19 June
UNMIK Police successfully
concluded its operation to arrest suspects involved in serious criminal
offences against Kosovo Albanian people in a complex search and arrest
endeavour. The detained persons are Kosovo Albanian males and are suspected
of having committed serious crimes against Kosovo Albanians in June
1999, such as illegal detention and grievous assault. Most of the victims
are still missing. Six people were detained for those offences-two of
them surrendered themselves voluntarily-and one person for an unrelated
offence of unlawful possession of weapons. The actions of UNMIK Police
were based on a legal request from an International Prosecutor and were
conducted in a professional manner respecting international standards
of human rights and democratic policing.
The goal of UNMIK
and Kosovo's newly established government was to help Kosovo become
a part of an integrated Europe, SRSG Michael Steiner told a meeting
of the South European Co-operation Process, held in Belgrade. But to
achieve that goal certain criteria had to be met. Those were: creating
functioning democratic institutions; institutionalizing the rule of
law; ensuring freedom of movement for everyone everywhere; returning
and reintegrating displaced people; regenerating Kosovo's economy; and
ensuring property rights. Those benchmarks were the prerequisite that
had to be met before discussions could take place on final status, and
they were the vehicles that would carry Kosovo towards Europe, he said.
In touching upon the issue of crime and his declared policy of zero
tolerance for crime, SRSG Michael Steiner suggested to create a Balkanpol
or SEEPol, modeled upon Europol. Such an organization would need: pan-regional
intelligence to access trends and build up understanding of organized
criminal networks; information-sharing between police and customs authorities;
co-ordination of operations such as support to joint investigative teams
drawn from across the region. It would also need improved police co-operation
to: prosecute criminals at home for crimes committed abroad; imprison
criminals at home who have been duly convicted abroad; facilitate the
collection of evidence and interrogation of witnesses located in other
states; and increase the effectiveness of international arrest warrants
and extradition procedures.
20 June
Andrew Whitley,
Director of the Office of Returns and Communities (ORC), announced that
he would resign from UNMIK to accept an offer to serve as Director of
External Affairs in UNRWA, the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees,
with HQ in Gaza. "I regret that Mr Whitley is leaving the Mission,"
said SRSG Michael Steiner. "I extend him our congratulations on
his appointment to an important post in the field of refugee affairs.
... I know that we will all miss Mr Whitley on our team, but we wish
him the best in his new appointment," he added. Until the new head
of ORC arrives in the Mission, Mr Saber Azam will serve as Acting ORC
Director.
On the occasion
of World Refugee Day, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
launched a book sponsored by the Kosovo Women's Initiative-"Kosovar
Women, a collection of images". In a beautiful display of elegant
black and white photographs, "Kosovar Women" celebrates the
diverse and intricate lives of women in post-war Kosovo. The Kosovo
Women's Initiative is a UNHCR-co-ordinated programme that seeks to unite
and empower all Kosovar women and to promote gender equality in all
aspects of civil society. In pursuit of this goal, the programme has
established six multi-ethnic Local Women's Councils throughout Kosovo
to select and fund small grass-roots projects implemented by local women.
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