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Commission on Human Rights
Fifty-eighth session
Item 9 (a)



Statement by Mr. José Cutileiro,
Special Representative to the Commission


Geneva, 27 March 2002



Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,



The report that I present today, completed in mid December 2001, is my first report to the Commission. It has been updated by an addendum, circulated in English only, covering matters until the end of February. The report is comprehensive and detailed; therefore I shall only highlight a few points here.

Let me start with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Taking the report and addendum together and comparing what they tell us with the situation of human rights in FRY before October 2000, it is clear that a vast improvement has taken place. Efforts in that direction started immediately after the new authorities' election and have gone on ever since. Last November I told the General Assembly in New York that I had been impressed by the determination of officials in Belgrade to put things right. After a second mission there, the impression remains and indeed further modest advances have been made recently. Let me mention two rather specific examples which are illustrative of the broader process. First, for the first time in Yugoslav history, FRY's parliament recognised the Roma as a national minority; second, Serbia's government decided to hold long anticipated early local elections next June in three Southern Serbian municipalities with large ethnic Albanian populations.

I take these two examples because the first - treatment of minorities - comes from a general area of great importance where good work has been done of late by the authorities; and the second from Southern Serbia where it has been known for some time that those elections are a sine qua non condition for the consolidation of the peace process there. Since the agreement of May last year, negotiations have been going on between the FRY/Serb authorities and local ethnic Albanian leaders, although not always at the pace the latter would have wished. The decision to hold the elections shows that, despite delays, the Serbian government has not strayed from the right path.

There is, however, another side of the coin. When the new political leadership took over and decided to right wrongs of the past, the challenges were enormous and a great lot of work still remains to be done. My report and its addendum list a number of outstanding matters of serious concern. Let me highlight a few here. Further judicial reform is required if human rights protections are to be firmly entrenched through the rule of law; the investigations of the mass grave sites in Police/Military premises at Batjanica, on the outskirts of Belgrade are making no sufficient progress and to date, no one has been arrested in connection with those crimes (this is symptomatic of more deeply rooted problems relating to accountability and impunity); there are no laws yet regulating the media; the Law on Co-operation with the ICTY is still being drafted and more needs to be done to enhance practical cooperation with the Tribunal; police violence, though much less widespread and not systemic as before, is still reported and insufficient attention has to be paid to establish credible civilian oversight mechanisms of police conduct; in Montenegro there is no effective public or parliamentary control of the police and draft amendments to the Criminal Code have not effectively dealt with the existing custodial penalties for slander and defamation. There are still more than 230,000 internally displaced persons and more than 400,000 refugees living in the country - whose fate remains uncertain, even at a time when donor support appears to be waning significantly. Again, these examples are not exhaustive but illustrative of structural problems that need to be addressed if human rights are to be better protected throughout the country.

Mr. Chairman,

One big political event with potential human rights consequences has happened since the addendum was written: the announcement of the creation of the new state of Serbia and Montenegro. For the last year or so, uncertainties surrounding status have been invoked by some to justify the lack of progress in institutional reforms of importance to human rights - for instance, in reporting on the six Human Rights treaties to which the Federal State is a party, and in legislative reform in Montenegro. I hope that greater clarity in the constitutional arrangements will bring with it significant progress in these areas.

A word on Kosovo.

Again, my specific concerns are listed in the Report and its addendum. Since assuming my mandate I have been concerned generally that human rights have not been given sufficient priority in policies and practices of UNMIK in the past. I welcome the arrival of the new SRSG, Michael Steiner, and trust that under his able stewardship many of these thorny human rights issues will be addressed. I also welcome the recent election and the installation of a new president, government and parliament which will assume a number of functions, leaving nonetheless key functions with UNMIK and KFOR. One hopes that the decision of the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the political process will have a beneficial effect on inter-ethnic relations, still at a very low ebb, but a great deal needs to be done if the human rights of all Kosovars are to be respected, notably in the safe and dignified return of people of all ethnic groups displaced from Kosovo over the last few years.

Overall and in conclusion, the most important single factor to sustain improvements in human rights protection throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is the consolidation of parliamentary democracy. Everywhere progress as been made, albeit slowly. Much remains to be done and there is no room for complacency; outside advice and support will continue to be needed, including adequate political and financial support from the international community. But overall the right course is being steered and there should be no deviation from it.

Mr. Chairman,

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a complex case. Four and a half months ago I told the General Assembly: Athe bitty-ness of the administration renders accountability difficult to establish and enforce. The proliferation of international (sometimes contradictory) advice confuses local officials (Y). In many important matters the ultimate decisions have to be taken by the High Representative, which nurtures impunity and irresponsibility.

Against this bleak background progress is difficult but some has been made recently, albeit of a very limited nature. Returns in Republika Srpska have substantially increased - from a very low level - in 2001; ministers from both entities told me they intend to complete constitutional reform in the next few months in line with the B&H Constitutional Court decision on constituent peoples.

Many serious problems still remain and you will find them listed in the report and in its addendum. Let me highlight one, most important for the future of the country: the question of refugees and displaced persons. The statistics of returns are better than in previous years but some people have been forced back from their countries of immigration without guaranteed abode in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and some people, no one knows how many, have gone back to repossess their property and sell it. Others decided not to exercise their right to return and for those there is no protection. Great emphasis has been laid, by nations and international organisations, on helping people to go back home and almost nothing have been done to help those who- for whatever reason - prefer not to do so. In this context, as I did in the addendum to the Report, after having visited Banja Luka, I call upon the Republic of Croatia, a member of this Commission, to redouble her efforts to remove obstacles to refugee return or redress.

This - the question of refugees and internally displaced persons - and other disturbing cases of the authorities' incapacity to satisfactorily uphold and protect human rights, are all ultimately linked to the constitutional and political arrangements on which Bosnia and Herzegovina's life hinges.

These political arrangements had already been in place for some years when I reported to the GA in the autumn and there is no indication that they will change in any significant way in the foreseeable future. Therefore, human rights advocates' constant preaching and occasional arm twisting to get reluctant officials to do this or that will not lead to sustainable improvements. There can be no real progress as long as the country depends on foreign civilian executives and foreign military to hold together at all. And the political changes needed to be able to live without this tutelage can only be brought about by genuine inter-ethnic reconciliation, led from within. We have not seen that yet.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.