Impunity Watch: Europe

Explosions Rock Georgian Separatist Region Abkhazia; Serbs Create New Assembly in Kosovo

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

SUKHUMI, Georgia - Six people were wounded on Monday in two separate explosions in the capital of the Georgian separatist region Abkhazia.  The internationally unrecognized region's leader, Sergei Bapash, blamed the blasts on Georgia's government, as says that Abkhazia's border with Georgia will now be indefinitely closed.

Just one day earlier on Sunday, a blast wounded several citizens in the resort town of Gagri.  Bapash blames Georgia for that attack as well. 

"They [Georgia] could not frighten us with war, they could not frighten us with political pressure, now they want to frighten us with explosions," he announced. 

These two attacks are significant because they represent the growing tension between Georgia and Abkhazia over its territory.  Many of Abkhazia's residents maintain strong ties to Russia, creating a delicate political situation between Georgia, Abkhazia, and Russia.  In the not-to-distant past, Georgia has accused Russia of supporting Abkhazia's bid for independence.   

These attacks also represent growing concern over impunity developing in the region.  If war between Georgia and Abkhazia breaks out, and many believe that it could be sparked by even a single attack - many innocent citizens, both Georgian and Russian alike, will once again face oppression in the region, just as they did in the past before the separatist war in the 1990's. 

Additionally, if the border remains closed, this could lead to an oppressive humanitarian crisis.  "It will be a humanitarian catastrophe if the border is closed.  Thousands of Georgians in Abkhazia cross the border to get pensions, do their shopping and work," Sasha Utiashvili, an Interior Ministry Spokesman commented. 

Georgia's officials have yet to comment on the latest attacks.  They have in the past denied allegations that they are about to retake Abkhazia by force. 

For more information, please see:

CNN - Six wounded as blasts rock separatist Georgian region - 30 June 2008

Guardian - Abkhazia blames Georgia for bomb blasts - 30 June 2008

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MITROVICA, Kosovo - Serbians living in Kosovo now have an assembly that was set up today in Mitrovica defiance of the ethnic Albanian government in Kosovo.  The new assembly comes as the result of elections that took place in May, elections declared to be illegal by both Kosovo and the U.N.

The assembly consists of 45 elected members who say they will coordinate with officials in Belgrade to fight to retake Kosovo. 

It is not known what the effect of this new assembly will be. It may provide Serbs in Kosovo with an outlet to channel their anger and frustration responsibly, but it may also turn into an organized movement that could lead to additional violence between Kosovo and Serbia in the future. 

For more information, please see:

BBC - Kosovo Serbs launch new assembly - 28 June 2008

Reuters - Kosovo Serbs to form parliament, rejecting new state - 26 June 2008

Kosovo Constitution Takes Force; Serbia Arrests Zupljanin; Italy Deploys Troops to Its Own Streets

By Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Kosovo's Constitution has come into force this Sunday, June 15, but not without incident. 

Kosovo's Constitution stipulates that the European Union is to take on oversight of the territory from the UN forces.  Serbia and Russia, however, insist that the EU's mission (known as Eulex) is illegal because it was not approved by the UN Security Council.  In a compromise effort, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon proposed that UN forces be reconfigured to allow the EU to deploy its mission, but this effort was also blocked by Serbia and Russia.  For now, UNMIK and KFOR forces remain in Kosovo, and roughly half of the EU mission has been deployed.

Serbia's minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samaedzic, today announced also that a new parliament for minority Serbs will be established, further defying the implementation of the new Constitution. 

Reaction to the new Constitution and its implementation is mixed among Kosovo Albanians and Serbs.  Many celebrate the news, while others are more skeptical.  The International Herald Tribune reports that in the Serbian enclave of Caglavica where 200 Serb families live an isolated existence, Zoran Ristic, a theater director, said neither the EU nor the new Constitution would make any difference to his life.

"The new Constitution may be a happy day for some people, but we have constant electricity outages, our water is cut off, and we are living in a ghetto where most people never leave," he said. "This Constitution is just a lot of blah, blah, blah."

Many Kosovar Albanians were equally skeptical, saying they had little faith that the Constitution would put them in charge of their own destinies.

"The Constitution is just a piece of paper," said Sevdije Kastrati, 24, a camerawoman. "I am happy the EU is here, because I don't trust our government to build a country. They are corrupted and only looking out for themselves."

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune - Tension mounts as Kosovo Constitution takes effect - 15 June 2008

BBC - Serbs form rival Kosovo assembly - 15 June 2008

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BELGRADE, Serbia - Former Bosnian Serb security chief Stojan Zupljanin was arrested Wednesday (11 June 2008) by Serbian police in an apartment in Pancevo.  Stojan was one of four war crimes fugitives still at large and wanted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The extradition of the four suspects is key to furthering Serbia's EU bid.

Zupljanin was indicted by ICTY prosecutors in 1999 for crimes associated with his oversight of Serb-run prison camps during the war.  The arrest came after two-months of surveillance.  Upon being arrested, Zupljanin insisted that he was in fact someone else and produced a false identity card of a deceased man from Backa Palanka.  Fingerprint and DNA tests have since confirmed his identity. 

President of Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic stated that “this arrest was proof that Serbia was doing everything it can to meet its commitments to cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.”

Bosnian Serb military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, and Serb rebel leader in Croatia Goran Hadzic remain at large.

For more information, please see:

AP - Serbia nabs 1 of 4 war crimes fugitives - 12 June 2008

eYugoslvia - Hague Fugitive Zupljanin Arrested in Serbia - 12 June 2008

VOA - DNA Tests Confirm Indentity of Bosnian Serb War Crimes Suspect - 12 June 2008

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ROME, Italy - Italian government officials announced Friday (13 June 2008) that up to 2,500 soldiers will be deployed to patrol city streets in an effort to combat street crime.

Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa on Saturday said "There is a strong call from citizens for better control of the streets, for improved safety."  The 2,500 soldiers, some of whom have served in Afghanistan and Kosovo, will be made available for a trial period of six months to bolster the police in difficult urban areas.

Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government won election in April on a law-and-order platform, and the  BBC reports that crime and public safety have stayed atop the political agenda.  Roberta Pinotti, a spokesman for the Democratic Party, criticized the move as a "militarization of the streets," and many Italian trade unions have called for Italy to put the 25,000 police officers doing desk work back out on the streets. 

According to the International Herald Tribune, the mayor of Turin called the move "populist demagoguery" that would hurt tourism and Italy's image abroad. "I have only seen soldiers on the streets in Bogotá, but there the situation is rather different," the mayor, Sergio Chiamparino, said in the newspaper La Repubblica.

Up to 300 soldiers are expected to begin patrolling Milan in the coming days to help combat muggers and pickpockets. 

The BBC reports that Antonion Di Pietro, head of the small center-left party, remarked that "Using armed forces to control cities is a mistake by an authoritarian regime... We are not in Colombia where these forces are used to fight terrorism and armed insurrection." 

Centre-left leader Walter Veltroni described the move as "the wrong choice that humiliates forces of law and order".

The BBC reports this peace-time deployment to be the first since WWII.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune - Italy defends street patrols by soldiers - 15 June 2008

BBC - Row in Italy over army deployment - 15 June 2008

Russia Warns Georgia and Ukraine Against Joining NATO; Unexploded WWII Bomb Found In London

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today reaffirmed Russia's commitment to preventing NATO's proposed eastward expansion into Georgia and Ukraine.  Both of these states are considering joining NATO, and Russia once again warned them today that to do so would not be in either of their best interests.

Medvedev reminded these two nations that joining NATO would be a violation of a friendship treaty that each individually signed with Russia.  This treaty guarantees that none of these nations will take any action that creates risks for the security of the others. 

Additionally, Medvedev announced today that Ukraine and Georgia will face "serious consequences" if they become part of NATO. 

This conflict must be viewed against the backdrop of the dispute between Russia and Georgia over the separatist Abkhazia region.  There have been spurts of violence between Russian and Georgian citizens in this region in the recent past, which have even lead to acts of impunity taken against innocent civilians caught living in the region.  In recent talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Medvedev threatened that Georgia's entry into NATO could lead to more bloodshed [and perhaps more impunity] in the Abkhazia region. 

For more information, please see:

BBC - Medvedev warns against NATO entry - 6 June 2008

Yahoo (Reuters) - Russia warns its neighbors over NATO ambitions - 6 June 2008

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LONDON, England - An unexploded bomb dropped during World War II was found on Thursday near the near the future Olympic Park in London by contractors working in the area.  The bomb is the largest unexploded bomb found in the capital since 1975. 

A perimeter was immediately established and an army explosives team began working feverishly into the night to dismantle the device. 

It is estimated that unexploded bombs are found in London approximately two or three times a year.  They serve to remind us of "the Blitz," which lasted from September 1940 to May 1941.  During this time, German bombers bombarded the city every day. 

Even today, some sixty years later, we occasionally find untouched evidence of the most brutal war ever fought.

For more information, please see:

CNN - WWII bomb defused near Olympics site - 6 June 2008

Yahoo (AFP) - Police defusing unexploded WWII bomb - 6 June 2008