Search

Begin New Search Topic Human Rights Political Geography Eastern Europe Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 25 Years

11. The Role of the Media in the Regional Co-Operation

Author:
Drago Pilsel
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
The Role of the media in the Regional Co-operation in SEE is one of the crucial aspects of the Stability Pact for South East Europe, especially in the Democratisation and Human Rights Task Force. Without democratic institutions that work effectively and the democratic development of a state under the rule of law there can be no long-term economic development and prosperity. Equally, democratisation and non-discrimination are also fundamental preconditions for guaranteeing internal and external security. Democracy and Human Rights: Deep-rooted democratic habits and a vibrant civil society constitute the foundation upon which the achievement of the objectives of the Pact can be built.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Human Rights, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe

12. Minority Languages and Public Administration

Author:
Alexander H.E. Morawa
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
In its views in the Diergaardt et al. v. Namibia case of 25 July 2000, the United Nations Human Rights Committee addressed a complex set of complaints relating to the rights of a small community of people residing in the Rehoboth Gebiet (area) in the vicinity of the Namibian capital Windhoeck. The case as such concerns a situation, shaped by unique historic events, that is not necessarily comparable to minority issues in Europe, and which was decided at the universal, as opposed to the regional, level of human rights protection. Nevertheless, it raises a number of issues that are of relevance beyond the given context.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

13. Return to Uncertainty: Kosovo's Internally Displaced and The Return Process

Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The right of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees to return to their homes in Kosovo is indisputable, and has become a top priority of the international community, and the United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and United Nations

14. Finding the Balance: The Scales of Justice in Kosovo

Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
An independent, effective, and transparent justice system will be the cornerstone of a stable and democratic society in Kosovo. Ensuring that such a system is developed in a sustainable manner must be one of the top priorities of the United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Provisional Institutions of Self- Government (PISG). In this report, ICG argues that although progress has been made, serious obstacles and challenges remain.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and United Nations

15. A Half-Hearted Welcome: Refugee Return to Croatia

Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Seven years after the end of the war, the issue of refugee return continues to be contentious for Croatia. The government that came to power following parliamentary and presidential elections in January and February 2000 inherited an unsatisfactory legacy of discriminatory laws and practices from its predecessor, to the detriment in particular of ethnic Serb displaced persons and refugees. It found that once the universal international relief that greeted its victory over the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had worn off, international pressure to remove obstacles to refugee return and reintegration had not ended.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Croatia

16. Macedonia's Public Secret: How Corruption Drags The Country Down

Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Corruption in Macedonia, especially at high levels of government, is endemic. It has evolved from passive exploitation to active coercion and acquired the capacity not only to retard economic progress but also to feed organised crime and, in turn, political and communal instability. In effect, the state has come to function in important respects as a “racket”, while the racketeers thrive in a culture of impunity.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Macedonia

17. Policing The Police In Bosnia: A Further Reform Agenda

Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Despite more than six years of increasingly intrusive reforms carried out at the behest of the UN Mission in Bosnia Herzegovina (UNMIBH), the local police cannot yet be counted upon to enforce the law. Too often – like their opposite numbers in the judiciary – nationally partial, under-qualified, underpaid, and sometimes corrupt police officers uphold the law selectively, within a dysfunctional system still controlled by politicised and nationalised interior ministries.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Eastern Europe

18. Courting Disaster: The Misrule of Law in Bosnia Herzegovina

Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The law does not yet rule in Bosnia Herzegovina. What prevail instead are nationally defined politics, inconsistency in the application of law, corrupt and incompetent courts, a fragmented judicial space, half-baked or half-implemented reforms, and sheer negligence. Bosnia is, in short, a land where respect for and confidence in the law and its defenders is weak.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Eastern Europe

19. The Effectiveness of the Exercise of Jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court: The Issue of Complementarity

Author:
Sammy Smooha and Susan Hannah Farbstein
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
The prevalence of collective violence and the agony of mass atrocity may prove to be the twentieth century's most distressing and enduring legacies. From Germany to Uganda, from Cambodia to Sierra Leone, from the Former Yugoslavia to Rwanda, the past hundred years are replete with examples of terrifying violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed against diverse groups of people. Limited attempts to unveil the truth about past horrors, to hold individuals responsible, and to deter future offenses have repeatedly proven inadequate. A dearth of satisfactory moral and legal responses to these crimes often left victims suffering without any sense of reconciliation, while perpetrators routinely enjoyed impunity rather than facing justice.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Uganda, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Germany, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda

20. Croatia: Facing Up To War Crimes

Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
On 8 October 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) confirmed an indictment charging Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), with crimes committed in Croatia. This indictment had been keenly awaited for years in Croatia, where a widespread perception of international indifference to Serb crimes perpetrated against Croats between 1991 and 1995 has been ably encouraged and manipulated by the right wing.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Croatia