Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told KOSOVO / KOSOVA As Seen, As Told The human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission Contents Previous Next FOREWORD Justice Louise Arbour For some considerable time during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, analysts were aware of the danger of a similarly disastrous breakdown of international peace and security in Kosovo. Unlike the situation in Bosnia, however, there was a much greater fear that an explosion of ethnic violence in Kosovo could not be contained, and that it might rapidly spread to engulf the whole of the Balkan region. When it did come, the violence in Kosovo was horrific, and again proved devastating for the many ordinary people who became its victims. Civilised people throughout the world were shocked by the media reports of criminal conduct that began to emerge. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia made it clear that its jurisdiction extended to Kosovo, and that persons responsible would be brought to justice for their crimes. Justice must be part of any lasting and meaningful peace, but criminal justice is not an abstract quantity. In order to be effective as enforcement mechanisms for the rule of law, criminal courts and criminal tribunals must be able to get at the truth of what happened. They depend upon reliable evidence, impartially collected by their own staff or by other persons of trust and experience, who do not adhere to one side of another in the ethnic conflict. Media reports and instant reaction may be given a high profile, and they may "tell the story" for a broad public, but in themselves they are no substitute for the careful assembly of data and its systematic analysis. The result of the work of the OSCE set out in this report covering the first half of 1999, is therefore an important contribution to the documentation of human rights abuses in Kosovo. A reliable database of this kind goes a long way towards establishing a solid foundation for deciding upon appropriate measures to restore and maintain international peace and security in the region. Bringing to justice those responsible for the crimes uncovered is a necessary part of such measures, but it is only part of the process involved in re-building torn societies. This report will therefore be a useful tool for policy makers and for all those involved in that difficult task. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/p0forew.htm (1 of 2)12/5/2003 11:47:54 AM