CIAO DATE: 08/2008
June 2008
Human Rights & Human Welfare (University of Denver)
On March 11th, 2000, two children who were playing in the neighborhoods of Mitrovica, Kosovo, got hurt by an “unexploded ordnance”. One of them died in the explosion, the other was severely injured. An inquire clarified that the ordnance was a “bomblet”, a part of a cluster bomb dropped during the 1999 NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Since the aftermath of the campaign, following the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1244, the Serbian province of Kosovo has been put under UN interim administration (UNMIK), while the overall military security has been conferred to KFOR, the NATO-led international security force. At that time Mitrovica was within the sector for which French troops were responsible. According to the complaint filed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), KFOR commanders, in spite of being aware of the high number of unexploded ordnance, failed to inform inhabitants or properly marking or fencing the area. The applicants sued France for compensation invoking Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention in connection with the death of Gadaf Behrami and the wounding of Bekim Behrami, who suffered permanent injuries...
Resource link: The International Security Presence in Kosovo and the Protection of Human Rights [PDF] - 164K