This survey from the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC) examines the small arms situation in the UN administered territory of Kosovo. It presents findings on the distribution, impact and perceptions of small arms and on institutional capacity for conducting small arms and light weapons (SALW) intervention. The report is based on key informant interviews, a Kosovo-wide SALW survey, focus group discussions and a review of media, research papers and official data.
Kosovo is today under international administration, having been subject to intense armed conflict and military intervention by NATO in 1999. As of June 2006, there were an estimated 400,000 weapons in Kosovo. Of these, 33,949 were in the legal possession of individual citizens and 45,217 were in the hands of official agencies and international private security companies. At least 317,000 firearms were in the illegal possession of individual citizens and other groups.
Findings on the impact and perceptions of SALW in Kosovo include:
- SALW misuse is a problem particularly in association with armed crime and at times of high tension. Although the murder rate is declining the use of firearms in homicides in Kosovo is significant and increasing;
- Kosovo-Serbs are more likely to have been a victim of SALW-related crime than Kosovo-Albanians. Both ethnic groups feel that the other is well-armed and that maintaining SALW ownership is important to maintain a ‘balance of fear’;
- 87 per cent of survey respondents believe illegal firearms threaten the future prosperity of Kosovo. Other concerns, however, were perceived as more pressing;
- protection of self and family and insufficient protection offered by the criminal justice system were the main reasons given for wanting or owning weapons;
- Kosovo-Serbs are much more likely to perceive their area as unsafe, while perceptions of security were more likely to be positive in mono-ethnic areas; and
- Kosovo-Albanians tended to express higher levels of trust in Kosovan and international security providers. Kosovo-Serbs have very little confidence in Kosovan and international security providers.
SALW control poses a fundamental challenge to the stability of Kosovo. It should be integrated into all relevant legislation and security sector reform and rule of law programming. Leadership is critical to maintain SALW control as a key element in broader security sector reform. International administrators should encourage the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government to engage with SALW issues.
Insights on the capacity of Kosovo to control SALW include:
- there is no purpose in organising a Kosovo-wide voluntary SALW collection until Kosovo’s future status has been agreed. Improved economic conditions and individual or collective incentives would also stimulate the surrender of SALW;
- Kosovans consider fear of conflict, instability and minimal trust in security providers to be responsible for the failure of previous SALW collection programmes. Kosovo-Albanians also consider family tradition an important factor;
- the legislative framework for regulating the international transfer of arms to and from Kosovo contains many loopholes;
- institutional arrangements for the development and implementation of SALW control policy are very weak. Police and judicial capacity to implement SALW possession laws is lacking, with exceptional problems in northern areas; and
- there are major gaps in Kosovan institutions’ production, collection and analysis of SALW-related statistics. Some institutions display a lack of transparency and willingness to share SALW-related information.
