UNMIK ON AIR

March 26^th 2004

LIVING TOGETHER IN KOSOVO

(By Zoran Culafic)

A Kosovo-Serb woman cries at the site of the church she used to attend in Obilic. She has walked inside the scorched remains of the building, now strewn with broken glass and dozens of partially melted, orange altar candles. In order to visit her former Church, she had to be escorted by KFOR soldiers. Before 1999 there were some 6000 Serbs and nearly 2000 Roma in Obilic. Today, in the wake of recent violence, there are none.

Hello and welcome, this is UNMIK on AIR.

NATO troops and KFOR now control main thoroughfares and are visible, patrolling the streets of all cities, towns and villages as political leaders grapple with issues of how to move forward. Nevertheless, many people in the region agree that the most important thing for Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo is to find a way to sit together and re-start political talks.

Despite the violence which has displaced over 4000 people in a matter of days, mostly Serbs… there are those who believe that multiethnic life in Kosovo is still possible, and a must.

Yeta Jarra is a coordinator for the Pristina-based office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, or IWPR. Jarra believes that Serbs and Albanians could live together-- but on the condition that all those responsible for recent crimes and violence be brought to justice.

Yeta Jarra: I think that first there should be a rule of law established here, now, immediately and all those who are responsible for setting houses and churches in fire should be put in jail.

Others are not as hopeful. The Ombudsperson for Kosovo, Marek Antony Nowicki, said that after four years spent in Kosovo, he is very pessimistic about the possibility of multi-ethnic life. Nowicki said to the Belgrade media that--After the recent violence in Kosovo, it seems all hopes are gone.

Serb Bishop Artemije met the Ombudsperson Nowicki this week and discussed the testimonies of Serbs witnesses accusing the KPS of playing a direct role in the violence.

Some witnesses, like Milorad Spasic from Obilic, insist that KPS officers were involved in the violence.

Milorad Spacic: I was hiding in house of one Croat, in his neighborhood there lives an Albanian woman, a police officer, and she called KPS. They came with megaphone and shouted – I’m telling in Serbian, if you don’t come out, we will open fire!

When I went out with my hands up, they said

– Kneel down. With guns pointed at my head.

I said:

-please, you know me well …

They said:

-Don’t talk any more!! In five minutes you must leave Obilic, and never come back.

So tell me, is it a democracy … if he wears a uniform he should know the law and rules to follow.

Testimony like this is being considered by UNMIK and KFOR investigators.

Neeraj Singh, is the UNMIK spokesperson for Police and Justice:

Neeraj Singh: Whether riots are concerned, UNMIK police and Department of Justice are investigating all the cases of violence against persons or any property. Every individual against whom there is any evidence of violent activity or fomenting violence will be investigated without exception. It does not matter whether the individual is belonging to particular organization or otherwise. So we do not really investigate an organization, we investigate individuals who are involved in crimes.

Finding the perpetrators is a priority for the international mission in Kosovo, according to UNMIK head Harri Holkeri:

SRSG Harri Holkeri: We know that majority of the people, absolute majority of the people, in every community, wants to live in peace and respect the right of the neighbor. What must be done now, as soon as possible, we have to find the perpetrators and to take them into the justice. Those extremist forces who are against the peace must be isolated, they must be taken to the court, and they must be punished. Their place is not among the ordinary citizens.

UNMIK and KFOR investigators have called upon the people of Kosovo to come forward with any relevant information.

In the meantime, UNMIK administrators are working with representatives from the PISG-s to follow through with the finalization of the Standards implementation plan…

Prominent Pristina actor Enver Petrovci, believes that living together is possible, and is the only option left to Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

Enver Petrovci: If I take it with anger and an anxious mood, then the answer would be – there is so much evidence that we cannot live together. It is like someone asking the animals in Africa could they live together – we must live together here, because God created us and put us here, so we must live together. Even if we draw the borders between us, we have to live together. This “we must” is a rough word, but that’s the truth, we simply have to, whether we want to or not.

A similar perspective is heard from other Serbs. Zivojin Rakocevic is editor in chief of KIM Radio in Caglavica.

UNMIK: do you believe that living together is possible here, after all that has happened?

ZIKA: Yes, I strongly believe in living together. I strongly believe that Serbs and Albanians, not to say may live together, but rather they must live together.

These Serbs from Obilic, Biljana Jovanovic, Mirce Jakovljevic, and Milorad Spasic-- when asked if they could live together with their Albanian neighbors, after their experience, this is what they had to say:

Biljana Jovanovic: How to live together? if they wanted to protect us then they would not burn all this, then they would protect us none wanted to help us if they wanted, nothing would have happen and all of us would stay here but they did not wanted to do that.

Mirce Jakovljevic: It’s hard to heal the wounds and to live together, but when time passes, let ordinary people connect with each other, don’t force us to live together, even marriage you cannot force, so don’t do the same with forcing our communities. Let us live like normal humans live but obviously there is nothing of civilization left out here.

Milorad Spasic: We can live with Albanians. But we need first – safety, our houses rebuild and to say stop to terrorism or terror. In that way we can live together, but under these conditions, with our houses ruined, with kidnapping, killing, raping, torturing, expelling – there could be never living together. Remember, never, never could there be living together if we don’t have safety and houses, but the international community must guarantee safety and to say – stop to terror.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Bajram Rexhepi has condemned the violence saying it was “without justification”. Meanwhile, the Kosovo Government has allocated five million euros to repair the damage caused to churches during the unrest. The decision was made during the regular government session.

That is all for this edition of UNMIK on Air, thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.