Eurasia Press & News
An arsenal of surveillance equipment – including bugging and tracking devices and night-vision telescopes for sniper operations – is being assembled by the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX.
The EU rule of law mission has issued a 162-page tender for the high-tech tools, to be used in undercover policing operations and provide security for witnesses, local and international judges and prosecutors.
Baseball cameras, used in hostage situation, pinhole cameras for discreet surveillance, bugging equipment and satellite tracking devices are included in the major purchase.
According to documents published by EULEX, the items will be “used for covert surveillance purposes, in particular the positioning of vehicles and eavesdropping inside vehicles or buildings”.
Devices using satellite positioning, or GPS, will be attached to people or vehicles to track movements, EULEX said.
Night-vision telescopes will be deployed in police surveillance operations and sniper missions.
Karin Limdal, EULEX’s police spokeswoman, says surveillance equipment is used by police services all over Europe.
“EULEX has been mandated with limited executive functions in areas of sensitive crimes where the Kosovo Police has not yet reached sufficient level of competences,” Limdal said.
“To successfully fight organised crime, which includes trafficking in human beings, weapons and drugs, our police component needs this kind of equipment.”
Kosovo’s Ministry of Interior says the use of sophisticated electronic devices represents a key tool in any strategy to fight organised crime, adding that the ministry is working with EULEX.
“The use of this kind of equipment fits very well into our mandate,” Limdal said.
Artan Duraku, an adviser to the Interior Minister, Zenun Pajaziti, echoes this position, as do security experts in Kosovo.
Lulzim Peci, from Kosovo’s leading think tank KIPRED, says that “EULEX has an exclusive mandate to fight organised crime, so usage of such equipment is obvious”.
Florian Qehaja, from the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies, agrees. “This doesn’t go beyond EULEX’s competences,” he said.
The international investigators, however, will be required to obtain permission from a prosecutor or judge before using the surveillance techniques.
According to Kosovo’s Criminal Procedure Code, police need the consent of a public prosecutor to use equipment for monitoring phone calls and observing suspects in public places.
The police cannot tap telephone lines or bug conversations in private places without a written warrant by a judge.
The EULEX mission, besides its 1,400 police officers, includes more than 40 judges and around 20 prosecutors.
The fact that police investigators and judges will be accountable to the same EULEX structure is not a conflict of interest, according to Limdal.
“Our judges are fully independent in their work,” she says.
EULEX’s wide-ranging tender includes requests for more than 100 handheld cameras, almost 90 dictaphones, 18 widescreen TVs as well as video conferencing equipment and handheld GPS devices.
The tender closes on April 24. It has yet to be announced when the winning bids will be revealed.
