Minority Rights Protection and Human Rights Policies in ... - IFSH

Julie Chadbourne, International Helsinki Committee and Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Julie Chadbourne worked for Human Rights Watch
before joining the International Helsinki Committee and
the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. She explained that
by working for these two different organizations, she
gained access to two totally different perspectives.
Working for Human Rights Watch meant taking an
observatory and evaluative role and consequently an
outside perspective, while she is now mainly concerned
with capacity-building, which she describes as an inside
perspective as she is taking part in the process. In her
presentation, she focused mainly on her work with Human Rights Watch and the results of a
study she conducted concerning the riots in March 2004.
She explained that, considering the new structures established by UNMIK, the riots of March
2004 should have been taken care of within a rule-of-law system. The aim of her study was to
investigate in how far that was the case.
She extracted three main results from her research data.
First she stated a lack of oversight. It took her several weeks to
get an overview about the cases. Closely connected to this
deplorable state of affairs was her second result: collaboration
within the judicial system did not function very well. The
different international and local institutions sent her on wild
goose chases, as none felt responsible for the overall
administration of the cases of March 2004. Chadbourne concluded that the lack of
communication between the different courts blocked a proper case management tracking
system.
Finally, she claimed a lack of transparency and information access for the people concerned.
Many of these people, who became victims of the violence and live in marginalized areas,
have never been interviewed. Neither were they accurately informed about their rights or even
about the improvement of the justice system and the rule of law.
Summing up, Chadbourne extracts rather negative results of the management of the riot cases.
Also she claims that an improvement within the institutional structure through an increasing
transfer of ownership becomes a politcal question, as it suggests a gain of further
independence for Kosovar institutions. Thereby a reforming process has additional obstacles
on a political level. In her opinion, the development of a functioning judicial system in
Kosovo does not have to be a political question, but it has turned into one.
Naim Maloku, Member of the Presidency, Kosovo
assembly
Naim Maloku gave a brief introduction of the
measures and structures in the Kosovo Assembly to
ensure minority rights.
Minorities in Kosovo have different possibilities to
influence politics. One is through their vote, another
through the provisions in the procedural assembly.
Of 120 seats within the assembly, 20 are reserved for
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