(Sputnik
Kilambi)
Higher education
largely out of reach for Bosniak girls in Kosovo’s picturesque Zupa Valley.
And Kosovo hosts its
first ever photo-marathon on June 21.
But we begin with the escalating row between the European
Union and the United States over the International Criminal Court.
The Hague based ICC is the world’s first permanent court to
try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Washington,
which is not party to the agreement, which brought the court into being has
stepped up pressure on several countries, including many in the Balkans, to
sign exemption deals to bypass the court and thus shield its troops from
prosecution for war crimes. The US has accused the EU of undermining its
efforts to secure bilateral deals -the EU and human rights groups say the kind
of tactics the US is using to secure such agreements is unacceptable. John
Palmer, political director of the European Policy Centre in Brussels
John Palmer: I find it totally unacceptable
that there should be a process of arm-twisting, some might even say blackmail
going on by the US administration, telling countries which are about to join
the EU or seek to join the EU, that if they want good relations with Washington
they should exempt the US from the provisions of the criminal court.
Strong words too from
Amnesty International, which says the US arm-twisting is not restricted to the
Balkans. Jonathan O’Donohue, legal advisor for Amnesty International’s
international justice project says its part of a worldwide campaign ahead of a
US imposed deadline of June 30 for states to sign impunity agreements.
Jonathan O’Donohue: AI believes these agreements
are illegal, they provide for impunity for the worst crimes against humanity
which is against international law and go against the international trend that
has been in place setting up the international criminal court to ensure that
nobody could ever again plan and commit these crimes knowing that they would be
held accountable for their actions.
Romania, Albania and
Bosnia have agreed to grant impunity to American troops; Croatia, Serbia and
Montenegro are under intense pressure to follow suit. Only Slovenia has said
categorically it would follow EU guidelines. Cooperation with the ICC is one of
the benchmarks for accession to the EU, even if Brussels is unlikely to take
strong action against countries that enter into exemption deals with the
US. John Palmer of the European Policy
Centre.
John Palmer: I am quite confident that if
they hold firm, they will have the support of the EU and frankly the US will
not want before the int. public where it has protested its adherence to the
principles of the rule of law and the need for the war against terrorism and
criminality, that they would not want to be seen to be arm twisting in this
public way.
And there is resistance
to what many observers are calling US blackmail, though many Balkan countries
are walking a fine line while urging the big players to resolve the issue
first. What worries many is the obvious double standard that emerges from the
controversy – pushing counties such as Serbia and Croatia to send suspected war
criminals to the Hague while exempting the US from any such prosecution. Vojin
Dimitrijevic is an international law expert in Belgrade.
Vojin Dimitrijevic: the fact is that we have to
cooperate with ICTY, and that our authorities have to cooperate, otherwise they
risk being politically disqualified. But now this looks totally discriminatory
and unfair, if at the same time citizens of certain countries can be privileged
and excluded from the permanent Court. (edit to) I am for the cooperation with
ICTY, but for the same reasons I’m for the cooperation with ICC.
But why is the US maintaining such an uncompromising stance
in the face of so much opposition.
Since the Rome statute was adopted in 1998, the US has been
the only state actively opposed to the setting up of the ICC, saying it could
bring politically motivated cases against them. But this argument doesn’t hold
up, argues Jonathan Donahue.
Jonathan Donahue: The court statute contains
such substantive fair trial guarantees and other safeguards to ensure that such
a situation wouldn’t arise. It also has recently elected 18 of the highest
qualified judges to the court and a very highly qualified and experienced
prosecutor that its almost impossible that such a situation could ever arise.
And I think it’s unfortunate that the US is taking such an aggressive worldwide
campaign to try and almost discredit the court.
JINGLE
Life in the Zupa valley
is tough enough for its predominantly Bosniak inhabitants – the picturesque
region is cut off from mainstream Kosovo, the majority of its people either
unemployed or abroad. For Bosniak girls, there is another problem – its
difficult if not impossible for most of them to continue their education once
they are finished with secondary school.
15-year-old Sanela from
the village of Nebregoste, like her friends, yearns to leave the valley, to
finish her education and have a life of her own. She is prepared to go
anywhere, so long as it outside Kosovo.
Sanela: I would like to finish in a good school, like
medicine, to live nicely, to work,
A reasonable ambition,
very normal anywhere in the world, but here in the Zupa valley it isn’t the
easiest thing to achieve. For one thing, higher education in the Bosniak
language in Kosovo is next to impossible. But the medium of instruction is only
one problem. In Nebregoste, like elsewhere in the valley, girls are advised to
stay at home, get married and have kids. Sanela, Senada, Amela and Mirna, whom
we met in this hidden village in the mountains, are the only four girls from Nebregoste
who are in the ninth grade and want to continue their education.
Senada: I would like to study economy, but this is a
stupid environment. They don’t understand what a school is.
Amela explains that
parents often say that the husband will be the one who’ll earn the money. Not
surprising perhaps when only two girls from the 350 strong village which has
over a thousand of its people working abroad, continued their education.
Amela: If you go to school, people say
you are roaming the streets, going out with boys and things like that.
The patriarchal environment is not the only obstacle for
these young girls. They are forced to walk everyday to Recane village, where
the closest school is. 45 minutes to walk 3 kilometres one-way. But what is the future for these girls brave
enough to resist?
Nebregoste as other places in this part of Kosovo is very
poor and cut off from civilization. There are no jobs, except in the fields and
for men on building sites. And Mirna,
who wants to go to medical school, is resigned to making compromises.
Mirna: I would like to see if there is a trade I can
learn, like a hairdresser for example.
Maybe in Prizren. It is good to finish high school.
For the first time ever, and on the first day of summer,
Prishtina is to host a photo marathon where, during 24 hours, volunteer
photographers from all over will be running around the city taking pictures.
The subjects will be given to them on the day of the marathon itself.
The photo-marathon is a
totally local initiative. Afrim Spahiu, the head of “Gjon Mili” school of Film
and Photography is one of the organizers of the marathon. All you need to take
part, apart from applying he says, is good will and a camera:
Afrim Spahiu: During 24 hours all
participants who have applied earlier will get one 24 shot film and every 4
hours they are supposed to take pictures on various subjects which will be
chosen before the media in front of the ministry building. Some of the subjects
will be easy, others will be more complicated but the idea is to make one whole
story out of 24 pictures.
The idea is not an
original one - it has been borrowed from other countries that hold annual
photo-marathons, from Istanbul to New York.
But the concept itself was born in the Netherlands, says Gerard Links.
Gerard Links: The first people to do this
were the Dutch 25 years ago. These kinds of events are also very popular
especially in Scandinavian countries and the first prize will be participation
in the photo marathon in Copenhagen in Denmark
Organizers hope thousands of participants will turn up for
the Prishtina photo-marathon on the 21st and the 22nd of June. The hope is that this will become an annual
event, thus leaving traces of today for the future.
Gerard Links: I think that people have to be
creative, to be original and I think it will be very interesting to see, maybe
year by year, the change of the vision of the people in Kosovo.
So all of you who wish to participate in the Prishtina photo
marathon on the 21st and the 22nd of June - all you have
to do is dial 038 548 732 or 038 211 449, that’s 038 548 732 or 038 211 449-
and give your name and surname, there will be a strip of film waiting for you
on Saturday.
That does it for this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Have a nice
weekend.