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Resolution 1912 (2013) Final version
The situation in Kosovo* and the role of the Council of Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly notes
that, since the unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo
continues to seek international recognition while further developing
its democratic institutions.
2. The Kosovo authorities continue to share power with an international
presence operating within the status-neutral framework of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. This presence, including
the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
and the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), has
gradually been reduced over the years.
3. The Assembly believes that the current phase of the European
Union-mediated negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade, at prime
minister level, indicates a greater willingness of both sides to
promote reconciliation and overcome the legacy of the past, and
creates a window of opportunity for resolving fundamental political
problems along with technical matters.
4. The Assembly notes that the Council of Europe continues to
apply a policy of status neutrality towards Kosovo, despite the
fact that 34 of its 47 member States have recognised Kosovo as a
sovereign and independent State. Recalling its Resolution 1739 (2010) on the situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council of
Europe, it emphasises once more that, irrespective of the status
of Kosovo, the people living there should enjoy good governance,
democracy, rule of law and the same legal and human rights as other
people in Europe.
5. In this respect, the Assembly regrets that overall progress
in improving the rule of law in Kosovo is slow, particularly with
regard to the fight against organised crime and corruption, both
in the north and south of Kosovo, and that the judiciary continues
to suffer from political interference, inefficiency and a lack of transparency
and enforcement. The Assembly therefore welcomes the recent restructuring
of EULEX that aims to prioritise certain rule of law areas, such
as fighting corruption and organised crime, in particular in the
north of Kosovo.
6. As already stressed in its Resolution 1839 (2011) on the political situation in the Balkans, the Assembly is
particularly concerned about the situation, including the security
of the Serbian community, in the north of Kosovo, where security
incidents and tensions persist. It remains convinced that a political
agreement on how to govern this area is a prerequisite for a sustainable
solution and for the realisation of the European Union aspirations
of both Belgrade and Pristina.
7. Since enhanced autonomy was granted to the Serb municipalities,
the sentiments of the Serbs living south of the Ibar River appear
to be changing, resulting also in a higher voter turnout. However,
the Assembly regrets that concerns for their safety and the full
respect of their rights still persist and believes that interaction between
the Kosovo Serb and Albanian communities needs to be further promoted.
Furthermore, the authorities’ strategy to protect and promote the
rights of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities living in Kosovo
also needs to be implemented with more vigour.
8. In the light of the above, the Assembly calls on the authorities
in Kosovo, EULEX and UNMIK to continue strengthening the rule of
law and the legal, institutional and policy framework for combating
corruption, in particular by:
8.1. introducing
concrete measures to ensure proper implementation of the legal framework
to curb political interference in the work of the judiciary and
providing the latter with adequate support, resources and training;
8.2. empowering independent anti-corruption bodies and fast
tracking the provision of data to judicial authorities concerning
corruption cases;
8.3. simplifying the supervision of public procurement and
monitoring the enforcement of existing rules;
8.4. improving legislation, policy and practice in the areas
of money laundering, financing of terrorism, trafficking in human
beings, drugs and weapons and asset confiscation;
8.5. developing an adequate witness-protection system;
8.6. providing the necessary funding and staff for an efficient,
competent and multi-ethnic public administration system, and offering
training in ethics and in the fight against corruption.
9. The Assembly welcomes the support of the European Union for
the Council of Europe co-operation programmes and encourages it
to:
9.1. continue to offer a European
perspective to the whole of the Western Balkans, including Kosovo;
9.2. ensure that its policy dialogues with Kosovo focus particularly
on strengthening the rule of law and are linked to incentives and
priority conditions, in line with the recent recommendations of
the European Court of Auditors;
9.3. ensure that the normalisation process between Pristina
and Belgrade goes hand in hand with the implementation of European
human rights and rule of law standards in the whole region;
9.4. support the Serbian authorities in finding sustainable
solutions for, and assisting the local integration in Serbia of,
internally displaced persons (IDPs) who do not wish to return home,
with a view to accelerating the normalisation process;
9.5. strengthen its EULEX mission by:
9.5.1. reinforcing its accountability and effectiveness in tackling
high-level corruption and organised crime;
9.5.2. focusing on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes,
along with an effective and well-funded witness protection programme;
9.5.3. implementing the recommendations found in the opinion
of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)
on the existing mechanisms to review the compatibility with human
rights standards of acts by UNMIK and EULEX in Kosovo.
10. The Assembly calls on the authorities in Pristina and Belgrade
to:
10.1. engage in the European
Union-mediated dialogue with an open mind and without preconditions;
10.2. continue to ensure co-operation with the relevant EULEX
bodies exercising executive law-enforcement functions in Kosovo,
including its War Crimes and Organised Crime Investigation Units,
as well as with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) and with the European Union Special Investigative
Task Force (SITF);
10.3. refrain from resorting to non-judicial means, such as talking
to the media, in a manner that might be seen as a threat to the
integrity of the judicial process;
10.4. intensify efforts to prevent the situation in the north
of Kosovo from becoming a frozen conflict and find ways to involve
Kosovo Serb civil society in the dialogue;
10.5. tackle cross-border organised crime and corruption also
by making progress towards the creation of a Balkan arrest warrant
and a pan-Balkan extradition mechanism, which must include Kosovo
if they are to be effective; in this respect, the signature of an
operational protocol between the Serbian authorities and EULEX would
improve mutual assistance in corruption cases;
10.6. allocate adequate resources to the Belgrade–Pristina Working
Group on Missing Persons and strengthen regional co-operation to
help clarify the fate of the missing;
10.7. intensify technical co-operation to establish clear statistics
relevant to refugee and IDP return and local integration, and continue
providing support for the return and reintegration of refugees in
their place of origin or, where appropriate, for integration in
the place of displacement, in co-operation with the international
community, and give priority to the promotion of access to basic
rights, including housing, education, health, employment and social
services;
10.8. publicly condemn and investigate inter-ethnic crimes and
all acts of religious intolerance and vandalism against religious
or cultural symbols;
10.9. support cross-border, grass-roots and civil society initiatives
aimed at reconciling citizens and fostering cultural change.
11. The Assembly calls on the authorities in Kosovo to:
11.1. pursue judicial reform to further
strengthen the independence, impartiality and transparency of the
judiciary, in particular by:
11.1.1. ensuring
sufficient resources for the proper functioning of the courts, including
in the Mitrovica district;
11.1.2. providing security and protection to judges, prosecutors,
litigants and witnesses;
11.1.3. restructuring prosecution offices and filling vacant positions
for minorities;
11.1.4. upgrading the case-management system;
11.1.5. improving awareness of human rights in judicial decision-making;
11.2. strengthen the financial independence of the Assembly
of Kosovo and of other independent institutions;
11.3. implement the recommendations of the Ombudsperson Institution
of Kosovo and ensure sufficient resources for its functioning;
11.4. implement the provisions enshrined in the legal and institutional
framework for the protection and promotion of minority rights and
facilitate interaction between communities, also by:
11.4.1. promptly investigating attacks
motivated by ethnicity or religion, and improving data collection;
11.4.2. ensuring that members of minority communities are employed
in public administration, including at senior level;
11.4.3. allowing children to receive education in their mother
tongue in public schools and establishing a procedure for registration
of private educational institutions providing education in a language
of their choice;
11.4.4. allocating adequate resources to civil registration offices,
reaching out to vulnerable communities and ensuring affordable registration
fees;
11.4.5. allocating adequate resources to the Office of the Language
Commissioner, responsible for monitoring the Law on the Use of Languages
in Kosovo;
11.4.6. ensuring broadcasting of programmes of the Kosovo public
broadcaster in the Serbian language;
11.4.7. supporting the work of the Kosovo Property Claims Commission
with a view to reducing the backlog of cases;
11.4.8. implementing legislation on the protection of cultural
heritage;
11.4.9. allocating adequate funds for the implementation of the
strategy for the integration of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities,
and paying attention to the situation of the Turkish and Bosniac communities;
11.4.10. ensuring fulfilment of all obligations relating to the
issuance of licence plates, without discrimination;
11.5. create the conditions for the sustainable return and reintegration
of displaced and repatriated persons, in particular by:
11.5.1. allocating adequate staff and
resources to municipal offices for communities and working groups
on returns;
11.5.2. complying with international standards governing post-conflict
property restitution;
11.6. ensure the independence of the media and the adequate
protection of journalists, in particular by:
11.6.1. fully implementing the laws concerning the Radio Television
of Kosovo (RTK) and the Independent Media Commission (IMC);
11.6.2. drafting a handbook detailing the proper procedures for
handling cases of violence against journalists;
11.6.3. fully implementing the law on access to official documents;
11.6.4. further promoting access to information for non-Albanian
communities;
11.7. promote gender equality and the empowerment of women,
in particular by:
11.7.1. strengthening
the fight against trafficking in human beings;
11.7.2. implementing the 2012-15 Action Plan on Domestic Violence;
11.7.3. finalising standard operating procedures for victims of
domestic violence and developing reintegration programmes for victims;
11.7.4. inviting the Kosovo Assembly to establish co-operation
with the Parliamentary Assembly’s parliamentary network, Women Free
from Violence
12. The Assembly welcomes the recent instruction issued by the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe to the Organisation's
Secretariat, which authorised Council of Europe officials to interact
with the Kosovo authorities with a view to facilitating the implementation
of Council of Europe activities and programmes.
13. In order to contribute to the democratic functioning of the
institutions in Kosovo, the Assembly:
13.1. encourages the Assembly of Kosovo to improve communication
with independent institutions, such as the Ombudsperson Institution
of Kosovo, and to ensure that they are allocated the necessary resources
to carry out their mandate;
13.2. encourages the Kosovo political parties to favour multi-ethnic
membership and leadership;
13.3. resolves to intensify and expand its own dialogue with
representatives of the political forces elected to the Assembly
of Kosovo and invites its Bureau to define the modalities thereof
with full respect for the policy of status neutrality.
14. Finally, the Assembly remains committed to promoting democracy,
human rights and the rule of law in Kosovo and therefore resolves
to continue to closely follow both developments in these areas and
the relevant Council of Europe activities.