UN Chief Criticizes Kosovo Police

The UN chief said that a lack of action cast a shadow on the ability of Kosovo police to face crisis situations and gain public trust.

In his regular quarterly report on Kosovo, Ban expressed serious concern over the reactions of the Kosovo police during the celebration of the Serbian religious holiday St. Vitus Day on June 28.

Sixteen children were injured while returning home from the Gazimestan Monument, erected to commemorate the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, a key date in Serbian history when Medieval Serbia confronted the might of the Ottoman Empire.

At the same time, EULEX said that the investigation into the allegations presented in Dick Marty's report on human organ trafficking is accelerating, stressing that the contacts with persons who have relevant information for the investigation have been intensified.

Investigation Team Head Clint Williamson has established contacts with a few countries so as to secure implementation of a witness protection program.

In his last report, Ban once again warned about serious problems of minorities in Kosovo, adding that the previous three months saw only a small number of Serb returnees.

Citing the UNHCR data, Ban noted that 131 persons returned to Kosovo in the previous three months, including 45 Serbs, five Roma, 36 Ashkali and Egyptians, 27 Gorani, 12 Bosniaks and five Albanians, which is only a half of the number of returnees in the respective period in 2011.

The UN secretary-general said that possible reasons are murder of two Serbs in the village of Talinovac, attacks on Serb houses and vehicles, and threats by the so-called Albanian National Army to Serb returnees in eight villages in the vicinity of Klina, which were followed by setting fire to two Serb houses.

According to UNMIK data, in 19 incidents 23 Serb houses were broken into, and stoning of vehicles with Serb registry plates continued, Serbian public broadcaster RTS has reported.

The UN Security Council will discuss Ban's report on a session scheduled for August 21, at which Russia is again expected to ask for an explanation about training of Libyan and Syrian revolutionary brigade members in Kosovo.