Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told By late December there were approximately 400 international personnel and 250 local staff at the OSCEKVM. 10 Because recruitment for the OSCE-KVM initially focused on those with military and police 11 backgrounds there were only 11 members in the Human Rights Division at the end of December. By the end of January 1999, however, human rights officers were present in all five regional centres and 12 most field offices. At the time OSCE-KVM evacuated there were approximately 75 staff members in the human rights division (10 in headquarters and the rest deployed in the regional and field offices). In addition to staffing regional and field offices, human rights officers also manned Outreach Offices in several locations. The Outreach Offices were initially set up in response to the highly charged issue of missing persons, and provided a place outside the Mission for citizens to speak to human rights officers 13 about the details of the disappearance of family members. The primary goal of the Outreach Offices quickly became documentation, in an effort to record all testimonies regarding human rights violations. 14 The long-term plan was to expand the Outreach Office in both size and function in order to 15 become the focal point for all contact with members of the public about OSCE-KVM activities. Methodology Despite all the challenges of operating where there was a state of armed conflict, the OSCE-KVM Human Rights Division adopted a methodology consisting of full documentation, strict confidentiality, security protocols, independence in investigations and centralized reporting procedures. Documentation. The sheer number of allegations of human rights violations received by the OSCEKVM rendered it impossible to investigate them all thoroughly. Thus, accurate documentation became an essential component of the division. Standardized forms were used for incident reports, victim/ witness statements, missing person reports and a related database was developed to index the information collected. Direct complaints from direct witnesses or victims of alleged human rights or humanitarian law violations were given priority. In such cases the human rights officers sought supporting documentation from, for example, medical authorities, corroborating statements from other witnesses, etc. Videotapes and photographs of crime scenes and killing sites were made, as well as of the victims, to assist in identification. Human rights officers monitored official investigations and at times documented those investigations (e.g., post mortem examinations were documented by the OSCE-KVM when allegations of humanitarian law violations were made). Independent and impartial investigation. The Human Rights Division conducted investigations and interventions with local authorities. While the Head of Mission was advised of the activities of the division and the status of investigations, there was never any pressure to curtail or pursue a matter for political use. Senior OSCE-KVM staff respected the independence of the Human Rights Division to access information and draw conclusions based on the information uncovered. The Human Rights Division always had direct access to the Head of Mission, who strongly supported the independent position of the Division. This direct access further facilitated the "need to know basis" which was the http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch2.htm (3 of 16)12/5/2003 11:48:40 AM