I would like to wish you a warm welcome at this first inaugural meeting of the National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War which I have established by a special decree, aiming to coordinate the activities of the institutions and agencies, within their competencies and their scope of activity, for the rehabilitation of the survivors of sexual violence during the war.
Honourable participants,
I would like to wish you a warm welcome at this first inaugural meeting of the National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War which I have established by a special decree, aiming to coordinate the activities of the institutions and agencies, within their competencies and their scope of activity, for the rehabilitation of the survivors of sexual violence during the war.
On the journey towards the realization of the right to live as a free people and as an equal, many lives withered away and many dreams were cut in half.
We found the strength and the dedication and took upon ourselves to build a state in which all citizens live freely and as equals. We swore an oath to turn Kosovo into a place of great opportunities for all of its citizens, regardless.
The weight of sufferings and of the consequences of war, still continue to weigh heavily on all of us. No doubt, this weight is even heavier for all those men and women and their families, who fell victims to the horrendous torture.
We have already opened the chapter of peace in our country. We are building a society which lies upon the foundations of the civic principles, which believes in human rights, protects them, and leaves no one behind.
It is the same principles which incite us to continue our incessant endeavors towards provision of the deserved place and honour to all those who sacrificed for us to live today in a free and peaceful Kosovo.
And this, I believe, we can do best by harmonization of our endeavors and by addressing within legal and material means, with dignity, the needs of the categories touched by the war.
Honourable participants,
We have gathered here to express our good will and our dedication to address the consequences of the war upon the civilian victims of sexual violence.
Sexual violence and other types of violence exercised upon civilians during armed conflicts are war crimes and are a direct violation of the Geneva Convention and of the First Protocol, already incorporated in the Constitution of Kosovo.
Grave consequences of these means of war, used to diminish the dignity of the victims, to create the sense of fear and oppression, to incite eviction and to devoid a whole society of its human values, continue tyo ruin the lives of victims and its family members.
I can say without any hesitation that even 15 years after the war has ended, the subject of the victims of sexual violence still continues to remain a taboo subjects.
Survivors of sexual violence still suffer from grave psychological, social and economic conditions, and therefore they need the support of the institutions and of the society to face the grave reality they find themselves in, with no fault of theirs.
We still do not know the exact number of the victims of sexual violence, but it is estimated to be somewhere around 20.000. But the number is the least important, even if there is only one single victim, it deserves our full attention.
Civil society and international organizations have undertaken considerable amount of work in creation of mechanisms which offer access to necessary psycho-social, legal, economic and health services, which aim the rehabilitation, re-integration and re-socialization of this category of the civilian war victims.
Institutions and the government have offered their help and working groups have been established, which aspire investigation of the war crimes and facing of the past.
But despite of all these endeavors, this category of war victims remains extremely stigmatized, and it finds itself trapped by the prejudice and undue placing of guilt.
The legal status of this category has not as yet been recognized and a culture of impunity has prevailed for the perpetrators of these crimes.
With Prishtina Principles, which arose from the International Women’s Summit held in October 2012, as well as the Resolution passed by the Parliament on these Principles, we requested the rehabilitation, re-integration and fighting of the social stigmatization of the war victims, through recognition of their legal status as civilian victims and by publicly learning of their sufferings, and by requesting for perpetrators to be penaly charged.
We did this by intertwining the progress of the post war society and peace building with the social and institutional response towards the categories most touched by the war.
With the expressed readiness and support of the Minister for European Integrations, Ms. Vlora Çitaku, I initiated this initiative in order to establish a social and institutional coordination; to express our dedication that this category of crimes does not remain unpunished and considered a lighter crime.
I am convinced that this all inclusive and coordinated approach will enable strengthening of the existing mechanisms, raising of social awareness, identification and coordination of the activities in support of survivors of sexual violence during the war as well as determination of priorities and policies for the application of the legislative agenda in support of the survivors, while addressing in the best manner the needs of the victims of sexual violence and our response to those needs.
This Council will be limited in time and its work contribute to the international documents and international strategies which address this kind of violence.
Our initiative commences at a time when the international attention has been returned to this category of civilian war victims. United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Mr. William Hague, for almost two years now, has began the Preventing sexual violence initiative. Kosovo has also benefited from this initiative. I would like to thank the Embassy of the United Kingdom for their unreserved support offered to our initiative.
Kosovo is not a member country of the United Nations, but we have however given our support for Secretary Hague’s initiative and the Declaration of Commitment to end sexual violence in conflict arising from his initiative, by taking upon ourselves our obligations and committing to accomplish our tasks, as a society touched directly by the most serious type of abuse and violation of human rights, by sexual violence.
We are already providing our contribution on drafting of the International Protocol of this international initiative, which will also help Kosovo and the countries of the world touched by this weapon of war, document and bringing of the perpetrators of these miserly acts in front of the justice.
We have become part of this initiative which aims not only the rehabilitation of the victims of sexual violence but also undertaking of all the necessary measures required for the prevention of this crime.
Without doubt, repetition of such crimes may only be prevented if it gains our full attention, when perpetrators of such crimes are brought to face the justice, when we as a society shall judge the perpetrators and not the victims.
Only few hours ago, the launching ceremony of the UN Resolution 1325 Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security was held; an important step which calls for ending of the impunity of those responsible for war crimes, among which are the crimes related to sexual violence and other types of violence against women and girls.
We are in no position to change their past but we can ensure that their future is not determined by this bitter past of theirs, and that the future of their families, of their children is not determined by a crime unjustly committed upon them.
We must once and for all remove the curtain of the stigma which has covered the victims of violence; we must break the silence which has reigned and remove the guilt from them and pass it where it belongs, to those responsible for committing of these crimes.
With a single aim in mind, that of building of a viable and sustainable peace and of a healthy society, in which citizens enjoy the right to live freely and in peace.
Thank you!