UN SC to receive March 17 probe findings

The Security Council will be officially informed today of the results of the probe into the March riots in K.Mitrovica. During the UN mission to regain control of the courthouse in the town, one Ukrainian police officer was killed, while a further 64 UNMIK officers, 24 KFOR troops, and a large number of Serb demonstrators were injured. UN SC to receive March 17 probe findings An unofficial briefing was held last week, after which the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said that the use of force had been “completely unfounded“, and that the investigation showed that police officers had not heeded the instructions from UN headquarters. Western diplomats have confirmed that a critical view has been adopted towards the international forces’ operation, but that the soldiers and police acted within their mandate. On March 17 this year, on the orders of UNMIK Deputy Chief Larry Rossin, units of the international forces forcibly entered the courthouse premises in Kosovska Mitrovica where Serb justice workers had been protesting for a number of days, demanding to be reinstated in the posts they had occupied prior to the international forces’ arrival in Kosovo in 1999. The scenes in Kosovska Mitrovica on March 17 (FoNet, archive)

UN SC to receive March 17 probe findings

An unofficial briefing was held last week, after which the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said that the use of force had been “completely unfounded“, and that the investigation showed that police officers had not heeded the instructions from UN headquarters.

Western diplomats have confirmed that a critical view has been adopted towards the international forces’ operation, but that the soldiers and police acted within their mandate.

On March 17 this year, on the orders of UNMIK Deputy Chief Larry Rossin, units of the international forces forcibly entered the courthouse premises in Kosovska Mitrovica where Serb justice workers had been protesting for a number of days, demanding to be reinstated in the posts they had occupied prior to the international forces’ arrival in Kosovo in 1999.