Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told Reporting style and terminology Complainants and interviewees gave statements to the OSCE-KVM on the understanding that strict confidentiality was assured. In the period after 20 March, when taking statements from refugees, the only concession asked of such interviewees was that consent be given to share confidential data with the ICTY. Only where such consent was given will confidential data be shared with the ICTY. No confi 2 dential data will be shared with any private parties, governments or other organizations. In the development and writing of the report the decision was made not to disclose the names of witnesses or victims, either dead or alive. The aim of this is to ensure the safety of victims or witnesses and safeguard confidentiality, to prevent possible retaliatory attacks based on statements, or interference with persons who may be called upon to give evidence in legal proceedings. Even where the person referred to has died family members could still be alive and in need of such safeguards and protection. The only victims who are identified by name are persons who were already prominently in the public domain, and where to not name them could be ambiguous or confusing. Alleged perpetrators have likewise not been named, with the exception of persons who are already under indictment by the ICTY or persons about whom allegations are prominently in the public domain. Some alleged perpetrators have been identified by function or official position, however. Utmost care has been taken in regard to specific locations where witnesses or victims lived in order to ensure confidentiality. Locations where rape and other forms of sexual violence occurred, where their disclosure might lead to identification of the victim (e.g. by the naming of a small community where a particular incident occurred) have been withheld. The exact locations of alleged grave sites have not been included in the report except when the site is known to the ICTY and the latter has completed exhumations and on-site investigations. This approach is intended to protect grave sites from any tampering or other consequences which could hinder the ICTY in its investigations. Language issues During the period covered by this report, the practice of the FRY authorities was to employ the Serbian language in official correspondence in Kosovo. Where known, the authors of this report have employed a convention used by many international organizations operating in Kosovo by citing both the Serbian and Albanian language place names in the first mention within chapters, and subsequently wherever helpful; Serbian place names are used thereafter in the text. The decision to employ the Serbian language as the primary reference was made partly due to the fact that during the time of the OSCE-KVM, the official Serbian names were widely available, whereas the spelling in Albanian of place names was not standardized. In this report, Albanian place names generally follow the spellings provided by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which produced a survey of villages in Kosovo municipalities in March 1999, although other spellings appear for some locations not mentioned by the UNHCR as well as some commonly understood spellings for other locations. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/p0intro.htm (3 of 4)12/5/2003 11:48:28 AM