The Effectiveness of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Building the Capacity of Local Police Forces: Case of Kosovo

Year 2023, Volume: 19 Issue: 45, 255 - 298, 22.08.2023

Alptekin Aslantas , Barış Özdal

https://doi.org/10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.1295390

Abstract

Kosovo has historically been the scene of ethnic-driven regional conflicts among the communities. After the disengagement of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1992, the conflicts that had begun with the independence declarations of the Republics of SFRY eventually evolved into ethnic disputes between Serbs and Albanians. As the United Nations (UN) failed to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated an air campaign to stop armed attacks by Serbian Military Forces on the Albanian civil communities. The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in 1999 to restore peace and stability in Kosovo. One of the mandated tasks of the UNMIK was to establish the local police known as Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and to build its capacity. The objectives of this research are to determine whether the UNMIK was effective and successful in building the KPS’s capacity. A set of new success criteria is developed and applied to evaluate the success of UNMIK in this mandated task. Data for this study were collected using official reports of the UN and the crime statistics of the KPS. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that UNMIK was successful in establishing a local police force.

Keywords

United Nations, Peace Keeping, UNPOL, UNMIK, Kosovo

Birleşmiş Milletler Barışı Koruma Operasyonları’nın Yerel Polisin Kapasitesinin Geliştirilmesindeki Etkinliği: Kosova Örneği

Abstract

Kosova tarihsel süreç içerisinde toplumlar arasında etnik temelli bölgesel çatışmalara sahne olmuştur. 1992’de Yugoslavya Sosyalist Federal Cumhuriyeti’nin (YSFC) dağılmasının ardından, YSFC’ye bağlı Cumhuriyetlerin bağımsızlıklarını ilan etmesiyle başlayan çatışmalar, zamanla Sırplar ve Arnavutlar arasında etnik çatışmalara dönüşmüştür. Birleşmiş Milletler (BM) sorunu diplomatik yöntemlerle çözemezken, NATO Sırp Silahlı Kuvvetleri’nin, Arnavut sivil topluluklarına yönelik silahlı saldırılarını durdurmak için bir hava harekâtı başlatmıştır. Bu kapsamda BM Kosova Geçici Yönetim Misyonu (UNMIK), Kosova’da barış ve istikrarı yeniden sağlamak için 1999’da kurulmuştur. UNMIK’in kendisine verilen görevlerinden biri, Kosova Polis Teşkilatı (KPS) olarak bilinen yerel polis teşkilatını kurmak ve kapasitesini geliştirmek olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, UNMIK’in KPS’nin kapasitesini geliştirmede etkili ve başarılı olup olmadığını analiz etmektir. UNMIK’in bu görevdeki başarısını değerlendirmek için bir dizi yeni başarı kriteri geliştirilmiş ve uygulanmıştır. İlgili verilerse BM’nin resmî raporları ve KPS’nin suç istatistikleri kullanılarak oluşturulmuştur. Yapılan analiz sonucunda UNMIK’in yerel bir polis teşkilatı kurmada başarılı olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Keywords

Birlesmis Milletler, Barisi Koruma, UNPOL, UNMIK, Kosova

References

• BALIQI Bekim (2012). “Security Sector Reform in Kosovo: From Institutional Transitions to the Democratic Consolidation”, Iliria International Review, 2, 24-31.
• DOYLE Michael W. and SAMBANIS Nicholas (2006). Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
• KATY A. Crossley-Frolick and DURSUN-OZKANCA Oya (2012). “Security Sector Reform and Transitional Justice in Kosovo: Comparing the Kosovo Security Force and Police Reform Processes”, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 6:2, 121-143.
• KNUDSEN Tonny Brems and LAUSTSEN Carsten Bagge (2006). “The Future of International Trustesheep: Comclusive Reflections”, (eds.) Tonny Brems Knudsen and Carsten Bagge Laustsen, Kosovo between War and Peace: Nationalism, Peacebuilding and International Trusteeship, Routledge, New York.
• KUHLE Lene, C. B. Laustsen (2006). “The Kosovo Myth: Nationalism and Revenge”, Kosovo between War and Peace: Nationalism, Peacebuilding and International Trusteeship, Routledge, New York.
• MILLER Anthony J. (2004). “UNMIK: Lessons from the Early Institution-Building Phase.” New England Law Review, 39:1.
• ÖZDAL Barış (2020). Avrupa Birliği Siyasi Bir Cüce, Askeri Bir Solucan mı?, Dora Yayınları, Bursa.
• SKENDAJ Elton (2014). “International Insulation from Politics and the Challenge of State Building: Learning from Kosovo”, Global Governance, 20:3, 459-481.
• STEFFEN Eckhard (2016). International Assistance to Police Reform, Macmillan Publishers, London.
• European Commission, eurostat, Your key to European statistics, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/ products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20190104-1, (21.02.2022).
• MORGAN Green, Jonathan Friedman and Richard Bennet, “Building the Police Force in a Security Vacuum: International Efforts in Kosovo, 1999-2001”, Innovations for Successful Societies, Princeton University, https://successfulsocieties.princeton.edu/sites/successfulsocieties/files/Kosovo%20Police%20ToU.pdf, 2012, s. 2., accessed 13.12.2020.
• STEFAN Troebst, Conflict in Kosovo: Failure of Prevention? An Analytical Documentation, 1992–1998 Flensburg: European Centre for Minority Issues, 1998, p. 18, https://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/redakteure/publications/pdf/ working_paper_1.pdf,accessed 15.11.2020.
• UNDP, Assessment of Administrative Capacity in Kosovo, 2005, s. 53, https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/Assessment%20Admin%20Capacity_Kosovo.pdf., accessed 20.05.2020.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2006/45, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2002/62, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs. org/S/2004/71, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2003/113, accessed 15.05.2019. UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2007/134, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2000/177, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2001/218, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2005/335, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2004/348, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2008/354, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2003/421, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2002/436, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2001/565, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2004/613, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2003/675, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/1999/779, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2000/878, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2004/907, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/2001/926, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Report of the Secretary General on UNMIK, http://undocs.org/S/1999/987, accessed 15.05.2019.
• UN, Security Council Resolution 1244, http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/1244, accessed 20.11.2020.
• UN, United Nations Police, Police Contributing Countries, https://police.un.org/ en/police-contributing-countries, accessed 16.07.2023.