By Wanda Troszczynska-van Genderen, Western Balkans researcher
Published in Guardian Unlimited
It is ironic that the deadline for the last-ditch effort at a negotiated settlement for Kosovo should have expired today, on International Human Rights Day. After a Nato-led intervention in 1999 justified in the name of human rights, and more than eight years of subsequent international administration, Kosovo remains a human rights basket-case, where political violence, impunity for common and political crimes, intimidation and discrimination are commonplace. If the European Union is serious about helping Kosovo, questions of sovereignty and recognition are not the only things that need fixing.
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The Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian minority communities remain vulnerable and marginalised, subject to discrimination and harassment.
Refugees and displaced Serbs and other minorities who wish to return to their homes cannot do so in safety and dignity. Meanwhile, western governments force back to Kosovo Albanian-speaking Ashkali and Egyptian minorities afraid or otherwise reluctant to return. Kosovo Serbs and Roma - whom the United Nations refugee agency says cannot be sent back - are sent instead to the main part of Serbia that lies north of Kosovo.
In both cases, little thought is given to the ability of these communities to absorb the returnees, and little or no assistance is available to those sent back.
Kosovo's human rights abuses stem in part from its weak justice system, and unwillingness on the part of the UN administration, dating back to 1999, to confront those who use political violence. Prosecutions for war crimes are a particular weak point. Lack of political will and insufficient prioritisation by international judges and prosecutors, and reluctance on the part of local judges to pursue suspects regarded by many as war heroes, mean that few cases have come to trial.
Inadequate witness protection is a major impediment to justice, especially for war crimes, organised crime and attacks on minorities.
The lack of accountability doesn't end there. There has been little check on the exercise of the UN mission's far-reaching powers. When the ombudsperson became too critical of the UN, his mandate to oversee the UN was removed and his office handed over to the provisional government. Civil society remains weak and the provisional government too preoccupied by status and internal power struggles to hold the unelected UN government properly to account. And with the UN mission winding down and planned EU-led replacement mission yet to deploy, it increasingly feels like no one is dealing with Kosovo's pressing day-to-day problems.
The continued search for a solution to Kosovo's status must not be an excuse for the international and local authorities turning a blind eye to its serious human rights problems. Kosovo's human rights crisis cannot wait for status. Without a renewed commitment to protect minorities, especially non-Serbs; to bring to justice all those responsible for political violence; to create conditions for sustainable return; and to promote accountability and the rule of law; Kosovo faces a bleak future, whatever its status.
