Brief 20 Wag the Dog: the Mobilization and Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army Brief 20
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brief 20 Wag the Dog: The Mobilization and Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army brief 20 Contents Preface 4 Acknowledgments 5 The authors Zusammenfassung German Summary 6 Andreas Heinemann-Grüder is project leader at BICC and adjunct professor for comparative politics at Introduction 8 Humboldt University Berlin. His main fields of research are security What was the KLA? 10 politics in Eastern Europe, post- Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (FARK) 10 Soviet politics, and comparative federalism. The Emergence of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) 11 Tipping the Balance from Politics to Violence 12 Wolf-Christian Paes works as The KLA’s Arsenal 13 project leader at BICC. His main fields of research include small arms Financing the Struggle 13 issues, resource wars and civil- Recruitment 14 military relations. Regionally, he Training and Structure of the KLA 14 focuses on Southeastern Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. Mixed Messages from US Diplomacy 15 The Ground War in 1998 15 The KLA and NATO 16 From Military to Political Power—the Kosovo Provisional Government 17 The Disarmament of the KLA 19 Disarmament 19 Deficiencies of Disarmament 20 Demobilization by Transformation— The Kosovo Protection Corps 22 Demobilization and Reintegration 25 Policing Kosovo—The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) 26 Behavioral Patterns of Former KLA Members 29 Turning Military into Political Power— KLA Successor Parties 32 Offspring of the KLA—Crime and Violence 34 Extremist Groups outside Kosovo 35 Southern Serbia—the UCPMB 35 Macedonia—the National Liberation Army (NLA) 36 Editing: Conclusions—Lessons of the KLA Demobilization 39 Lynn Benstead Cover photo: References 42 KLA fighter in Kosovo, 13 January 1999. An armed member of the Interview Partners 45 Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in front of the ruins of a house near Appendix the KLA’s headquarters in I: Resolution 1244 (1999), Adopted by the UN Security Council Likovac (Kosovo). th at its 4011 meeting, on 10 June 1999 46 dpa II: Undertaking of demilitarization and transformation by the UCK, Signed on 20 June 1999 2 B·I·C·C 50 brief 20 Wag the Dog: The Mobilization and Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army Andreas Heinemann-Grüder and Wolf-Christian Paes B·I·C·C 3 brief 20 Preface Thanks to the Stability Pact, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation is able he Friedrich Naumann Foundation The study entitled Mobilization and to contribute towards democratic Tis currently working in a number Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation transformation in the Balkans. We are of countries which have been through Army clearly shows that the important aware that joint efforts are needed in order to achieve sustainable changes, armed struggles involving armies of insights which have been gained in and in presenting this material, we liberation. In all cases it has been Kosovo should be taken into account hope that it will be helpful and of proved that peace and stability can only during the planned disarmament of the come about when all the military forces Albanian guerrilla army in Macedonia. interest to all those who are working in a country have been subordinated to The paper not only confirms the for peace and progress. a legitimate monopoly of power. In above-mentioned universal truth about Rainer Willert Kosovo, it is widely assumed that some the necessity of a state monopoly of Friedrich Naumann Foundation, former KLA structures have somehow power, it also teaches us that the task Head of Project remained intact and are not, or not of demobilizing guerrillas cannot be completely, under UNMIK’s control. completed by military (NATO) efforts Skopje, 20 August 2001 But instead of facts, one only hears alone. Without good reason to believe rumors—sometimes even that the problems behind the fighting accompanied by the advice: Better not can and will be solved peacefully, to touch on that issue. fighters will hardly be prepared to leave the battlefield. And finally, carefully In order to obtain a more reliable designed, planned and implemented picture, the Friedrich Naumann civil reintegration programs are needed Foundation’s office in Skopje, which is for those former fighters who have The Friedrich Naumann Foundation, responsible for the subregion that been granted amnesty. Charges must be with its headquarter in Potsdam, includes Kosovo, asked the Bonn brought against the others. Germany, supports democratic International Center for Conversion transformation processes in more (BICC) to analyze the situation of the Hope and trust in the civil society are than sixty countries around the globe. former KLA in Kosovo. Only by of course essential—not only for Working with parliamentarians, knowing the reasons for these alleged former fighters. If we take a look at academics and members of civil parallel structures might it become Macedonia, we see a dramatic rise in society, the foundation aims at possible to design additional pessimism: 88% of the population building liberal democracies by instruments, i.e. incentives, training view the general situation negatively, organizing conferences and exchange programs for the civil (re-)integration only 4% feel positively. Even worse, programs on topics ranging from of former fighters etc., and to 90.7% see the economy negatively, only human rights to economic freedom. contribute to the debate on changes in 2.6% positively. (the rest gave no Since 2000, the office in Skopje has the political framework of Kosovo. It reply). As a result more than half— been coordinating project activities in was on this basis that a first project 53%—could imagine leaving the Albania, the Federal Republic of entitled “What happened to the country. These are the findings of an Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Kosovo. fighters” was formulated in December opinion poll which was commissioned 2000. As BICC carried out its field by our office (available at Friedrich Naumann Foundation research in Kosovo in April/May 2001, www.fnst.org/ausland/regional/ Naum Naumovski Borce 58 the fighting in Macedonia, and before msoe.phtml). Together with BICC’s 1000 Skopje, Macedonia that in southern Serbia, made it very study on Kosovo, these findings will Phone: +389 2 137 427 obvious that what is happening—or guide our next steps in this +389 2 133 019 not happening—in Kosovo has an complicated area. Fax: +389 2 296 340 impact on neighboring countries in the E-Mail: [email protected] region. 4 B·I·C·C acknowledgments Acknowledgments e should like to thank the WFriedrich Naumann Foundation, particularly its representative Rainer Willert, for supporting our research both financially and logistically. Dr. Enver Hoxhai proved to be a very reliable partner in conducting the standardized interviews with former KLA members. Driton Muhammed was relentless in his efforts to locate interview partners in Kosovo and acted as our interpreter. Our thanks also go to all our interview partners for the time they spent answering our questions and providing additional material. Kees Kingma read the whole manuscript—his critical comments are appreciated. Lynn Benstead and Zachary Moss edited the final manuscript. The authors are nonetheless solely responsible for the content of this report, including any remaining errors. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder and Wolf- Christian Paes Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) B·I·C·C 5 brief 20 Zusammen- Die politische Landschaft des Kosovos fassung wird durch den Konflikt und durch das Erbe der UCK geprägt. Die German Summary politischen Parteien zerfallen in zwei Lager, einerseits die moderaten Parteien um den „Schatten- präsidenten“ und Schriftsteller Ibrahim Rugova und andererseits die Nach- er vorliegende brief beschäftigt Die Entwaffnung der UCK durch die folgeparteien der UCK, die von den Dsich mit der Entstehung der internationale Kosovo Protection Force ehemaligen Kommandanten Thaci und albanischen Kosovo Befreiungsarmee (KFOR) hatte, im Gegensatz etwa zu Haradinaj angeführt werden. Die (UCK, engl.: KLA) in den neunziger den bescheideneren Ansprüchen der Niederlage der UCK-Nachfolge- Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts sowie mit NATO in Mazedonien im September parteien im Rahmen der Kommunal- der „Auflösung“ der Guerillatruppe 2001, die Einsammlung aller UCK- wahlen im Oktober 2000 scheint einen nach der Errichtung eines Protektorats Waffen zum Ziel. Allerdings wurden schleichenden Bedeutungsverlust der unter der Schirmherrschaft der nur etwa 10.000 Waffen sichergestellt, ehemaligen UCK-Kommandeure in Vereinten Nationen und der NATO im angesichts von 18.000 bis 20.000 UCK- der Öffentlichkeit zu signalisieren. Sommer 1999. Kämpfern eine recht niedrige Zahl. Trotzdem bestehen Kontakte zu den Substantielle Waffenfunde in den Separatisten und zur organisierten Mehr als zwei Jahre später ist dieses vergangenen zwei Jahren beweisen, Kriminalität inner- und außerhalb des Thema immer noch hochaktuell, dass die UCK – ebenso wie die Kosovo fort. obwohl oder vielleicht gerade weil sich serbische Minderheit im Kosovo – mit dem Sturz des Milosevic-Regimes immer noch über verdeckte Waffen- Zusammenfassend kann man feststel- in Belgrad die strategischen Parameter lager verfügt. Es ist anzunehmen, dass len, dass sich die UCK seit Anfang der auf dem Balkan verschoben haben. ein Teil dieser Waffen seinen Weg über neunziger Jahre von einer radikalen Galt der bewaffnete Kampf eines Teils die Grenzen in die Nachbarregionen Splittergruppe zu einer populären der albanischen Bevölkerung im gefunden hat. Befreiungsbewegung entwickelt hat, Kosovo noch vor zwei Jahren als deren Kämpfer sich seit