Press Release

Human Rights Review Panel - 12th regular session

Press Release
Number              04-2012
Date                   05.10.2012
Contact              John J. Ryan

The Human Rights Review Panel (HRRP) held its 12th regular session in Prishtinë/Priština from 3 to 5 October 2012.

It was noted that there were eighteen (18) complaints pending before the Panel at the start of the session, seven (7) of which were ready for consideration by the Panel.

The Panel determined unanimously that two (2) of the complaints were admissible:

  1. The first complaint to be declared admissible pertains to the communication by EULEX of the statements of a potential witness to the Serbian authorities. The complainant alleged that the course of action taken by EULEX constitutes a violation of his right to life (under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights), his right not to be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment (under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights) and his rights to the protection and respect for his privacy (under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights). The complaint was declared admissible in relation to the last two of these rights. Due to the urgency and gravity of the matter, the Panel also proposed that a number of interim measures be ordered by the Head of Mission (HoM) EULEX Kosovo so as to preserve and protect the rights and interests of the complainant pending the Panel’s determination on the merits of this case.

 

  1. The second complaint examined by the Panel was brought by 116 Roma IDPs who were displaced during the 1999 conflict and re-located in a number of IDPs camps. The complainants allege that several of their human rights were violated during and in the context of their stay in those camps. In particular, they claim that they were exposed to serious health hazards attributable in part, they say, to EULEX. Whilst the Panel has found the complaint to be inadmissible in relation to the allegations of mistreatment and inadequate living conditions, it has declared the complaint admissible in relation to the alleged failure of EULEX to ensure that the complainants have access to justice with a view to seek and, as the case may be, receive an effective remedy for what they say is a breach of their fundamental rights.

In addition, the Panel communicated one (1) complaint to the HoM for further information and observations respectively. Further, the Panel held that four (4) complaints were inadmissible.

The decisions of the Panel will be transmitted to the complainant as well as to the HoM. They will also be published in due course on the Panel’s website upon translation into the Albanian and Serbian languages.

The next Panel session is scheduled to take place from 12 to 14 November 2012.

Please see www.hrrp.eu for further information on the Panel.

 Notes to the editor;
The Human Rights Review Panel (Panel) for EULEX Kosovo, as an independent accountability mechanism for alleged violations of human rights,  reviews complaints from any person claiming to be the victim of human rights violations by EULEX Kosovo in the conduct of its executive mandate. The Panel is not a judicial or disciplinary body. The mechanism will solely look into whether a violation of human rights occurred or not and formulate recommendations for remedial action. Such action does no include monetary compensation.  The Psnel is independent in the exercise of its functions which it performs with impartiality and integrity.