UN officers 'responsible for deaths' in Kosovo protests

An investigation concluded today that Romanian officers were responsible for two deaths and two wounding of ethnic Albanian protesters demonstrating against in UN plan on the future of the disputed province.

An investigation concluded today that Romanian officers were responsible for two deaths and two wounding of ethnic Albanian protesters demonstrating against a UN plan on the future of the disputed province.

Robert Dean, the international prosecutor on the case, said there was "a reasonable suspicion that three of the shootings constitute crimes under Kosovo law" as his interim report on the investigation was handed out to reporters two months after the protest that turned bloody.

Two demonstrators were killed on February 10 when UN police fired rubber bullets at ethnic Albanian protesters angry with a UN plan they said fell short of their demands to grant Kosovo full independence.

They broke through a police barricade in an attempt to reach the government building in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina. Another two were seriously wounded and dozens were treated for tear gas effects.

The report concluded that the "shootings in question appear to be unwarranted and unjustified", Mr Dean said. He said that the task force also concluded that the deaths of the two ethnic Albanian men "were unnecessary and avoidable".

However, Mr Dean said there was not sufficient evidence to identify which Romanian gunners were responsible for firing the shots.

“Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to identify with specificity who acted improperly,” he said.

Romanian police officers serving with UN police left Kosovo last month despite a UN investigation into their role in a riot in which two protesters died.

After their departure, the UN mission in Kosovo said it regretted their decision not to comply with the request of the UN headquarters and appealed to Romania to co-operate in the investigation.

The chief UN police commissioner and Kosovo’s interior minister both resigned following the deaths. Authorities have pledged to investigate the deaths and the “tactical reasons” for the use of rubber bullets during the protest.

Kosovo has been run by a UN mission since mid-1999, when Nato air strikes halted Serb forces’ crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. Some 1,500 UN police officers and a 7,300-strong Kosovo police force are in charge of security.