United Nations Interim Administration 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.

Consociational Democracy and Political Engineering in Postwar Kosovo

This article examines the consociational democracy installed in Kosovo after the war. Starting from the premise that the electoral system is considered one of the key instruments for the engineering of post-conflict societies with deep ethnic divisions, the article analyzes the preferences of local and international actors for the type of electoral system. In particular, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission’s reluctance to organize elections without a prior creation of an institutional base, as well as grand governing coalitions. The mechanisms of consociational democracy aim at addressing elite cooperation between different ethnic communities for building peace and stability in post-conflict societies. But focusing on the intra- and inter-community dynamics of cooperation and confrontation between elites, I conclude that the main obstacle to building a democratic multi-ethnic society in Kosovo and implementing the power-sharing arrangements was the uncertainty over the status of Kosovo.

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.

Exploring the Effective Authority of International Administrations from the League of Nations to the United Nations

ABSTRACT This article analyses the concept of international administration by a multilateral organization through the lens of the effective authority of example missions, arguing that the United Nations Interim Administration of Kosovo (UNMIK) and the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET) are very specific and distinct attempts at statebuilding. The article’s main argument is that the two most-cited cases in the interwar years – the Saar Territory and the Free City of Danzig, as well as the international administration of West New Guinea by the United Nation (UN) – while presenting interesting parallels with and providing useful insights into the challenges faced by the contemporary international administrations of Kosovo and Timor-Leste, are in fact drastically different endeavours in terms of the effective authority exerted on the ground. The article builds on this special section’s contribution on authority building, analysing the five international administrations through the prism of claimed, recognized, and exercised authority.

Italy and UN peacekeeping: constant transformation

ABSTRACTItaly was admitted to the United Nations (UN) in 1955. In a mix of ‘genetic multilateralism’ of Italian society and the ‘institutional multilateralism’ of the Italian Constitution, the UN soon acquired a central position in Italian foreign policy and Italian participation in the UN and its institutions became increasingly active. Italy is the top troop contributor to UN Peacekeeping operations among Western countries. Since the 1960s, Italy has participated in 33 UN Peacekeeping operations. The Italian commitment to the UN faced four main turning points: the launch of the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia (1992), the contribution to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (1999), the involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001–05), and the engagement with the UNIFIL II mission (2006). By providing an historical overview of Italy’s approach to UN Peacekeeping and explaining the different engagements and disengagements drive through the shift in the foreign policy priorities of the country and the influence of domestic factors; this article aims to answer to the following questions: ‘How much will Italy be willing to contribute to UN Peacekeeping in the future?’ and ‘Does Italy see other multilateral options (EU and NATO) as alternatives to the UN?’

Considerations of Humanity: Accountability in U.N. Transnational Administration of Territory

A recent development in the domain of International Law pertains to the transitional administration of territorial units by the United Nations, on behalf of the International Community. In well known cases of East Timor and Kosovo, the United Nations Security Council passed its resolutions, 1244 (1999) and 1272 (1999), on Chapter VII of the UN charter after determining a threat to peace in the internal situations in both states and thus coming to assist those particularly weakened territorial units. The administrative units that were set up by the United Nations in this regard were on behalf of the international community to protect weakened states. These administrative units were meant to function until the states could become self-governing. All these functions and responsibilities of UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo) and UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) were to be in compliance with the basic tenants of Human Rights, the UN Charter and the UNSC resolutions that established these Administrations. During their periods of administration, these administrative bodes committed several Human Rights violations, due to the extremely wide ambit of powers given to these bodies and extremely inefficient and minuscule control measures established over them. Through my research paper, I aim to analyze the solutions employed by the UN in the form of tribunals to hold the administrative bodies responsible. Further, I will research into the role of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal in situations like these. In continuation, I shall suggest mechanisms that may be implemented in future situations like these to ensure that Human Rights are at the core of any transnational administration set up by the United Nations and the interests of the distressed population are the primary concern of the administrative body operating in the territory. Lastly, I shall delve into the atrocities committed by the UN Peace Keeping forces, the administrative and jurisdictional difficulties in holding them accountable and possible solutions for this.

Conflict in Kosovo through the Conceptual Framework of Stakeholders

IntroductionResearch into armed conflict should encompass the examination of the role and status of the participants by presenting their interests, goals, behaviors, and relationships. In this paper, we have chosen the Serbian-Albanian conflict in Kosovo as a case study. Although hostilities ceased in 1999, the conflict remains ongoing politically, and is largely unresolved.1 This conflict has proven to be one of the most enduring in contemporary Europe. The crux of the conflict has been a dispute over the political status of Kosovo. Owing to its rich history and past cultural experiences, Kosovo's territory has deep symbolic and mythological dimensions within the minds of both the Serbs and the Albanians. The conflict is embodied by the diverse natures of the participating stakeholders and the complexity of their interactions. These factors were manifested violently during the civil war from 1998 to 1999 that featured the horrors of ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity. The war ended with the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo in June of 1999. However, its full resolution remains incomplete.This article touches on the ethical and historical roots of the conflict. Most importantly, it attempts to illuminate the problem from the perspective of the interest groups that existed prior to and during the engagement in the conflict. The situational problematic includes the framework provided by the stakeholders that was used in strategic analysis. This analysis covers the period of the civil war, tracing the operations of a contractual system capable of building a future state with various stakeholders who have invested in realizing a fully functional statehood (the concept stakeholder, shareholders). Stakeholders are frequently organizations and groups residing within the analyzed entity (Kosovo as the state) that are further dependent on the decisions affecting, or potentially affecting, the state's direction and navigational decision-making (see Figures 1 and 2). These entities directly or indirectly benefit or incur costs that are intimately associated to the state's functioning. It is important to note that the interests of different stakeholders can be contradictory. These contradictions tend to breed differing levels of conflict and are linked to the conflict's resolution.It appears that the main actors must consider the specific needs and pressing force of establishing a critical hierarchy of importance in negotiations. Each of the interest groups or shareholders has their own authority, vulnerabilities, as well as vested interests. Also, each shareholder must reflect on the specific pressures prior to any major decision-making. Subject to analysis in this case are the authorities of Kosovo. This article thus presents the possibility of carrying out this kind of research with the Kosovo conflict as the case study, focusing on internal and external stakeholders.Participation of the Main Stakeholders in the Kosovo ConflictThe background of the conflict between the Albanians and the Serbs is primarily ethnic. Other aspects of life and lived experience are shared, such as history, religion, culture, and language. The Serbs consider Kosovo to be the cradle of their statehood, belonging to territory that they gained in the Middle Ages; in this area was the capital of the medieval state. Furthermore, the seat of the Orthodox Church was in Pec. The church served as the cultural center of statehood, as well as a source of national identity for the Serbs. The presence of numerous monasteries provided the Kosovo Serbs with what was www.euronews.com/2014/02/13/the-road-to-recognition-pm-thaci-on-statehood-corruptionand-kosovo-s-european-/ called a Serbian Jerusalem. For the Albanians, Kosovo has also been the cradle of both the state and the nation. In this line of thought, the Albanians robustly identify themselves with the Illyrians. This tribal population inhabited Kosovo during the second century B. …

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.

Conflicting Rules of Recognition: UN Security Council Resolution 1244 or the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 and the United Nation's claim that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) (“Resolution 1244”) remains in effect have resulted in the unique case of two competing legal systems, both of which claim legitimacy and supremacy in Kosovo. While Kosovar authorities claim to exercise exclusive and sovereign authority over Kosovo based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, the UN, acting through the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (“UNMIK”), maintains that Resolution 1244 vests administrative authority over Kosovo in the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (“SRSG”). This conflict is best exemplified in a number of judgments rendered by the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on Privatization Agency Related Matters (“Special Chamber”) and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo. The purpose of this Article is to illustrate the problems that have emerged in the process of the creation of a new legal system in Kosovo and the emergence of a new rule of recognition which is reflected in conflicting judgments of the Special Chamber and the Constitutional Court.

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.

Bureaucratic Representation and Ethnic Bureaucratic Drift

The article combines research on postconflict management with public administration research by presenting a single case study on the United Nations interim administration in Kosovo. To investigate the reasons for the UN mission’s failure to implement its policies on minority relations, the study turns toward local municipal bureaucracies and offers a two-part causal argument that derives from principal–agent theory and bureaucratic representation theory. First, due to a lack of political and administrative oversight by Kosovar institutions and the UN peacebuilding mission, local municipal authorities experienced a high degree of autonomy. Second, those units within municipal administrations that were responsible for minority policy implementation did not include minority bureaucrats who could have acted as their communities’ advocates. In the absence of such active representation and a lack of top-down supervision, the municipal civil service departed from its mandate to implement affirmative policies serving the Serb and Roma community in Kosovo. The article finds that this ethnic bureaucratic drift constitutes a central explanation for the lack of minority policy implementation in Kosovo between 2001 and 2008.

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 ‘Kafkaesque Accountability’ of International Governance in Kosovo

This article explores the institutionalized and legalized forms of ‘unaccountability’ evident during the United Nation's protracted and extensive administration of Kosovo, which were implemented to protect the UN from liability in case the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo was accused of human rights violations in Kosovo. Two mechanisms were put in place to review the accountability of international governance in Kosovo: the Ombudsperson Institution and later the Human Rights Advisory Panel. This article highlights how the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo systematically restricted and obstructed the operation of these mechanisms, by constraining the space for the independent and meaningful investigation of cases, by invoking immunity safeguards, and by failing to cooperate and remedy human rights abuses caused by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. This article argues that avoiding accountability for human rights abuses can seriously undermine the legitimacy of UN peacekeeping missions, establishing negative practices and losing the trust of the local population, which ultimately encourages undemocratic practices among weak and fragile local institutions. At the global level, any attempt to take on greater international responsibility without accountability harms the prospects for establishing global institutions structured around the principles of democratic governance.

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.