Page:SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 2001 – 2002.pdf/33



15 August 2001: Letter to the Commander of KFOR Multi-national Brigade North (Mitrovica) in support of a request by the Director of Mitrovica Detention Center for Brigade North to provide any emergency medical care needed by detainees engaged in a hunger strike. In a letter of 17 August 2001, the Commander of KFOR Multi-national Brigade North (Mitrovica) informed the Ombudsperson that the provision of medical services to detainees was the responsibility of UNMIK, rather than KFOR. He had forwarded the Ombudsperson's request to the competent UNMIK authorities. He also indicated his readiness to provide emergency medical care to any of the hunger strikers requiring such attention, on the request of the responsible UNMIK/DJA doctor.

27 August 2001: Letter to the SRSG asking for his assistance in helping individuals from Kosovo gain access to their financial assets held in banks in Serbia proper. Also 14 November 2001 letter to the SRSG requesting his assistance in helping an individual requiring expensive and urgent medical treatment to obtain access to financial assets held in "Jugobanka" in Belgrade and repeating general concerns raised in the letter of 27 August 2001. In a letter of 28 March 2002, the SRSG informed the Ombudsperson of actions taken to resolve both the urgent individual case, regarding which he had requested the competent body in Kosovo (BPK) to act, and the general issues surrounding access of individuals from Kosovo to their financial assets in Serbia proper, regarding which the BPK had held several meetings with its counterpart in Serbia. The SRSG further informed the Ombudsperson about the applicable FRY law governing repayment of foreign exchange savings to individuals whose accounts had been frozen in 1991, but noted that such payments from accounts held in "Jugobanka" might be negatively affected by its having been placed in receivership.

31 October 2001: Letter to the UNMIK Director of the Department of Social Welfare concerning electricity cuts of destitute individuals In a letter of 26 November 2001, the Director of the Department of Social Welfare informed the Ombudsperson about a one-off "winterization" payment scheme to all beneficiaries of the Social Assistance Scheme (approximately 56,000 families) and plans to introduce an "Exceptional Needs" scheme for families needing a small amount of money for an emergency such as an electricity cut-off. The Director noted that the Central Fiscal Authority had rejected a proposal from the Department of Social Welfare for the introduction of limited electricity concessions for persons receiving social assistance.

2 November 2001: Letter to the UNMIK Co-head of the Department of Transport concerning repairs to a road in extremely bad condition connecting twenty villages in the north eastern section of Podujeve/Podujevo and asking for favourable consideration of the request of the residents and the Municipal authorities to place a priority on repairing the road. There has been no response to this letter.

11 December 2001: Letter to the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Government of Serbia asking for his assistance to help a resident of Kosovo obtain access to his savings in "Jugobanka" Belgrade for the purposes of paying for urgent medical treatment. In a letter of 8 January 2002, the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Government of Serbia informed the Ombudsperson that he had referred the matter to the Minister of the Economy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

4 January 2002: Letter to the Head of the UNMIK Department of Public Utilities concerning the lack of drinking water available to the residents of the Hajredinaj quarter of the village of Koshtova, Mitrovica Municipality.