Disappeared persons in Kosovo and the UN – reflections regarding the Human Rights Advisory Panel
Abstract
The article presents an analysis of the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo with regard to investigating disappearances. The Panel was created with the aim to examine alleged violations of human rights by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The European Convention on Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights case-law constituted the basis of the Panel’s reasoning and the majority of its opinions. While there were substantial differences between the complaints to the Panel and to the Court, their jurisprudence in disappearances cases is similar: both bodies approached the burden of proof and procedural obligations of Article 2 of the Convention in the same way, and – depending on the existence of special factors – found violations of Article 3 of the Convention with regard to relatives of the disappeared person. The Panel introduced two important changes while analyzing the violation of the rights of the disappeared persons family: it recognized a violation regardless whether UNMIK was responsible for the disappearances, and it restricted its temporal jurisdiction in this context. The article also analyzes how UNMIK has reacted to the Panel’s recommendations.
Keywords:
Enforced disappearances, Kosovo, European Court of Human Rights, Human Rights Advisory PanelReferences
M. Balcerzak, Odpowiedzialność Misji Tymczasowej Administracji ONZ w Kosowie za naruszenia praw człowieka. Uwagi na tle działalności Panelu Doradczego ds. Praw Człowieka (w:) Globalne problemy ochrony praw człowieka, (red.) E. Karska, Warszawa 2015 Google Scholar
G. Baranowska, Wymuszone zaginięcia w Europie. Kształtowanie się międzynarodowych standardów zapobiegania i egzekwowania odpowiedzialności państw, Warszawa 2017 Google Scholar
M. Blaauw, V. Lähteenäki, ‘Denial and silence’ or ‘acknowledgment and disclosure’, International Review of the Red Cross 2002, nr 848 Google Scholar
P. Boss, Ambiguous loss research, theory and practice: reflections after 9/11. Journal of Marriage and Family 66 (2004) Google Scholar
V. Brasey, The forensic-led approach to the missing persons issue in Kosovo, Politorbis 2010, nr 50-3 Google Scholar
C. Chinkin, The Kosovo Human Rights Advisory Panel, International Law Meetings Summary, Chatham House, London 2012 Google Scholar
G. Citroni, T. Scovazzi, The struggle against enforced disappearance and the 2007 United Nations Convention, Leiden 2007 Google Scholar
G. Citroni, The Specialist Chambers of Kosovo. The Applicable Law and the Special Challenges Related to the Crime of Enforced Disappearance, Journal of International Criminal Justice 14 (2016) Google Scholar
M. Crettol, A. M. La Rosa, The missing and transitional justice: the right to know and the fight against impunity, International Review of the Red Cross 2006, nr 862 Google Scholar
A. Czaplicka, Odpowiedzialność organizacji międzynarodowych jako element uniwersalnego systemu odpowiedzialności międzynarodowoprawnej, Łódź 2014 Google Scholar
P. Domagała, Międzynarodowa Konwencja ONZ w sprawie ochrony wszelkich osób przed wymuszonym zaginięciem. Perspektywa polska, Warszawa 2017 Google Scholar
D. Gibas-Krzak, Serbsko-albański konflikt o Kosowo w XX wieku, Toruń 2009 Google Scholar
C. Hall, Article 7. Crimes against humanity, O. Triffterer (red.) Commentary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Observers’ Note, Article by Article, Baden-Baden 1999 Google Scholar
M. Moratti, The Human Rights Advisory Panel holds the UN in Kosovo responsible for failing to investigate forced disappearances – too little, too late?, TerraNullius Weblog z dnia 11 marca 2013 r., dostępne na: https://terra0nullius.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/the-human-rights-advisory-panel-holds-the-un-in-kosovo-responsible-for-failing-to-investigate-forced-disappearances-too-little-too-late/ Google Scholar
M. Nowak, Enforced Disappearances in Kosovo: Human Rights Advisory Panel holds UNMIK accountable, European Human Rights Law Review 2013, nr 3 Google Scholar
M. A. Nowicki Słownik Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka. Angielsko-francusko-polski, Warszawa 2009 Google Scholar
M. A. Nowicki, Stosowanie Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka poza mechanizmem strasburskim – przykład Kosowa pod administracją ONZ, „Palestra. Pismo Adwokatury Polskiej”, e.Palestra, 2016 Google Scholar
S. Robins, Families of the missing. A test for contemporary approaches to transitional justice, Nowy Jork, 2014 Google Scholar
J. Sarkin, The need to deal with all missing persons including those missing as a result of armed conflict, disaster, migration, human trafficking and human rights violations (including enforced disappearances) in international and domestic law and processes, “Inter-American and European Human Rights Journal”, Vol. 1, 2015 Google Scholar
A. Szpak, Wymuszone zaginięcia. Wybrane zagadnienia, Toruń 2009 Google Scholar
M. L. Vermeulen, Enforced Disappearance, Determining State Responsibility under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, Utrecht 2012 Google Scholar
