Do the right thing

I wrote last October:

There has to be strict accountability for crimes against Serbs if Kosovo is to gain high ground in its international tug of war with Belgrade. The murders in recent weeks have to be made the object of serious investigations leading to arrests and prosecutions. And those who perpetrate these crimes, or who intimidate witnesses, should be viewed as what they are: enemies of a Kosovo state seeking to gain international recognition as a willing and capable defender of the rights of all its citizens.

I confess I do not know if there have been arrests and prosecutions for the murders I was referring to 7 months ago.  I’ll be grateful if someone who knows leaves a comment on this post.  But in any event what I wrote bears repeating, because it is happening again:  threats against Serbs south of the Ibar and an attack on a police checkpoint in the majority Albanian portion of southern Serbia.

I don’t believe in collective guilt or punishment, but I do believe in collective responsibility.  People who know better need to restrain the people who commit such crimes and speak out when the restraint fails.  There is nothing that can hurt Kosovo’s campaign for international recognition and its effort to be accepted in international organizations more than crimes against Serbs.  The perpetrators need to be discouraged, apprehended, tried and convicted.  That is what the international community expects of a country that wants to be treated as independent and sovereign.

I met last week with Kosovo’s new crop of ambassadors going abroad.  They are a well-educated, talented group, several of whom I’ve known for a long time.  But the resources they command are minimal.  Kosovo’s moral standing is vital to them.  They cannot do their jobs if people in Kosovo are doing things that disgrace the homeland.

Ah, some will say, but you forget the crimes against Albanians!  No, I don’t.  I remember well hearing Nekibe Kelmendi talk about the murder of her husband and sons.  How could anyone forget?  And there are thousands of other cases, still unsolved, unprosecuted, unpunished.  I don’t excuse Serbia’s failure to pursue these cases, but I have to admit that their failure to do so will have less impact, because Serbia is already a member of the United Nations.  Kosovo isn’t.

That’s not fair.  Life is not fair.  You still have to try to do the right thing.