Liberation of Kosovo: UN working to bring back the rule of law

THE PLAN to create a civil system of law and order in Kosovo moved forward last night with the arrival of 37 international police officers in the capital, Pristina. The officers, from around a dozen countries, had been serving with the international force in Bosnia. They will be the first of up to 3,000 police who will be at the forefront of tackling one of Kosovo's most pressing problems.

Both K-For and the United Nations see the introduction of an international civil police force as a vital element in the recovery of Kosovo. At the moment martial law is being enforced by K-For soldiers and military police.

The UN special representative in Kosovo, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has appointed six civil judges who are due to start work imminently. At the moment there are no courts operating in the province and anyone arrested for serious offences is being held by military police until it is decided what to do with them.

"It is crucial that there is a judiciary and a judicial system. It is all very well arresting people but if you have to be able to do something with them afterwards," said a spokeswoman for the United Nations mission in Kosovo.

The six judges, the initial appointees from around 30 local judges, will operate according to existing Yugoslav law. Where the UN feels these laws are inappropriate it will alter them.

A special UN unit concentrating solely on civil administration has been set up in Pristina. In the meantime crime will continue to be dealt with by the military police of the different K-For forces. These units are increasingly stretched. "We are getting up to 150 reports of different crimes a day, ranging from war crimes to the theft of a cat," said Lt Sean Hendy, the Royal Military Police (RMP) operations officer for Pristina.

To assist the RMP, a number of police from the British Military Detention Centre in Colchester have arrived in Pristina. These officers will take charge of the British-run detention centre for serious offenders which has been set up at Lipljan, outside the city.

In the long term the UN is committed to setting up a locally-recruited police force. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has found a location to set up a police academy to recruit and train 500 officers, both Serb and Albanian.An OSCE official Urdur Gunnardottir said: "The growth in lawlessness could be a large problem unless it is sorted out. For everyone here now it seems obvious that it's getting worse."