United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kosovo |
|
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries • Politics Portal |
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is an interim civilian administration of Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on June 10, 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244. According to UNSCR 1244, Kosovo is still technically part of Serbia, although Serbia is authorized no role in governing Kosovo. UNSCR 1244 also called for a political process to determine Kosovo's future status (i.e., whether it would be allowed to become independent or remain part of Serbia) -- that status process was initiated in late 2005, under guidance from the Contact Group countries.
The head of UNMIK is technically the Special Representative of the Secretary-General ('SRSG') and is appointed by the Secretary-General under the advice of UN member states. Joachim Rücker, a German diplomat, has been the SRSG since September 2006, replacing Steven Schook who served as acting-SRSG since the departure of Søren Jessen-Petersen in June 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Structure
UNMIK has been divided into four sections which it calls "pillars." These are:
- Pillar I: Police and justice (United Nations-led)
- Pillar II: Civil Administration (United Nations-led)
- Pillar III: Democratization and institution building (led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe)
- Pillar IV: Reconstruction and economic development (European Union-led)
UNMIK oversees a substantial UN International Police force.
A NATO-led force called KFOR provides an international security presence in support of UNMIK's work, but is not subordinate to the UN.
[edit] Duties
According to resolution 1244, UNMIK is to:
- perform basic civilian administrative functions;
- promote the establishment of substantial autonomy and self-government in Kosovo;
- facilitate a political process to determine Kosovo's future status;
- coordinate humanitarian and disaster relief of all international agencies;
- support the reconstruction of key infrastructure;
- maintain civil law and order;
- promote human rights; and
- assure the safe and unimpeded return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes in Kosovo.
[edit] Criticism
UNMIK has accomplished much in its seven years, including the establishment of Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government and the well-respected Kosovo Police Service. But UNMIK has been criticized for failing to achieve many of its stated objectives and is widely resented by both Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. After seven years of work (as of 2006):
- Key infrastructure is not reconstructed; specifically, electric distribution is still very problematic;
- UNMIK has been slow to transfer competencies to the provisional Kosovo institutions;
- Inter-ethnic violence has occasionally flared (most notably in March 2004);
- Corruption, including allegations of corruption within UNMIK, remains endemic;
- Human rights have been problematic, especially with Kosovo's minority communities;
- There are around 250,000.[1][2][3] refugees from Kosovo, the vast majority of whom are Serbs, who still do not feel safe returning to their homes.
- Amongst other things, according to SC Resolution 1244, Serbia is authorised to send a specific amount of its troops back into Kosovo. UNMIK so far has prevented Serbia from doing so, thus in fact breaching the resolution.
- Illegal Serb intelligence and interior forces continue to operate clandestinely in Kosovo, especially in the north;
- According to Amnesty International, the presence of peacekeepers in Kosovo led to an increase in the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. [1] [2]
Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs accused the UNMIK administrator from 2004 until June 2006, Søren Jessen-Petersen, for being too close to those alleged to have masterminded attacks against Serbian civilians during the Kosovo War.[5]
Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs have also criticized UNMIK for failing to stop alleged reprisals or "ethnic cleansing" against the Roma and Serb communities of Kosovo.[6]
In June 2005, a BBC article suggested that the European Roma Rights Centre were to sue UNMIK over Roma in Mitrovica Camps.
In July 2006, a new book, 'Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo', written by two former senior staffers at UNMIK, exposed a catalogue of errors and incompetance in the institution over its seven year history.
