Just a few follow-up points for all the Kosovar readers of Bench Memos:
1. C-FAM (the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute) offers a fuller discussion of the draft constitution for Kosovo. The C-FAM report confirms my suspicion that the draft constitution is the product of left-wing imperialism:
The draft constitution was initially authored in 2004 by a non-governmental organization (NGO) called the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). One of its authors, Professor Bruce Hitchner of Tufts University told [C-FAM] that the constitution has essentially maintained its original form….
George Soros’s Open Society Institute is a leading financial supporter of PILPG.
2. In addition to Article 22, which would impose directly as domestic law a slew of international agreements, Article 53 provides:
Human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by this Constitution shall be interpreted in compliance with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies that oversee the implementation of internationally guaranteed human rights.
(Both provisions are available here.) In other words, the draft constitution would cede an essential aspect of sovereignty—the ability to construe the meaning of its own constitution—to unaccountable international bodies. So much for Kosovo’s independence.
3. The website for the draft constitution invites comments from interested persons. But this whole comment process may also be a sham, if today’s featured comment is any indication:
“After I have gone through the constitution of the new independent state of Kosovo built based on the Ahtisaari document, I could not find any remark that I can bring to you. However, I would like to thank from my deepest heart those who have worked on the drafting and contributed to the rights and freedom given to Kosovo population. Congratulations to all of us”.