Sot, u organizua një konferencë në Prishtinë/Priština për të prezantuar krijimin e Koalicionit të ri dhe projektin katër (4) vjeçarë “Koalicioni të drejta të barabarta për të gjithë (ERAC)“. Konferenca u hap nga Z. Christof Stock, Shef i Operacioneve, Zyra e Bashkimit Evropian në Kosovë, i cili theksoi rëndësinë e shoqërisë civile në mbrojtjen dhe promovimin e të drejtave të njeriut, implementimit të kornizës ligjore të Kosovës, si dhe bashkëpunimit ndërmjet shoqërisë civile dhe institucionet qeveritare. Z. Stock tha se krijimi i ERAC dhe projekti është iniciativë e rëndësishme e cila bashkon shtatë (7) OJQ-të të mesme dhe nëntëmbëdhjetë (19) OJQ në nivel lokal, që punojnë në fushën e sundimit të ligjit dhe të drejtave themelore dhe punojnë në mbrojtjen dhe promovimin e të drejtat themelore të grupeve të rrezikuara dhe/ose të margjinalizuara (GRM-ve) të cilët janë: komunitetet jo-shumicë, gratë, rinia, dhe komuniteti LGBT.

Përveç kësaj, përfaqësuesit e ERAC prezantuan qëllimin e krijimit të koalicionit, cilët janë anëtarët e Koalicionit dhe aktivitetet që do të zbatohen në një periudhë katër (4) vjeçare. Për më tepër, Z. Nenad Rašić, përfaqësues i Komisionit për të Drejtat e Njeriut, Barazi Gjinore dhe Personat e Zhdukur dhe Peticion, Z. Hilmi Jashari, Avokati i Popullit i Kosovës, si dhe Znj. Sadete Demaj-Kajtazi Koordinatore në Zyrën për Qeverisje të Mirë/Zyra e Kryeministri folën edhe për institucionet që përfaqësojnë dhe gatishmërinë e tyre për të mbështetur ERAC në arritjen e qëllimit të përgjithshëm të projektit.

Klikoni për komunikatën e plotë në Shqip, Serbisht dhe Anglisht.

On March 4th, the Serbian President dissolved the parliament and called early parliamentary elections in Serbia. Serbian state institutions stated that parliamentary elections will be organised in Kosovo as well. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has not taken a specific decision on this matter with Prime Minister Isa Mustafa stating that there will be no classical elections in Kosovo. Instead, he said, there will be a collection of votes from Kosovo with facilitation by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, which has not yet been confirmed by OSCE. He also stated that this is a right the Serb citizens of Kosovo are entitled to according to their constitutional rights on double citizenship.

While there is still a sense of uncertainty about how parliamentary elections called in Serbia will be organized in Kosovo, the pre-election campaign is in full swing in Kosovo. An intensive campaign is being organized luring voters in Kosovo. Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić recently visited several municipalities in northern Kosovo where he campaigned for himself and the party he leads the Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska napredna stranka, SNS). Following on his footsteps, caretaker Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, also visited Kosovo. He portrayed the visit as a “visit to cultural shrines”, but nevertheless used the opportunity for campaigning and canvasing with voters. There has been other campaigning from other parties as well. The following is an update on the Serbian parliamentary elections and developments surrounding their announced organization in Kosovo and the possible implications that these may have for the political life of the Serb community in Kosovo and on Kosovo’s political development in general.

Click here for the full Kosovo Communities Issues Monitor in English, Albanian, and Serbian.

[1]http://www.gazetaexpress.com/lajme/vendvotimet-e-serbise-ne-kosove-mustafa-i-quan-qendra-te-grumbullimit-188191/ 

[2] http://www.oranews.tv/rajoni/dacic-neser-viziton-trashegimine-kulturore-serbe-ne-kosove/

On 31 March, in Gračanica/Graçanicë ECMI Kosovo held a final conference for the project “Diversity is Opportunity: Promoting Tolerance as a Means of Reconciliation and Democratization”, funded by the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo. In this conference, ECMI Kosovo presented the activities that were developed throughout this project as well as the results achieved. Participants had the chance to express their opinions and talk about their experiences during this project. Furthermore, a booklet that contains a photo reportage that participants took was also presented during the conference.

ECMI Kosovo would like to thank the participants for making this project successful and also the U.S. Embassy for contributing to this success.

Please click here to see the booklet presented at the conference

Në prag të shtatëmbëdhjetë vjetorit të përfundimit të luftës ’98-‘99, shoqëria kosovare ende përballet me dilemën rreth ngjarjeve që kanë ndodhur gjatë asaj lufte. Në mungesë të ballafaqimit me të kaluarën marrëdhëniet në rajon janë ende të tendosura, duke mos bashkëpunuar qoftë në aspektin politik apo ekonomik.

Teuta Hoxha, anëtare e Koalicionit “Të Drejta të Barabarta për të Gjithë” shpjegon më shumë në artikullin e saj arsyet e shënimi të datës 24 Mars, Ditën Ndërkombëtare të së Drejtës për të Vërtetën lidhur me shkeljet e rënda të të drejtave të njeriut dhe për dinjitetin e viktimave. Artikullin e plotë mund ta gjeni më poshtë:

The Constitutional Court approved the request made by President Jahjaga to interpret the compatibility of the 25 August agreement with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and suspend all activities produced by the Agreement until it reached a decision. Our newest contribution to the Kosovo Communities Issues Monitor looks into the request and argues that any ruling on the Principles would be speculative in nature at this stage, as the full details on the Statute have not been drafted yet. Further, while a constitutional court review was foreseen for the final agreement, this early involvement of the constitutional court in the process was not foreseen and it is yet unknown what effect it will have on the overall dialogue process.

This is yet another delay caused by over-optimistic deadlines that return to discredit the Dialogue and the confidence of all side in the dialogue process, especially of the Kosovo Serb community that has made the request for the establishment of Association a central point of their political engagement with the Kosovo institutions. At the least, we argue, the decision of the Constitutional Court and the suspension should allow the Kosovo Government – including the representatives of the Kosovo Serb community – and opposition to engage in an inclusive discussion on the competencies and functioning of the Association.

See more for the full Kosovo Communities Issues Monitor:

On 24 October, media in Kosovo reported about an incident involving adolescent children in the village of Kuscë e Epërme/Gornje Kusce in the municipality of Novobërdë/Novo Brdo in eastern Kosovo. It was reported that adolescent children belonging to the Serb community were attacked by another adolescent individual from the Albanian community. Reportedly, the attacker used a piece of wood with a nail on it and he managed to wound a Kosovo Serb fellow child. The wounded child was immediately sent to the hospital in Gračanica/Graçanicë and his wounds were not life-threatening. Kosovo Police confirmed the incident took place, and later on arrested two adolescents, 16 and 17-year old respectively, believed to be the perpetrators.[1]

The youngster was visited by the Director of the Office of Community Affairs within the Office of the Prime Minister, Ivan Tomić, who called on the Kosovo Police to investigate the incident and take appropriate measures. Tomić also added that it is the parents’ responsibility to educate their children not to hate people from other ethnicities, and that incidents of this nature show that “we all need to work more, including parents”.[2] Serbian political representatives in Kosovo quickly condemned the attack, stating that it was another instance of ethnically motivated violence against the Serb community in Kosovo.[3]

Nevertheless, our research in the field and conversations with our contacts from the Serbian and Albanian community in Novobërdë/Novo Brdo indicate that this incident was not a blind ethnically motivated attack but came about as a result of young children playing a game of football and having a fight afterwards. This is confirmed by the official Kosovo Police report on incidents during the day.[4]Although the violence itself should be condemned, it should be treated carefully and rash and premature conclusions when commenting on potentially ethnically motivated incidents should not be a norm. An escalated fight between Serbs and Albanians playing football, although intolerable and a worrisome indicator of the continuing ethnic distance and divide between young Serbs and Albanians even in places where they live close together, it is, nevertheless, not a blind ethnically motivated attack without any occasion.

A separate incident took place in Pejë/Peć when a bus with Serbian license plates was reported to have been stoned on its way to the “Usekovаnjа glаve sv. Jovаnа” (Beheading of Saint John the Baptist) church in Pejë/Peć. Media in the Serbian language report that the bus was stoned even though it was being escorted by Kosovo Police, while media in Albanian report that the bus was stoned after its passengers started chanting pro-Serbian slogans and giving the three-finger salute, commonly perceived to be a provocation by Albanians and other non-Serbs.[5] No passengers were injured in the stoning, and the bus injured material damage.[6] Minister for Communities and Return, Dalibor Jevtić, condemned the stoning of the bus and said that Serbs have a right to visit their places of worship all over Kosovo. He singled out what he called a small number of Serbs working for Kosovo Police in the Pejë/Peć as a problem that needs to be fixed. He said that Serbs in Kosovo want to live together in peace and equality with others.[7]

Whatever the occasion for the attack – and no occasion can justify the use of violence – representatives of all communities, including municipal authorities, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church and organizers of these visits, and Kosovo Police should sit together and agree on measures that should be taken to make sure that visits to Serbian Orthodox places of worship take place in a peaceful manner.

[1]http://www.rtklive.com/?id=7&r=46342 and http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2015&mm=10&dd=24&nav_category=640&nav_id=1055272

[2] http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3438

[3] http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3429;
http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3428;
http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3430.

[4] http://www.rtklive.com/?id=7&r=46342

[5] http://www.telegrafi.com/lajme/sulmohet-autobusi-ne-peje-pasi-udhetaret-serbe-ngacmuan-ne-baza-etnike-80-11127.html;http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3435 and http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3436

[6] Ibid.

[7] http://www.rtklive.com/rtk2/?id=2&r=3436