June 2004
Vol. X, No. 2
The Path to Peace in Kosovo
Meeting internationally established standards could help resolve the status of Kosovo.
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When the international community intervened to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo five years ago, an ongoing debate ensued about how to resolve its final status. Would Kosovo remain a province of Serbia or would it become an independent state? There was not even a process in place to address this fundamental issue. Concerned that Kosovars might exact retribution against Serbs living in the area, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in April 2002 established eight objectives that would have to be met before Kosovo's final status could be resolved. The objectives included the establishment of functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law, guarantees regarding sustainable refugee returns and minority rights, and the beginning of a dialogue with Belgrade. In November 2003, UNMIK announced that a review would take place in mid-2005 to determine whether sufficient progress had been made toward these objectives for final status talks to begin.
Michael Dziedzic, program officer in the Research and Studies Program at the Institute, recently completed work with UNMIK to operationalize the standards that will be used as the basis for the 2005 review. Dziedzic returned to Pristina in early November at the request of Harri Holkeri, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Kosovo, to complete his work on the "Standards for Kosovo" and to launch the process that will be used to work toward their attainment. He spoke at an Institute briefing in early December.
"Surprisingly, the interim government of Kosovo was adamant that the requirements be spelled out in precise detail," he said. "It was not a matter of selling them on the idea." However, he said there was an urgent need to create a partnership between the provisional government and UNMIK, so that the process of fulfilling the standards is seen as a mutual endeavor.
The challenge, said Dziedzic, was to make sure that these goals were not merely words on paper but had concrete outcomes that could be objectively measured. "It's one thing to propose that all ethnic groups enjoy equal access to the justice system, but how do you measure equal access to justice?" asked Dziedzic. "One of the solutions we proposed was to measure crime clearance rates, so that, for example, the percentage of murders solved is comparable regardless of the ethnicity of the victim." Another important indicator is to see that effective action is taken to deal with assaults on police, judges, and prosecutors—again, regardless of the ethnicity of the victim or the assailant. Some outcomes were harder to define. For example, the standards call for "full and fair" representation of minorities in such government agencies as the police. But what percentage of minorities constitutes "full and fair" representation?
Dziedzic's work was praised by observers and participants alike. "We are building a partnership for success between the international community and Kosovo," said Charles Brayshaw, principal deputy special representative of the secretary-general. "Mr. Dziedzic and the Institute provide[d] essential foundation stones for that effort."
Other Institute Resources:
- Kosovo: Status with Standards (Related Newsbyte)
