publications

Role of International and National Authorities

Outreach to Affected Communities

NOT IMPLEMENTED

The principle of open justice requires that justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. That requires an effective outreach program to communicate with the public what is happening in the criminal justice system, including letting victims know the status of investigations into their complaints.

Human Rights Watch’s research on the status of the March 2004 investigations revealed a widespread lack of knowledge about the ongoing investigations and prosecutions among the affected minority communities. Almost all the displaced persons and municipal representatives we interviewed for our May 2006 report said they had little or no knowledge of any actions taken to bring to justice those responsible for the March violence.72 This lack of information deepened the level of distrust toward both international and Kosovo institutions within the minority communities.

Since then, some attempts have been made by UNMIK, UNMIK police, the KPS, and KFOR to reach out to the communities, especially minorities that are the most vulnerable to violence. Community policing has been strengthened by deploying more police officers to perform monitoring and liaison functions. Local safety councils exist in most municipalities, but the frequency with which they meet and the level of their activity varies greatly.73

The councils were established by UNMIK to provide a platform where police, KFOR, village leaders, and municipal officials could meet to discuss all safety-related concerns.74 They are composed of international (UNMIK, KFOR, sometimes also UNMIK police) and local (KPS, municipal authorities, minority community leaders) representatives, and monitored by the OSCE.75

In practice, it appears that neither the local safety councils nor community policing have contributed a great deal to the resolution of security problems at a local level.76 According to a Serbian community leader, many within minority communities see the structures as little more than window dressing, designed to create the impression that “things are going well and improving.”77

Greater Transparency

NOT IMPLEMENTED

Open justice also requires transparency in the functioning of the criminal justice system. Obtaining accurate and up-to-date information on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes and inter-ethnic violence is a difficult task in Kosovo, especially for non-English-speaking individuals based outside Pristina. 78 More generally, the criminal justice system lacks transparency.

No significant changes have occurred in this regard since the publication of our May 2006 report.79 As noted above, the absence of a functioning electronic case management system hampers access to case information, including statistics. Moreover, the public is not well informed about criminal court decisions, and outreach to victims and complainants frequently fails to take place.

Members of the public, including affected communities, rely on the Kosovo media for information about the criminal justice system.80 The media tend to focus only on the most high-profile trials.




72 Human Rights Watch, Not on the Agenda, p. 56.

73 Human Rights Watch email correspondence with an international official, February 3, 2007.

74 UNMIK regulation 2006/54.

75 Human Rights Watch interview with a Serbian community leader, Gracanica/Gracanice, July 14, 2007.

76 Human Rights Watch email correspondence with an international official, February 3, 2008.

77 Human Rights Watch interview with a Serbian community leader, Gracanica, July 14, 2007.

78 Human Rights Watch, Not on the Agenda, p. 58.

79 Human Rights Watch interview with a Serbian community leader, Gracanica, July 14, 2007. Human Rights Watch interview with a local NGO representative, December 13, 2007.

80 Human Rights Watch, Not on the Agenda, p. 57.