At their 639^th meeting, the Ministers’ Deputies instructed the Secretariat to prepare, inter alia"¹a fact-sheet of action taken by the international community to monitor the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosovo in particular and suggestions for a possible mandate and modalities of monitoring Human Rights and democracy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the Council of Europe itself as appropriate".

The present document gives an overview of the action of the international community in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo (I) as well as suggestions concerning possible Council of Europe action in the field of monitoring of Human Rights in the country (II).

A. Diplomatic monitoring in Kosovo²

The current situation with regards to monitoring in the Kosovo region is characterised by two main elements:

- the refusal by the Serb authorities and in particular, President Milosevic, to accept any international mission with monitoring tasks to operate in Kosovo and FRY;

- following the Yeltsin - Milosevic statement of 16 June 1998³, the Serb authorities have given observers from accredited diplomatic missions in Belgrade access to Kosovo to monitor the situation.

Following a US-Russian initiative the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM) was launched on 6 July 1998. Its mission is to observe and report on the general freedom of movement and security conditions throughout Kosovo. Specifically, KDOM will observe and report on:

- NGO and foreign government access throughout Kosovo;

- security conditions and activities in Kosovo;

- the situation of internally displaced persons and refugees.

The KDOM works under the authority of a co-ordination group consisting of the Ambassadors of the Contact Group countries⁴ in Belgrade as well as the Ambassadors of Austria (EU presidency) and Poland (chairman-in-office of the OSCE). Four different teams operate under KDOM: EU, American, Russian and Canadian.

^{1 The Secretariat is also preparing a "list of measures to be taken by the authorities of the FRY concerning the situation in the country and in Kosovo in particular". This document will be distributed shortly.}

^{2 Source: ECMM Headquarters in Sarajevo. Deputy Head of Operations: Mr Klaus Kohler.}

^{3  "There will be no restrictions imposed for the appreciation of the situation by diplomatic representatives of foreign countries and international organisations, accredited in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...".}

^{4  France, Germany, Italy, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States.}

(i) EU teams

Since the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM – Headquarters in Sarajevo) has no Memorandum of Understanding nor mission statement regulating relations with the FRY the 30 monitors dispatched by the EU Member States plus Norway and the Associated countries are all accredited diplomats within their respective Embassies in Belgrade.

Staff: The monitors have different backgrounds and training: some military, others diplomatic or academic.

Mandate: the observers have a double focus on security and on humanitarian problems. The latter includes assessing the number and location of internally displaced persons, assessing their needs, reporting on the material destruction, etc. Following a recent Franco-German initiative an additional 15 observers will be added to the existing teams with the task to concentrate on the humanitarian situation of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Reporting: The co-ordinating centre is based in Pristina. Other centres are based in: Pec, Prirzen, Mitrovica, Orahovac. In the next few weeks centres in Uroseva and Klina will be open. Reports from Pristina are sent to the Belgrade ECMM regional centre, then to Sarajevo (ECMM Headquarter) and finally to the Committee on the Western Balkans Regions of the Council of the European Union (COWEB) in Brussels. In Pristina the Head of the co-ordination centre of the EU teams liases and co-ordinates with the other teams (Russian, Canadian, American). The Head of the ECMM regional centre is also the liaison person with the Embassies and takes part in the weekly meetings of the Contact Group in Belgrade. Whenever humanitarian and Human Rights violations are assessed, reports are also sent to the specialised organisations present in Kosovo, mainly UNHCR and ICRC. KDOM is therefore working in close co-operation with the other international organisations present in the region.

Logistics: EU monitors work in teams of four persons each. ECMM is providing all the logistics: cars (with diplomatic licence plates), satellite phones (no radios are allowed), etc.

(ii) US monitors

Staff: The US component of the KDOM has 12 observers, consisting of six teams of two. These teams comprise State Department and Defence Department personnel. They work under the direct operational control and guidance of the Belgrade Chief of Mission Mr. Richard Miles.

Logistics: The KDOM observers use white vehicles identified by a national flag and signs that indicate "diplomatic observers".

No information is presently available to the Secretariat on the Canadian and Russian teams.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is engaged in monitoring and reporting on the Human Rights situation in the whole of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The OHCHR opened its office in Belgrade in March 1996 and has in addition maintained a continuous monitoring presence in Pristina since March 1998. Staff of the office have been conducting interviews with a range of professionals, members of NGOs, alleged victims and others who have first-hand information about possible Human Rights violations. Regular contact with government officials has also been maintained. The presence produces regular reports and analysis of developments in Kosovo as well as other regions of the country. Close co-operation is maintained with partner international organisations.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights, Mr Jiri Dienstbier, is closely monitoring the Human Rights situation in the FRY and in Kosovo, with the assistance of the OHCHR.

UNHCR serves as the lead UN humanitarian agency for the FRY. Since early 1998 it has been working in close co-operation with other UN Agencies, other international organisations and NGOs to monitor the displacement of persons as a result of the violence in Kosovo and to assess the resulting humanitarian needs of the affected population. Co-ordinating mechanisms are operating in Pristina, Belgrade and Podgorica. UNHCR maintains close liaison with representatives of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as with members of the Kosovo Albanian community and the respective Red Cross Societies to share relevant information on population movements and assistance needs. It also liases with the diplomatic community and Human Rights organisations in Belgrade, Pristina and Montenegro as well as with the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM), the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) and relevant diplomatic missions. Regular briefings are provided on current developments and the monitoring of the safety of displaced persons and refugees.

UNICEF has developed an "emergency response plan" under which, in co-ordination with local health and social welfare processionals, it undertakes assessments to determine the health, nutritional and psycho-social status of the affected women and children and identify their immediate needs. UNICEF is also seeking to re-establish the network of trained care providers in Kosovo, in order to provide trauma screening and psychological support for children and families seriously affected by the conflict. The UN Special Representative for the protection of children in armed conflicts, Mr Olara Ottunu, has visited Kosovo at the beginning of September 1998.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has supported the refugee Serb population from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since 1992. As a result of the eruption of violence in February 1998, WFP has redirected its food stocks to Kosovo. In close co-ordination with UNHCR, WFP constantly monitors population movements and subsequent changes in food aid needs.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) maintains a co-ordinating role in the public health sector and provides technical guidance to agencies involved in this sector. It has a strong presence in Belgrade and Pristina whose purpose is to maximise health humanitarian efforts through sector co-ordination, enforcement of humanitarian standards, assessment and evaluation of ongoing intervention and target supply. It also supplies psycho-social emergency assistance to the internally displaced persons in Montenegro.

The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA is in charge of consolidating information on activities undertaken by the various agencies working on different aspects of the conflict in Kosovo itself, in Belgrade, Montenegro, "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and in Albania in order to gain an accurate and comprehensive picture on the humanitarian community’s response to the crisis. To this end, an Inter-Agency Reporting Officer has been seconded to UNHCR to strengthen inter-agency reporting in Kosovo.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides support to the UN Resident co-ordinator system and is formulating a contingency plan for multi-sectorial support to communities and local government in affected areas.

C. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies offer relief assistance to refugees in the region (mainly in Albania), in close co-operation with the different UN and humanitarian organisations present in the region.

D. The International Helsinki Federation of Human Rights monitors Human Rights violations in the whole region. Aside from its member Committees in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo itself, its membership includes Committees in all the territories bordering Kosovo: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Their reports are regularly published and distributed to Governments, international organisations and NGOs.

A number of other NGOs are monitoring Human Rights in the FRY and Kosovo, inter alia Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, AIM.

According to the information under I above most of the observer missions now operating in Kosovo concentrate on security and humanitarian issues. Human Rights violations are observed and accounted for in the KDOM and EU reports and by the numerous Human Rights international NGOs working in theatre. The violations witnessed by the EU teams, for instance, are of the most serious kind (i.e. the discovery of mass graves, tortured people, et.) and they have been reported to the specialised institutions (the Hague Tribunal, the ICRC, various NGOs) dealing with specific aspects of these violations, but not to the Council of Europe.

Besides this case by case reporting there is no systematic Human Rights monitoring by international organisations: President Milosevic refuses to allow any such observation; no Human Rights experts as such seem to be present in the observers’ teams. There appears, therefore, to be a need for more focussed reporting and analysis of the Human Rights situation in Kosovo and FRY in general.

Taking into account the information above on the mandates and modus operandi of the various observer teams, several alternatives could be examined with a view to a possible monitoring operation by the Council of Europe.

These could be a group of officials from Council of Europe member States (and possibly Council of Europe) staff seconded to their respective Embassies in Belgrade and assisted by ECMM logistics.

Advantages: visibility; independent Council of Europe reporting; political leverage in Belgrade; more systematic coverage of Human Rights violations; better monitoring of FRY conditions for accession.

Shortcomings: little likelihood of being granted permission from the FRY/Serb authorities; lack of resources, lack of Council of Europe experience and know-how in this kind of field operations.

B. Deployment of Council of Europe experts to assist the EU monitors on the reporting and analysis of specific Human Rights violations

A number of Human Rights experts seconded from Member States could be mandated by the Council of Europe to integrate the existing EU teams with the task of monitoring specifically Human Rights violations in the fields of their special competence. These could be: cases of torture, inhuman or degrading treatments or punishments, habeas corpus violations, unlawful detentions, children and women abuses, etc.

Advantages: feasibility with low costs (allowances to the experts would be covered by the EU). The experts would come from Council of Europe member States and would be accredited by their respective Embassies in Belgrade.

Shortcomings: lower visibility, need to clarify the reporting procedures with the EU, need to respond quickly to be credible, difficulty in finding several experts on a short-time notice.

C. Systematic exploitation of existing Human Rights reporting, including of reputed INGOS

This option is a fall back solution in case it would be impossible to send observers from the Council of Europe. A number of reports by International Organisations and international NGOs also refer to Human Rights violations. The Council of Europe’s Secretariat could be mandated to exploit these reports with a view to assessing the Human Rights situation in the FRY and more specifically in Kosovo and to examining the possibility of devising and implementing specific Council of Europe co-operation programmes.

Advantages: low costs; high feasibility; proximity to traditional Council of Europe’s action; direct link to Council of Europe operational focus, i.e. co-operation programmes.

Shortcomings: little visibility of action; no direct access to situation in theatre; time and labour intensive operation.

ooOoo

The Secretariat suggests that priority consideration could be given to the option under B. Pursuance of contacts already taken with Brussels (CFSP Secretariat) would allow to pursue this option.