Human Rights Advisory Panel Finds UN Mission in Kosovo Responsible for Lead Poisoning of Roma (April 08, 2016) [1]
On April 08, 2016, the Human Rights Advisory Panel released [3] its opinion in N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, where they found that the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is responsible for violations of human rights connected with lead poisoning in Roma camps following the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. According to the press release [4], members of the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian community in Kosovo claimed in their complaints that UNMIK violated their human rights by placing them in IDP camps in lands known to be highly contaminated and failing to relocate them to a safe location. The Panel found that UNMIK violated Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment), and Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights [5] (ECHR). The Panel further “considered that UNMIK’s failure to relocate them to a safe environment constituted discrimination against the complainants” in violation of Article 14 of ECHR. The Panel noted that the unhealthy conditions in the Roma camps constituted violations of their right to an adequate standard of living, right to housing, and the right to highest attainable standard of health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [6]. The Panel also found violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [7], the Convention on the Rights of the Child [8], and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [9]. The Panel recommended that UNMIK publicly acknowledge its failure to comply with human rights standards, pay adequate compensation to the victims, and take appropriate steps to promote and ensure the “human rights of Roma people, especially women and children.”