4.2 The OSCE Mission in Kosovo Background The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK), the largest OSCE field operation, forms a distinct component of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo 14. It is mandated with institution and democracy-building and promoting human rights and the rule of law. In 1999, the OSCE was mandated with training the new police service that was to uphold human rights and democratic policing principles. To do so, The Mission’s Department of Police Education and Development (DPED) created an institution – the Kosovo Police Service School – that in 2006 evolved into the Kosovo Centre for Public Safety Education and Development (KCPSED), and in 2011 into the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS). In order to better reflect the broader context of its programmes with justice, safety and security sector development, the DPED itself became the Department for Security and Public Safety (DSPS) in 2006. According to the approved OSCE unified budget the DSPS’ staffing table for 2012 included 17 international and 29 national positions. Owing to the very limited budget for projects in 2012, the DSPS utilized its internal resources to continue conducting many training courses, and to advise and mentor its counterparts from the Kosovo Police (KP), the independent oversight body Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK) and other public safety institutions. In 2012, the DSPS implemented around 60 activities financed by the unified budget. Most of these activities were training courses, mainly focusing on building the capacities of the KP and other public safety institutions to combat organized crime, as well as to provide advanced and specialized training, management and leadership, and courses on community policing. As with previous years, the DSPS focused on training-of-trainers (ToT) activities and planned to continue doing this in the future. At the same time, the DSPS contributed to the drafting and reviewing of several Administrative Instructions (AIs), as well as strategies and action plans that aimed at enhancing the security sector. In 2012, the DSPS successfully concluded the “Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK) Programme”, which it had implemented for almost seven years. As a result of the DSPS’ involvement and support, the PIK became a professional and sustainable institution in inspecting the management of the KP and conducting criminal investigations and high-profile misconduct of its employees. Ensuring the accountability, independence and effectiveness of the KP, and monitoring the law enforcement agencies’ compliance with human rights, also continued to be a key task of OMIK’s Department for Human Rights and Communities’ Security Monitoring Section (DHRC SMS). The strategy to fulfil this mandate included: proactive monitoring of the KP; addressing the institutional and legal gaps through confidential reporting; advising police authorities on remedial and/or corrective actions; and capacity building within the KP. In 2012, the DHRC SMS had a total of 18 staff, eight international and ten local staff. Five staff members were based in the HQ, while the rest were deployed to all OMIK Regional Centres. DHRC SMS field teams covered all six police regions (Ferizaj/Uroševac, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, Pejë/Peć, Prishtinë/Priština, Prizren) and provided the information that was analysed and channelled to the KP Management. 14 48 All references to Kosovo institutions/leaders refer to the Provisional Institutions of Self Government.