UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Rights Field Operation in Serbia
Women in Black’s Recommendations relating to the future status of Kosovo:
1. Matters concerning human rights, especially women’s rights and human security must be integral to all decisions made on the future status of Kosovo. That should be considered throughout the process and as foundation of any agreement for the future of Kosovo. This includes:
a. Human rights, and especially women’s human rights, as well as a life quality of individuals, have primacy over any territorial or border issue.
b. Human rights, and especially women’s human rights, have primacy over state’s sovereignty.
c. Right and obligation to participate as women in peace process and influence peace negotiations.
2. To guarantee the mechanism through which be possible to bring to justice all those believed to be responsible for human rights violation and war crimes (i. e. violations of international humanitarian law) between 1998 and 2006, including the full cooperation with international justice (the Court in the Hague).
3. The future Constitution must guarantee the rights of all human beings, especially of women, to be free of all forms of discrimination and of all forms of violence, as enshrined in international standards. Namely, women of all ethnic groups in Kosovo, as well as all types of minorities, in reality suffer massive discrimination, including in employment, education and gender- and minority/based violence.
4. The future Constitution of Kosovo should make specific reference to international law as fundamental source of national legislation. In case of conflict between national law and international law, the Constitution should specify that international law shall prevail.
5. Total demilitarization of Kosovo: Kosovo could have only the police forces, in first ten years this forces must be under the control of representatives of international community (UN, EU, etc.).
6. In the education must be given the guarantees for freedom of any form of ethnocentrism, glorification of heroic past, propagation of violence and of machism, xenophobia, etc.
Women in Black
Belgrade, October 1st 2006
