Kosovo's Human Rights Atmosphere Focus of Helsinki Commission Hearing

WASHINGTON - The United States Helsinki Commission will hold a hearing to examine the current human rights atmosphere in Kosovo, with a particular focus on the rights of ethnic minorities to return home, human trafficking, and the rising tensions between the region's ethnic minorities.

The hearing will also focus on the continued division along ethnic lines of the northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica, where tensions remain high. Serbs, Roma and individuals among Kosovo's other minority populations remain either isolated in enclaves within Kosovo or displaced outside region.

Prospects for Ethnic Harmony in Kosovo

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Wednesday, June 19, 2002

124 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Witnesses:

Rada Trajkovic, Kosovo parliamentarian and Leader of the Kosovo Serb "Povratak" ("Return") coalition

Alush Gashi, Kosovo parliamentarian representing President Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)

Nebojsa Covic, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, responsible for Belgrade's policy regarding Kosovo

Valerie Percival, Kosovo Field Representative for the International Crisis Group and author of recently released report: "UNMiK's Kosovo Albatross: Tackling Division in Mitrovica"