KOSOVO: AMB. WILLIAMSON URGES COOPERATION AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000813

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR
DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: AMB. WILLIAMSON URGES COOPERATION AND
CAPACITY-BUILDING ON WAR CRIMES PROSECUTIONS

REF: PRISTINA 765

Classified By: COM TINA S. KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) SUMMARY: In meetings with both international and
Kosovar actors in the justice and political sectors,
Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson
stressed the need for continued Kosovar and international
focus on addressing outstanding war crimes cases. In a
two-day visit to Pristina, Williamson called for regional
cooperation in war crimes prosecution and a greater
international emphasis on capacity-building for emerging
Kosovar institutions. In discussing war crimes issues,
Ambassador Williamson broached a broader range of rule of law
themes that are emerging as critical challenges for Kosovo's
transition. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint
Williamson visited Pristina on September 15-17. He was
accompanied by Special Assistant Matthew Lavine and Embassy
Zagreb FSN Dubravko Bolsec. The group met with the Minister
of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the UN
Director of the Department of Justice (DOJ),the Deputy
Commissioner of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS),the head of
the European Union Planning Team (EUPT),the UN Police
Commissioner, the Deputy UN SRSG, and the Political Advisor
to the Commander of KFOR.

More Work Needed on General RoL and War Crimes Issues in
Kosovo


3. (C) The meeting with UNMIK DOJ Director Al Moskowitz
underscored the complexities of war crimes prosecutions in
the Balkans and the need for more work on broad RoL issues to
create a better climate for prosecutions of war crimes and
other sensitive cases. Moskowitz reiterated concerns he
expressed to USOP prior to Williamson's visit (see reftel),
including the difficulty of prosecuting suspected Serb war
criminals who are now in Serbia due to legal barriers to
extradition; the risk of escalating tension during final
status negotiations by going after suspected Albanian war
criminals; the reluctance of witnesses to come forward with
no real witness protection program in place; and local judges
and prosecutors' unwillingness to take on tough cases.
Williamson urged Moskowitz to work toward greater regional
cooperation on these issues, particularly with Serbia, and
suggested the October prosecutors' conference as a starting
point.


4. (C) In a meeting with EUPT Head Casper Klynge, Ambassador
Williamson discussed the appropriate EU transitional role on
war crimes issues. While war crimes prosecutions in Kosovo
have largely stalled under UNMIK, Klynge indicated that the
EU will engage on war crimes issues. Nevertheless, based on
the current EU plans he shared with Williamson, the EU
follow-on mission's approach differs little from UNMIK's. It
will likely feature an "executive policy unit" with
international judges and prosecutors for sensitive areas,
including war crimes, ethnically-motivated crimes and
organized crime. Capacity-building for the Kosovars was
notably absent from the formula, as was any capacity to
resolve missing persons cases. Williamson made clear our
belief that the EU should make these priorities.

Kosovar Officials Express Frustration with UNMIK and Desire
to Have More Responsibility


5. (C) While UNMIK and the EUPT have focused little on
capacity-building with respect to sensitive crimes and war
crimes, meetings with Kosovo Police Service (KPS) Deputy
Commissioner Sheremet Ahmeti and Minister of Justice Jonuz
Salihaj revealed that Kosovars say they are frustrated with
UNMIK precisely for not letting them take on more
responsibility. Ahmeti said that the KPS would like to take
on tougher issues, and that his service needs the UN to
monitor and mentor them, but not to do their jobs. Salihaj
echoed Ahmeti's sentiments. While acknowledging that he has

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very good cooperation with Moskowitz and UNMIK DOJ, Salihaj
said he is "not satisfied at all" with UNMIK and believes the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) could be much more effective on
many RoL issues. However, UNMIK Police Commissioner Stephen
Curtis cautioned that while Ahmeti, Salihaj and some others
in the upper levels of the KPS and MOJ may wish to tackle the
tough cases, the same may not be true for many of the mid-
and low-level KPS and MOJ officials.

Hope for Engaging Belgrade


6. (C) With respect to cooperation with Serbia on war
crimes, Curtis and COMKFOR Political Advisor Romuald Pichard
were cautiously optimistic. Both agreed that the new Serbian
war crimes prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, was an effective
and well-intentioned interlocutor. Curtis also mentioned
that UNMIK Police and Serbian Police are meeting every other
month to discuss war crimes issues. The meetings are
working-level with no barriers, and will soon include the
EUPT. Curtis also offered to start including Ambassador
Williamson's regional representative. Pichard noted the
French and their EU partners have begun to apply stronger
pressure to Belgrade on war crimes issues, and half-jokingly
expressed fear that the United States would adopt a weaker
stance on conditionality. He quipped, "Hey, you are getting
more French than the French."

Comment


7. (C) At a time when everyone in Kosovo is concentrating on
the final status process, Ambassador Williamson succeeded in
reminding Kosovar and international community RoL and justice
sector officials of the importance of resolving war crimes
issues. While war crimes remain a uniquely difficult
challenge, the means to prosecute offenders will rest on the
same pillars as the broader set of RoL goals: independent
judges and prosecutors backed up by professional police work.
Whether it is Kosovars, internationals, or a mix of both, we
will continue to advocate on behalf of transitional justice
in Kosovo. End comment.


8. (U) Ambassador Williamson cleared this cable after his
departure.


9. (U) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable for release in
its entirety to U.N. Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti
Ahtisaari.

KAIDANOW