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

Virginia Antonini, OSCE Acting Human Rights Officer in Prizren
After a short introduction of the members of the group, Mrs.
Antonini described the organization’s hierarchy. Kosovo is
divided into five regional centers. The organization’s director
is responsible for two senior officers: one for democratization,
one for human rights and rule of law. These officers oversee
the seven municipal teams, who work directly with Kosovar
municipalities in areas such as financial management,
language policy, outreach and transparency, fair-share
employment, housing and property rights, non-discrimination,
and legislative bodies and committees. The organization has
worked specifically on capacity building in municipalities, and has supported their efforts to
purchase Bosnian books for libraries and rebuild churches and monasteries. Finally, the
OSCE has also been active in the highly-politicized forced returns to the Prizren and Dragas
regions. Since March 2004, this returnee process has slowed dramatically.
The OSCE mission is one of proactive monitoring; they have no executive power to correct
abuses they observe or report.
Alberto Pasquero, OSCE Prizren
Mr. Pasquero reported to the group on the OSCE’s
monitoring of the Kosovar legal system. This mission
began in September 1999. The organization monitors
courts and tribunals for compliance with both domestic
and international human rights standards and
recommends sustainable solutions to meet those
standards. The OSCE has been granted full access to
court proceedings, investigations, and case files of national and international civil and
criminal cases. The monitors may examine any of the stages of the legal process: from
criminal event to investigation to follow-up investigation to indictment, trial, and appeal.
The monitors produce spot, monthly, and annual reports
for both criminal and civil proceedings. In criminal cases,
the organization has been focusing on war crimes, witness
protection, organized crime and human trafficking; in civil,
property disputes and domestic violence. Priorities
common to both civil and criminal proceedings include a
focus on minorities and intimidation of witnesses.
The monitors work under the two key principles of confidentiality and non-interference.
Pasquero underlined non-interference as a seminal element in the organization’s respect for
the independence of the judiciary, while recognizing that this might allow reported abuses to
go uncorrected. This non-interference was openly criticized by some members of the group.
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