monthly newsletter – july 2010€¦ · central bank, hashim rexhepi, charging him with...

MONTHLYNEWSLETTER–July2010

PoliticalDevelopmentsOn 22 July, the International Court ofJustice(ICJ) issueditsAdvisoryOpiniononthe legality of Kosovo’s unilateralDeclaration of Independence, ruling thatthe Declaration ‘did not violate anyapplicable rule of international law’.Officials in Belgrade said the Court hadfailedtoaddressthekey issueofwhetherKosovo had the right to secede fromSerbia, adding that the battle for KosovowouldnowcontinueintheUnitedNationsGeneral Assembly. UN Secretary‐GeneralBanKi‐moondid not comment on the ICJOpinion, saying it would be forwarded tothe General Assembly. NATO’s GeneralSecretary also refused to comment, butmade it clear that the ruling would havenoimpactonNATO’smissioninKosovo.On 19 June, the International CriminalTribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)issued a warrant for the arrest of formerPrime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.Haradinaj, a former leader of the KosovoLiberation Army (KLA), stood trial beforeThe Hague in 2008 for crimes againsthumanity and violations of the lawsorcustoms ofwar, alleged to have beencommitted between March andSeptember 1998. He was found notguilty,buttheICTYAppealsChamberhasannouncedthathewillbepartiallyretriedafter the prosecution complained ofintimidationagainstkeywitnesseswho,asaresult,hadbeenunabletopresenttheirtestimony in full. Ramushwas re‐arrestedon21July,thedaybeforetheICJdelivereditsOpiniononKosovo, and transferred totheNetherlandswhereheisnowawaitingretrial. The Government of Kosovoexpressed concern over the process, andsaidthatHaradinajwouldsucceedinproving his innocence, as he had in theprevious trial. Haradinaj will be retriedalongsidetwootherformerKLAleaders,

Lahi Brahimaj and Idriz Balaj, who alsostood trial in 2008 for crimes againsthumanity. Unlike Haradinaj and Balaj,Brahimajwas foundguiltyandsentencedtosixyearsinprison.Also on the 21 July, the EULEX policearrested the Governor of the KosovoCentral Bank, Hashim Rexhepi, charginghim with corruption, fiscal evasion andmoneylaundering.ResearchontheLanguageCompetenciesofMunicipalOfficialsBetween the 12 and 14 July 2010, ECMIKosovo conducted a series of workshopson education for Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian (RAE) communities in threemunicipalities: Prizren, Gjakovë/ĐakovicaandFushëKosovë/KosovoPolje.Theseworkshops,thefirstofthreeeventsforeseen under the project of buildingsensitivity to RAE in schools, have beendesigned in collaboration with local civilsociety representatives of RAEcommunities. These representativesdeliveredpresentationsondiscrimination,which were then discussed byparticipants. The meetings were chairedby ECMI Project Manager KelleyThompson, with the assistance of ECMIProjectOfficerZihnieGurmani.ECMI Kosovo will now organise twofurther events per municipality. The firstwillbeavisitby teachers toRAE familiesat the beginning of the coming schoolyear. The second will be a workshop topromotecommunicationandcooperationbetween teachers and parents. Civilsociety will remain central to the designandconductof theseevents.Throughoutthe project, ECMI Kosovo will alsocontinue to work on an InformationalBooklet for each municipality, based oninformationgatheredattheevents,whichwillbedistributedinschoolsinOctober.

NeedsAssessment

ECMIKosovo, incooperationwithcivilsociety in the new Serb‐majoritymunicipalities,strengtheningtheirrolethrough training focused on thedevelopmentoftheprojectproposals

SupporttotheDecentralisationProcessOn 15 July 2010, ECMI Kosovoorganisedatrainingsessiononprojectdevelopment and projectmanagement for participants fromnew Serb‐majority municipalities.ECMI Kosovo representativesKatherine Nobbs and Lars Buremadelivered presentations and invitedquestions. Afterwards, participantsformedworkinggroupsanddevelopedtheir own ideas for project proposals.ECMI Kosovo representatives thenprovided feedback on the proposals,and have offered ongoing technicalsupportuponrequest.Furthermore, ECMI Kosovo continuedto publish information bulletins, andreached an agreement with themunicipalityofNovoBrdo/Novobërdëto begin production of a similarbulletin. Finally, ECMI Kosovo, incooperation with the Gračanica/Graçanicë‐basedNGOCSD,finishedadraft versionofanewsletterdetailingtheworkofthemunicipalityduringitsfirstmonths.

Str.RexhepLuci,No.16/3Prishtina,Kosovo,Tel.+381­(0)38224161www.ecmikosovo.orginfo@ecmikosovo.org

MONTHLYNEWSLETTER–July2010

ConsultativeCouncilforCommunitiesDuringthereportingperiod,thePresidentof Kosovo appointed a member of theCroatcommunity,MrNikolaRodić, to theConsultative Council for Communities(CCC). At his first Plenary Session on 5August, Mr Rodić thanked everyone fortheir support and looked forward toserving the interests of the CroatcommunityintheCouncil.

Nikola Rodić, the newest member of theCCC,representingtheCroatcommunitySadly, Mr Petar Miletić, the Chairman oftheCCC,wasunabletoattendthesessiondue toongoing injuries from lastmonth’sattack.Councilmemberswereunanimousincondemningtheviolenceandexpressingtheir support for Mr Miletić. During hisabsence,theroleofChairmanwillbeassumedbyMrĆerimBajrami.Mr Bajrami then presented thework andrecommendations of the Working Groupon Education which related, inter alia, tolanguage of instruction, staffrepresentativeness and enhancedconsultation with minority communities.All members agreed to an additionalrecommendation to include religiouseducation within the Kosovo FrameworkCurriculum.TheRecommendationswillbeforwardedtotheMinistryofEducation.

In linewith the recommendations of theWorking Group on Budgetary Issues, theCouncil voted to request increasing theCouncilbudgetfortheremainderof2010,and to secure a separate budget line fortheCCCwithintheOfficeofthePresidentof Kosovo for 2011. The Working Grouphas raised these issues directly with thePresidentofKosovo.According to the Action Plan forImplementation of the Strategy for theIntegration of the RAE Communities, theCCC is entitled to one member on theInter‐Institutional Steering Committee, apolitical body that will play a role inmonitoring implementation of theStrategy.Aproposalwasmade to formaWorkingGrouponRAEIssues,tosupportthat member and allow greater inputfrom representatives of all threecommunities.However, concernover theselectionprocedureforothermembersofthe Committee led to the issue beingpostponed, pending clarification by theOffice of Good Governance. The Councilalso voted against selecting a CCCrepresentativetotheSteeringCommittee.At the end of the session, ECMI DirectorAdrian Zeqiri informed CCC membersabout the launch of a new initiative insupport of the Council, funded by thegovernmentofGermany.MrZeqirigaveabrief outline of the project, which isscheduled to take place during theremainder of 2010, and requestedfeedback on proposed activities andsuitabledates.

CCCPlenarySession,5August2010

Enhance and Integrate CommunityConcerns within the Work of theGovernmentDuring the reporting period,implementationoftheproject‘Enhanceand Integrate Community Concernswith the Work of the Government’continued, with the update of theEthnoPoliticalMap, and a study on theuseof languages,andthedevelopmentofalegislationandpolicydatabase.InJuly2010,ECMIKosovobeganastudyon the role of the Consultative Councilfor Communities (CCC) and theParliamentaryCommitteeontheRightsand Interests of Communities (CRIC)within the legislativeprocess.Themaingoal of this activity is to create apracticalguide formembersof the twobodies, to facilitate their work andenhance the effectiveness of theirengagement within the legislativeprocess of Kosovo. The research iscurrently ongoing, and due to becompletedbytheendofSeptember.

Str.RexhepLuci,No.16/3Prishtina,Kosovo,Tel.+381­(0)38224161www.ecmikosovo.orginfo@ecmikosovo.org