[syndicate] \\ progress = inevitable -- occident style

[0f0003 | maschinenkunst]

\\ progress = inevitable -- occident style



The question whether European troops on duty abroad must abide by the
European Convention on Human Rights is being put to the test in Strasbourg.


The European Court of Human Rights is holding a hearing in cases brought by
Kosovo Albanians against France, Germany and Norway.

In one of the cases, a boy died playing with cluster bombs they say French
troops failed to remove or make safe.

The UK has argued to the court that the troops should not be held responsible.

Boy blinded

The boy's father, Agim Behrami, is travelling to Strasbourg for the hearing.

One of his sons, Gadaf, died in the explosion in March 2000, and another,
Bekir, was blinded.


The cluster bombs had been dropped during the Nato bombardment in 1999, and
left untouched in an unmarked area in hills near Mitrovica.

Mr Behrami says it was the duty of French K-For forces, operating in the
Mitrovica area, to mark or defuse the undetonated cluster bombs.

The London-based Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (Aire) centre, which
is representing him and his blinded son, says the French troops knew the
bombs were there, but took no steps to inform families of the danger.

"They said it was 'not a priority' for them," the centre said in a press
release.

The other case is brought by a man, Ruzhdi Saramati, who was detained by
K-For troops on suspicion of involvement in armed groups operating on the
Kosovo/Macedonia border.

He accuses Norwegian and French K-For commanders of violating his right to
liberty by holding him for six months without any legal basis.

'Impunity'

The UK government has submitted observations to the court regarding both
cases, arguing that countries should not be accountable for violations by
their troops of the European Convention on Human Rights, in countries that
have not signed it.

The UK says the Kosovans were not under the jurisdiction of France, Germany
or Norway and that the troops were not "required to secure to them the
rights and freedoms" of the Convention.

It adds: "It would be obviously undesirable and inappropriate for the
European Convention to be interpreted in a way that discouraged or even put
at risk participation in such peacekeeping" by states that are signatories
to the Convention.

Aire staff were among the experts sent in by the Council of Europe to train
new Kosovo judges and lawyers on the Convention of Human Rights.

"We encountered at first hand the bitterness in Kosovo at being told to
they had to implement the convention when the United Nations mission and
K-For troops could disregard it with impunity," said Aire director Nuala
Mole.

She said it was shocking that the UK was arguing that its troops did not
have to respect human rights on foreign missions.