Human Rights Review Panel holds its 18th Session

Press Release
Number              01-2014
Date                   14.01.2013
Contact              John J. Ryan

The Human Rights Review Panel (the Panel) held its 18th session in Pristina from 25 to 27 November 2013.  There were 30 cases pending before the Panel at the beginning of the session.

In a follow up decision to the case of W against EULEX (concerning EULEX prosecutors who shared the complainant’s witness statement and other personal information with authorities in Serbia) the Panel found that the EULEX Head of Mission had implemented its recommendations in part only. The Panel consequently invited the Head of Mission to reconsider the implementation of its recommendations.

The Panel declared three more cases inadmissible. One case related to allegations of corruption in a Kosovo municipality. The Panel found that it could not establish whether the complainant might be considered a victim in the case in question, since it was not shown that the complainant had suffered any direct detrimental consequences of the conduct about which he had complained. In two other cases the Panel found that the complaints did not fall within the ambit of its mandate.

All decisions will be published on the Panel’s website upon translation into the Albanian and Serbian languages.

The next Panel session is scheduled to take place from 3 to 5 February 2014. There are currently 26 cases pending before the Panel, fourteen of which have been communicated to the parties, two have been declared admissible while the remaining ones are under review.

Please see www.hrrp.eu for further information on the Panel.

 Notes to the editor;
The Human Rights Review Panel (Panel) for EULEX Kosovo, as an independent accountability mechanism for alleged violations of human rights,  reviews complaints from any person claiming to be the victim of human rights violations by EULEX Kosovo in the conduct of its executive mandate. The Panel is not a judicial or disciplinary body. The mechanism will solely look into whether a violation of human rights occurred or not and formulate recommendations for remedial action. Such action does no include monetary compensation.  The Psnel is independent in the exercise of its functions which it performs with impartiality and integrity.