

SF: First question. There is no leadership of UNMIK Police in for example, saying that certain neighbours should perform certain duties. This is a self-initiative and we give help to initiate this additional measure. So there will be no selection process where we, for example, say these are neighbours who are able to do this or can’t do this. We give advice and we assist.
For the second question, we are investigating what happened not only a couple of weeks ago but also on 21 June and we will present, when we are ready to, the results of the investigation.

Q: This is almost a repetition of the previous question. According to Father Sava, he believed that UNMIK police would be actually selecting people for these neighbourhood watch groups and I’m still unclear as to precisely what the responsibilities of these groups would be. Could you give a clear and precise definition. What exactly they are going to do on a day-to-day basis.

SF:  It is difficult to give a definition but I can describe what they will perform. The experts in the local security situation are the neighbours, the experts for local security assessment are the policemen, the experts are those who take responsibility for example in the local civil administration, the experts are those among the NGOS and everywhere else living in a certain area and who have to deal with certain local situations.  So the local security assessment has to bring together the experiences of the experts. Neighbourhood watch is something which establishes itself at the local level. They have to think and come together and to discuss how to improve the local security. Security situation differs very much. The situation in Gracanica may be different from, for example, the security situation in Lepana. You cannot describe this in general terms. The experts are the local ones.

NY:  Just to add a word, the best way to describe this is by what it is not. It is not vigilante justice, it is not Serb militias, it is not community militias. The task is still in the hands of UNMIK police.

Q: This is again about the neighbourhood watch. You have a lot of experience of the bridge watchers in Mitrovica. According to your statements it sounds something like the bridge watchers where local residents are involved in security taskforce? Or are you going to make spies.

SF: To make it more precise and leave no doubts, security is the task of UNMIK Police and KFOR and there will be no parallel structure to deal with security issues other than the responsible ones. So the leadership in doing and performing the duties is that of KFOR and UNMIK Police. But there are certain situations where you can improve the security situation by voluntary measures. For example, you must look in your neighbourhood to see if there is something different from yesterday. A police officer may not be able to notice it and he has to be informed about it.

Q: Don’t you think that with this neighbourhood watch you will be authorizing people to stop the entry of the non-Serb people in the minority areas ?

SF: This is not the concept for neighbourhood watch. This is a voluntary addition of expertise and nothing else. It is not an additional force on the ground.

Q: What kind of weapons would you give to the neighbourhood watchers.

NY : He has answered that before. He said they would be unarmed, they will have no arms.

Q: What would be the answer to the political parties, Albanian, Turk and Bosniak, if they don’t accept this agreement ?

NY: I’m not sure if that is the foregone conclusion, that everybody has rejected the agreement. This is what you are saying. This is not what we know.

Q:  Do you perhaps see the danger of the idea of neighbourhood watch. In the western countries, the rule of law is well established and accepted by everyone. Kosovo is a different sort of a place at the moment. Do you accept that in this volatile security situation when you do talk about patrolling and that sort of thing, in the context of neighbourhood watch, that it may involve certain risks here that may aggravate the security situation rather than make it better.

SF:  No I think there is no risk. If you have a clear vision of what a volunteer should do. He should not act like a police officer, he should not act like a soldier, he should act like a responsible person to bring in the capacities of the neighbourhood. He is an information point. He sees what changes in his vicinity and his neighbourhood. Nothing else. He is not a third force on the ground as I mentioned already before. It should be clear in the negotiations that have to be done to create neighbourhood watch. Then there will be no risk.

Q: A few minutes ago you said there is no selection for the neighbourhood watchers. But now you say there should be negotiations for the creation of neighbourhood watchers.

SF: There is no contradiction. You have to negotiate to find out what you can do jointly.

Q: There should be some sort of framework on what is the number to be used in the neighbourhood watch.

SF: As I informed you in the beginning, the planning staff is developing this framework so I can’t answer in detail at this stage.

SS: KFOR participates in the local communities in the security aspects. One of the things we have been seeing is that at times there is a collective pre-emptive approach by the communities to report the incidents to KFOR patrols and checkpoints and we have been able to make arrests with UNMIK police or detain individuals so it’s more of a pre-emptive issue. We are seeing that on an individual basis now and it has been semi-successful. But any type of coordinated effort with the local community will only improve that. The other issue that the KFOR has been finding is that the locals who have been witnessing these acts of violence don’t know the kind of information they should be presenting to us. So it is taking us a lot of time to get the information from the local community. So part of the neighbourhood watch from where I am from is an education process throughout the community.

Q:  It would appear that many of the precise details of the agreement which the SNC signed have yet to be worked out. Father Sava had a different understanding of how the neighbourhood watch would be formed. He believed that UNMIK police will select members of the Serb community. So the SNC has signed up to an agreement they did not really know what the content was.

NY: I think the details of that taskforce are still being worked out, and we said that on the day we briefed you on the signing of the agreement. It is being  worked out by the police and I’m not even sure that once it is worked out it will be made public because it has security implications.