Security Issues, Employment, and Application of Law on the Use of Languages and Anti-discrimination Law in Kosovo; Return of Displaced Persons to Kosovo in 2007 and 2008; Kosovo Institutions Applying the Law on the Use of Languages; Application of Anti-discrimination Law and Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo Public Companies; Implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages in the Kosovo Education Process.
This report is the result of systematic monitoring of initiatives in the field of transitional justice in the countries which came into existence following the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The monitoring has been carried out by human rights organisations, the Humanitarian Law Center (Belgrade) and Documenta (Zagreb). The disintegration of the Yugoslav federation was marked by three high-intensity armed conflicts – in Croatia (1991-95), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-95) and Kosovo (1998-99), where at least 130,000 people lost their lives, millions were forced to flee their homes, while hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed.
In the period: January – April 2008, the Humanitarian Law Center – Kosovo (HLC-Kosovo) conducted thematic research related to two different periods: the first period – from January until Kosovo’s declaration of independence on 17 February 2008 and the second – from the declaration of independence until April 2008.
During the first period, HLC-Kosovo researched the extent to which citizens had equal freedom of movement, access to municipal and other Kosovo institutions, such as health institutions, as well as the extent to which provisions of the Law on the Use of Languages and the Anti-discrimination Law were applied. This research also sought to establish whether citizens of Kosovo are satisfied with the services provided by public companies and whether Kosovo citizens’ right to information in their own languages is respected. During the period after 17 February 2008, HLC-Kosovo conducted research primarily to assess the freedom of movement of Kosovo–Serbs. Research also assessed the extent to which minority citizens have quit their jobs, the number of minority employees that have returned to their workplaces, and the response of the Kosovo institutions.
The office of the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo (HLC-Kosovo) is working to document facts that will assist society in Kosovo to deal with the recent past, while at the same time promoting the protection of minority rights, whose unsatisfactory situation is largely a legacy of the recent past. HLC-Kosovo seeks to counter denial and political manipulation of human losses, and ensure the integrity and transparency of war crimes trials dealing with those losses. It also seeks to promote and monitor the protection of minority rights, which are fundamental to Kosovo’s democratic development, to prospects for minority return, and ultimately to a peaceful relationship between Kosovo and Serbia.
War crimes trials in Serbia are being held before the War Crimes Trials Chamber of the Belgrade District Court founded in July 2003. In addition, two members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MUP Serbia) are being tried before the District Court in Požarevac for war crimes committed in Kosovo (Orahovac Case). The Niš District Court brought a first instance decision in the trial of two members of MUP Serbia for a murder committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo (the Emini Case), while in the Pakšec Case the Novi Sad District Court brought a first instance decision for the criminal offences of murder and rape.
The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) helps societies in the territory of the former Yugoslavia to establish the rule of law and to come to terms with the legacy of massive human rights violations in order to prevent their recurrence, establish the criminal responsibility of the perpetrators and ensure that justice is done.
During the period: 1 October – 15 December 2007, the Humanitarian Law Center-Kosovo (HLC-Kosovo) conducted research on the application of Anti-discrimination Law and the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo public companies. The research included the following companies: Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK)1, Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK)2, Kosovo Railways, Kosovotrans, Termokos, Town Central Heating Gjakovë/Đakovica, Priština/Prishtinë Airport, regional public companies for water supply and sewage, public utility companies, as well as companies for maintenance of parks, cemeteries and open market places. The research was conducted in all five regions of Kosovo (Prishtinë/Priština, Prizren/Prizren, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Peja/Peć i Mitrovicë/Mitrovica) in main offices and regional centres.
Application of Anti-discrimination Law and Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo Public Companies
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In the period from July to October 2007, the Humanitarian Law Center – Kosovo (HLC – Kosovo) researched and analyzed the extent to which local Kosovo institutions, Kosovo Assembly, District and Municipal Court in Prishtinë/Priština, Kosovo Property Agency, and Health Care Centre IV apply the Law on the Use of Languages. HLC-Kosovo conducted research in the following multiethnic municipalities: (Prizren/Prizren, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, Klinë/Klina, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Peja/Peć, and Dragaš/Dragash). It was also conducted in the municipalities with a predominantly Albanian population (Skenderaj/Srbica, Deçan/Dečane, Gllogovc/Glogovac, Malishevë/Mališevo, Podujevë/Podujevo/), and in the municipalities with predominantly Serb population (Štrpce/Shtërpcë, Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok, and Zvečan/Zveçan). HLC-Kosovo treated Prishtinë/Priština and Mitrovicë/Mitrovica as special cases.
Kosovo Institutions Applying the Law on the Use of Languages
In the period from February to May 2007, members of the HLC – Kosovo research team monitored if Article 4.4. of the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Governance in Kosovo and The Law on the Use of Language, which give guarantees to the members of minority communities in Kosovo that they would have education organized in their mother tongue, were implemented. On the basis of interviews conducted with the members of ethnic communities, teachers who teach in the languages of minorities, representatives of the local and central Kosovo institutions, analysis of the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Governance in Kosovo, Law on the Use of Language, Law on the Preschool Education, and the Law on Elementary and High School Education, the HLC – Kosovo wants to give a documented account regarding whether or not the guaranteed right of minorities to have education in their mother tongue is respected, to point to the obstacles that stand in the way of the complete implementation of this right, and give recommendations to the Kosovo institutions and UNMIK in order to have the situation considering the education of minority communities’ members in their mother tongue improved, thus enabling their complete integration into society in Kosovo .