FROM THE MEDIA

AP 2004/10/11

Kosovo's Ombudsman Seeks Results of Probes into Riot Killings

Pristina

Kosovo's ombudsman said today he has asked to see the results of investigations into the deaths of several people allegedly killed by UN police or NATO-led peacekeepers in rioting earlier this year.

Marek Antoni Nowicki, head of a UN-created ombudsman office, said he asked the top UN official in Kosovo for information on the state of investigations into incidents during mid-March violence.

The cases involve the deaths of "a number of persons, in some cases presumably as a result" of operations by the UN mission and NATO-led peacekeepers, a statement from Nowicki's office said.

"Although these events took place almost seven months ago, there has been no official information on whether these serious incidents have been the subject of investigations," it said. "If such investigations were conducted, then there were no public statements regarding their nature or results."

Nineteen people were killed and more than 900 others injured in two days of anti-Serb violence in March, when mobs of ethnic Albanians attacked Kosovo's Serb minority, burning at least 600 homes and forcing some 4,000 people, mainly Serbs, to flee to safety.

Of those reported killed, 11 were ethnic Albanians and eight were Serbs, according to UN figures.

Authorities so far have issued two indictments against ethnic Albanians on murder charges for the deaths of two Serbs.

"During the violence last March, regrettably there were casualties, some of them allegedly at the hands of international forces," Nowicki said. "All of these cases require thorough investigation by entities guaranteeing an absolute independent review of each incident."

"I would like to see the results of such investigations," he said.

Last week, the head of the UN-run justice system, Thomas Monaghan, said authorities believe that four ethnic Albanians were killed by either UN police or NATO-led peacekeepers during the violence.

"We believe we know the answer to what happened in those" cases, Monaghan said. "We do not believe any criminality took place in any of those four."

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999, following an alliance bombing campaign which ended the Serb crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

Some 18,000 NATO-led peacekeepers and a 3,500-strong UN police force are in charge of security in the ethnically tense province.