UNMIK ON AIR

October 8^th 2003

“Don’t’ you kill my freedom, but don’t take my weapon either”

(By Valon A. Syla)

Civilians comprise the majority of casualties in current conflicts across the world. Most of these casualties are caused by small arms or light weapons.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK on air with Sputnik Kilambi and Martin Redi

VH: “I didn’t surrender my weapon, because of two reasons that need resolving, one is that the Kosovo’s status is still unknown, and the second issue is that personally I do not feel very safe in Kosovo”

VH – a Kosovan who prefers to remain anonymous and is amongst the many who did not surrender their weapons to the authorities. According to KFOR officials, around 18500 weapons have been destroyed, but UNDP, the United Nations Development Program evaluates that around 400 000 small and light weapon still remain in the hands of Kosovans.

The month-long amnesty for holders of small weapons launched by UNDP is now over – the results leave much to be desired. And this despite cooperation from local agencies and civil society, as well as a hefty grant from the Japanese to reward municipalities which managed to collect the 300 weapons target. Not a single municipality had reached that target a week before the amnesty was due to expire – in fact the weapons amnesty netted a mere 155 weapons across Kosovo, a far cry from the planned 300 arms per municipality. Robert Piper, the head of UNDP in Kosovo is clearly disappointed given the concerns expressed by most Kosovans at the surfeit of weapons and the lack of security.

Robert Piper: “The much more serious implication of that is that Kosovo remains awash with illegal weapons, that remains very vulnerable to normal domestic tensions escalating and involving weapons that are in peoples’ possession illegally that should not be. So the big loser at the end of the day will be Kosovo, will be the communities in Kosovo”

According to (KPS) police spokesman Refki Morina, a considerable number of murders in Kosovo are carried out with small or light weapons.

Refki Morina: “In Kosovo we have many cases where murder is done with a small weapon, mostly with AK – 4. Also lately in Podujevo, three persons were killed with a 7.62 mm, a small weapon also”

The most popular weapon in Kosovo is the AK – 47, known to the Kosovans as the “kalashnikov”. UNDP weapon amnesty workers admit that the better part of collected weapons belong to this type.

On the other hand, there are rare people like businessman Longar Cana who thinks the possession of weapons is unnecessary, given the large armed troops in Kosovo.

Longar Cana: “Around 24000 KFOR troops, 6000 KPS officers and around 4000 international policeman, are working in Kosovo to maintain law and order, this is a large number of arms that are legally in hands of law enforcement forces, so I think that it is unnecessary for Kosovans to keep weapons illegally”.

-Did you turn over your weapon?

-Of course, I already did it.

UNMIK regulation 2001/7 disallows the possession of weapons, while sanctioning those holding weapons with fines ranging from7000 € to 8 years of imprisonment. Policeman Refki Morina stresses that if the weapon is turned in voluntarily, no sanctions will be taken.

Refki Morina: “Every citizen of Kosova who wants to surrender the weapon voluntarily, no investigation will be opened against him even though the amnesty deadline has passed.”

The main reason for not turning in the weapons, according to the police and UNDP, is the feeling of insecurity. To this must be added the age-old tradition in Kosovo of families possessing at least weapon. Changing this mindset is clearly tougher than it appears.

But stresses, the UNDP’s Robert Piper, Kosovans cannot afford not to rid themselves of the weapons culture – the future is at stake, he warns.

Robert Piper: This will enter into a vicious circle where people will keep their weapons away from the law, where they will hide them, what kind of message does that send to children that see that Dad has got a gun, but he hides it under the bed or puts it into the bottom of the garden whenever any KFOR guys are around. That is the kind of message you really cannot afford to pass to the next generation of Kosovans as well.

This latest weapons amnesty was the third in a row in Kosovo. The murder rate in Kosovo might appear low compared to statistic elsewhere – the UNDP estimates that around 250 000 murders take place each year around the world. But everywhere, it’s the civilians who bear the brunt of the gun culture.

That does it for this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.