September 13,
1999
We, the individuals identified below,
gathered at Lansdowne Center in Virginia, September 9-13,
1999, with the facilitation of a team assembled by the
United States Institute of Peace, have reached consensus on
a framework of basic principles, practices and procedures to
help guide Kosova during and after its transition to
democratic self-rule. Representing a broad spectrum of
Kosovar Albanian leadership from civil society groups,
political movements, humanitarian and professional
institutions, we commend these results to our people. We
appeal to the international community to reflect upon and
respect the fruits of our deliberations. And we underscore
the sincerity of our stance favoring a plural society which
welcomes all Kosovars. We state the determination of the
people and political forces of Kosova to achieve:
- the liberation of all those
citizens of Kosova detained and imprisoned illegally, as
well as those who have been illegally subject to judicial
processing,
- the liberation of those kept in
Serbia as hostages, many of whom are children,
- the accounting for all missing
persons,
- and the prosecution of war
crimes.
Protection of those who bear judicial
witness to war crimes is of equal importance. We pledge our
cooperation with those outside Kosova who share these aims
and we demand the full cooperation of relevant international
organizations. Finally, we would take this occasion to
express our profound thanks to the U.S. Government and
people for their support and to the United States Institute
of Peace for its professional conduct of the
meetings.
The pages below are organized under
the headings of Political
Process; Strengthening
Civil Society; and
Economic
Reconstruction, Revitalization and
Reform in accordance with the
structure of our deliberations at Lansdowne.
Lansdowne Workshop
Participants
Journalists
Aferdita Kelmendi (Director
of Radio/TV 21)
Baton Haxhiu (Chief Editor, Koha
Ditore)
Shaban Arifaj
(journalist)
Dukagnin Gorani
(journalist)
Gani Dili (journalist, women's
issues)
Independent
Ylber Hysa (head of Kosova
Associations for Civic Initiatives)
Mahmut Bakalli (head of Kosovo
media board)
United Democratic League
(LBD)
Bajram Kosumi
Mehmet Hajrizi
Hyadet Hyseni
Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK)
Naim Jerliu
Edita Tahiri
Bujar Bukoshi
Alush Gashi
Party of Democratic Unity
(PBD)
Bardyhl Mahmuti
Shaban Shala
Jakup Krasniqi
Kosovo Liberation Army
(UCK)
Hashim Thaqi
Rame Buja
Fatmir Limaj
Azem Syla
Zhavit Haliti
Non-governmental organizations and
activists
Palok Berisha (Mother Teresa
Society)
Xheraldina Vula (Radio 21, Women's
NGO)
Sevdije Ahmeti (Director,
Organization for Protection of Women and
children)
Marte Palokaj (Mother Teresa
Society)
Edi Shukriu (activist, women's
issues, president of LDK Women's Forum)
Vjosa Dobruna (Doctor, Organization
for Protection of Women and Children)
Shkelzen Maliqi (Analyst, Open
Society Institute)
Pajazit Nushi (Council for the
Protection of Human Rights and Freedom)
Arben Koca (chairman of youth
council in Skenderaj)
Ariana Xerxa (Humanitarian Law
Fund)
Economists
Riza Sapunhaxiu (economist,
formerly Kosovska Bank, World Bank)
Shefqet Cana (Joint Kosovo
Bank)
Ahmet Shala (Professor of
Economics)
Muhamet Mustafa
(Riinvest)
Local Officials
Bajram Rexhepi (Mayor of
Mitrovica)
Adem Bajri (attorney,
Peja)
Ardian Gjini (Vice Mayor of
Gjakova)
U.S. Participants
Conference Chair
Chester
Crocker, Chairman of Board
of Directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)
Conference Advisor
Harriet
Hentges, Executive Vice
President, USIP
Conference Director
Dan
Serwer, Director of the
Balkans Initiative, USIP
Sub-Group Chairmen
Michael
Froman, Senior Fellow,
Council on Foreign Relations
Hal
Saunders, Director of
International Affairs, Kettering Foundation
George
Ward, Director, Training
Program, USIP
Conference
Organizers
Burcu Akan, USIP
Kristine Herrmann, USIP
Lauren
VanMetre, USIP
Christina Zechman, USIP
Political
Process
We began by looking forward five to
ten years into Kosova's future. We decided that the
following nine elements were essential to a future of peace
and prosperity for all Kosovars:
- Self-determination based on
a referendum conducted under international auspices.
- The rule of law, under
which all Kosovars will be able to live without fear;
- Under the law, guarantees for
human rights and individual liberties;
- Government institutions
that are responsive and serve the needs of civil
society;
- A functional multi-ethnic
society that includes equal opportunity for all;
- A free economic market with
protection for those members of society who are at
risk;
- Integration of Kosova into
international institutions.
- An international role that
provides for the protection of Kosovars and their rights;
and
- An updated education system
that provides opportunities for advancement to Kosova's
most precious resources, its youth, and contributes to
building civil society.
We then agreed to examine five of
these categories in order to identify the institutions and
processes that are essential to their
realization.
In order to establish the rule of
law, we identified the need for:
- A constitution;
- Elections;
- Agreement on and adherence to a
political code of conduct.
Essential to human rights and
individual liberties are:
- A functioning, unitary judicial
system based on international human rights
conventions;
- Enforcement of respect for
individual and collective rights;
- Systematic respect for
laws.
In order to develop responsive
government institutions, the following are
important:
- Adequate financial resources;
- A professional civil service;
- A functioning, unitary judicial
system;
- Effective and democratic
police;
- Effective defense of Kosova's
territory, through transformation of the KLA into a
national defense force and integration into the
Partnership for Peace.
A functional, multi-ethnic
society depends upon:
- Adequate legislation;
- Confidence-building measures by
government and civil society;
- Intercommunal dialogue;
- Merit-based employment
decisions;
- Where necessary, affirmative
action to ensure minority rights.
An international role involving
the United Nations, OSCE, NATO, the U.S.A. and the ICRC is
essential to:
- Full implementation of UNSCR 1244
throughout the territory of Kosova;
- Secure the release of prisoners
detained for political reasons;
- Ensure the prosecution of war
criminals;
- Protect the safety of those who
bear witness to war crimes and other offenses against
humanity;
- Defense of the Albanian
populations in Presheva, Bujanoc, and Medvegja, which are
exposed to repression, discrimination, and ethnic
cleansing;
- Bearing in mind the temporary
absence of Kosovar political and judicial authorities,
the issuance of new travel and identity documents for the
Kosovar people.
As a further step, we agreed to
outline the elements of a political code of conduct. We
arrived at the following:
All individuals, political parties,
and other groups should:
- During this transitional period,
resolve to establish, attend, and not boycott a political
consultative forum that, meeting regularly, would be open
to all political forces. The forum would meet and be
chaired on a rotational basis. Its initial meeting would
be facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace. The forum
would operate in full respect of the legitimate roles of
international organizations.
- Build support for formulas for
unified organs of government and administration based on
democratic principles and international obligations.
- Be guided above all by democratic
values in striving toward the paramount goal of a more
prosperous and secure future for all who live in
Kosova.
- Respect pluralism and the fair
competition of political ideas and political programs.
Corruption, intimidation, violence and other pressures
are antithetical to democracy and must be excluded.
- Promote the transparency of the
political process, including party programs, party
structures, and party activities.
- Respect diversity, including the
protection of the identity of minorities (i.e., ethnic,
confessional, political, and social groups), ensuring
free access to the political system for the latter. All
forms and measures of discrimination that would endanger
the identity of minorities must be rejected.
- Pledge their determination to
agree upon mechanisms for the conduct of democratic
elections under international supervision and resolve to
respect the results of those elections. Elections must be
properly prepared with international support and with due
regard to establishment of necessary social conditions,
for example, adequate housing. See also the report on
civil society regarding elections.
- Preserve the institutions that
have sustained the people of Kosova during times of
difficulty, including families and non-governmental
organizations.
- Actively recognize that the
contributions of women and men to the political process
are crucial.
- Extend political debate as widely
as possible in Kosova, support the political parties in
regenerating their programs and organizations to adapt to
newly created conditions and the necessity for a healthy
political atmosphere in Kosova.
Strengthening Civil
Society
The Albanian people of Kosova have
developed strong institutions of civil society, although
they have not necessarily used that term. Identifying the
elements of those foundations and naming them as such could
be a useful step in strengthening civil society in the next
stage of Kosovar development. Among those elements, we count
those instances in which citizens came together to
accomplish important objectives without the help of
government. We specifically note the following:
- a growing tradition of citizens
taking personal responsibility over a long historical
period, refusing to bow to repression, protesting openly
and organizing underground and demonstrating a strong
will to govern themselves;
- solidarity among Kosovar Albanians
and Albanians in other countries;
- increasing consciousness among
Kosovar Albanians of the importance of education and
national culture for development of a civil society;
- formation of women's NGOs in the
late 1980s with the effect of laying early foundations
for civil society ;
- the formation of human rights
NGOs;
- establishment of the Mother Teresa
Society in 1990 as a base for assistance when Kosovar
Albanians were forcibly removed from their jobs and lost
their incomes and their right to medical care and health
insurance;
- the "alternative structures"
developed by citizen initiative after Kosova's autonomy
was suspended to provide education, medical services and
political organizations to Albanians in Kosova;
- establishment of Radio 21 and TV
21, Radio Koha and TV Koha, Kosova press news agency and
Radio Kosova e Lire as an institution that was active in
the war zones;
- deliberate engagement of the
Albanians to end the practice of blood feud and revenge
through mediations;
- development of the Students'
Independent Union;
- the actions of some newspapers to
continue publishing despite Belgrade's efforts to stop
publication;
- formation of the Kosova Liberation
Army and of a national network of its supporters by
conducting dialogues with citizens in town after
town;
- a tradition of tolerance,
especially among different religious traditions;
- creation and gradual increase of
opportunities for citizen assembly.
- development of awareness for
protection of personal rights and liberties.
Despite the emergence of Kosova from
under repressive Serbian rule, obstacles to further
development of a broadly based democratic civil society
remain:
- lack of guaranteed security for
citizens;
- suspicion or mistrust among
present Kosovar organizations;
- residual "prejudices" from the
period of socialist rule;
- absence of a rule of law and an
independent judiciary;
- absence of a political culture
with a tradition of opposition within the system;
- a mentality of oppression or
victimhood that limits realization of the full capacities
of independence;
- broad ignorance of what civil
society is;
- absence of agreed practices to
assure fairness in political life;
- exclusion of women from many
political and economic activities, mainly because of the
economic and political situation and partly as a result
of a traditionally patriarchal mentality;
- presence of domestic violence;
- a hostile relationship between
Serbs and Albanians that reflects Serb refusal to
acknowledge wrongs done and a demand that Serbs be held
accountable for what they did;
- limited media workers, equipment,
resources and coverage;
- absence of enough opportunities
for citizens, especially women, to talk together and to
learn from one another;
- actions by international
organizations and some international NGOs that show lack
of respect for Kosovar civil society and confine space
for its development;
- the traditional educational
curriculum of the school system, which in its present
form is not conducive to developing civil society;
- the lack of a census of the
population, including the population in temporary refuge,
which would enable issuing identification cards and
travel documents;
Against that background, we propose
the following areas of work and specific projects for
developing civil society in Kosova:
- Reconceptualization of the citizen
as the central political actor in whom ultimate power
resides, in contrast to the former view of the citizen as
oppressed or victimized. This will require significant
changes in educational curricula and projects to increase
opportunities for citizens to experience an effective
role in influencing decisions on the future of their
communities.
- A transitional period perceived as
a time interval necessary for establishing democratic
institutions in Kosova as well as other elements that
define a civil society. This will require public and
media discussion of the idea of a transitional period. It
will also require a widely agreed timetable for preparing
free and fair elections, including systematic
identification of the necessary steps laying the
foundation for that event.
- Broad acceptance of principles and
practices to govern social and political interactions.
These include: resolving differences through dialogue,
mediation and other non-violent means; respect for
diverse views; dialogue rather than confrontation as the
norm for communication; mutual respect in rivalry;
openness in dialogue; tolerance; awareness of common
interests and differences; commitment of all individuals;
equality of all individuals; keeping one's word. This
will require educational programs and deliberately
developed experiences that model peaceful ways of
resolving potential conflict.
- Creation of opportunities at all
levels of society for dialogue that will identify local
needs and a conscious effort, from that dialogue, to
frame the choices among fundamental social and political
philosophies. This will require active programs to
promote community dialogues and to make them part of
normal political life.
- Creation of opportunities in which
relationships among majority and minorities can be healed
and improved and of methods for assuring an appropriate
role in social, economic and political life for
minorities and women. This will require educational
institutions, political organizations and NGOs to make
inclusiveness an active part of their programs.
- Encouragement of citizens in
playing the greatest role possible in the revival of the
economy. This will require providing materials for
reconstruction of homes and public facilities and support
of small business.
- Legitimation of citizens' work, in
collaboration with security authorities, to enhance local
security. This requires acceptance of local organizations
by the authorities.
- Many of these projects require the
rapid creation of normal conditions for the work of the
media, in particular for the independent media. Above
all, this requires urgent creation of an effective
telecommunications system in Kosova and repairing radio
and TV systems. This can only be done with the help of
the international community. It requires immediate
collaboration between media organizations and potential
funders to identify technical and program needs,
particularly providing necessary equipment and education
of professional journalists from the younger
generation.
- Comprehensive registration of
citizens is essential to holding elections and to all
aspects of administering effective services for
citizens.
- Respect for the rights of citizens
to express their free will through referenda on vital
social issues and statehood.
- Adopting and respecting a new
legal framework for NGO operations, for political
organization, for protection of property and the free
market, for conservation of the environment, for
protection of minorities and other special groups such as
the physically and mentally handicapped, students and
young people.
We call on the citizens and leaders of
Kosova to contribute in every way possible to development of
a strong civil society and on international organizations to
recognize that this development is critical to developing
democracy.
Economic Reconstruction,
Revitalization, and Reform
Kosova faces several challenges on the
economic front. First, it must engage in the immediate
reconstruction of fundamental components of its economy
which were damaged or destroyed during the war. Second, it
must revitalize competitive sectors of its economy where
production has severely declined or come to a halt as a
result of both the war and Belgrade's policies during the
1990's. Third, it must undergo the process of reform as part
of the transition to a market economy. Fourth, it must put
in place institutions and policies to attract foreign
investment.
We note that our objective is not to
reconstruct pre-war Kosova or even to recreate pre-1989
Kosova, but to build a new, open, integrated and free market
economy capable of carrying Kosova into the next
century.
Reconstruction
In addition to the great human and
psychological impact of the war on Kosovars, Kosova suffered
significant material damage during the war in a broad range
of sectors. We identify the following areas as priorities
for immediate reconstruction and, with the winter
fast-approaching, call on the international donor community
to focus its efforts on ensuring adequate assistance and the
appropriate distribution of that assistance to areas in need
throughout Kosova:
- Housing
- Water supplies
- Electricity
- Telecommunications
- Agricultural production
- Educational institutions
- Health facilities
We also call on the donor community to
develop a program through which proposals for modest
infrastructure projects for Kosova, including at the level
of the local community, can be funded. Efforts should be
made to ensure that reconstruction is pursued consistent
with prudent urban planning.
In order to help restart Kosova's
economy, including its construction and construction
materials sectors, we call on the donor community to use
local, Kosovar resources to the greatest degree possible in
the reconstruction effort.
Revitalization
The war greatly damaged Kosova's
economy, but before the war, Kosova's economy suffered from
the expropriation and asset-stripping of major industrial
properties. There is an urgent need to revitalize factories
that are idle, mines that are closed, farms that are lying
fallow, and thermoelectric plants that are operating well
below capacity. (This should be done in a manner consistent
with environmental interests.) This is critical to creating
jobs for Kosovars which, in turn, is critical to avoiding
social upheaval.
- Revitalizing these properties will
require outside support, and we call on the donor
community to devote substantial resources to providing
the critical inputs necessary to restart these
assets.
However, the most significant obstacle
appears to be uncertainty about who has the authority to
make decisions regarding these assets:
- We call on UNMIK and KFOR to allow
these properties to be revitalized immediately.
- We call on UNMIK to create a
process to resolve as quickly as possible issues
regarding the status of these and other
state/socially-owned properties, including who has the
authority -- before and after elections -- to make
decisions regarding the operation and sale of these
assets. In our view, pre-1989 property rights should be
presumed to be the legitimate basis for resolving this
issue.
- We call for a process by which
transactions involving state/socially-owned properties
during the 1990's, including transactions involving
foreign investors, can be evaluated to determine their
legal status.
Reform
We strongly recommend to Kosova-wide
and international institutions that Kosova should build its
own, open, free market economy integrated into regional and
Euro-Atlantic institutions, and that this general
perspective should define its political, legislative and
administrative orientation.
As part of the transition process, we
will privatize major state assets, recognizing that the
public sector may have a continuing interest in some of them
and that there are a number of different models for
privatization:
- We support the privatization of
major state assets as soon as possible following
elections.
- Before elections, we call on the
political parties and other relevant institutions to work
with Kosovar experts and experts from the international
community to prepare proposed strategies for
privatization, including by learning lessons from other
transition economies.
We recognize the importance of
creating a well-regulated banking system and a payments
system and believe that that process should begin as quickly
as possible.
We note that one of Kosova's strengths
is its small and medium-sized enterprises, including its
family businesses. We believe that Kosova's development
strategy should emphasize this sector and that Kosova should
create a strong network of support for this such
enterprises, including facilities to finance their
investment.
- Pending the development a
full-fledged banking system, we call on the donor
community to create as quickly as possible a development
fund which could finance the creation and expansion of
small and medium-sized enterprises as the first step
toward recreating a banking system.
We believe it is important that Kosova
develop a credible fiscal system, including by developing a
transparent and responsible budget and a tax system that,
over time, will provide sufficient revenue to fund the
government bodies and the appropriate scope of
government-supported activities.
- In that regard, we recommend that
Kosova take care to develop governmental bodies and
government-supported institutions (e.g., health and
education institutions) which are efficient.
- We recognize that a reform program
will cause economic dislocation and, therefore, call for
a well-targeted social safety net and other programs,
including education and training programs and programs to
support the development of small businesses, designed to
help Kosovars adjust to the market economy.
Recognizing the size of Kosova's
market, we recommend that Kosova should focus on the
development of export-oriented industries, including the
following:
- Agriculture/farming/wine
production
- Food processing
- Electricity
- Minerals
- Metals/metal processing
- Rubber
- Textiles/leather
goods/handicrafts
We are committed to free trade and to
integration with the rest of the region, Europe and the
international trading system.
- In that regard, we support the
development of regional infrastructure projects in (e.g.,
Corridor 8, Pristina-Durres links) and internal
infrastructure projects that facilitate trade.
- We do not believe that it would be
wise to adopt high tariffs or other forms of
protectionism.
Attracting and Retaining Foreign
Investment
We recognize that the long-term
sustainability of Kosova's economy depends on its capacity
to attract foreign investment. To do so, we propose the
following:
- We are committed to working with
each other to create an environment of political
stability grounded in democratic principles.
- We note the absolutely critical
need for the rule of law. In that regard, we call for the
development of a credible legal system and a transparent,
consistent and reliable regulatory system on which
Kosovars and foreign investors can rely.
- We are committed to fighting
official corruption and crime so as to avoid allowing the
market economy to become a criminal economy.
Working Together
To better articulate a common position
on these and other economic issues to the international
community, and to develop public and political consensus on
this platform, we recommend that the dialogue among economic
experts and all political forces be continued, including
through the creation of an economic forum.
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