'Kosovanizing' the Ombudsperson: Implications for Kosovo and Peacekeeping

In February 2006, the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 'nationalized' the Kosovo ombudsperson's institution. This entailed making the ombudsperson a Kosovar and removing oversight of UNMIK from his/her jurisdiction. Based on legal and political analysis, and fresh survey results on the views of Kosovars themselves, this article considers the prospects of the ombudsperson as a human rights accountability mechanism. It also considers the implications of the nationalization experience for peace operations generally, arguing that UNMIK has established a poor precedent in isolating itself from the ombudsperson's jurisdiction and in failing to put anything comparable in its place.