Assessing that the special court was the issue “that has preoccupied the Security Council,” Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaci, told the members of the Security Council that Kosovo will establish this institution on Tuesday “in order to cleanse our war and to isolate individual cases and negative actions.”
Thaci, as the leader of the party which has the biggest number of the deputies at the Assembly, said further that according to the interpretations of the Constitutional Court, establishment of the special court is in accordance with the Constitution and “the Assembly of Kosovo will vote establishment of the Special Rooms on 29 May.”
The U.S. Ambassador at the United Nations, David Pressman, stressed that “the U.S. take very seriously accusations for war crimes.”
“Kosovo should respond in the right manner to the accusations for serious war crimes committed between 1998 and 2000… by establishing a powerful special court that could try these cases. The findings of the EU’s special task force last summer say that there is sufficient evidence to raise charges against a small number of individuals for serious crimes committed during this period,” said Pressman, who also stressed the support of the U.S. for the new Chief Prosecutor, David Schwendiman.
“It is disappointing,” said the representative of the United Kingdom, Alexandra Davison, “that the chairmanship of the Kosovo Assembly has delayed the voting of the special court. This delay endangers Kosovo’s pledge for the rule of law and dealing with the war crimes. If the voting is delayed further, it will affect Kosovo’s reputation. Establishment of the court will be a significant step in Kosovo’s efforts to fight impunity,” said the British representative.
