Russia not satisfied with human rights observance in Kosovo ITAR

Russia not satisfied with human rights observance in Kosovo
ITAR-TASS News Agency - November 29, 2004

By Vladimir Kikilo

UNITED NATIONS, November 29 - The fact that Serbs stayed away from the October elections to the territorial assembly in Kosovo bespeaks of "the unsatisfactory state of affairs with ensuring human rights and security of ethnic minorities". This shows how far Kosovo is from the creation of a multiethnic democratic society", Andrei Denisov, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, said in the Security Council on Monday.

The Russian ambassador pointed to limited progress in the implementation of the standards for Kosovo worked out by the international community, specifically, as regards the activity of the interim self-government bodies. ""Displaced persons' return to Kosovo has actually halted. In 2004 the number of displaced persons, representatives of ethnic minorities, exceeded the number of those who returned to their homes, while 2,288 people could not return home after the outbreak of violence in March", the ambassador said.

Denisov said the interim self-government bodies have a special responsibility for the transformations in Kosovo that could bring specific advantages to all the communities, regardless of their ethnic origins. Meanwhile Moscow regards as non-constructive any attempts to blame the setbacks in the territory on the Kosovo Serbs or on Belgrade, Denisov said.

Pointing out that the elections to the territorial assembly had been held in an organized way, the ambassador said the local self-government bodies now have the task of creating a representative, strong, stable and effective government that could ensure Kosovo progress. He said it is important that the government be led by a "constructive" politician with an impeccable reputation, whose ways would not lead to still greater alienation between the communities in the territory and, quite the contrary, would help attain interethnic consent.

Russia believes the most important tasks for the near perspective is to overcome the consequences of the outbreak of violence in March, ensure the rights and liberties of displaced persons and refugees and help them return to native places, the ambassador said.

November 29, 2004 Monday 4:55 PM Eastern Time