Initially, investigations focused on the behavior of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) during after the protest, due to a lack of clarity with regard to the mandate of the Ombudsperson over cases against UNMIK. This lack of clarity also caused many problems when lawyers from the OIK tried to access the relevant autopsy files and led to considerable delays.
This lack of clarity regarding the mandate of the OIK was removed in
January 2008 when UNMIK informed the OIK that it was still mandated to
deal with cases against UNMIK until a new Ombudsperson would be
elected. The OIK thereupon extended the scope of investigations to also
cover the behavior of UNMIK during and after the above events, more
specifically the behavior of UNMIK Police.
Based on the facts as they could be established as a result of
interviews with witnesses, legal documents and TV footage from the
protests, the Ombudsperson Institution concludes that the events during
and after the protest of 10 February 2007 have resulted in a violation
of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects
all citizens’ right to life.
The OIK’s report states that during the protest, UNMIK Police violated
Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights by using excessive
force (fire-arms with rubber bullets with an expired validation date
aimed at the upper bodies of protesters) and by not organizing the
police operation in such a way as to minimize to the greatest possible
extent any risk to the lives of the protesters.
Furthermore, the OIK finds that after the events of 10 February 2007,
it is questionable whether the investigations initiated by the Kosovo
Police Inspectorate and an international prosecutor appointed by the
SRSG were completely independent. Regardless of this question, however,
the competent prosecuting authorities did not or could not fulfill
their obligation to find the people responsible for the deaths of two
protesters. This was mainly due to the fact that potential suspects
from UNMIK Police were recalled by the Romanian governments and UNMIK’s
structure and competences led to a situation where UNMIK governing
bodies were incapable of preventing these suspects from leaving
Kosovo. This lead to a second violation of Article 2 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, which requires an independent and effective
investigation to be conducted into killings potentially caused by
police agents.
The OIK further found that neither of the above violations could be
attributed to the KPS due to the subordinate role they played during
and after the protest.
Considering the gravity of the events and the fact that more than one
year has passed without any possibility of prosecuting the persons
responsible for the deaths of the two victims, the OIK called on the
competent UNMIK authorities to liaise with the Romanian authorities
with the aim of attempting to bring potential perpetrators to justice
either in Kosovo or in Romania.
UNMIK authorities were also asked to inform the Acting Ombudsperson
about any disciplinary steps undertaken against police officers who
participated in the above mentioned event and that further disciplinary
action be taken in this context.
Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo Information Office
www.ombudspersonkosovo.org
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