UNMIK-KFOR Press Briefing: 5 July 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Ms Nadia Younes
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten

UNMIK Spokeswoman Nadia Younes

KTC
Today s KTC as you know was addressed this morning by the president of Austria, Mr.Klestil who made a statement and then, there was quite a lively discussion where most of the members of the KTC participated. They briefed the president on their positions covering all aspects of developments in Kosovo. Following the departure of the Austrian president, Dr. Bernard Kouchner resumed his briefing to the members of the KTC on the understanding that he signed with the SNC last week.

Gjilan/Gnjilane case
Just to draw your attention to the case in the Gjilane District Court which has sentenced Mr. Dragan Nikolic to twelve and a half years of imprisonment for murdering an Albanian in April 1999. He has 15 days to appeal to the Supreme Court. In another case in the same court, a Kosovo Albanian male was sentenced to six years imprisonment for raping a juvenile.

Business registration
A little information on the business registration process. It has been fairly successful. Between 7 March and June 30, when it ended, nearly 75 per cent of businesses registered. According to our estimates there are nearly 20,000 businesses, of which about 15,000 have registered. The businesses which began before 30 June but who have not registered, must register. But they will have to pay a penalty fee for late registration. Pristina has seen the highest number of registrations, unlike Prizren and Peja where it has been fairly low. Notices are being sent to those who have not registered and a failure to comply could result in the closure of the business.

Ombudsperson. s institution
Also to remind you that . and I think there is a press release outside from the OSCE . the signature by Bernard Kouchner of the regulation establishing the Ombudsperson institution in Kosovo. The Ombudsperson will be an independent authority. The Ombudsperson shall have the authority to receive and investigate complaints from any person or entity in Kosovo concerning human rights violations and actions constituting an abuse of authority by the interim civil administration or any emerging central or local institution. The Ombudsperson may also promote reconciliation between the ethnic and groups and shall have access to and may examine files and documents of the interim civil administration and of any emerging central or local institution and may require any person to cooperate with him or her by providing relevant information, documents and files. The Ombudsperson. s institution shall be multi-ethnic in character, and besides the Ombudsperson, it will have three deputy Ombudspersons, one international and two locals. The copy of the regulation is available outside, and as I said there is a press release from OSCE on this.

Electricity
We are in the middle of another electricity crisis. The problem began when a 400 KV line going from Macedonia to Nis via Kosovo tripped. Kosovo B was using this line to distribute its own production. So at that point Kosovo B2 was producing more electricity than it could distribute, which disrupted the whole process resulting in the plant being shut down. When the line was repaired and Kosovo B2 restarted, they found five leakages in the boiler, resulting once again in the plant being shut down. Now the repairs are on the way and it will take at least till Friday to get the plant operational again. So currently Kosovo A3 is the only one working and it is producing 110 MW, which is one third of the consumer demand. During this period there will be no electricity import because the neighbouring countries do not have enough to export and assuming it is because of the tremendous heatwave in the region. The power cuts in Kosovo will be on a rotational basis.

As you know, recently EU Agency for Reconstruction signed a 40 million Euro contract with a consortium led by National Power of UK for partial overhaul of Kosovo B2. That work should finish by the end of November. So hopefully, we will have a warm winter.

UNMIK Police Update
There is an unusual case that was reported by UNMIK police. An Albanian computer store owner in Pristina found something suspicious inside a computer that another Albanian male had brought to his store. He informed UNMIK Police, which then called in KFOR EOD team, which discovered four hand grenades inside the computer. The whole matter is being investigated.

KFOR Spokesman Scott Slaten

A Serb convoy consisting of buses and cars was stoned yesterday while traveling from Serbia to the village of Strpce. The convoy, upon reaching a KFOR checkpoint at the Serbian-Kosovo boundary, requested a convoy escort from KFOR forces for their journey to Strpce. They were denied the escort due to the sanctions placed on Strpce
for the recent vandalism of the UNMIK building and aggression toward KFOR
peacekeepers in the municipality.

After a second request and subsequent denial, the convoy made the decision to continue unescorted, ignoring the warnings of the potential dangers of such an action. The convoy travelled unmolested until it reached the vicinity of Pozaranje, where unidentified persons stoned the vehicles and passengers.  Two passengers received minor injuries - one to the lip and one to the head. The convoy continued until it reached the KFOR checkpoint near Strpce, where Polish KFOR soldiers treated the injured. MNB East then granted special permission allowing the Polish soldiers to escort the vehicles the remaining distance to Strpce without incident.
Earlier in the day, KFOR Polish battalion soldiers also conducted a security escort operation for a medical convoy from Strpce to Gate 5 without any reported incidents of violence. The soldiers escorted six people who were seeking medical treatment in Serbia.

In a press conference earlier, Task Force Falcon Commander Brig. Gen. Randal M. Tieszen reiterated the need for all Kosovars to permit the peace process to take place and to allow KFOR to accomplish its mission undeterred. Tieszen protestated that he was eager to resume convoy escorts and community improvement projects in the towns of Strpce and Kamenica once leaders demonstrate a commitment to working cooperatively with KFOR.

During the past few days MNB North and Centre have conducted a joint search operation in the Drenica Valley looking for illegal weapons of war. In MNB North, KFOR airborne, engineer and infantry soldiers from France and Russia conducted a search operation of the woods and villages in the vicinity of Dosevac, fifteen kilometres south of Mitrovica. In MNB Centre, the search began in the area of Glogovac on Saturday 1st
July, using KFOR British, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish soldiers. KFOR troops searched the houses and fields in a methodical and thorough manner which was completed yesterday afternoon. Weapons found during the search include three shotguns, five rifles (including AK47s), one pistol, one grenade launcher, and one 82mm recoilless rifle. Several boxes of small arms ammunition, magazines and one 64 mm
rocket (unexploded ordinance) were also discovered.

The search further uncovered military equipment, including a Serb military tent, five NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) protection masks, chemical indicators, radio equipment and uniforms. The operation has removed a significant quantity of weaponry, which would potentially be used by extremists to destabilize the secure environment in Kosovo. KFOR is grateful to the local population of the Glogovac municipality for their co-operation in this effort. The search operation will benefit the local community further, as it has revealed the need for road improvement in the area and other
humanitarian requirements for the population. KFOR Norwegian soldiers, in
whose area of responsibility the municipality lies, have begun repairs on
the road from Glogovac to Gornje Obrinje/ Trdevac and the dirt road to
Poklek.

This continues the work that KFOR soldiers have been doing with the
local population. Recent projects have included clearing a well south of Poklek, which was thought to have been contaminated by dead bodies.
Clearing the Feronikel Factory of mines and industrial waste and distributing food to the Glogovac hospital. These are just a few examples how KFOR works with the municipality to improve everyday life in Kosovo.

Last night a body was found near the town of Podujevo. A KFOR Scots Dragoon Guards Quick Reaction Force was dispatched to the scene and secured the area. UNMIK Police investigators also arrived and began to process the crime scene. No formal identity of the victim can be made at this time. The body is now in the Pristina morgue.

Administrative Notes

Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., in the presence of the SRSG Dr. Kouchner and COMKFOR Gen. Ortuno, the Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), KFOR engineers and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Teams (EOD) will introduce and provide an overview on UN and KFOR mine awareness and Unexploded Ordnance's (UXO) disposal activities. A demonstration of different methods of mine clearing and the detonation of a PMA3 mine will follow.

The KFOR media bus will leave from the new CPIC location at the Government Building at 2:30 p.m. Interested media are requested to be on time.
For additional information please contact the KFOR CPIC. Please note, due to the move of the CPIC to the UNMIK Building, our phone lines are not yet operational.

Questions

Q: This is about the neighbourhood watch. The police issued a statement which attempted to explain what this was. The statement refers to not legitimizing unauthorized policing activities, referring to the so called bridge watchers in northern Mitrovica. If UNMIK police is admitting that these people are doing unauthorized policing and is saying that such things won. t be tolerated, why are they tolerating it in northern Mitrovica?

NY: There were a lot of questions at the last briefing trying to tie in the neighbourhood watch concept that was introduced in the Joint UNMIK-SNC Understanding to the bridge watchers in northern Mitrovica. The intention in that paper was to try and make a differentiation between those two kinds of operation, one of which is illegitimate.

Q: If people are saying that the bridge watchers are exactly what they should not be about, why are the bridge watchers still allowed to perform those sort of activities in northern Mitrovica?

SS: We will get back to you on that once we have talked with the new commander. Until I can research that I don. t want to make a statement at this point.

Q: On the Strpce situation, under what authority is the commander of MNB East imposing these sanctions? As far as I understand, UN SC Resolution 1244 says that UNMIK has to create a safe environment for all the people of Kosovo and in a sense, what it seems to be doing is withdrawing that service from certain people in Kosovo. I wonder under what authority he is doing it.

SS: I want to clarify that it is not a fact that they are withdrawing services. KFOR is continuing to provide security in the Strpce community. What we are providing is necessary security, not for niceties. For example, yesterday we provided escort for a medical evacuation for people who needed medical assistance in Serbia. That was not a problem but if it is an issue of a community people wanting to go shopping, that. s a different matter. It is a priory issue of resources.

Q: Can IAC function without Mr Thaci?

NY: Obviously we regret the decision that was announced by Mr Thaci yesterday to freeze participation in the JIAS structures. Dr Kouchner hopes that Mr Thaci will come back. In the meantime, he will continue his bilateral discussions with him. He met him briefly yesterday evening at the reception hosted by the Americans for the 4 July and they agreed then to meet again on Friday. Let. s not pass any judgment on whether the IAC can function or not. Let us continue discussing with him and hope that he will come back.

Q: If any member of the IAC were indicted by the ICTY or arrested for serious crime what would be the result, would there be an effect on their continuing presence on the IAC?

NY: This is such a hypothetical question that I am not sure I am going to answer that. Nothing of the sort exists in the agreement and the regulation that established the JIAS. The question is a little way out and hypothetical at this point.

Q: Returning to the Kamenica and Strpce situation, you say that you are still providing basic security but the funding has been cut back to the generally estimated figure of 480,000 DM. Is this a sanction that is being imposed on this. Is this still under the authority of the MNB East or under UNMIK. Or is this a problem that could be extended to other brigade areas.

SS: In the mind of the commander of MNB East this is not a sanction. It is merely a reallocation of resources. What he is stating is that the community has not been working with KFOR and is actually working against KFOR, then why should additional funding be placed into that community when other communities can benefit from those funds. That is his primary point. KFOR has not reduced security in the Strpce area. In fact, we have increased out checkpoints. If you drive through that area, you will be stopped, you will be searched. So the security has actually improved.

Q: It is the general that has made that decision?

NY: Yes, he has got the authority within its MNB to execute the mission as he sees fit.

Q: What about UNMIK funding? Does he have to consult with UNMIK before?

NY: I am not sure where that funding comes from. I really have to look into that because I saw the figure myself, but I am not sure if that is part of the municipal funding coming from UNMIK or if it is something else. I have to check that.

SS: For example, in MNB South, there is a large number of Deutsche Mark that do come to the MNB commander, so they can distribute it out to CIMIC activities throughout the communities. It is the commander. s decision where those funds go to. And there is a similar situation in MNB East.

NY: I think you have your answer there, they are KFOR funds.

Q: I. d like to know how autonomous are the sectors in Kosovo. How much they can make their own decisions without consulting or by consulting Com KFOR, Kouchner or anybody. The other point is: do you have the same rules or standards for every part of Kosova. How can it happen that we have sanctions in the Eastern sector for Albanians, for Serbs, for both this time and we do not have sanctions in the North of Kosovo where the Serbs are much more radical against KFOR, against UNMIK, against UNHCR. How come we have similar situations but we have very different reactions.

NY: Let me start with the administrative structure of UNMIK. As you know, when we arrived, we did establish five regional administrative structures which tallied with the KFOR military division. With the forthcoming elections and following the establishment of the municipal structures, the regulation that is now being discussed at the level of the IAC on the self governance of municipalities foresees that  a lot of regional authority will devolve to the municipal administration after elections. So far, the control of the regional administration and the municipalities has been done by UNMIK headquarters here in Pristina, first by the pillar that dealt with it, which was the civil administration pillar and now by the joint department on local administration. On the question of standards, it is a large question in a sense that the reasons why precisely we had to sign an understanding with the SNC is because not everything is equal in Kosovo and in terms of security and services, it is that inequality and inaccessibility to some services that we are providing at the regional or municipal level that necessitated some temporary measures to equalize a little bit the situation.

CS:  As far as the military organisation is concerned here in Kosovo, the philosophy is that the command is centralized and its execution decentralized. What it basically means is that the decision is left to the MNB commanders.  They understand General Ortuno intent and they will, then, adjust how they complete those missions within the security framework in each one of their MNBs. For example, in MNB South, the question has been raised in the past why there is a curfew, but why is there no curfew in Pristina. The MNB South commander has determined that it is the best technique in his MNB to take care of the security situation there. The same goes for MNB East and for MNB North.

Q. Inaudible

SS: Not necessarily. But to make an assumption that Pristina which has the largest population in the region is the exact same as in Peja and has the same security issues. You can. t make those connections. There are different security issues, in many cases within different villages, not only within municipalities in the different MNB. s. 

Q: General Ortuno has a unified level of execution of his multinational brigade sectors. Do you not think that the decision taken in MNB South might not set up an example for something that might be picked up in MNB North?

SS: If that. s the case, that. s between the commanding General  of MNB North and Genral Ortuno. If he determines that that situation applies to his security situation in MNB North, then there is a possibility that it will be used. For example, the issue two weeks ago was searches in the Drenica valley. Well, it. s not specfic to MNB Center.  Searches are on going throughout Kosovo all the time,  for example MNB North was part of the search operation conducted for the last few days. The timing will depend on the situation in each of the MNB. s and the commander. s decision on what actually he wants to incorporate to take care of the mission.

Q: Would you be prepared to compromise on the terms the agreement reached with the Serbian National Council in order  to secure the PPK return to the  IAC?

NY: Let me just for terminology sake call it an understanding. No, I think an Understanding has been signed. It is temporary as we have said until the situation warrants that those special measures be lifted. But it is a signed understanding

Q: That does mean that you will not negotiate?

NY: There is no negotiation. There is an understanding that has been signed that is coming into effect. Some of the measures have already been taken.

Q: That will stay and will not be changed

NY: That is right.

Q: Whether the UN or KFOR has any plans to use sanctions against Strpce? You said that to some degree, it. s on the regional commander level. Is there a common policy that sanctions might be applied in other places that are not cooperative with the UN administration?

SS: From the KFOR perspective once again, the sanctions are not a punishment. It is merely a reallocation of resources.

Q: Ok. Whatever you call them?

SS: The reason is exactly that. The community has demonstrated a lack of willingness to work with KFOR and is destroying the CIMIC projects that had already been incorporated into that community, why should we allocate future resources to that community until they have demonstrated that they can work with KFOR. Once again, it is community specific and in many ways, it can be an MNB East specific if that climate does not exist in the other communities. So to say that it will be used or not be used in the future, it is speculation.