Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo (Rambouillet Accord)

Country/entity
Kosovo
Serbia
Yugoslavia (former)
Region
Europe and Eurasia
Agreement name
Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo (Rambouillet Accord)
Date
23/02/1999
Agreement status
Agreement with subsequent status
Interim arrangement
Yes
Agreement/conflict level
Intrastate/intrastate conflict (Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001)
Former Yugoslavia

The disintegration of former Yugoslavia post cold war saw conflicts which became mediated and produced peace agreements in Slovenia (where the brief independence conflict was mediated by the EC Troika in 1991), Croatia (between Croatian and Serb populations 1991-1995), in Bosnia (between Croatian, Serb and Bosniak populations 1992-1995), in Macedonia (where mediation played a key pre-emptive role in preventing large scale conflict in 2001), in Kosovo (between Kosovar Albanians and Serbian population and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), but also between FRY and NATO, 1998-1999), and a conflict in the Presevo Valley (between Albanians in South Serbia and FRY, 2000-2001). The continued fall-out of the disintegration of former Yugoslavia also saw mediated agreement and ultimate dissolution of the Union between Serbia and Montenegro.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

In 1991, after nationalist parties won the first multi-party elections in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a violent process of disintegration commenced. With its mixed population, Bosnia-Herzegovina became the centre of the following civil war that began in 1992 between the newly formed army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly Muslim Bosniacs), and the parastatal forces of self-declared Bosnian Croat (Herzeg-Bosnia) and Bosnian Serb (Republika Srpska) entities within Bosnia-Herzegovina, supported by Croatia and Serbia, with various, often short-lived, coalitions. The General Framework Agreement (Dayton Peace Agreement), signed in 1995, split the country into two ethno-federal entities, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska, and included continued peacekeeping and institutional administration by international actors.

Kosovo

The conflict between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians has a long history and always involved territorial disputes as well as ethno-political, cultural and linguistic factors. The most recent phase of the conflict began in November 1997 when the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UCK) began their campaign for the independence of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY – then Serbia and Montenegro). The subsequent war lasted until the NATO intervention, which undertook bombing campaigns of Belgrade and other places in Serbia during spring 1999. The main agreements solving the conflict were internationally driven and, finally, a UNSC resolution imposed a post-conflict arrangement in the wake of what was essentially a NATO military victory. In February 2008, Kosovo’s parliament declared independence, but independence is still internationally disputed.

Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001) )
Stage
Framework/substantive - comprehensive (Agreement)
Conflict nature
Government/territory
Peace process
129: Kosovo process
Parties
Signed only by some members of the Kosovo delegation: Rexhep Qosja; Blerim Shala; Veton Suroi; Unsigned by: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; Republic of Serbia
Third parties
Witnessed by: Christopher Hill; Wolfgang Petritsch; negotiator Boris Mayorski (Russia) refused to witness.
Description
This comprehensive agreement covering the following matters: principles; confidence-building measures; a constitution for democratic self-government in Kosovo; police and civil public security; conduct and supervision of elections; economic issues; humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and economic development; an ombudsman; and implementation, which includes a ceasefire arrangement. It was negotiated and proposed but not accepted by Kosoovo Serbs or Slobodan Milosevic and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. International use of force ensued, and post that conflict UN Security Council Resolution 1244 set out a transitional international administration, to promote a political solution involving autonomy 'taking full account' of the Rambouillet Accords (UNSCR 1244 of 19 June 1999, 11a).

Agreement document
KO_990223_InterimAgreementforPeaceandSelf-GovernmentinKosovoRambouillet.pdf []

Main category
Page 14, Chapter 2: Police and Civil Public Security, Article I: General Principles
1. All law enforcement agencies, organizations and personnel of the Parties, which for purposes of this Chapter will include customs and border police operating in Kosovo, shall act in compliance with this Agreement and shall observe internationally recognized standards of human rights and due process. In exercising their functions, law enforcement personnel shall not discriminate on any ground, such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national community, property, birth or other status.

Page 29, Chapter 5: Article IV: Process of Implementation, Elections and Census
...
3. a) The first census shall be limited to name, place of birth, place of usual residence and address, gender, age, citizenship, national community, and religion.

Women, girls and gender

Participation
Citizenship
Page 29, Chapter 5: Article IV: Process of Implementation, Elections and Census
...
3. a) The first census shall be limited to name, place of birth, place of usual residence and address, gender, age, citizenship, national community, and religion.
Equality
Equality (general)
Page 14, Chapter 2, Police and Civil Public Security, Article I: General Principles
1. All law enforcement agencies, organizations and personnel of the Parties, which for purposes of this Chapter will include customs and border police operating in Kosovo, shall act in compliance with this Agreement and shall observe internationally recognized standards of human rights and due process. In exercising their functions, law enforcement personnel shall not discriminate on any ground, such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national community, property, birth or other status.
Particular groups of women
No specific mention.
International law
General IHRL, IHL and IL
Page 14, Chapter 2, Police and Civil Public Security, Article I: General Principles
1. All law enforcement agencies, organizations and personnel of the Parties, which for purposes of this Chapter will include customs and border police operating in Kosovo, shall act in compliance with this Agreement and shall observe internationally recognized standards of human rights and due process. In exercising their functions, law enforcement personnel shall not discriminate on any ground, such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national community, property, birth or other status.
New institutions
No specific mention.
Violence against women
No specific mention.
Transitional justice
No specific mention.
Institutional reform
No specific mention.
Development
No specific mention.
Implementation
No specific mention.
Other
No specific mention.

The University of Edinburgh