Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told KOSOVO / KOSOVA As Seen, As Told PART III : The violation of human rights in Kosovo (Chapter 5) Contents Previous Next VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE During the deployment of the OSCE-KVM the internal conflict in Kosovo between the Serbian security forces and the UCK was ongoing and thus both parties to the conflict were under obligations of applicable international humanitarian law. Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions prohibits "violence to life and person" carried out against civilians and others "taking no active part in hostilities". Protocol II additional to the four Geneva Conventions provides further protection to civilians in certain situations of internal armed conflict, prohibiting direct attacks on civilians and acts or threats of violence aimed at terrorizing the civilian population. The provisions of Common Article 3 and Additional Protocol II are binding on all parties to an internal armed conflict. The FRY authorities have additional obligations under international human rights law to prevent and punish extrajudicial killings by state forces or agents acting with their consent or acquiescence. These killings violate the right to life enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). There are also relevant prohibitions in the criminal law of the FRY. Violations of the right to life feature extensively in this report, from numerous single arbitrary killings to mass killings involving scores of victims. Particularly in the period after 24 March 1999, communities in Kosovo were subjected to a state of lawlessness precisely at the hands of those authorities charged with the maintenance of security and law and order, and those authorities demonstrated a sweeping disregard for human life and dignity. The loss of life of large numbers of Kosovo Albanian civilians was one of the most characteristic features of the conflict after 24 March and accounts for a very high number of reports and witness statements received by the OSCE-KVM. This chapter is intended to give an overview of the phenomenon of summary and arbitrary killing in both phases of the OSCE-KVM's deployment, illustrative examples, and a description of common patterns. 1 The situation during the OSCE-KVM deployment in Kosovo The summary or arbitrary killing of unarmed civilians was a much reported occurrence when the OSCEKVM was deployed in Kosovo. There were killings by the Serbian security forces of Kosovo Albanians, and killings by the UCK of Serbs as well as of Kosovo Albanians who were believed to be http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch5.htm (1 of 15)12/5/2003 11:50:53 AM