In accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), UNMIK's Human Rights Office (HRO) facilitates interaction between Kosovo institutions and the United Nations, as well as European human rights mechanisms in coordination with other international organisations, such as the EU, OSCE, and the Council of Europe, to promote international and regional human rights standards in Kosovo.
The HRO facilitates Kosovo’s engagement with thematic Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, a key UN human rights mechanism that monitors the realisation of human rights across the world and follows up closely on the implementation of their recommendations at the local level.
The HRO also facilitates Kosovo’s engagement with several European human rights mechanisms, such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCPNM) and follows up on their findings and recommendations.
3 April, 2023, Pristina – Visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan to UNMIK Headquarters in Pristina, Kosovo. From left to right: Mr. Laurens Van Der Woude, Associate Expert; Ms. Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression; Ms. Caroline Ziadeh, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK; Mr. Jerome Bouyjou, Chief of UNMIK’s Human Rights Office and Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mr. Thibaut Guillet, Human Rights Officer
28 November, 2022 – Visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence Fabián Salvioli to UNMIK Headquarters in Pristina, Kosovo. From left to right: Ms. Brenda Vukovic, Human Rights Officer; Mr. Fabián Salvioli, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence; Ms. Caroline Ziadeh, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK; and Mr. Jerome Bouyjou, Chief of UNMIK’s Human Rights Office and Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights