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Brussels, 26 April 2012 – As the Council of the European Union prepares to extend the mandate of its Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) in Kosovo, a new Amnesty International report demands that the mission should focus on prosecuting war crimes. The report, Kosovo: Time for EULEX to prioritise war crimes, charts progress made by the Mission and recommends urgent reforms ahead of the mandate’s extension in June.
“EULEX must make investigation and prosecution of the large backlog of crimes under international law its top priority”, said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office. “We’re asking it to establish, with help from EU countries, an effective international witness-protection programme and ensure that Kosovo’s prosecutorial and judicial system can be sustained over the long term.”
Nearly 13 years after the end of the conflict in Kosovo, hundreds of crimes under international law remain unresolved. Enforced disappearances and abductions have yet to be investigated, while the bodies of some 1,800 missing persons have not been exhumed, identified or returned to their families.
‘AL’ was one of the few men to survive a massacre by Serbian forces in the village of Krushe ë Vogël in western Kosovo. In March 1999, more than 100 civilians were taken to a Serb-owned house and shot by Serbian police and soldiers. Their bodies were covered with hay and the house set on fire. Despite the scale and notoriety of the killing, investigations have only just begun.
In June 1999, ‘PP’, a 57-year-old Kosovo Serb, was abducted from her flat in Pristina by men in Kosovo Liberation Army uniform. A year later her body was exhumed from a Pristina cemetery by experts working for the tribunal. Her son identified her body by the clothes she was wearing. Thirteen years after her murder, PP’s sons still await justice.
While some progress has been made since the establishment of EULEX in December 2008, a culture of impunity, often encouraged by Kosovo Government officials, prevails. As it stands, the justice system in Kosovo is unable adequately to tackle this legacy of impunity for crimes under international law.
Source: Amnesty International
The report is available here.
Discrimination against Roma, Jews, and Other National Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
4 April 2012 – This 62-page report highlights discrimination against Roma, Jews, and other national minorities in politics and government. Much of this discrimination stems from Bosnia’s 1995 Constitution, which mandates a system of government based on ethnicity and excludes these groups from high political office. The report also shows the wider impact of discrimination on the daily lives of Roma in accessing housing, education, healthcare, and employment.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The report is available here.
Angst vor Tod und Gewalt, die Schrecken der Flucht, Alpträume, die noch nach Jahren wiederkehren. Das Grauen des Krieges bleibt für viele Familien in Deutschland ein prägender Teil der eigenen Geschichte.
Aus unserer Geschichte ergibt sich auch die besondere Verantwortung des Staates für Menschen, die heute von kriegerischer Gewalt bedroht sind. „Politisch Verfolgte genießen Asylrecht“, sagt das Grundgesetz. Und ich bin froh, dass Deutschland dem gerecht wird, wenn es gilt, Schutzbedürftige aufzunehmen. Das war auch so, als während der Balkankriege in den 90er Jahren Zigtausende Menschen Zuflucht bei uns suchten, unter ihnen etwa 50.000 Angehörige der ethnischen Minderheiten Roma, Ashkali und „Ägypter“ aus dem Kosovo.
Etwa 12.000 von ihnen sollen nun zurück in den Kosovo. Wenn nötig, unter Zwang. Unter ihnen sind bis zu 6.000 Kinder und Jugendliche, die meisten hier geboren, eingebunden in die Schule, in ihren Freundeskreis. Heute stellen wir in Berlin eine Studie vor, für die ein Team aus Psychologen, Ärzten und Sozialwissenschaftlern rückgeführte Jungen und Mädchen im Kosovo befragt hat (UNICEF-Studie “Stilles Leid”). Sie wurden in ein Land gebracht, in dem die meisten nie zu Hause waren, in dem sie am Rand der Gesellschaft stehen. Die Ergebnisse aus Gesprächen mit 164 Kindern gehen unter die Haut: Der Alptraum Abschiebung, und halten Sie sich nur das Wort „ABSCHIEBUNG“ einmal vor Augen, macht die Kinder krank. Viele klagen über Angst, Schmerzen, Nervosität. Sie berichten, dass nachts an die Tür geklopft wurde, dass sie angeschrien wurden. Noch einmal: Dies sind Kinder, deren Familien in größter Not vor dem Krieg geflohen sind. Auch viele ihrer Eltern bräuchten psychologische Unterstützung, haben Grauenhaftes mitgemacht.
„Bei allen Maßnahmen, die Kinder betreffen, ist das Wohl des Kindes ein Gesichtspunkt, der vorrangig zu berücksichtigen ist“ – das ist der grundlegende Gedanke der UN-Konvention über die Rechte des Kindes. Das heißt: Bei jedem einzelnen Kind, sechstausend Mal, müssen die Behörden prüfen, ob die Rückführung mit dem Wohl der Kinder in Einklang zu bringen ist. Oder ob es besser ist, wenn sie bleiben dürfen, nach all den Jahren Kindheit in Deutschland. Unsere Studie spricht hier eine deutliche Sprache.
Quelle: UNICEF Deutschland
Le présent papier thématique se concentre sur la situation des personnes appartenant aux communautés roms, ashkalies et égyptiennes (ci-après RAE) rapatriées au Kosovo. Il couvre les développements ayant eu lieu dans ce domaine à partir d’octobre 2009, date de la dernière publication de l’Organisation suisse d’aide aux réfugiés OSAR sur ce thème, jusqu’a la fin de l’année 2011.
En 2009 l’OSAR soulignait déjà qu’en dépit de l’établissement par le gouvernement kosovar d’une Stratégie pour la réintégration des personnes rapatriées en 2007 ainsi que d’un Plan d’action en 2008, très peu de personnes bénéficiaient, en pratique, d’une aide quelconque après avoir été renvoyées au Kosovo.
Deux ans après la publication de ce premier rapport, et malgré les efforts institutionnels et législatifs entrepris par le gouvernement kosovar, motivé par la promesse de l’Union Européenne d’accéder au dialogue sur la libéralisation des visas, les personnes rapatriées sous contrainte continuent, pour la plupart, à ne pas avoir accès à une aide concrète à leur retour. Les communautés roms, askhalies et égyptiennes, toujours fortement discriminées et marginalisées, se retrouvent dans une situation particulièrement vulnérable.
Si les Guidelines de l’UNHCR, mises à jour pour la dernière fois en novembre 2009, continuent d’attirer l’attention sur la vulnérabilité et le besoin de protection des minorités ethniques au Kosovo, et notamment des membres des communautés roms, les gouvernements européens ont exercé une pression croissante sur le gouvernement du Kosovo afin de pouvoir renvoyer les ressortissants kosovars dans leur pays et ce, quelle que soit leur origine ethnique. A partir du transfert de responsabilités de la gestion des rapatriements a l’Etat kosovar en novembre 2008, différents accords de réadmission ont été signés entre le nouvel Etat et les gouvernements, pour la plupart européens. En décembre 2011, le nombre des accords signes s’élevait à 15. La Suisse a signé un accord de réadmission avec le Kosovo le 3 février 2010: celui-ci est entré en vigueur le 1er juin 2010. Les accords de réadmission permettent et facilitent le renvoi de ressortissants kosovars séjournant illégalement sur sol européen.
Le présent rapport a été élaboré en se basant sur des sources d’information publiquement accessibles, sur des rapports d’organisations internationales, d’ONG internationales et nationales ainsi que sur des données recueillies lors d’une visite effectuée par une collaboratrice de l’OSAR au Kosovo entre le 28 octobre et le 11 novembre 2011. Dans le cadre de cette visite, la collaboratrice de l’OSAR a rencontré et interviewé différents acteurs nationaux et internationaux, dont des représentants de l’UNHCR, de l’OIM, de l’UNICEF, de l’EULEX, de l’OSCE. Elle a également rencontré un représentant du Roma and Ashkali Documentation Centre (RAD Centre), de l’organisation CRP/Kosovo, ainsi que l’Ombudsman du Kosovo, Sami Kurteshi, un représentant du département pour la Citoyenneté, l’Asile et la Migration (DCAM) du Ministère des Affaires Intérieures du gouvernement du Kosovo, des représentants des communautés RAE et des familles RAE ayant été renvoyées de Suisse, d’Allemagne et de France.
Source : OSAR
Mars 2012
Le rapport complet est disponible ici.
22 Januar 2011 – In its annual world report, Human Rights Watch notes, that the situation of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians remains issue of concern. The organisation criticises the ongoing forced repatriation of persons belonging to these communities.
Extracts:
Protection of Minorities
Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians continued to face persistent discrimination—particularly in housing and access to public services—and the highest unemployment, school dropout, and mortality rates in Kosovo.
Following an accidental fire in January in their social housing apartments in Plementina, approximately 250 Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians were forced to move to a makeshift camp in town without electricity and consistent access to running water. During the summer there was a water shortage at the camp. At this writing repairs to their apartments had yet to be completed and they remained in the temporary camp.
Tensions between Serbs and Albanians in northern Kosovo intensified in August, after Kosovo authorities occupied border stations on the Serbia border. Serbs in northern Kosovo held blockades and protests that persisted until November, with one fatality, a Kosovo police officer killed by Serb protestors in a border skirmish in late July. In September sixteen Serbs and four peacekeepers from the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) were injured in a confrontation over Serb blockades near border crossings.
Local prosecutors received reports of 60 inter-ethnic incidents during the first nine months of 2011, according to the Kosovo prosecutor’s office. Reports from the UN Mission in Kosovo indicated that although most were low-level incidents, including vandalism at religious sites in January and February, they included a number of serious assaults and murders.
(…)
Return of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
In March UNHCR reported that Serbia and Kosovo produced the highest number of asylum applicants in “industrialized” countries in 2010. The trend was attributed to the EU visa liberalization with Serbia and the economic problems and discrimination that minorities face in Kosovo. Most claims were lodged in Europe. According to UNHCR, many claimants were Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians from Kosovo. Almost all were rejected.
UNHCR Kosovo registered a total of 695 voluntary minority returns in the first seven months of the year, a decline from the peak in 2010: 237 Serb, 76 Roma, 187 Ashkali and Egyptian, 36 Bosniak, 68 Gorani, 12 Albanian (to Serbian majority areas, mainly Mitrovica), and 7 Montenegrins.
Deportations of Kosovars from Western Europe continued, with little assistance for returnees once in Kosovo. According to UNHCR, 1,334 Kosovars were deported from Western Europe during the first seven months of 2011, including 336 people to areas where they were in a minority: 168 Roma, 76 Ashkali, 5 Egyptians, 22 Bosniaks, 8 Gorani, 3 Turks, 16 Albanians, and 38 Serbs.
Deportations continued to disproportionately impact Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities, with most returnees living in informal settlements and lacking basic utilities such as running water and electricity. The UN Children’s Fund reported in August that most Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian children returned to Kosovo were now on the national registry, giving them a legal right to access education and other social services. Three-quarters still do not attend school due to poverty, curriculum differences, and language barriers.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which hosts the largest number of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians in Germany, suspended forced returns of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians for the winter months of 2010 and 2011, due to concerns about their safety in Kosovo. Forced returns from North Rhine-Westphalia resumed in April 2011, although more nuanced assessments introduced in September 2010 meant that school-age children were less likely to be deported.
Activists and Roma leaders voiced concerns in March and April 2011 about lack of treatment for poisoning for most former inhabitants of a lead-contaminated camp in Mitrovica that closed in October 2010. A similar lead-contaminated camp at Osterode remained open as approximately 20 families remaining there feared violence and discrimination if they returned to their former homes in southern Mitrovica. In July 2011 the authorities in north Mitrovica reached an agreement with Mercy Corps and the European Commission to provide land for homes for these families.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The full document is available here.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Informal settlements in Kosovo are widely characterized by a lack of access to basic infrastructure and social services. As such, inhabitants often live in very poor conditions and hold a marginalized position within society. A lack of security of tenure is also a prominent characteristic of informal settlements, which are typically not built in compliance with spatial plans, lack the necessary construction permits, and are not registered in the cadastral records. Notably, it can be particularly difficult to gain security of tenure in cases where homes are constructed on municipal or socially-owned property, which can leave inhabitants especially vulnerable to forced eviction.
While many municipal officials have a robust understanding of informal settlements, there is still a degree of misunderstanding with regards to the meaning and definition of the concept. A number of municipalities use either too restrictive or too broad a definition, which can be an obstacle to properly identifying all informal settlements in their areas of responsibility. As such, those settlements where inhabitants are most vulnerable might not be prioritized for regularization plans and projects.
Throughout Kosovo several municipalities are undertaking the drafting of spatial plans. This is one of the primary mechanisms through which municipalities can identify and regularize informal settlements in their areas of responsibility. Most municipalities did include the identified informal settlements in their spatial plans, which is an important step towards resolving security of tenure and access to basic infrastructure and social services. The policy framework foresees that regularization in situ should be the norm while regularization by relocation should only be a last resort pursued in exceptional circumstances where security of tenure or adequate housing cannot be met in place. In line with this, municipalities generally opt for in situ regularization. However, there are some exceptions in which relocation of inhabitants occurred because security of tenure could not be provided or the settlement is located in an environmentally hazardous area. Such a strategy of relocation has been shown to work well in cases where inhabitants are empowered through effective consultation with the municipality and participation in decision-making.
The importance of participation and inclusion of informal settlement inhabitants in the processes of identification, spatial planning and regularization should not be underestimated. Where formal mechanisms for participation exist (such as committees established for the purpose of including all stakeholders in the regularization process), the affected communities generally feel more positive towards their respective municipalities, more informed about municipal initiatives affecting their homes, and more included in the decision-making processes. Conversely, where no such formal or informal mechanisms exist, inhabitants are often ill-informed and feel that their opinions and concerns are disregarded by the municipality.
All informal settlements throughout Kosovo should be identified and included in municipal spatial plans, and in situ regularization should be undertaken where possible. Moreover, it is of paramount importance that local institutions develop means to include inhabitants in the processes related to the regularization of informal settlements. Furthermore, municipalities should look for ways to establish mechanisms to exchange information and best practices regarding regularization. To support these processes, there is an evident need for continued technical and financial support to local-level institutions throughout the identification, spatial planning and regularization processes.
December 2011
The full document is available here.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report documents and assesses the responses by municipalities to serious security incidents affecting non-majority communities1. A “serious security incident” is classified as one that has the potential to destabilize the security situation, and includes verbal or physical attacks on persons, private property and sites of cultural and religious significance.
Security incidents have an adverse impact on communities’ actual and perceived safety and security, and can restrict their freedom of movement and limit their access to essential rights and services. They also have the potential to increase inter-ethnic tensions, and to undermine relations between non-majority communities and municipal institutions. However, the findings of this report suggest that these negative effects can be mitigated if municipal institutions respond in an adequate and timely manner to the incident in question – for example, through dialogue in appropriate forums, public statements condemning acts of violence and outreach to the affected community.
During the reporting period, non-majority communities in Kosovo continued to be negatively affected by security incidents targeting persons, private property and sites of cultural and religious significance. Some municipalities have begun to adopt a proactive response to security incidents, primarily through official condemnation and outreach activities targeting the affected communities. Where these activities occurred, there was a clear positive correlation with the affected communities’ perceptions of their safety and security, with the affected communities reporting that their perception of security was improved.
Despite these positive examples, municipal responses to security incidents generally occurred on an ad hoc basis, with no consistency of approach between municipalities. Furthermore, many municipalities have not fulfilled their obligations towards the establishment and conduct of their Municipal Community Safety Council (MCSC), which is the municipal body that is best able to ensure appropriate responses to security incidents.
Where municipalities did respond to security incidents, community representatives noted a number of persistent problems. For example, in some cases public statements by municipal officials were not translated into non-majority community languages and thus were not accessible to the community affected by the incident. Furthermore, where municipal officials did condemn a security incident affecting a non-majority community, such action was regarded as largely symbolic by the affected community unless accompanied by outreach and dialogue activities.
Given the positive correlation between adequate and timely municipal responses to serious security incidents and perceptions of security among the affected community, stakeholders should work together to develop a consistent approach. This would be assisted by further development and full implementation of the legal and regulatory framework relating to security of communities, especially to MCSCs. Municipal officials should use the mechanism of the MCSCs to implement a best practice approach in responding to security incidents through public condemnation and outreach to affected communities.
This Report is based on the regular monitoring activities of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo over the period of January to December 2010. The OSCE continues to monitor, report and follow-up on the responses of municipalities to security-related incidents affecting non-majority communities, with heightened attention following the events beginning in late July 2011.
December 2011
The full report is available here.
19. December 2011 – In this note the Meijers Committee expresses its understanding for the concerns of Member States who are confronted with a large number of unsuccessful asylum applications, but it has doubts about the necessity of the proposal and observes that the proposal may place human rights at risk.
Unfortunately the Draft report and the explanatory memorandum of the Rapporteur are silent on the human rights effects of the proposal. The Meijers Committee recommends that these effects are explicitly taken into account in the debate and vote on the proposal which probably will take place in January.
The note is available here.
| Belgrade, 8 novembre 2011 – Les lycéens en Serbie sont très enclins aux stéréotypes, préjugés et la discrimination quand on parle des relations au sein de la famille, des minorités religieuses et ethniques et les ressortissants de la population LGBT. Ce sont les résultats du sondage intitulé „Les positions et les orientations des valeurs des lycéens en Serbie“, mis en œuvre par le Groupe des jeunes du Comité d’Helsinki pour les droits de l’Homme. Un rapport de Tamara Prodanovic.L’analyse des positions et des orientations des valeurs des lycéens est le résultat d’un sondage mis en œuvre entre avril et juin cette année parmi 630 lycéens dans six villes en Serbie – Belgrade, Novi Sad, Krusevac, Zrenjanin, Nis et Novi Pazar. Environ 40% de lycéens sont d’avis que les ressortissants de la population LGBT sont des malades et environ 20% sont d’avis qu’ils ne devraient pas fréquenter les mêmes écoles et qu’ils „méritent d’être battus“. La sociologue Marija Radoman, auteur du projet a mis en relief que le sondage pointait des divisions strictes entre les lycéens, parce qu’il y en a qui sont extrêmement intolérants, mais aussi des extrêmement libéraux. Environ 14% de lycéens sont d’avis qu’il faut permettre aux couples de même sexe d’adopter des enfants, et 16,5% soutiennent les mariages des personnes de même sexe. Le sondage démontre également que 37% d’enquêtés ont des positions extrêmement chauvinistes et racistes envers les Roms et un cinquième des participants au sondage est d’avis que les ressortissants de la population Rom ont des „capacités mentales d’appréhensions réduites“. Le sondage pointe aussi la conception traditionnelle de la famille parmi les lycéens serbes, parce que 45% parmi eux sont d’avis que l’homme devrait avoir le dernier mot dans la famille. Environ 43% de lycéens sont d’avis que les femmes en Serbie devraient donner naissance à davantage d’enfants „afin de nous sauver en tant que nation“, et environ 30% sont d’avis que la femme pourrait être complètement réalisée uniquement si elle est mère. Il est encourageant que deux tiers de participants au sondage soient conscients de l’existence de la violence familiale, ce qui représente un avancement significatif par rapport aux résultats de la période précédente. Cependant, un participant sur dix est toujours d’avis que des femmes méritaient d’être battues de temps en temps.
De telles positions tiennent racine dans l’éducation, la culture, la famille et les médias. Le sondage met en relief les problèmes auxquels la Serbie sera confrontée dans l’avenir, mais aussi que l’Etat n’a pas de plan et de programme clairs d’éducation des jeunes et de la promotion du système des valeurs. Il est constaté que l’éducation et la propagation de la tolérance parmi les élèves des écoles primaires et secondaires sont considérées comme solution, et que de tels sondages pouvaient y aider. |
Source : Glas Srbije
Lien vers l’étude (en serbe)
On 29 September 2011, Jeta në Kosovo (Life in Kosovo) broadcast a debate on the issue of (forced) repatriation and (re-)integration into Kosovo society.
From the presentation:
“What happens to the dozens of people who every day landing repatriated from foreign countries at the airport in Pristina? Do they have where to go and where to live? In the case when most of them are children, who care for their registration in schools? A society deals with these people or do so only because of the liberalization of visa?
To discuss this issue, Jeta në Kosove has invited:
Verena Knaus, a researcher at UNICEF;
Vera Pula, the Open Society Foundation, KFOS;
Qylangjiu Daut, a journalist in the newsroom RTK Roma;
Sylvian Astier, from the Swiss Embassy;
Islam Caka, Ministry of Internal Affairs, or Director of Department for Citizenship, Immigration and migration in the ministry.
Before the debate, BIRN broadcast a documentary film which tells the true situation on the ground, focusing on children who are repatriated, in most cases do not know any of the languages spoken in Kosovo.”
