Kosovo Verification Mission

The Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian,[1][2] and Yugoslav forces[3][4][5][6] were complying with the UN October Agreement to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from Kosovo, and abide by a ceasefire.[7][8]

Remit

The KVM's job was to monitor parties' compliance with the agreement, to report any breaches to the OSCE, and to help affected civilians in Kosovo. Other requirements included:

Operations

United States diplomat William Walker was appointed head of the mission; he was relatively senior, reflecting the importance that NATO put on a peaceful settlement. His deputy was Gabriel Keller.[10]

Despite being much larger and more complex than any previous OSCE mission,[10] the KVM was put together relatively quickly; parts of the team arrived in Kosovo a month after the 16 October agreement. The KVM was divided into five regions, with a headquarters in Pristina.

Immediately after the Agreement, neither side adhered to the ceasefire; state loyalist forces continued to shoot at civilians, and there were sporadic KLA attacks on state forces.[11]

When a KVM team arrived at the scene of the Račak massacre, they found "36 bodies 23 of which were lying in a ditch".[12][13]

Withdrawal

In March 1999, there was an increase in ceasefire violations by both sides; as risks increased, it was decided to withdraw the KVM to Ohrid in Macedonia. Yugoslav forces' reaction to the withdrawal was "remarkably docile" and the KVM was downsized to 250 staff.[8]

Then, after the KVM had left, state forces[14][15][16] began a campaign of killings, rapes, detentions, and deportations of the Kosovar Albanian population.[17]

Refugees fled to Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro; many refugees had their documents destroyed. In April 1999, the OSCE decided that the KVM should help deal with the refugee chaos; 70 verifiers were sent to Tirana, where they helped coordinate disaster-response and interviewed refugees.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/EOP/NSC/html/nsc-07.html
  2. ↑ https://www.un.org/press/en/1999/19990326.sc6659.html
  3. ↑ http://www.osce.org/node/44552
  4. ↑ http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ex-jackal-testifies-about-war-crimes-in-kosovo
  5. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-serbia-warcrimes-idUSBREA1A16Y20140211
  6. ↑ https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-02.htm
  7. ↑ "WINNING THE WAR AND THE PEACE IN KOSOVO". The White House. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 Brigadier-General Maisonneuve. "THE OSCE KOSOVO VERIFICATION MISSION" (PDF). Canadian Military Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Bellamy (April 2001). "Reconsidering Rambouillet". Contemporary Security Policy. 22 (1): 31–56. doi:10.1080/13523260512331391056.
  10. 1 2 Bellamy; Griffin (2002). "OSCE Peacekeeping: Lessons From the Kosovo Verification Mission". European Security. 11 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1080/09662830208407522.
  11. ↑ "Serbs Leave Kosovo as Deadline Closes In". Los Angeles Times. 27 October 1998. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  12. ↑ http://www.osce.org/publications/newsletter/nl-99-01/nl0199e.pdf
  13. ↑ "Richard Holbrooke interview". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  14. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9905/11/kosovo.01/
  15. ↑ https://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/kosovo98/timeline.shtml
  16. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/366981.stm
  17. ↑ "Erasing History: Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo". U.S. Department of State. May 1999. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
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