Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 Europe; AI expressed concerns that Serbia had failed to fulfil the commitments made on joining the Council of Europe in 2003. Final status of Kosovo Kosovo remained part of Serbia administered by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Talks on the future status of Kosovo had concluded in October 2006 without agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. At the end of January Martti Atishaari, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo (Special Envoy), presented his draft “Comprehensive Proposal for the Final Status of Kosovo” to the Contact Group (France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom and USA), and to Serbia and Kosovo’s negotiating teams on 2 February. Serbia refused to accept the proposal, in particular on the grounds that it violated Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Further negotiations amending the proposal were held in Vienna from 21 February; Serbia again rejected the plan on 9 March. The final “Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement” (Ahtisaari Plan), accompanied by a short “Report” was presented to the UN Security Council (SC) on 26 March, in which the Special Envoy called for Kosovo to be granted “independence supervised by the international community”. The Atishaari Plan proposed that the Kosovo authorities would have jurisdiction over all legislative, executive and judicial matters, with a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) mission responsible for international judiciary and prosecutors and an international police force, under the authority of an International Civilian Representative with overall responsibility for ensuring the implementation of the settlement. The plan provided for the protection of Serbian cultural and religious heritage; the right to return of refugees; the protection of minority communities, and the establishment of majority-Serb municipalities. Amnesty International 105 With the exception of Russia (on whose initiative a delegation from the SC travelled to Kosovo at the end of April), the Contact Group advocated implementation of the Ahtisaari Plan. No agreement on an SC resolution had been reached by the end of June; a succession of resolutions proposed by the EU and US were rejected by Russia, who suggested it might use its veto in the SC. In Kosovo, proposals for a unilateral declaration of independence in the absence of such a resolution were mooted. The process of transferring government responsibilities from UNMIK to the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) in Kosovo continued. Impunity for war crimes: proceedings at the Tribunal (Update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007). Carla del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor to the Tribunal, continued to express serious concerns at the lack of cooperation by the Serbian authorities, until the arrest of former Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir on 31 May. The Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Security of the Bosnian Serb Army had been indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity on charges including conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, forcible transfer and deportation of the Bosnian Muslim population, including in Srebrenica and Žepa. He was reportedly arrested in the Republika Srpska (RS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), near the border with Serbia, as a result of a tip-off by the Serbian police. The arrest was made by RS police, assisted by the EU-led peacekeeping force (EUFOR) in BiH and by BiH state police. Zdravko Tolimir surrendered to the Tribunal on 1 June, but claimed on 4 June that he had been arrested in Serbia and unlawfully transferred across the border. On 17 June, in cooperation with the Tribunal and the Montenegrin authorities, Serbian police arrested former general Vlastimir Đorđević – indicted for war crimes in Kosovo, and AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007