United Nations Interim Administration Mission In Kosovo Research Articles

The Effectiveness of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Building the Capacity of Local Police Forces: Case of Kosovo

Kosovo has historically been the scene of ethnic-driven regional conflicts among the communities. After the disengagement of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1992, the conflicts that had begun with the independence declarations of the Republics of SFRY eventually evolved into ethnic disputes between Serbs and Albanians. As the United Nations (UN) failed to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated an air campaign to stop armed attacks by Serbian Military Forces on the Albanian civil communities. The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in 1999 to restore peace and stability in Kosovo. One of the mandated tasks of the UNMIK was to establish the local police known as Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and to build its capacity. The objectives of this research are to determine whether the UNMIK was effective and successful in building the KPS’s capacity. A set of new success criteria is developed and applied to evaluate the success of UNMIK in this mandated task. Data for this study were collected using official reports of the UN and the crime statistics of the KPS. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that UNMIK was successful in establishing a local police force.

Privatization in post-war Kosovo: Legal review

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze privatization in Kosovo as a complex legal process of redistribution of social wealth to private individuals or certain enterprises. The privatization process in Kosovo cannot be compared with the privatizations of countries in the region due to its economic and political specifics, as a country with economies in transition and high levels of corruption (Borošak, 2018). To study this phenomenon, we will analyze the data published by the complaints received from the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) the decisions of the Special Chamber as well as the judgments of the Special Chamber for human rights. Data analysis concludes on descriptive statistics, analysis of domestic laws, and regulations of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), reports from the World Bank, processed cases, and Special Chamber court decisions on privatizations. The study concludes that the process of privatization of socially owned property has caused conflicts between the descendants as property owners before their confiscation, privatization has further destroyed the country’s economic development rather than improving the well-being and lives of its citizens. This paper is of great importance for policy makers, officials, scholars as the processing, publication of data, and sanctioning will enable this phenomenon that has become a new way of enrichment to be stopped and the state to be built for society and to belong to society.

Establishing Institutions under International Administration

The international community, led by the United Nations, created Kosovo’s new post-war institutions and continues to influence them, even after Kosovo declared independence in 2008. One of the very first priorities of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was to establish the rule of law and to develop institutions and legal frameworks for a normally functioning economy. However, after almost two decades of internationally led institution-building, Kosovo is still, measured by European standards, a poor country with weak institutions. This paper shows that the creation of institutions does not follow a rational decision-making model, even when, like in Kosovo, institutions are created under direct international involvement and with the intention to develop the rule of law and facilitate economic development. The garbage can model approach to governance and decision-making provides a better explanation of the formation of governance institutions and why institutions, despite perhaps the best intentions, do not produce the desired results; failing to solve the underlying policy problems. The case studies on the privatisation of socially owned property and the development of contract law show that, in the case of Kosovo, adopting the best international and European standards almost always meant adopting a decontextualised solution promoted by an international actor. It did not really matter if that solution indeed solved the problem. In fact, in most cases the problem remained, with new problems being created because of the inadequacy of the imported ready-made solution. The conclusion is that sometimes less international assistance is more. In the absence of so much international financial and technical assistance, Kosovar leadership would have been required to assume more ownership of the policy-making for solving their problems. Less international assistance would also have meant less competition between international actors and less pressure to adopt ready-made decontextualised solutions.

The role of international organizations in the development of security sector in Kosovo: Advantages and constrains

Pursuant to UNSC Resolution 1244, following the war and the NATO bombing campaign, Kosovo was placed under an international administration, by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). After the end of the war, the course of the security policies in Kosovo was directed mainly by international actors. Basically, the security sector was non-existent, whereas the international military and civilian presence was responsible for the security of Kosovo’s borders and the protection of public order. The responsibility for security thus belonged to the international community and was progressively transferred to the Kosovo security institutions. While in the beginning, the takeover of security by the international community was a necessity in order to provide peace and stability, the prolongation of the delegation of ownership to local institutions created disadvantages in terms of timely and professional development. During international administration, the undefined political status of Kosovo influenced the security sector as an area reserved for the international community.

Osoby zaginione w Kosowie a ONZ – rozważania na tle działalności Komisji Doradczej ds. Praw Człowieka

Artykuł przedstawia analizę orzecznictwa Komisji Doradczej ds. Praw Człowieka w Kosowie w zakresie przeprowadzania dochodzeń w sprawie losu osób zaginionych. Komisja została powołana w celu rozpatrywania skarg dotyczących naruszeń praw człowieka popełnianych przez lub przypisywanych Misji Tymczasowa Administracji Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych (UNMIK). Rozpatrując te sprawy stosowała przede wszystkim Europejską Konwencję Praw Człowieka i powoływała się na orzecznictwo Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka. Mimo że między skargami do Trybunału i Komisji Doradczej występowały istotne różnice, to ich orzecznictwo było bardzo zbliżone: oba organy podobnie interpretowały rozkład ciężaru dowodu oraz obowiązki proceduralne wynikające z art. 2 Konwencji, a także przy zaistnieniu szczególnych czynników, uznawały naruszenie art. 3 Konwencji wobec bliskich osoby zaginionej. Przy czym Komisja Doradcza badając naruszenie praw bliskich osób zaginionych wprowadziła dwie istotne zmiany: stwierdzała naruszenie ich praw niezależnie od odpowiedzialności UNMIK za samo zaginięcie, a także ograniczyła swoją jurysdykcje temporalną w tym kontekście. W artykule poddano też analizie wykonywanie opinii Komisji Doradczej w sprawie zaginięć.

Breaching of human rights in Kosovo and Metohija (1999-2014): A case study

The war between Yugoslavia and NATO, which lasted since 24. March until 10. June 1999, completed with Serbian forces withdrawal from Kosovo-Metohija. With the arrival of peacekeeping forces of KFOR and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) new resurrection of Serbian community in Kosovo-Metohija has begun. Thousands crimes have been committed against the members this community. Responsible for the crimes mostly remains unidentified and unpunished. KFOR, UNMIK, EULEX along with institutions of Kosovo deny and violate human rights of the Serbian community since 1999 until nowadays. Case of Bogdan Djokic reveals denial and violation of right to life, tenure right, right for fair trial and legal remedy.

Violations of human rights of victims and victims family members of Albanian terror in Kosovo-Metohija (1999-2014): Case study

The war between Yugoslavia and NATO, which lasted since 24. March until 10. June 1999, completed with Serbian forces withdrawal from Kosovo-Metohija. With the arrival of peacekeeping forces of KFOR and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) new resurrection of Serbian community in Kosovo-Metohija has begun. Thousands crimes have been committed against the members the community. Responsible for the crimes mostly remains unidentified and unpunished. KFOR, UNMIK, EULEX along with institutions of Kosovo deny and violate human rights of the Serbian community since 1999 until nowadays. Case of Bogdan Djokic shows denial and violation of right to life, tenure right, right for fair trial and legal remedy.

L’OSCE au Kosovo, une identité faible et une action entravée Le cas du service de police du Kosovo

L’article analyse le role de l’OSCE (Organisation pour la Securite et la Cooperation en Europe) dans le cadre de la Minuk (Mission des Nations Unies au Kosovo), la mission de paix qui a ete etablie au Kosovo en 1999. L’Omik (Mission de l’Osce au Kosovo) s’etait vu confier la tâche d’y (r)etablir des institutions, y compris en ce qui concerne le secteur de la securite, avec la constitution d’une nouvelle police locale, le Service de Police du Kosovo (SPK). Bien que s’etant efforcee de mettre en place une police democratique et multiethnique supposee etre vecteur de reconciliation, l’OSCE fut au Kosovo une institution faible dont l’action a ete « brouillee » voire entravee par la Minuk, laquelle s’est montree plus soucieuse d’atteindre une pacification a court terme qu’une reconciliation durable. L’article prend appui sur des sources diverses : entretiens, archives d’organisation, observations de terrain, documents officiels, et repose sur des sejours de terrains aussi bien au Kosovo qu’au siege de l’OSCE a Vienne.

Children after war: A novel approach to promoting resilience through music.

Increasing research is promoting the need for innovative, holistic, and sustainable ways to foster resiliency and recovery in war-affected children. The Shropshire Music Foundation seeks to promote a culture of peace and unity, as well as development and recovery for children living in postconflict Kosovo. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of this program, by independent investigators, in promoting resiliency and diminishing distress in program participants. The study evaluated groups of students with no program participation, new program participants, 12 months of participation, and program graduates (N 74). Overall, children who participated in the program at least 1 year evidenced fewer affective and cognitive disturbances than children recently enrolled. Furthermore, the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology and conduct problems was mediated by attention problems. As researchers and practitioners from various fields continue to address the damage caused by armed conflicts, there is a need for developing innovative and dynamic approaches to healing and recovery in affected communities. This article will examine one such innovative approach to fostering recovery in children affected by conflict in Kosovo. After providing a brief background on the armed conflict in this region, we will examine some of the liter- ature on the psychological consequences of war and trauma on individuals and communities, specifically on children. Rationale for the need of a holistic approach to recovery will then precede the purpose of the current study, which is to examine the effects of a community-based music education program on cognitive and behavioral functioning in Kosovo youth. The region today known as Kosovo has a long history of ethnic and social tensions, outside rule, and war. Centrally located in the Balkans and bordered by Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, and Mace- donia, the ethnically Albanian-dominated region of Kosovo had been under Serbian rule since the Middle Ages. In 1991, Kosovo Albanians (Kosovar) declared full independence of Serbian rule and launched an insurgence to assert their claim. The Serbian military began a violent campaign in 1998 to control uprisings, resulting in massacre and the ejection of approximately 800,000 Kosovar from the country. International peacekeepers forced a cease-fire and expulsion of Serbian military forces in 1999. Though NATO and the United Nations became involved at this point, Kosovo independence was not officially recognized until 2008. During the intervening period, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) oversaw the gover- nance of the Republic of Kosovo (for a more extensive historical overview, see Kubo, 2010 or the online Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook page for Kosovo). Today, the country is still establishing itself as an independent republic and seeking to heal the wounds of war and hatred. Though many Kosovo Albanians outmigrated as refugees, many others are cur- rently fighting a different type of battle: rebuilding ethnic relation- ships, reintegrating uprooted people, and establishing unified so- cietal structures.

Theories and Practice of State Succession to Bilateral Treaties: The Recent Experience of Kosovo

This article explores the most recent practice, as exemplified by the case of Kosovo, concerning succession to treaties in international law. In doing so, it examines the precise meaning and legal effects under international law of relevant provisions of the Declaration of Independence (DoI) of Kosovo with respect to international treaties concluded by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) or, as applicable, any other predecessor entity. More specifically, the aim is to identify and comprehend the fundamental principles underlying the existing or developing practice of treaty succession, and to situate it within a broader framework of succession in international law. Kosovo's absence from key multilateral regimes, in particular the United Nations, dictates a focus on succession to bilateral treaties. Kosovo is in the process of establishing with its partners the status of its bilateral treaties undertaken by way of succession.

Between Democratisation and Democratic Consolidation: The Long Path to Democracy in Kosovo

This article analyses the process of democratisation and democratic consolidation in Kosovo. In doing so, it presents a framework for analysing democratisation and democratic consolidation as two distinct processes. Early efforts at democratisation in Kosovo as part of the former Yugoslavia stalled with the violent conflict of the 1990s, and were only revived with the deployment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 1999. Despite any successes that UNMIK may have had in promoting democratisation however, democratic consolidation remained elusive, in large part because of Kosovo's lack of sovereignty. The declaration of independence in February 2008 changed the situation, providing an opportunity for democratic consolidation. The article provides an analysis of the new constitution and the first post-independence general elections in an effort to evaluate local democracy, arguing that although limited progress had been made, Kosovo had not achieved democratic consolidation by the end of 2011.

The post-independence civil service in Kosovo: A message of politicization

This contribution discusses the politicization of the civil service system in Kosovo as a framework through which politicians exert influence in the system. The article employs the concept of formal-political discretion, as a means of explaining and elucidating the extent to which both the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and current legislation regulating civil service preconditions/pre-favours the politicization of the senior civil service in Kosovo. It first discusses the concept of politicization based upon current scholarship and gives hints on the way in which these concepts fit with both UNMIK and Kosovo’s current situation. Next, the article discusses and compares the previous civil service system built by UNMIK with the current one – built in post-independence Kosovo based upon the formal-political discretion model. The article further argues that the former system of civil service – in contrast to the current system – provided less formal-political discretion to political elites with which to politicize the senior civil service. The article concludes by suggesting that the current post-independence legislation regulating the civil service grants the executive institutions a significant level of formal-political discretion in the appointment, dismissal and promotion of civil servants.Points for practitionersThe articles offers a thorough, both theoretical and practical, policy explanation of the model and structure of Kosovo's civil service, hinting on the previous and current legislative gaps that allow for partisan influence and control. The article also portrays the routes via which the politicization of the civil service in Kosovo is being developed, giving insights on how civil servants perceive such a process. Comparing the previous civil service system with the current one, the article informs practitioners on the directions that the new reform on Kosovo's civil service should take. Finally, the article provides in-depth policy information on the means to redesign the key protection mechanisms of Kosovo's senior civil service management.

The Internal Displacement of the Roma, Ashkali, & Egyptians in the Former Yugoslavia and Their Denial of an Effective Remedy

As a result of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, ethnic conflict in the Balkans was particularly harsh during the 1990’s. Civil war erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina between Serb, Croat, and Bosniak groups; this war spread easily across the fluid borders of the former Yugoslavia into Croatia and Slovenia. Additionally, Slobodan Milosevic led a bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Albanians of Kosovo. The war-torn streets and the vacant, damaged buildings remain today as evidence of this violent decade. The people who once inhabited these buildings fled amidst the conflict, with many remaining displaced today. One of the hardest hit ethnic groups was the Roma of northern Kosovo. Ethnic groups of the Balkans are divided by language, culture, and religion, and they hold strong prejudices against each other, especially the Roma. That the Roma are geographically interspersed among the other ethnic populations of the region make ethnic tensions more prominent. In this paper, I examine the internal displacement of the Roma in northern Kosovo and the international community’s failure to provide an effective remedy to redress their injuries. In Section II, I discuss the events leading up to the displacement, including the civil strife within the former Yugoslavia and international involvement led by NATO and the UN Security Council. The Security Council established the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) through Resolution 1244, which was legally responsible for safeguarding the rights and civil liberties of the people of Kosovo. I also discuss the Kosovo Liberation Army’s (KLA) attack on the Roma Mahalla and the subsequent internal displacement of the Roma. While the majority of the inhabitants fled the country and region, some stayed behind and were placed in displacement camps of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Conditions in the camps were terribly unhealthy, but the response of the international civil presence, UNMIK, was slow and ultimately unsuccessful.In Section III, I discuss the potential legal obligations of UNMIK by examining the law in place during the UNMIK’s nine-year administration. Despite enacting a comprehensive legal system, which included obligations to comply with numerous international treaties, the administration has refused to be held accountable for its failure to protect Roma rights. I argue that UNMIK should work with the Roma community to find an adequate and sustainable housing solution. Providing housing would not completely ameliorate the Roma community’s economic problems, but it is a step towards rebuilding the Roma Mahalla, which was destroyed during UNMIK’s watch. I also examine whether the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia can and should be held liable for the abuse of the Roma.In Section IV, I focus on the Roma who have resettled in Western Europe. Countries such as France, Germany, and the UK have aided thousands of Roma refugees in compliance with their obligations under the Refugee Convention. Giving temporary shelter for refugees, however, does not equate to citizenship, and these countries have set forth an ambitious forcible return policy of the RAE. I examine the likely consequences of these repatriation agreements between the Republic of Kosovo and governments of Western European countries, which unfairly subjects returnees to the possibility of refoulement as well as placing extreme pressure Kosovo’s limited government resources. Kosovo’s government is making preparations for the inevitable influx of population. Though international aid groups — both governments and NGOs — can and should do more to support Kosovo’s returnees, Western European countries can help the most by delaying these deportations.

International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Kosovo's Declaration of Independence: Jurisprudence We Can Rely On?

Starting in 1998, Serbian military, police, and paramilitary forces conducted a counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in massacres and massive expulsions of ethnic Albanians. Approximately 800,000 Albanians were forced from their homes in Kosovo during this time. In 1999, the Security Council of the United Nations adopted a Resolution recalling the failure to full compliances with the requirement of previous Resolutions in which addressed the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) placed Kosovo under a transitional administration, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), pending a determination of Kosovo's future status.On 17 February 2008, the representatives of the people of Kosovo, declared the independence of Kosovo while the negotiations regarding the legal status of Kosovo was still persisted. Due to the circumstances of the declaration of independence, the General Assembly of the United Nations requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice to enquire whether or the declaration of independence by the representative of the people of Kosovo is in accordance with international law.This paper would like to analyse the opinion given by the ICJ on the legality of the unilateral declaration of independence and to examine whether the Advisory Opinion shed some light on the controversial issues such as self-determination, whether the Opinion, as jurisprudence, helped comprehend international law, what the legal effects of the opinion are, and what political consequences the opinion have.

Security sector reform in Kosovo: the complex division of labor between the EU and other multilateral institutions in building Kosovo's police force

Security Sector Reform (SSR) is critical in post-conflict settings, particularly when it comes to the reform of judicial systems, intelligence services, police, correctional systems, and the military. This article traces and analyzes the inter-institutional division of labor between the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo, and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) concerning police reform process in Kosovo. After providing an overview of the evolution of cooperation on SSR between the EU and these other international organizations in Kosovo, the article outlines the complex division of labor among various international organizations in establishing the police force, discusses the process of recruiting minorities into the force, and analyzes the general process of reforming Kosovo's police force. Following a discussion of the obstacles and challenges associated with building and reforming the police, it concludes with a summary of key findings.

The Human Rights Framework Applicable to Trafficking in Persons and its Incorporation into UNMIK Regulation 2001/4

With the General Assembly’s adoption of the text of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons in November 2000, the international community achieved a degree of consensus on an issue that has been the subject of politically-charged and morally-loaded debate since it undertook to elaborate the draft in December 1998 – whether and how to incorporate a human rights approach into this new international legal instrument which would supplement the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Trafficking in persons is a complex phenomenon, encompassing such issues as gender discrimination, economic exploitation, and globalisation. As that complexity has been revealed, so has the international discourse on the issue become more sophisticated, acknowledging the great variety of configurations in which, and purposes for which, it occurs, as well as, in the words of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, “the continuum of women’s movement and migrations” within which trafficking exists. Another aspect of this complexity is the range of actors typically involved – from the “travel agents” and “employment recruiters” in countries of origin, to the corrupt law enforcement officials in transit countries, to the “bosses” who control the entire process. It is now well established that governments are not absolved of responsibility simply because acts violating human rights are committed by persons other than state officials. Further, such responsibility is not limited to cases where non-state actors are acting on behalf of the state. Human rights law imposes a duty on states to prevent and respond to violations committed by non-state actors, even when there is no connection between such actors and the state. The complexity of trafficking is also reflected in the finally agreed upon definition of trafficking in persons, which is broad enough to cover all actors and intermediaries and to respond to the realities faced by victims of trafficking. This definition has found immediate application in Kosovo, where the absence of law enforcement following the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav forces in June 1999, coupled with the slow build-up of effective interim police services, enabled organized crime to flourish – and with it, the trade in human beings.This article sets forth an analysis of the legal responsibilities of states under human rights law for violations committed in a trafficking context, and demonstrates how Regulation 2001/4 of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) establishes the legislative foundation for fulfilling those responsibilities in Kosovo. Section I de-scribes the situation in Kosovo, highlighting the particular features of trafficking in persons in a post-conflict territory under United Nations administration. Section II examines the modes of state accountability that apply in a trafficking context, outlining the spectrum from pure state action to pure non-state action, with particular emphasis on the latter. Section III presents a legal analysis of human rights violations typically occurring in a trafficking context, and the obligations of states to prevent and respond to those violations. Section IV provides a commentary on UNMIK Regulation 2001/4, illustrating the incorporation of these obligations into the applicable law of Kosovo. Finally, Section V concludes the analysis and commentary by emphasizing the need for implementation of the Regulation, as well as other measures designed to address the underlying causes of trafficking in persons.

Reasonable Measures in Unreasonable Circumstances: A Legal Accountability Framework for Human Rights Violations in Post-Conflict Territories Under UN Administration

The administration of post-conflict territories by the United Nations has given rise to a peculiar challenge to the international legal regimes that ordinarily provide protection from and redress for human rights violations. As norms generated within a legal system in which states were the primary, almost exclusive, subjects of the law, the application of human rights, humanitarian, and international criminal law is complicated by the virtual absence of traditional state actors in such situations. Indeed, in these situations public power is exercised by an intergovernmental organization, and a disproportionate level of power is wielded by other non-state actors, including, in some instances, organized, armed groups.Essentially, this paper seeks to answer the question: how do we apply human rights and humanitarian law when all of the relevant parties are non-state actors? It attempts to answer this question by setting forth the relevant legal accountability framework, citing examples from the practice of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), as well as the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), and demonstrating the application of this framework in particularly challenging circumstances. Conclusions are then drawn from this exercise regarding the proper understanding of the framework in such situations.The first section examines the applicability of human rights law in the context of peace operations. The second section brings the application of humanitarian law into the analysis, supplemented with the inclusion of international criminal law in section three. These three areas of law are merged in the penultimate section into an accountability framework that covers the spectrum from state responsibility to the individual responsibility of non-state actors. This framework is applied in the final section to the tragic events that occurred in Mitrovica, Kosovo in February 2000. The analysis concludes by proposing an understanding of the framework that would enable it to better respond to the realities faced by victims in such situations and therefore to better comport with the purposes of these areas of international law.

Review: Peace at Any Price

PEACE AT ANY PRICE How the World Failed Kosovo Iain King and Whit Mason Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006. 328pp. US$27.95, cloth (978-0-8014-4539-2).The United Nations interim administration mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) recently entered its ninth and possibly final year as the primary governing authority in Kosovo. Since June 1999, the UN administration has overseen economic, social and political development in the disputed territory, and sought to promote a transformation of the former zone of conflict into a peaceful and multi-ethnic society. Iain King's and Whit Mason's book assesses the performance of the international community in achieving this aim, and presents a comprehensive, illuminating, and often scathing account of the UN's efforts to date.Both authors have close connections to Kosovo, each having held senior political roles within UNMIK, and their insider experience informs the text throughout and adds credibility to their account. From the title of the book onwards, it is clear that this is not a defence of UNMIK, but rather a critique. The authors charge the UN administration, and the international community behind it, with many failings-failing to understand the nature of the conflict between Kosovo Serbs and Albanians, failing to identify the correct solutions, and ultimately failing to fulfil its aim of transforming Kosovo into a multi-ethnic, law-abiding democracy. In particular, the authors allege that UNMIK lost an opportunity to change Kosovo's political culture by neglecting the available levers of soft power, especially in the spheres of education and the media. UNMIK, the authors allege, not only failed to transform and it never even properly tried.Most of this compact but thorough book is taken up with a review of the administration of Kosovo, structured both chronologically and thematically. The four central chapters deal with four separate phases in the administration from 1999 to 2006. Each examines progress in a range of areas, including law and order, security, political developments, hearts and minds, and the economy. The authors locate the roots of many of the ongoing problems in contemporary Kosovo in the first phase of administration, between June 1999 and October 2000. During this period, international authorities displayed a reluctance to clamp down on hardliners, and in particular on the Kosovo Albanian nationalists that reacted to the withdrawal of Serb troops from the territory by initiating a prolonged campaign of revenge violence on the minority Serb community within Kosovo. Much of this revenge violence went unpunished due to international preferences for stability rather than justice, and the low conviction rates contributed to a sense of impunity that the authors suggest was never eradicated in subsequent years. Furthermore, the departure of large sections of the Serb community at the time served to set back the project of a multi-ethnic Kosovo. The second consolidation phase entailed a shift from humanitarian concerns to political development, and included Kosovo's first elections under UNMIK, as well as the establishment of new institutions of self-government. But it was also a period in which many of the physical challenges had been overcome, and the political challenges that remained required changes in local behaviour that UNMIK was unable to achieve. This gave way to a third phase of confrontation and stagnation, where the gap between expectations and the reality on the ground led to local frustration with the international mission. Despite a range of UNMIK initiatives, there was little progress towards resolving Kosovo's political status due to continued divisions within the international community. The dire state of the economy further fuelled local dissatisfaction. This stage culminated in the infamous March riots of 2004, when Albanians turned on Serbs and the international authorities were unable to assert control during two days of violence and looting that left 19 dead, hundreds of Serb homes burnt, and thousands of Serbs displaced. …

Reviewing Governmental Acts of the United Nations in Kosovo

The governmental role played by the United Nations in Kosovo since 1999 raises a host of questions for international lawyers. Chief among these is whether governmental acts of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) should be subject to review within Kosovo for compliance with applicable legal standards. In principle, such review would be helpful in ensuring UNMIK accountability and in sending the message that the governors—as well as the governed—in Kosovo are subject to the rule of law. However, for many, the prospect of actors in Kosovo second-guessing decisions taken by UNMIK is problematic, partly due to a fear that review could be used to derail the UNMIK-led peacebuilding process in the territory.

Challenges of Peacebuilding: The Example of Kosovo

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