UNMIK-KFOR-UNHCR-OSCE-EU Press Briefing: 18 August 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Claire Trevena
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott A. Slaten
OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless
UNHCR Spokeswoman Maki Shinohara
EU Spokesman Mike Todd

UNMIK Spokeswoman Claire Trevena

UNMIK Police

As most of you are well aware, there’s been an explosion at the OSCE’s political party services centre in downtown Pristina. If I may repeat the SRSG Dr Bernard Kouchner’s condemnation of  political violence at any time as -- attacks on democracy. For Kosovo to have a free and fair election as a basis for a tolerant future  it must not be undermined by violence.

There was also a bomb threat at the police station and UN offices on nearby Kragulevaca Rd in the centre of Pristina this morning. Tht threat is now over. For more information ask Derek afterwards.
 
Yesterday an UNMIK police officer from Fji who was  carrying out an investigation near Kamenica took a wrong turn and strayed across the Serb boundary. He and his interpreter were arrested. The Joint Implementation Commission negotiated their release. Both the policeman and his interpreter were handed over to KFOR during the night.

A partially destroyed Serbian church in Velika Reka was completely destroyed by an explosion overnight – UNMIK police is working with KFOR on the investigation. 

Regulations

The SRSG has signed a regulation on The Self Government of Municipalities in Kosovo. This essentially provides the foundation for Kosovo’s local democracy. It covers almost all aspects of municipal government -- from the composition of the municipal assembly to the work of the chief executive officer.

The regulation will essentially come into effect after the local elections which have been called for October 28th. It sets down that the municipal assembly – where those politicians who’ve been elected will sit – must be held within 15 days of the vote.

Dr Kouchner has also signed a regulation on The Use of Language in Court Proceedings at which an International Judge or Prosecutor Participates. Under this, English will be used in court proceedings where there’s an international judge or prosecutor -- along with other languages required by applicable law.

Also on justice the Juvenile being tried on genocide charges in Mitrovica has had the charge against him changed to causing general danger. That trieal opened earlier this week with Michael Hartman international prosecutor.
 
Vehicle Registration

New vehicle registration sites are opening across Kosovo in the coming weeks. On Wednesday one opened in Gjilan/Gniljane and others are due to open shortly in  Ferizaj/Urosevac, Peja/Pec and Mitrovica.

And police are warning of long tailbacks on the road from Pristina to Lipjan because of road repairs. The work is going on for the next two months – it will move down towards Ferizaj. Drivers are being urged to be patient during the delays and, if possible to find alternative routes.

And finally the press conference on Monday will be preceded by a press conference by the new ombudsman for Kosovo. That will be at 10.30 on Monday morning.
 

KFOR Spokesman Major Scott A Slaten

Explosion in Pristina

One woman is reported to be slightly injured around 9:40 a.m. when an explosive device was detonated in downtown Prishtine / Pristina in the rear of the building of the OSCE Political Parties Services Center, located just off of Mother Theresa Street.  An Explosives Ordnance Officer at the scene is conducting a preliminary investigation.

KFOR MNB Centre troops assigned to the 2nd Regiment, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers immediately responded to the scene and cordoned off the area for investigation. At the time of this report, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams are sweeping the building for additional explosive devices that may still remain. The investigation is still ongoing and more details will follow.

Man Killed in Accident

A man from the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) was killed yesterday evening in an accident when the earthen side wall of a trench collapsed and buried him. The trench was being dug for a water pipe system at Camp Plana, three kilometers southeast of Mitrovice / Mitrovica.

KFOR quickly responded to the scene. During the attempt to save the man's life a second land slide occurred which slightly injured a KFOR doctor and fireman.

Hearing of the accident, the KFOR MNB North commander Gen. Sublet immediately drove to the scene of the accident to check on the condition of the victims. Both KFOR personnel were transported to the KFOR MNB North hospital in Mitrovica for observation. Gen. Sublet and KFOR extends their sympathies to the family of the victim. The name of the victim is being withheld until notification to the next of kin.

Immediate Ready Force Deployment

The first element of the KFOR U.S. Immediate Ready Force (IRF) arrived at Camp Able Sentry (FYROM) at 11:50 a.m. yesterday, less than 48 hours after their initial alert notification.

The IRF is drawn largely from the 1-18th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, from Schweinfurt, Germany.  At UNMIK and KFOR request, the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) headquarters directed the deployment.  The force will be assigned to Multi-National Brigade East under the command of Brig Gen. Dennis E. Hardy.

The IRF is composed of roughly 120 soldiers and includes Infantry, Scout and Military Police assets; command and control; and other support elements. The soldiers are deploying with M113A3 Armored Personnel Carriers and High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles.

The IRF's capability to rapidly deploy from Central Europe and immediately begin executing a wide range of military missions in Kosovo proves USAREUR's ability to respond swiftly and decisively to European contingencies. This IRF deployment is further evidence of the U.S. commitment to NATO's work to achieve peace in Kosovo. Its presence will add
additional flexibility and force protection capabilities to MNB East.

UNHCR Spokeswoman Maki Shinohara

‘Freedom of movement’ bus lines

UNHCR is happy to see that the ‘freedom of movement’ bus lines are becoming quite popular in the recent months., but we are also concerned about the limited resources available to match the increasing needs. The number of passengers on the nine bus lines escorted by KFOR has reached 30,000 in July, compared to a monthly average of 6,000 during winter.

Although each bus has a seating capacity of 52, the buses are now taking between 80-90 people on board as more and more people are lining up to get on. As much as we would like to take more, we are forced to leave some passengers behind as we simply cannot take more on the already overcrowded buses for safety reasons.’

UNHCR started the bus service last fall to assist minority communities in exercising their freedom of movement throughout Kosovo. We are glad that it has proven to be a success, but we are concerned about longer term sustainability. As with other communal services, transportation services need eventually to be taken over by appropriate authorities and companies. We are working to find longer-term solutions and hope that appropriate arrangements can be made soon, so as not to hinder this positive momentum of an increasing number of minorities wanting to exercise their rights.

OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless

Bomb explosion

First about the explosion. A bomb seems to have occurred in a planted bomb behind the building  that, we shouldn’t run to quick conclusions,  has the OSCE run Political Party Support Centre. The explosion caused some damage to several party offices. In the office of the Turkish People’s Party , one person was slightly injured, it’s an injury to the face. No other casualty was reported. It’s too early to determine what part of the building the bomb was targetted at. But the OSCE strongly condemns this criminal act of violence.

Elections

Under the auspices of the Central Election Commission, the ballot lottery was held. The results have been announced, but I will clarify a couple of things. This order that was drawn among the political contenders is valid in all the 30 municipalities of Kosovo. If one contender is not running in any municipality, the number and the name will simply not appear on the ballot paper. That means they can jump from 22 to 28 and in between there is nothing.

A consolidated list of all the parties, coalitions, citizens initiatives and independent candidates, with the breakdown by party and by municipality which should be a useful instrument for the elections.

The meeting of the CEC was held yesterday it finalized and approved the candidates for the municipal election commissions. These candidates are now being notified. They can of course accept their candidacy or decide not to accept it.
 
The CEC also decided on the design of the ballot paper that is going to be used. It is a ballot paper which gives the voter the information regarding the political contenders, it means that the ballot paper will look differently in each of the 30 municipality.
 
The CEC also approved rules on polling and counting of the ballot on election day. It’s premature to bother you with these details now.

Another decision was with reference to the opinion polls. The CEC has decided that five days prior to election date no opinion poll can be used by political parties or candidates any longer and media cannot publish results of the opinion polls five days prior to the elections.

Last on the elections. Let me give you an update on the candidates. We have received papers of 5,500 candidates. These are right now going through a screening process. They are checked whether these candidates are not members of the Kosovo Protection Corps and the Kosovo Police Service, whether there is any double registration since each candidate can run for only one party. This rule has been observed quite widely, there are still some candidates who have  chosen to go for two parties, which is not possible and also whether the candidates have the age limit of 18 on 1 October 2000. This review will take a couple of more weeks to complete work on the candidates’ list.

The last point refers to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsperson will take office in Kosovo. These days he is paying his first working visit to Kosovo. He is meeting various political leaders as well as the heads of the pillars and Dr.Kouchner and COMKFOR. He will present himself to you on Monday morning. The Ombudsperson basically guards the interests of an individual and groups with regard to respect for human rights by any governmental authority, meaning ombudsperson is the watchdog over the human rights performance of UNMIK, OSCE or KFOR or any of the local or central institution operating in Kosovo.

EU Spokesperson Mike Todd

Power update

Information was circulated yesterday that there are no power cuts foreseen for today or for the near future. This is due to the fact that Kosovo A3 power plant is up and running again and the fact that until early September, imports have beenm agreed with Macedonia and Bulgaria. So electricity should meet demand.

There may be a small chance of some cuts in Prizren. This is due to repairs that are taking place on transmission lines.

Customs update

Last week revenue collected from customs reached a new record level of 6.3 million DM. Also a new collection point for customs tax on car has been opened in Peja.

On 16 August, the second out of five auctions for fertilizers was held in Pristina. This is part of the programme to bring in 20,000 tons of fertilizers for the local dealers. This project is sponsored by the European Agency for Reconstruction, the revenue will go into an especially established Agro Development Fund.

Water

At the village of Babin Moste, the Kosovo company Jehoma is currently repairing a surface canal, which will bring additional water from Gazivode to Pristina. This canal will make surface irrigation possible for 6,000 hectares of land, covering the three municipalities of Pristina, Obilic and Kosovo Polje/Fush Kosova. It will also transport cooling water to Kosovo A power station and will bring additional drinking water to Pristina. This project is being realized by the Public Utilities Department and is financed out of the Kosovo Consolidated Budget with 3 million DM. The Department of Reconstruction will organize a media event next Tuesday.

The Department of Reconstruction has a new international co-head. Mr. Roy Dickinson has taken over from Mr. Steve Lewarne as the co-head and will chair the department together with Mr. Mehmet Hajrizi.

Questions:

Q: The international head of MSF has accused KFOR UNMIK of failing to protect the minorities. You give a different picture and how do you respond to this?

MS: UNHCR certainly says that the condition of the minority communities is extremely difficult. There is no doubt about it and we don’t mean to negate that. We are trying the best we can to find different ways to assist the minority communities. The bus line is one, perhaps small, but a significant success in helping out the minority communities.

CT: We are working closely with UNMIK Police and KFOR in the minority areas in trying to assure physical security. We are trying to work with community leaders setting up community offices to ensure that there is a wider sense of security that people feel, they feel comfortable to go and pay their electricity bills or receive any type of social assistance. We are working very much on the ground. I am sorry that the MSF feels that the security situation isn’t great. It isn’t great but we are trying to improve it.

SS: KFOR’s assessment of the security situation in Kosovo is that it is fairly good. I am sorry that he is of the opinion is that minorities are being intimidated. One of the problems that we are facing is, for example, we have 500 to 750 patrols all over Kosovo on a daily basis. We have troops stationed all over Kosovo, many of them guarding minorities. However, until a crime occurs or violence is enacted, it is difficult to stop much of the intimidation that is going on. I was in MNB North a few weeks and I was told that many of the minority families are being intimidated by just a knock on the door in the middle of the night. This is not like someone shooting at you or burning your house down but it was enough of an intimidation that the next morning the family requested to move. Now what KFOR can do to stop that is a very difficult thing? We try to reassure the family and work with them, but if they request o move, we have to support their request.