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Comment: UN Regime in Kosovo Shows Its True Colours
15 February 2007 Illegitimate regime revealed its violent character in the
bloody suppression of a peaceful protest.
By Visar Ymeri in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 15 Feb 07)
When Arben Xheladini, father of a three-year-old son, and
Mon Balaj were shot dead by riot police of the UN Mission in Kosovo last
Saturday, February 10, they died because they had decided to make a peaceful
protest.
Their deaths showed Kosovo has entered into a new phase of
its history - a phase of transparent violence used by official institutions
against the very people they should be serving and protecting.
More than 80 other people were wounded in the demonstration
simply because they joined the others and said “NO” to the partition of Kosovo
and the new autonomous status being prepared for their country.
About 20,000 people marched through the streets of Pristina
to make their voice heard and say they will not settle for anything other than
full and unconditional freedom.
When they shouted “vetevendosje” - self-determination - they called on the
world to recognise their most basic human right, which is to freely determine
their country’s political status and thus freely pursue their own political,
economic and cultural development.
Instead, UNMIK and the Kosovo government it has created,
once again confirmed that they do not respect human rights or international
law.
They fired rubber and plastic bullets, some made of metal
and covered with a layer of plastic, at unarmed demonstrators. These bullets
have been condemned by human rights organisations, by medical authorities, and
even by the UN itself.
Several people have died in the Northern Ireland conflict since
1969 from plastic bullet wounds. At close range, they are deadly. At the
protest in Pristina, barely ten metres separated the police and the protesters
when they began firing.
Standard regulations require that these bullets be fired at
the legs of demonstrators. The international police were intentionally shooting to injure and kill.
According to the public testimony of his cousin who was
with him at the protest, Mon Balaj was chased by a special police officer into
the Iliria Hotel in the centre of Pristina and shot at close range. It was a
cold blooded and intentional execution.
A regime imposed upon a people with the intention only to
suppress their political will is a violent regime. UNMIK is a violent regime
since it takes no regard of the people’s will and interests.
Therefore, its manifestation is bound to be violent.
Pristina on February 10 saw this regime’s real face. Its violent essence
explains its violent actions as well as many of its other unethical deeds.
Ulpiana Lama, spokesperson to the Kosovo government,
claimed on the very same day that the police resorted to the lawful,
professional and proportional use of force. One wonders how the killing of two
and the wounding of 82 peaceful demonstrators can be described as a
professional and proportional use of force. By intentionally hiding the crimes
committed by the police force, Lama became a partner in its crimes.
What happened on February 10 was institutionalised crime.
It represents the logical outcome of a political regime of UNMIK and the Kosovo
institutions that it created to expand its power, that functions without
legitimacy and accountability. It is a political regime that has been imposed
on the people without their prior consent. Therefore, it is a political regime
that will be torn down.
Crimes can be concealed for a time but not for ever. Last
Saturday, when it was confronted by people who demanded a government from the
people, by the people and for the people, UNMIK found it was unable to conceal
its true nature any longer.
The people of Kosovo demand a political status that is
based on their will and their will only. They will not accept a Kosovo that
comes out of negotiations in Vienna,
or a Kosovo that seems to be pleasant enough for the group of politicians
gathered in the negotiating team.
People do not want a country based on institutionalised
crime. They want a country that will not kill people like Arben and Mon because
they choose to protest peacefully. They are determined to have a Kosovo that is
unconditionally free and sovereign.
Visar Ymeri is an activist from Vetevendosje movement,
organisers of Saturday's protest against the UN plan for Kosovo. Balkan Insight
is BIRN’s online publication.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
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