TRANSFER OF COMPETENCIES IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE IN KOSOVO ERP KIM Info

TRANSFER OF COMPETENCIES IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE IN KOSOVO
ERP KIM Info-Service - April 21, 2003

Transfer of competencies to provincial and municipal institutions in the atmosphere of systematic human rights violations and dramatically low level of inter-ethnic tolerance will have serious consequences for the process of returns and normal life of non-majority communities, primarily Kosovo Serbs

Transfer of competencies to provincial and municipal institutions in the atmosphere of systematic human rights violations and dramatically low level of inter-ethnic tolerance will have serious consequences for the process of returns and normal life of non-majority communities, primarily Kosovo Serbs.

There is nothing more normal than to give local people the right to rule themselves, argue some internationals, overlooking the fact that there is not "one people of Kosovo", but different ethnic communities with totally opposed views for the future of the Province. These communities, primarily Albanians and Serbs, are divided by a deep cultural, linguistic and religious gap and probably have less in common than the peoples of Turkey and Argentina.

Compared to Kosovo Albanians, who have been strongly supported by the international community in the last years, the Kosovo Serb community is in a much more unfavorable position. Two-thirds (230,000) of its population are still not able to return to their homes after the war, while the large part of the Serb-owned property is still usurped by Kosovo Albanians. The Serb community cannot take meaningful part in local institutions, which remain almost completely dominated by ethnic Albanians. The few Serbs who formally sit in local municipal councils are not active participants but only serve as a smoke-screen for non-existent multiethnicity. These Serbs cannot even freely move outside of the municipal building and are regularly escorted to meetings in police vehicles. Any attempt to contest decisions negative for the Serb community is easily overruled by a majority vote. Thus far there has been at least an UNMIK administrator who could intervene in cases of obvious violation; but once all the competencies at the local level are handed over to Kosovo Albanians, the situation for local Serbs will become desperate.

According to the testimony of UNMIK representatives, most of the municipal institutions are incredibly corrupted. Those who enjoy the protection of a powerful clan or have enough money can get everything. Of course, this does not apply to Serbs, who still live as pariahs in Kosovo. In Albanian-dominated areas, Serbs do not have even free access to these institutions because they lack freedom of movement. For them, contacting and complaining to UNMIK staff is the only way to achieve something and protect their vital interests. For most problems, Serbs in these areas still ask the assistance of KFOR. It is only after certain pressure from UNMIK and KFOR that local Albanian authorities will agree to do something for the Serbs. Without these "protection mechanisms", Serbs will be left completely at the mercy of local Albanian authorities, who would be glad to see Serbs finally leave Kosovo forever.

In order to carry out the process of transferring further competencies, it is essential first to build functioning institutions which will not be used as a tool for violation of human rights of others and where all representatives of national communities will be able to work freely and responsibly. However, in the latest report of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, it is said that "Kosovo still has some way to go in establishing representative and functioning institutions" and the primary reason for this is seen in "a tendency of local Kosovo Albanian leaders and the Provisional Institutions to focus on symbols and image, and to publicly promote positions contrary to UN resolutions". Kosovo Serb leaders have warned UNMIK many times so far that Kosovo institutions are being used as a tool for ethnic discrimination and pressure against the remaining Serb population.

In such an atmosphere, Kosovo Serbs do not feel encouraged to accept these institutions as their own and, quite naturally, tend to form their own institutions in order to protect their rights. Post-war Kosovo is being built as a completely ethnic Albanian society with flags of the Republic of Albania all around the UN-administrated Province, with a media intolerant of the Slavic population, and with suppression of everything belonging to Orthodox Christian tradition and culture. Dozens of Serb Christian cultural and religious monuments still remain in ruins and not a single one of them has been repaired or reconstructed after they were demolished by Albanian extremists. The reason is quite simple: they would be probably blown up the next day after reconstruction. After two years of Serb participation in Kosovo institutions, the Kosovo Serb deputies have not managed to improve the life of their people. They have not even succeeded in ensuring the right of use of their own language and script in the institutions themselves.

Mechanisms for preventing ethnic discrimination and providing functioning human rights protection are generally non-existent in Kosovo or they exist only on paper. This has been confirmed many times by Kosovo Ombudsperson Marek Antony Nowicky, who remains very pessimistic about Serb returns and their normal integration into a generally intolerant ethnic Albanian society. In one of his latest reports, Mr. Nowicky said: "The situation of residents of Kosovo who are not of Albanian ethnicity remains very difficult. Many, in particular Serbs and Roma, remain isolated in ghettos and face great danger should they venture out of those ghettos without armed international escorts. Their extremely restricted freedom of movement has serious repercussions on all aspects of normal life: access to employment, medical care, schools, and public services generally. The provision of public utilities (electricity, water, etc.) to these ghettos is at a much lower standard than to the rest of the population."

In reality, ordinary Kosovo Serbs cannot find any effective way to protect their interests and the only way to make their voices heard is to appeal to Belgrade and ask Serbian authorities to use their international contacts to present their case. In the event that institutions are finally handed over to "the people of Kosovo", which practically means to Kosovo Albanians, local Serbs will find themselves in the absurd position of having to ask for protection from those who have been systematically violating their human rights. That is why one of the first consequences of this process would be depopulation of Serb-inhabited areas. Kosovo would increasingly slide towards full mono-ethnicity.

This would also be fatal discouragement for Serb returnees who naturally do not want to return where their lives and the lives of their children will be constantly at risk. Some UNMIK officials claim that Serbs do not want to integrate and accept Kosovo reality, but they fail to understand that it is impossible to integrate into a society build for one ethnic group only and feel safe in surroundings where not one single crime against Serbs has been fully resolved. It is absolutely absurd to expect Serbs to send their children to Albanian schools where they will be indoctrinated with Albanian nationalistic myths which deny Slavic and Christian Orthodox culture. How can anybody expect young Kosovo Serbs to return to Kosovo and work normally in an Albanian-run factory if they would constantly be in fear of kidnapping or murder? Even in the event that they are provided with freedom of movement, Serb returnees would inevitably feel like foreigners in surroundings where only Albanian is spoken, a language which the great majority of Serbs do not understand.

Kosovo Serbs are not against the transfer of competencies to fully functional provincial and municipal institutions where strong mechanisms for protection of human rights exist, but they cannot accept being handed over to institutions to be used as a tool for repression. If Steiner nevertheless remains determined to carry out this process, Kosovo Serbs will inevitably have to organize their own parallel institutions, making the prospects of an integrated multi-ethnic administration in Kosovo even more remote.

D.S.