KOSOVO MISSING PERSONS DIALOGUE: SLOW PROGRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000782

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV PINR KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO MISSING PERSONS DIALOGUE: SLOW PROGRESS
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

REF: A. PRISTINA 265


B. PRISTINA 608

C. PRISTINA 480

D. PRISTINA 282

PRISTINA 00000782 001.2 OF 002


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Families of the missing gathered in
Pristina and Gracanica on August 30 to commemorate the
International Day of Missing Persons, protest lack of
progress in resolving cases and bring public attention to the
almost 2,300 persons still missing from the Kosovo
conflict. Although the International Committee of the Red
Cross has temporarily halted further public sessions of the
Pristina-Belgrade working group due to lack of progress,
dialogue continues in closed sessions. Serious disagreements
remain between the organizations involved, and an overall
lack of political will prevents work on discovering new
gravesites. Internationals are also concerned that progress
will slow even further if these competencies are transferred
to the Kosovo government. END SUMMARY.

Families Mark the International Day of Missing Persons


2. (SBU) An estimated 400 Kosovo Albanians (in Pristina) and
150 Kosovo Serbs (in Gracanica) gathered peacefully on August
30 to mark the International Day of Missing Persons and to
protest the lack of progress in determining the fate of the
missing. In Pristina, PM Ceku spoke at an official
exhibition organized by the Provisional Institutions of Self
Government (PISG) Commission for Abducted and Missing
Persons, saying that Kosovo will never find peace as long as
the fate of the missing remains unresolved.


3. (SBU) According to the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC),there are still 2,284 persons missing from the
Kosovo conflict; approximately 660 of those are
non-Albanians, mostly Kosovo Serbs. While PM Ceku's rhetoric
is encouraging, Acting Director of UNMIK's Office of Missing
Persons and Forensics (OMPF) Valerie Brasey has told us there
is an ongoing rift between the family members associations
and the PISG commission over what they consider a lack of
political will to resolve outstanding cases.

ICRC Temporarily Halts Public Working Group Sessions


4. (SBU) Pristina ICRC Head of Mission Gherardo Pontrandolfi
told us on September 1 that ICRC has temporarily halted
public sessions of the Pristina-Belgrade Working Group on
Missing Persons, saying it is unfair to the families to hold
what are essentially media events, when there is no real
progress to report (Ref A). Pontrandolfi said that although
the PISG is pushing hard for an immediate public session to
maintain the appearance of progress, he hopes there will be
enough real progress to justify holding a session by the end
of this year.

Progress Is Slow Even in Closed Sessions


5. (SBU) Pontrandolfi said that as opposed to the rancor of
public sessions, frank and open debate has taken place
between the Pristina and Belgrade delegations at closed
sessions of the
full working group on July 5 and September 1, and in closed
sessions of the sub-working group on forensics. Protection
Coordinator of the ICRC Belgrade office Mona Sadek told
visiting USOP PolOff on August 24 that some progress has been
made in the closed sessions, including joint planning for a
visit to a possible mass grave site near the Administrative
Boundary Line (ABL) in Serbia, and discussions about reducing
the International Commission on Missing Person's (ICMP)
current 99.99% DNA match threshold in order to identify more
of the bodies that have already been exhumed (Ref B). She
added, however, that the Belgrade delegation insists its work

PRISTINA 00000782 002.2 OF 002


is "done" now that Serbia has returned all 829 bodies found
to date in mass graves in Serbia, and that they say it is
time for Pristina to reciprocate. The next closed session of
the full working group is scheduled for October 19.


6. (SBU) Pontrandolfi welcomed PM Ceku's remarks, but
insisted that Ceku could obtain information about gravesites
from Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) contacts if he wanted to.
Pontradolfi speculated that the Kosovo government is
concerned about its image during ongoing status negotiations
and fears revealing information that could incriminate Kosovo
Albanians. He also claimed that Contact Group (CG)
countries, with the exception of the U.S., seemed
uninterested in missing persons, and urged the U.S. and the
CG to pressure Ceku to do more to make this issue a priority.
He added that Ceku needs to fulfill his promise to give
written orders to all ministries to deal efficiently with
requests from the working group.

Internationals Not Ready to Hand Over Competencies


7. (SBU) Pontrandolfi expressed concern for the future,
saying there is "no local capacity" to take over competencies
related to missing persons, now administered by UNMIK.
Internationals from OMPF and the International Committee on
Missing Persons (ICMP) have expressed similar
sentiments to us. OMPF says they are training local staff on
technical and forensic issues (Ref C),but that overall skill
levels remain very low. An August 25 ICMP proposal states
that "there are no functioning structures in the government
that can oversee the diplomatic, political, judicial and
technical aspects of the process," and recommends the
creation -- with ICMP support -- of a high-level operational
commission that would take over all political and operational
functions related to missing persons. (ICMP presented these
ideas in an August 17
discussion paper to the new PISG Ministry of Justice.)


8. (SBU) COMMENT. The missing persons issue remains a
crucial impediment to multiethnic reconciliation in Kosovo
(Ref D),yet has been largely neglected. While this is a
highly politicized issue that the unscrupulous will continue
to use as a bludgeon, it remains a fundamentally human
tragedy. Our approach will be to encourage all parties,
including the international actors involved, to consider
methodologies for continuing work on missing persons in the
post-UNMIK era, without which these issues will remain
unaddressed for the long term. END COMMENT.


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


10. (U) Embassy Belgrade has cleared this cable.
KAIDANOW