UNMIK-KFOR-OSCE- Press Briefing: 11 September 2000
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott
Slaten
OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
Following this briefing, Mr. Steven Johnson of UNICEF and Matthias Raineken of WHO will announce the launching of a Kosovo-wide polio immunization campaign. Dr. Kouchner will be administering the first vaccinations on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Health House No. 2.
Media events
Tomorrow, SRSG Bernard Kouchner will hold his fifth town hall meeting in Skenderaj. Journalists can get the UNMIK Bus which leaves the Government building at 12:15. Please register with Sylvana in the Press office, or by calling UNMIK extention 5628.
For those going on their own, Dr. Kouchner will first visit the Devic Monastery to meet with local Serb representatives, at ten minutes after two p.m.. He then visits a bakery and kindergarten and will inaugurate the Assembly Hall of the municipality along with the ambassador from Japan, which has made considerable donations to the area. Dr. Kouchner will also open a Youth Community Center. The town hall meeting itself begins at 4:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, there will be a major emergency exercise in the Trepca Battery
Factory complex in southern Mitrovica, by UNMIK and local firefighters,
KPC, UNMIK Police, KFOR, KPS and local medical team. The media
will get a tour around the complex before the exercise& A bus for
reporters leave here at 12:15 Wednesday, 13 September&
The tour begins
at 1 p.m.
Hunger strike
In Mitrovica, detainees at the detention center have gone on hunger strike again, this time rotesting the new management procedures at the center. SRSG Kouchner will give a press briefing here on Wednesday at noon to explain the new operations at the Mitrovica detention center and the results of the investigations into the escape of 2 September.
Workshop
This afternoon the three-day Pristina Workshop on A Vision for Pristina 2000 - 2005 will conclude and there will be a final session at 4.30 p.m. immediately followed by a press conference at Grand Hotel.
Condolences
We would like to extend our condolences to the journalists of Rilindija and indeed to the journalist community in Kosovo over the death of Rilindija correspondent Skefti Popova, who was murdered in Vushtrii on 10 September, at 11:25 PM..Witnesses say they saw two people running from the scene which was near the municipal building. Mr. Popova was taken to the UAE hospital where he died of his injuries.
Murder
A Kosovo Albanian man was murdered during a robbery of a petrol station on the evening of 10 September in Prizren.
There is a press release outside from the Mission of France explaining
the five projects funded by the French Development Agency, Agence
Francaise de Developpment. The
These include the renovation of the
Mitrovica bridge, a master plan for the Pristina airport, road repairs
between Pristina and Mitrovica, a rural credit program and a support
program for agricultural cooperatives.
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten
House Search; Weapons Seized
KFOR and UNMIK Police conducted a house search operation in the village of Stimlje yesterday morning. The search came as a result of several shots that were reported fired in the location during the previous night. The search revealed two shotguns, one pistol, one flak jacket, one scope and assorted ammunition.
A suspect at the scene had a valid Weapons Authorization Card; however, a preliminary investigation of the weapon showed it may have been fired in the last 24 hours. UNMIK Police is investigating.
Shots Reported
During the night a series of shots were reported fired in Prishtine / Pristina. KFOR troops assigned to 45 Commando of the Royal Marines responded with increased patrols in the area. One of the patrols discovered freshly fired cartridges. KFOR is continuing to investigate.
Man Arrested; Car Theft
After a house search yesterday afternoon a 20 year-old Kosovo Serb man was arrested for car theft by UNMIK Police. The search of the man's home in the village of Cagllavice / Caglavica revealed two AK-47 Assault Rifles and two hand grenades. UNMIK Police has the case.
Search Operation
A KFOR search operation was conducted by troops assigned to Task Force Tizona yesterday afternoon in the village of Dubove / Dubovo. During the operation one AK-47 Assault Rifle, one sub-machinegun and assorted ammunition was discovered.
Molotov Cocktail Attack
The Military Police Station in Prizren notified KFOR MNB South headquarters that a local home had been attacked with a Molotov Cocktail. An investigation revealed a spokesman of the LDK Political Party owned the home. The Molotov Cocktail impacted against the wall of the house and caused minor damage to the structure. KFOR Task Force Prizren, German Military Police and UNMIK Police are investigating the attack.
Update on Shooting of Girl
This is an update on the shooting of the seven-year-old girl reported in yesterday's KFOR press release.
It is reported that the little girl was participating as a member of a wedding convoy, which had stopped in the village of Belobrod. While the vehicles were halted, two suspects from a nearby wooded area fired multiple bursts of automatic weapons fire.
While the little girl was attempting to get out of her vehicle she was
shot and wounded in the head. She was then transported to the KFOR German
Field Hospital in Prizren for treatment. The gunman also fired at two
other homes in the village. KFOR MNB South soldiers who had responded to
the scene turned over the investigation to UNMIK Police. An UNMIK Police
initial
investigation states that ten bullet holes were found in one
building and 20 in another. It is believed the weapon used was a AK-47
Assault Rifle.
UNMIK Police is continuing to the investigation.
Man Detained for Threats
Last night in the village of Binaq / Binac a local Kosovar Albanian boy informed KFOR Task Force 2-327 Infantry Regiment soldiers that his father had been abusing him. A KFOR patrol was dispatched to the child's home to investigate the situation.
After arriving at the scene, the boy's father became agitated and belligerent towards the KFOR troops. He then lost all semblance of reasonable thought and stupidly threatened to kill the soldiers with an AK-47 Assault Rifle.
The soldiers immediately took control of the situation and requested a thorough search of the man's home be conducted. KFOR troops then proceeded to search the premises, however, no weapons or other illegal items were discovered. The man was then transported to the Camp Bondsteel Detention Facility for questioning. KFOR takes all threats against it's personnel seriously and will take all measures necessary to ensure the security of KFOR troops and the local inhabitants. KFOR is continuing to investigate this case.
Cordon and Search Operation
A Cordon and Search operation was conducted by KFOR MNB East troops assigned to Task Force 2-327th Infantry Regiment in the village of Debulde / Debelde. The search was completed by mid-afternoon yesterday and revealed three mines, one pistol, one UCK uniform and 20 cartons of cigarettes.
Media Opportunities
The press is invited today to attend a mass destruction of ammunition and weapons seized during cordon and search operations conducted in Kosovo over the past few months.
The majority of weapons and ammunition, that will be destroyed, were taken from the Drenica Valley MNB Centre search operation. The event is scheduled from 1:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Transportation for the press corps will leave from the KFOR Press Information Center in Pristina at 1:45 p.m.
Questions:
Q: When Dr. Kouchner was last speaking to us about the prisoner escape, he said the prisoners would be removed. He said that would not be one of the considerations . moving them elsewhere. This was something Claire Trevena then confirmed. Is this no longer being pursued?
SM: They were going to be moved. They will be moved at least for the duration of the repairs, but I don. t know at what point we are in terms of moving them.
Q: In other words: you. ve gone back on the decision to remove prisoners from northern Mitrovica to jails elsewhere in Kosovo?
SM: No, they were going to be moved. We are not abandoning the Mitrovica detention centre. I. m not sure when the prisoners will be moved or if the decision is still standing. I have to check that out for you.
Q: That does seem to be a change of what you. re inferring or what the previous spokesman was inferring and Dr. Kouchner, when they said the prisoners would be moved elsewhere . that there was no suggestion that they. d be moved back again.
SM: I have to find out for you the exact status of the prisoners. They were to be moved. At the same time there was going to be management and structural changes at the detention centre. We are not abandoning that detention centre, but the intention was to move them, at least during the duration of those changes, and I believe the move has not taken place yet.
Q: What does these structural changes mean, exactly, in this Mitrovica jail?
SM: Dr. Kouchner will explain all that on Wednesday, but we are putting management changes in right now. As you know he has suspended the detention director. I believe they are doing something around the perimeter to make the detention centre more secure. They have put new rules in already . that. s why there is a hunger strike regarding visitor hours and that sort of thing. If you can wait till Wednesday when the full plan is unveiled it would be good.
Q: Do you have more details about the journalist killed last night?
SM: No we are trying to get in more details because we have no idea at this point why he was killed, or if it had any connection with his work or not.
Q: Can you tell us more about the murder of the father and the two sons by the Caritas guard in Malisevo on Friday night?
SM: I don. t have any further details. Derreck?
Derreck, UNMIK Police: I can confirm what you have already said; I understand it was a dispute over the distribution of building materials . roofing tiles. And as a result of that dispute over the roofing tiles, the agent of Caritas drew weapon and shot three people.
Q: Do you have any figures on the violence before the elections? How many people have been killed for what reasons? What are the motives, the reasons behind? Have you taken any measures against whoever might be involved? Do you include journalists it that kind of investigation? I know that the cell is made up of UNMIK, KFOR and OSCE.
SM: We still have no suspects in the various attacks that have taken place, therefore we still can. t say 100% that they are part of a political or elections related campaign. However, we are putting into place security measures through UNMIK Police who are working with this cell of SRSG to prioritize and identify candidates and parties that are right now most vulnerable, and we are offering them more protection, but we have no conclusions as to any of the perpetrators at this point.
RB: Yes, journalists are of course included into that. With reference to the case of last night it. s too early to establish whether there was a link to his work or even to elections in general. So far we don. t have any decision taken by the Central Elections sub-Committee which deals with such cases of violence. That is not be mistaken with the police investigation which is going on in any case of violence, whether elections related or not. The call for the sub-committee is to decide whether it is elections related, and then to take sanctions. So far about 15-20 cases have been looked into. The structural deficit that we have there is that there is hardly any complaints forthcoming. That means all these investigations are done (ex officia). Therefore I repeat my statement made here earlier and several times; that we need witnesses, we need statements, we need people coming forward. The entire investigation process is confidential, so that witness testimony material will be protected. But without people coming forward, giving testimony, it is difficult to establish that there is a link between violence and elections. Especially if these cases are done by masked people somewhere around midnight.
Q: Unaudible. Which is the way they are going to be protected. I mean, words, statements . fine, but it doesn. t really matters when it comes to weapons.
SS: First off, from a KFOR perspective, we work intimately with UNMIK Police. The majority of the crime we are seeing here is not political in nature. From the initial investigation it appears that there are just regular types of criminal activity. If a person feels they are intimidated, they present that information to KFOR or UNMIK. We can then work on security on a case-by-case basis, but as Roland has mentioned, often we are not getting that information, people are not complaining, they are not putting in requests. There is not much we can do about that.
Q: Even if some dares to come and say something, how can you even protect testimony?
SS: An armed security guard 24 hours a day. It. s a very difficult issue. It is a difficult issue that is faced by all politicians around the world. Political intimidation goes on in all the countries of the world, any time you deal with this kind of a situation. It. s a very difficult security issue. The issue is also that if we are asked, we can not provide.
Q: What about the political leaders. You have all of them, almost, here in Pristina. Are you going to provide any escort for them, Susan?
SM: This is what UNMIK Police and this security cell are prioritizing right now: how much in the way of protective services can they offer to how many candidates. They have drawn up a list of candidates and parties. The idea of close protection is very difficult . they don. t have many close protection officers, but they are talking to these candidates, finding out their routines, finding out how they can patrol more closely to them or perhaps escort them in certain instances. It is being worked out with more than 100 candidates.
Q: I. ve heard also that you maybe are going to allow some of the candidates or party leaders to keep weapons. Is it true?
SM: This is something that is being debated,
yes.