Kosovo gets in human rights watchdogs' spotlight

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EU mission in Kosovo has to be placed under stricter control and supervision than the UN mission, argue representatives of three largest human rights organizations Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.

According to these organizations, the level of responsibility of international employees in Kosovo has to be raised, and a whole complex of measures has to be introduced in order to improve the human rights situation in Kosovo. This includes, according to the rights advocates, introducing and expanding ombudsman functions; granting ombudsmen the right to investigate cases of human rights violations; revoking immunity for international personnel suspected of violating the law; and improving performance of international judges and prosecutors, as well as broadening their independence.

It is for the first time since the recognition of self-proclaimed sovereignty of Kosovo that western human rights advocates have admitted that the human rights situation in Kosovo is not quite all right. Such issues had not been on the agenda before the so-called independence of Kosovo was recognized.