Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PRISTINA1099
2006-12-22 17:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: NEW MISSING PERSONS COMMISSION NOT

Tags:  KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL YI UNMIK EAID PHUM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2835
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPS #1099/01 3561712
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221712Z DEC 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6864
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0969
RHFMISS/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 001099 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE
NSC FOR BRAUN
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI
EUR/ACE FOR DMAYHEW

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016
TAGS: KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL YI UNMIK EAID PHUM
SOCI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: NEW MISSING PERSONS COMMISSION NOT
PREPARED TO TAKE ON ALL COMPETENCIES

REF: A. PRISTINA 782

B. PRISTINA 01091

C. PRISTINA 480

Classified By: COM Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 001099

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE
NSC FOR BRAUN
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI
EUR/ACE FOR DMAYHEW

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016
TAGS: KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL YI UNMIK EAID PHUM
SOCI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: NEW MISSING PERSONS COMMISSION NOT
PREPARED TO TAKE ON ALL COMPETENCIES

REF: A. PRISTINA 782

B. PRISTINA 01091

C. PRISTINA 480

Classified By: COM Tina Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Kosovo Government's new missing
persons commission met for the first time on December 13 to
discuss its composition and competencies. While the
establishment of the commission is a positive step on a
political level, the government is currently unprepared to
take on the highly technical forensic functions carried out
by experts in UNMIK's Office of Missing Persons and Forensics
(OMPF). Throughout the transition period, OMPF should retain
its current competencies over exhumations, autopsies,
identifications and repatriations, while greatly expanding
its capacity-building role. Doctors at Kosovo's Forensics
Institute need rigorous training before they can take over
forensics competencies from OMPF. END SUMMARY.

New Commission Created...


2. (SBU) Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self
Government (PISG) decided October 10 to establish a new
Government Commission for Missing Persons (GCMP). (NOTE. For
now, the new GCMP will coexist alongside the government's
pre-existing missing persons commission headed by missing
persons family member Nesrete Kumnova. END NOTE.) That
decision was directly based on a discussion paper that the
International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) gave the
government in August (Ref A). Per the ICMP proposal, the
decision states that the GCMP will be responsible for all
political and scientific issues related to resolving cases of
missing persons, including raising public awareness,
coordinating with family member associations, and cooperating

with relevant judicial authorities including the ICTY, as
well as collecting data on grave sites, conducting
exhumations, autopsies and identifications, preserving mortal
remains, and repatriating identified remains to family
members.


3. (SBU) The GCMP held its first inter-ministerial meeting
on December 13 to discuss its membership and terms of
reference. Representatives from the Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Labor and
Social Welfare attended the meeting, along with the head of
UNMIK's Department of Justice (DOJ) Al Moskowitz, Pristina
head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Gherardo Pontrandolfi, and Sarajevo-based ICMP chief of staff
Kathryne Bomberger. Bomberger said the GCMP will meet again
early next year to discuss the nomination of a head and
co-head (slated to be a Kosovo Albanian and a non-Albanian,
respectively),as well as the establishment of two advisory
boards: one for experts and one to represent family member
associations.

But Its Beginning Inauspicious


4. (C) Moskowitz told us that the first meeting was
"nonproductive," and shared his concerns that the GCMP is an
effort by the government to look like it is doing something,
by organizing meetings, committees and working groups without
actually finding, identifying or returning any bodies.
Several ministries, he said, had resisted the ICMP's proposal
that each ministry be represented on the GCMP by their
permanent secretaries, instead wanting to send lower level
representatives. He indicated that this will dilute the
value of the GCMP as a political tool facilitate progress on
resolving cases of missing persons. Prime Minister Agim
Ceku's advisor on missing persons Arif Mucolli told us on
November 29 that although the GCMP is meant to be a
"strengthened" version of the previous commission, he
conceded that an organization like ICMP is more likely to get
leads on new grave sites than the PISG.


PRISTINA 00001099 002 OF 002



5. (C) Moskowitz also expressed serious concerns about the
GCMP's plan, based directly on the ICMP proposal, to
transition UNMIK OMPF's mandate and competencies into
Kosovo's pre-existing Forensics Institute (currently under
the Ministry of Health, but slated to be transferred to the
Ministry of Justice). Moscowitz asserted that OMPF is one of
UNMIK's greatest successes, and argued that it should be
allowed to keep its current competencies for as long as
possible. He admitted that it is inevitable that the
Forensic Institute's doctors will eventually take over OMPF's
functions, but said they must be required to undergo full
forensics training to bring them up to international
standards before being allowed to take over OMPF's new
facility and laboratories (Ref B). Even Bomberger, whose
ICMP proposal instigated the creation of the GCMP, admitted
to us that the government lacks capacity to fully take on
scientific aspects of the search for missing persons, and
conceded that doctors at the Forensics Institute "lack basic
skills."


6. (SBU) Acting OMPF Director Valerie Brasey told us that
when UNMIK created OMPF in 2002, its attempts to incorporate
doctors and staff from the Forensics Institute were mostly
unsuccessful because the majority of the institute's doctors
resisted the rigorous training OMPF required in order to
bring their skills up to international standards (Ref C).
Although several of the doctors did accept the training and
transfer to OMPF, most refused and have since then continued
to earn their PISG salaries at the Forensics Institute (which
has no remaining competencies). She said that the lack of
local forensic scientists with advanced training is a major
problem that is negatively impacting progress in the
resolution of missing persons cases. Kujtim Kerveshi,
advisor to Justice Minister Jonuz Salihaj, told us on
December 21 that there is no local capacity to handle
advanced forensic elements of missing persons work, and said
that they need OMPF's international experts to stay on as
long as possible. However, he said the Ministry does not
have the money to fund these salaries.

Comment


7. (C) The new government commission on missing persons is
an ambitious attempt by the government to take on, or at
least appear to take on, all competencies related to missing
persons. While it is an important step, the lack of
commitment by the PISG at the first meeting to ensure ongoing
high-level engagement is indicative of a lack of seriousness
on the part of the government to take real action on missing
persons. OMPF is doing an excellent job despite the lack of
new leads, and should be allowed to continue its work
throughout the transition period. However, OMPF needs to
play a greater role in training local doctors, and mechanisms
need to be put in place to ensure that only properly trained
staff can take over OMPF's facilities and competencies
regardless of what organization takes on its responsibilities
post-status. END COMMENT.


8. (U) Post clears this message in its entirety for release
to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW