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COUNCIL OF Brussels, 23 July 2001 (20.08) THE EUROPEAN UNION (OR. da, en) 10613/01 CIREA 43 NOTE from : Danish delegation to : CIREA Subject: Report on the roving attaché mission to Kosovo Delegations will find attached a report 1 from the Danish Immigration Service on the abovementioned mission, carried out from 11 to 15 December 2000. ________________________ 1 Translated into English only. 10613/01 ket/DJW/mc 1 DG H I EN Contents 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................3 2. GENERAL SITUATION OF THE FORMER KLA.............................................................5 2.1. KOSOVO PROTECTION CORPS.....................................................................................5 2.2. PARTIES............................................................................................................................6 2.3. CRIMINAL ORGANISATIONS .........................................................................................9 2.4. LAW ENFORCEMENT ...................................................................................................11 3. DOCUMENTS ISSUED OR PURPORTING TO BE ISSUED BY THE KLA................12 4. REGISTRATION AND ISSUE OF DOCUMENTS............................................................15 4.1. REGISTRATION..............................................................................................................15 4.2. UNMIK TRAVEL DOCUMENTS....................................................................................15 4.3. TRAVEL DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA.....................................................................17 5. LIST OF PERSONS CONSULTED .....................................................................................18 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................................20 7. LIST OF ANNEXES...............................................................................................................21 ANNEX 1: ADMINISTRATIVE MAP OF KOSOVO.................................................................22 ANNEX 2: LIST OF NUMBERS OF STOLEN PASSPORTS....................................................23 10613/01 ket/DJW/mc 2 DG H I EN 1. Introduction In December 2000 the Danish Immigration Service carried out a roving attaché mission to Kosovo, with the following terms of reference: The delegation is to carry out a roving attaché mission, collecting information from the relevant authorities, international and national human rights organisations etc. in order to clarify the following: the general situation of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), including its strength and role following the elections in Kosovo; the situation regarding documents issued or purporting to be issuedby the KLA: – the validity of such documents; – the KLA's authority to issue such documents; – the penalties for not responding to call-up notices issued by the KLA; – the possibility of obtaining protection from the authorities; the situation regarding the registration of Kosovo Albanians resident in Kosovo and of Kosovo Albanians resident abroad; the situation regarding the issue of personal documents, including national passports, to Kosovo Albanians resident inside and outside Kosovo. The delegation held meetings with representatives of international organisations and local human rights organisations etc. in Pristina and Prizren. A list of sources is given in section 5. The list includes a description of some sources. No interpreter was used for any of the meetings. 10613/01 ket/DJW/mc 3 DG H I EN Sources were selected, amongst other criteria, to be representative and for their experience and knowledge of the subject under investigation. An effort was made to consult a range of sources, so that both independent international organisations and local organisations etc. were involved. Organisations with legal experience were consulted on questions of a legal nature. Background information about the sources was also gathered from relevant organisations and partners at home and abroad, including in Denmark. The number of sources consulted on each issue depended on its complexity and on the time available to the delegation. Several sources asked not to be quoted on their response to questions about the current strength and role of the former KLA in Kosovo, inasmuch as this was linked with the security situation. Some sources also expressed reservations about being quoted regarding documents purporting to be issued by the KLA. No sources were reluctant to be quoted on registration and the issue of documents. 10613/01 ket/DJW/mc 4 DG H I EN 2. General situation of the former KLA Under regulation No 1999/8 of 20 September 1999, as agreed between UNMIK, KFOR and the KLA leadership, the KLA was officially dissolved and, as it in its weapons, restructured as a civilian organisation, namely the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) 1. Former members of the KLA are also now active in politics and, according to several sources, in criminal organisations. An international source which wished to be anonymous felt that, despite these steps to dissolve the KLA, UNMIK has not succeeded in dismantling the KLA's parallel structure set up during and after the war. One international source, requesting anonymity, found it unclear whether the KLA's parallel police force still exists. It is possible that it does so, but consisting of those who have not been taken on by the Kosovo Protection Corps. It is also unclear what has happened to members of the KLA's military police; they might have been absorbed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) or criminal organisations, or they might simply have disappeared. The source had not heard of the ZKZ, the KLA's secret service, in the preceding four or five months, but it was quite possible that it had gone underground. 2.1. Kosovo Protection Corps The agreement between UNMIK, KFOR and the KLA leadership involved the inclusion of about 5 000 former members of the KLA in the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) and by the end of 2000 approximately 2 300 people were employed in various projects with the Corps. The Kosovo Protection Corps is led by the former KLA chief of staff, Lieutenant General Agim Çeku. The Corps is divided into six regional groups, namely Drenica, Prizren, Pec, Mitrovica, Pristina and Gnjilane. The Corps is not empowered to carry out police duties, such as maintaining law and order, but is an emergency service which is brought in to deal with disasters and undertakes other humanitarian duties. For example, the Kosovo Protection Corps has been involved in the reconstruction of schools and houses, the repair of roads and bridges etc. KFOR supervises the Kosovo Protection Corps under general guidelines drawn up by UNMIK's leadership. 1 The Albanian title is Trupat Mborjtëse të Kosovës (TMK), in which "mbrojtje" can mean both protection and defence. 10613/01 ket/DJW/mc 5 DG H I EN Following individual selection and after education and training, a number of former members of the KLA are now employed by the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) under UNMIK. UNMIK Police in Pristina (Station 1) believed that both Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of the liberal Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and former shadow president, and Hashim Thaci, the former leader of the KLA who now leads the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), have faithful supporters in both the Kosovo Protection Corps and the Kosovo Police Service. An international source which asked to be anonymous observed that the Kosovo Protection Corps is now more prepared to admit to being a military organisation than when it was first founded and that, unlike the former KLA, the Corps is well-organised. 2.2. Parties Politically, the former KLA is active in the following parties: the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), led by Hashim Thaci, previously leader of the KLA; the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), founded by the former KLA officer Ramush Haradinaj, amongst others, and led by Bardyl Mahmuti; and the Liberal Centre Party of Kosovo (PQLK), founded by the former KLA officer Naim Maloku. All the parties stood in the municipal elections held on 28 October 2000. The election was won, with 58% of the votes, by Ibrahim Rugova's liberal party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK); the Democratic Party of Kosovo, with 27% of the vote, was only the second largest party. However, it won majorities in the municipalities of Glogovac, Kacanik, Novo Brdo, Stimjle and Srebica. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, with 7,7% of the vote, came third, and was the second largest party in the municipalities of Decani, Pec and Djakovica. The Liberal Centre Party of Kosovo came fifth, with 0,8%, with one seat in Gnjilane and two in Suva Reka. The Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedom (CDHRF) saw the LDK's electoral victory as an important political step in the right direction and thought that the international community welcomed the moderate approach indicated by that victory. The CDHRF believed that the political problems in Kosovo would continue until an international solution was found and that attempts to reunite Kosovo with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would lead to a return to violence and war. The Danish Refugee Council believed that the election results were an indication that Kosovo Albanians generally were tired of conflict. The political situation following the municipal elections