Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told KOSOVO / KOSOVA As Seen, As Told PART III : The violation of human rights in Kosovo (Chapter 11) Contents Previous Next OTHER FORMS OF PERSECUTION Intimidation and Harassment When the OSCE-KVM deployed into Kosovo, there was a general restriction of freedom of movement within the province. Over and above the physical restrictions implemented by the Serbian police (checkpoints, random ID checks), this was the product of a prevailing climate of fear. Freedom of movement restrictions were applied in Kosovo out of public emergency considerations, but the severity and excessiveness of the measures taken, and their disproportionate nature relative to the situation suggest that harassment of and the spreading of fear among the population constituted a purpose in itself. Among Kosovo Albanians, a considerable proportion of all complaints made to the OSCE-KVM Human Rights Division featured accounts of harassment, the confiscation of IDs and arrests at checkpoints. Because of repeated incidents where Kosovo Albanians were harassed, ill-treated, or arbitrarily arrested when stopped at checkpoints, particularly when travelling by bus, the OSCE-KVM began to deploy personnel to monitor bus routes, with a discernible positive impact. For example, on 19 February 1999 the OSCE-KVM monitored two bus routes in the Kosovska Mitrovica area in response to earlier incidents of harassment. That day no passengers were detained or ill-treated. 1 For its part the UCK was also culpable of spreading fear with the consequence of restricting movement. Among Kosovo Serbs, as well as elements of the Kosovo Albanian population, there was a fear of abduction by the UCK (see also Chapter 8, Missing persons, and Chapter 19, Kosovo Serbs). While the OSCE-KVM was deployed inside Kosovo, other issues of intimidation and harassment to which it was alerted by Kosovo Albanians included cases of house searches (usually for weapons), ID checks and police presence and harassment at schools. Furthermore, there were quite a few cases of extortion by either the security forces or the UCK. Examples of all of these violations appear in this report in Part V, The municipalities. Denial of access to health care The FRY is a party to the entire range of relevant international human rights instruments prohibiting discrimination on ethnic and other grounds. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch11.htm (1 of 4)12/5/2003 11:52:31 AM