1 N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, Case No. 26/08, Opinion, UN Interim Administration Mission to Kosovo (Feb. 26, 2016).

2 Id. ¶ 39.

3 Id. ¶¶ 43-44.

4 Id. ¶¶ 46-48.

5 Id. ¶ 193.

6 Regulation No. 2006/12 on the Establishment of the Human Rights Advisory Panel, UNMIK/REG/2006/12 (Mar. 23, 2006).

7 N.M and Others, supra note 1, ¶¶ 180-81.

8 Id. ¶ 99.

9 M ¶¶ 1, 14.

10 Id. ¶ 15.

11 Id. ¶ 94.

12 Id. ¶ 207.

13 Id. ¶¶ 212, 220-21.

14 Id. ¶ 244.

15 Id. ¶¶ 247-347.

16 Id. ¶ 349.

17 Id. ¶¶ 90-97.

1 A list of abbreviations and acronyms contained in the text can be found in the attached Annex.

2 The acronym RAE has been widely used by the international community to refer jointly to the Romani (the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian) minority communities in Kosovo. The issue of the distinctive ethnic identity of these communities, which share cultural traits and history of marginalization in society, is complex and debated. For the purpose of the present case, the Panel will refer to the complainants alternatively as members of the RAE or Roma community in Kosovo, as these are characterisations provided by them in their submissions to the Panel.

3 See European Roma Rights Centre, Abandoned Minority. Roma Rights History in Kosovo, December 2011, at p. 18, accessed at http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/abandoned-minority-roma-rights-history-in- kosovo-dec-2011.pdf on 25 February 2016.

4 See Human Rights Watch, Poisoned by Lead, a Health and Human Rights Crisis in Mitrovica’s Roma Camps, 2009 (hereinafter HRW Report), at p. 23.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid. See also Report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights’ Special Mission to Kosovo (23-27 March 2009), CommDH(2009)23, Strasbourg, 2 July 2009, at § 139; European Roma Rights Centre, Alarming Facts about Roma Camps in North Mitrovica: Lead Poisoning of Romani Children, January 2006, accessed at http://www.errc.org/article/alarming-facts-about-roma-camps-in-north-mitrovic%C4% 82%C2%ABa-lead-poisoning-of-romani-children/2461 on 25 February 2016.

7 HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at pp. 5, 34 and 39.

8 Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo, Fifth Annual Report to the Special Representative of the Secretary- General of the United Nations, 11 July 2005, at p. 35.

9 Laurie Wiseberg, Minority Rights Advisor, UNMIK Office of Returns, Communities and Minority Affairs, Statement at the OSCE Conference on the Implementation of Policies/ Action Plans for Roma, Sinti, and Travellers, and Measures against the Anti-Gypsyism Phenomenon in Europe, Warsaw, 20-21 October 2005.

10 Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo, Fifth Annual Report, cited in footnote 8 above, at p. 37.

11 See SRSG Letter to Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, 17 April 2009 (in response to the letter from Mr Hammarberg dated 6 April 2009).

12 See HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at p. 28.

13 See UNMIK Press Release, “UNMIK, WHO and UNICEF renew call for immediate temporary relocation of Roma IDPs an emergency health requirement”, UNMIK/PR/1486, 9 February 2006.

14 See UNMIK Press Release, “SRSG welcomes start of lead-toxicity treatment for IDPs at Osterode camp”, UNMIK/PR/1577, 1 September 2006.

15 Ibid.

16 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Replies by the Government of UNMIK to the list of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of UNMIK, UN Doc E/C.12/UNK/Q/1/Add.1, 6 October 2008, at § 48.

17 WHO Press Release, “WHO Calls for More Efforts to Reduce Lead Toxicity in Temporary Camps”, 31 January 2009.

18 WHO Press Release, “WHO Insists Once Again that the Only Solution to the Life Threatening Lead Exposure to the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in North Mitrovica IDP Camps is Their Immediate Evacuation”, September 2009.

19 The references drawn upon by the Panel in setting out this section include: WHO, Childhood Lead Poisoning, Geneva, 2010; CDC, Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment. Recommendations for Refugee Children, Medically Oriented Fact Sheet,24September 2012; CDC “Blood levelsinchildren aged 1-5 years, United States, 1999-2010”, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 62, no. 13, 5 April 2013, at pp. 245–248; WHO, Lead Poisoning and Health, Fact Sheet no. 379, reviewed October 2014.

20 Helen Gavaghan, “Lead, Unsafe at any Level”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 80, no. 1, 2002, accessed at http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/80%281%2982.pdf on 25 February 2016; see also WHO publications cited in footnote 19 above.

21 WHO, Lead Poisoning and Health, cited in footnote 19 above.

22 WHO, Childhood Lead Poisoning, cited in footnote 19 above, at p. 21.

23 CDC, Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment. Recommendations for Refugee Children, cited in footnote 19 above.

24 WHO, Childhood Lead Poisoning, cited in footnote 19 above.

25 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services, Development of an Integrated Intervention Plan to Reduce Exposure to Lead and Other Contaminants in the Mining Center of La Oroya, Peruú, May 2005, accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/la_oroya_report.pdf on 25 February 2016.

26 UNMIK Press Release, UNMIK/PR/312, 14 August 2000.

27 See for example, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Case Study on Lead and Heavy Metal Contamination in Mitrovica, Kosovo, Geneva/Amsterdam, November 2010.

28 It appears no blood testing was conducted in the camp of Kablare although many children there also show symptoms of lead poisoning, such as loss of memory, loss of coordination, vomiting and convulsions (see European Roma Rights Centre, Alarming Facts about Roma Camps in North Mitrovica: Lead Poisoning of Romani Children, cited in footnote 6 above).

29 CDC, Recommendations for Preventing Lead Poisoning among the Internally Displaced Roma Population in Kosovo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 October 2007, at p. 3.

30 Ibid., at p. 7.

31 CDC, Evaluation and Recommendations for Preventing Lead Poisoning among the Internally Displaced Roma Population in Kosovo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 January 2011.

32 Report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights’ Special Mission to Kosovo (23-27 March 2009), cited in footnote 6 above, at § 146.

33 A comprehensive review of the situation in Kosovo, Report of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Kai Eide, UN Document S/2005/635, 7 October 2005, at p. 4.

34 Ibid.

35 See HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at p. 40.

36 Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo, Fifth Annual Report, cited in footnote 8 above, at p. 35.

37 See Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin, Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2006/71/Add. 5, 12 January 2006, at § 63.

38 See Report of the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a Component of the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living, Miloon Kothari, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.1, 23 December 2005, at § 41; see also HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at p. 42.

39 See Report of the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a Component of the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living, cited in footnote 38 above, at §§ 41 and 63.

40 HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at p. 42.

41 Letter from the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to Ambassador Lamberto Zannier (UNMIK), Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, CommDH (2009), 20/23 April 2009.

42 HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at. p. 41.

43 Ibid., at pp. 40–44.

44 Report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights’ Special Mission to Kosovo (23-27 March 2009), cited in footnote 6 above, at § 148.

45 Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Opinion on the Implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Kosovo, adopted on 25 November 2005, at §§ 47 and § 151.

46 HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at pp. 44–45.

47 Ibid., at p. 44.

48 Ibid., at p. 41.

49 Ibid., at p. 40.

50 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Consideration of Reports submitted by States Parties under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant, UN Doc. E/C.12/UNK/ CO/1, 19 November 2008, at § 29.

51 See Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin, Follow-Up Visit to the Mission in Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo) in 2005, UN Doc. A/HRC/ 13/21/Add.1, 11 December 2009, at §§ 63-64.

52 Copy of the criminal complaint accessed at http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/3CACE-6190D88ECC2492570750022EDE1-errc-yug-31aug.pdf on 25 February 2016.

53 Society for Threatened Peoples, Highest Level of Lead Contamination Ever Registered in Samples of Human Hair: 560 Roma Refugees Exposed to Deadly Heavy Metals Since 1999, December 2005, at pp. 7–8.

54 Ibid., at pp. 9–10

55 Ibid., at p. 10.

56 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2.

57 Judgment not final.

58 See Republic of Kosovo Ombudsperson Institution, Eighth Annual Report, 2007/2008, 21 July 2008, at pp. 47–48.

59 See 2009 Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons, cited in footnote 51 above, at § 42.

60 See CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights of Roma and Travellers in Europe, Strasbourg, February 2012, at p. 167.

61 See HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at pp. 40–44.

62 See UN Doc. E/CN.4/2006/71/Add.5, at § 46.

63 See Republic of Kosovo Ombudsperson Institution, Eighth Annual Report, cited in footnote 60 above, at p. 41.

64 See HRW Report, cited in footnote 4 above, at p. 54.

65 See CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights of Roma and Travellers in Europe, cited in footnote 62 above, at p. 168.

66 Ibid., at pp. 140–141.

67 Ibid., at p. 173.

68 Ibid., at p. 174.

69 Ibid., at p.196.

70 See, among others, Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Opinion on Kosovo, November 2005, at § 18.

71 See 2006 Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, cited in footnote 37 above, at § 42.

72 See 2009 Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons, cited in footnote 51 above, at § 8.

73 Ibid., at § 52.

74 Ibid ., at § 6.