AI � Solution for Kosovo Available Only Through Consultation with Minorities and Civil Society

27 September 2006

Amnesty International expressed its concern over the news that, unless a compromise is reached, the decision on the final status of Kosovo may be imposed and dictated from outside, without the necessary consultation.

AI is worried that, having in mind that the two sides in the negotiations failed to reach an agreement on a single important issue, �...the imposed solution could further deepen the lines of tension inside Kosovo, which could lead to yet new human rights violations�.

Amnesty International demands that the final agreement on the status of the province is reached in consultation with all communities living in Kosovo and that such an agreement protects the rights of all communities � Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Bosniaks, Gorani and Turks, as well as the rights of women, even if such consultations may demand much more time.

�The measures to protect human rights of all people in Kosovo should remain at the heart of the negotiations�, says AI. �What those measures may be, that is a decision that should be adopted in consultation with civil society in Kosovo�.

AI laments the fact that the international community didn�t require the two sides of the negotiations to consult with the representatives of civil society. According to a report prepared by AI, the respect of human rights of all, without discrimination, should have been at the heart of the negotiation process and �...chief concern in all decisions and agreements on the future of Kosovo�.

In its report, AI proposes a series of measures to secure that human rights will be protected and respected, regardless of the future status of Kosovo. Amnesty International proposes that rights are guaranteed in the new Constitution of Kosovo, to define the relations between domestic legislation and international human rights treaties, to adopt measures to improve the work of the judiciary, to introduce guarantees for minority rights, and to harmonize the responsibilities of competent offices with the accepted international standards.