Resolution on abuses against Roma and other minorities in the new Kosovo
Date: 1999-10-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Kosovo, Roma, crime against individuals, ethnic discrimination, human rights, public safety, violence

C 107/108

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.4.2000

Thursday 7 October 1999

H.

emphasising that recent events and the systematic unwillingness to implement democratic reform have
prevented further integration of Belarus into the economic and political structures of Europe,

I. whereas an OSCE Assistance and Monitoring Group has made constant efforts to promote the re-
establishment of democratic structures and dialogue between the opposition and the government;
whereas access to the state-owned media for the opposition is a central issue in the negotiations,

J. whereas the TACIS civil society development programme put into place to strengthen the NGOS and

the independent media has still to be accepted by the Belarusian Interior Minister,

1.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to do everything in their power to locate Tamara Vinnikova,
General Yuri Zakharenko and Victor Gonchar, and to ensure their safety, and expects early results of such
investigations;

2.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to release immediately all those who are in prison for exercising
their right to freedom of expression, especially Members of Parliament Andry Klimov and Vladimir Kudi-
nov,

3.
Calls on the Belarusian authorities to restore international standards in the fields of human rights and
freedom of the press and of speech, as provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
as well as the Paris Charter for a new Europe, to which Belarus is a signatory, and which is also the basis
for the Partnership Agreement between Belarus and the EU,

4.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to fulfil immediately the necessary conditions for an improve-
ment in relations between the European Union and Belarus by taking the necessary steps in the process of
economic and democratic reform and respecting international standards in the field of good governance
and respect for human rights, and not to hinder the implementation of the TACIS civil society develop-
ment programme; emphasises again that no further cooperation between the European Union and Belarus
may be undertaken until clear steps towards respect for human rights and democratic and legal reform are
taken by the Belarusian Government,

Gives its full support to the OSCE efforts to urge the president and the opposition to engage in

5.
dialogue so as to avoid deeper divisions,

6.
Calls upon President Lukashenko to allow free and fair presidential elections in 1999 and parliament-
ary elections in 2000, in accordance with OSCE commitments, and to meet the necessary preconditions,
such as unhindered access to the mass media for the opposition,

Instructs its President

7.
to forward this resolution to the Commission,
the government of Belarus and the democratically elected Parliament of Belarus.

the Council,

the OSCE,

6. Human rights: Situation of the Roma people in Kosovo

B5-0147, 0151, 0166 and 0174/1999

Resolution on abuses against Roma and other minorities in the new Kosovo

The European Parliament,

: having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia,

: having regard to the military technical agreement reached on 9 June 1999 between the international
security force (KFOR) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of
Serbia,

: having regard to the Stability Pact for south-east Europe signed by the Council on 10 June 1999,

13.4.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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: having regard to the UNHCR/OSCE assessment of the situation of ethnic minorities in Kosovo of

6 September 1999,

: having regard to the report of 7 September 1999 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

on the situation of human rights in Kosovo,

A. noting with great concern that a large part of the Roma population in Kosovo are, or have been,
the victim of serious human rights violations since the end of the Kosovo conflict, being accused of
‘complicity’ with the Serb forces during the conflict,

B. noting that as a consequence of these acts and threats of violence since the middle of June more than

half of Kosovo’s 12 000 to 15 000 estimated Roma population has fled Kosovo,

C. deploring that there has been a spate of abductions and murders of members of other minorities in

Kosovo, in particular Serbs, since the end of the conflict,

D. noting the continuing persecution of Romani civilians and other ethnic minorities, amongst which the
Serbs, in Kosovo, and aware that the international security forces inside Kosovo are making an effort
to give protection to the Roma and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo, but that this is not sufficient at
this moment to offer security for the ethnic minorities in Kosovo,

E.

F.

noting that Kosovo’s minorities have moved to Roma or Serb enclaves under KFOR protection within
Kosovo,

stressing that serious problems exist for the Roma people in most of the countries of central and
eastern Europe and for that reason they merit a special approach,

1.
Calls on the KFOR to give adequate response to criminal activity against Romani citizens in Kosovo
and to increase their efforts, in the sector where they are assigned, to protect the civilians of the ethnic
minorities;

Calls on the leaders of the Albanian community in Kosovo to take responsibility for preventing

2.
continued harassment and violence against the Roma in Kosovo;

3.
Calls on all parties to cooperate fully with KFOR in the implementation of UNSCR 1244 (1999) and
therefore to cease all ethnic violence from whatever quarter and to work towards reconciliation between
all sections of society;

Urges the UN Security Council to apply the necessary pressure, so that KFOR makes full implemen-

4.
tation of its mandate to disarm all the military and paramilitary groups;

Calls on the UN as well as on the UNMIK to give KFOR troops in Kosovo effective empowerment to
5.
protect the civilian population from racist acts and other criminal acts perpetrated by paramilitary troops;

Urges the UNHCR, the KFOR and the UNMIK to oppose and refuse any contingency plan or canto-

6.
nization;

Calls on the UN, NATO, the OSCE and the EU to accelerate the process of creating a Kosovar police

7.
force representing all parts of the civilian society;

Recognises the urgent need to bring to justice any perpetrator of atrocities from whatever quarter,
8.
in order to rebuild in the region the common sense of rule of law, respect for cultural and ethnic diversity
and human rights and thereby to establish the basis for interethnic reconciliation;

Regrets that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is

9.
mandated only to investigate crimes committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo;

10.
Insists that the UNMIK, which is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of offences
through the UN international police assisted by KFOR, keep the ICTY regularly informed about the nature
and status of investigations being conducted in Kosovo;

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Thursday 7 October 1999

11.
Calls on the Council, the Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
to give priority in the allocation of reconstruction aid to those municipalities that protect and prevent
violence and discrimination against ethnic minorities and persons on the grounds of their political affilia-
tion;

12.
Calls on the Commission and the Council to offer specific support for programmes facilitating a
dialogue between representatives of the Albanian majority in Kosovo and representatives of minority
groups, such as the Roma, as well as to other confidence-building measures;

13.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN and the
UN Interim Civil Administration in Kosovo, OSCE, NATO and to the Secretary General’s Deputy Special
Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo.

7. Aviation accident at Ustica

B5-0148, 0156, 0160, 0162 and 0176/1999

Resolution on the air disaster at Ustica

The European Parliament,

A. whereas on 27 June 1980 a DC9 aeroplane flying from Bologna to Palermo with 81 passengers on

board was shot down in unknown circumstances,

B. whereas the European public has monitored developments in this affair with great interest; whereas
the ‘Association of families of the victims of the Ustica disaster’ has played a tireless part in the search
for the truth on the matter,

C. whereas it is of vital importance to the future safety of all EU citizens and their continued trust in the

civilian and military authorities for the truth on a matter such as this to be brought to light,

D. whereas for many years no progress could be made in the enquiries and investigations conducted by
Italian magistrates, owing inter alia to a lack of cooperation on the part of some authorities in Italy
and other countries, and in NATO,

E. whereas over recent weeks the Italian magistrates have submitted the findings of further investigations,

F. whereas it is imperative that full cooperation from the relevant authorities in France, the United King-
dom, the United States and NATO and, possibly, other States identified or to be identified, is secured
in order to determine exactly who is responsible for the air disaster,

G. noting the Italian Government’s decision to forward to the countries concerned those parts of the
findings which refer specifically to their role, with a view to making an official request for cooper-
ation,

1.
Calls on all the States concerned, starting with those referred to directly in the legal documents, to
provide the Italian magistrates with the assistance they require in order to complete the investigations;
calls furthermore on the Council, in accordance with the principle of transparency that is an integral part
of the Treaties, to request such cooperation from the States concerned;

2.
Calls on the Council and the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to undertake
coordinated action in order to enforce more effective rules to ensure the safety of civilian air traffic in
relation to NATO and national military activity;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

3.
the Member States, the Government of the United States and the Secretary-General of NATO.