There Are Problems With Minority Rights In Kosovo, Says U.S. Department Of State

Washington/Belgrade, 10 Mar 06 (BETA) - The institutions of Kosovo and UNMIK are honoring the human rights of the population in general, but serious problems still exist primarily with the human rights of the minorities, it was said in a report of the U.S. Department of State about human rights in Serbia-Montenegro in 2005.

The part of the report about Kosovo said the minorities, primarily the Serbs and the Roma, were being discriminated, although the honoring of the minorities' human rights has improved over the past year.

Serb houses are being burned and, in some cases, the Albanian majority is attempting to expel the Serbs by violence. UNMIK has introduced regulations preventing the sale of Serb property in order to stop the intimidation of the minorities, but certain human rights groups have criticized these regulations as limiting the Serbs' right to the free use of their property.

As for education and health care, the Serbs are also victims of discrimination, and there is no progress in cases of ethnic violence against them, the report said. The Roma are living in extreme poverty and those who are living in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica are looked upon by the Albanians as Serbs and, as a result, their houses are being destroyed and they are forced to live in refugee camps.