Independent International Commission on Kosovo

Independent International Commission on Kosovo

"The Independent International Commission on Kosovo, is not the work of a commission appointed by any governmental or non-governmental organization. The members of this Commission have participated solely in their personal capacities. The Commission was the initiative of the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr Göran Persson, concerned by the absence of independent analysis of the conflict in Kosovo and any real attempt to research the lessons to be learned from the conflict. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, with whom he informally discussed the idea, endorsed the project.

"Prime Minister Persson announced the establishment of the Commission on August 6, 1999. Direct involvement by the Swedish government in the Commission extended only to the invitation to Justice Richard Goldstone of South Africa and to Mr. Carl Tham, Secretary-General of the Olof Palme International Center in Stockholm to act as chairman and co-chairman respectively.

"Appointment of the remaining 11 members of the Commission was made after invitations had been extended to particular individuals by Justice Goldstone and Mr Tham. Given the sensitive nature of the initiative - the very many international actors who stood to be scrutinized by the Commission - selection was made on the basis of known expertise and with due regard for the gender and geographical composition of the Commission."

• Report Author - Liam Mahony

Members

• Hanan Ashwari from Palestine1
• Grace d'Almeida from Benin
• Akiko Domoto from Japan
• Richard Falk from the United States of America
• Oleg Grinevsky from the Russian Federation2
• Michael Ignatieff from Canada
• Mary Kaldor from the United Kingdom
• Martha Minow from the United States of America
• Jacques Rupnik from France
• Theo Sommer from Germany
• Jan Urban from the Czech Republic