July 6, 2006 at 6:53 a.m.
International judge tells Rotarians of on-going challenges in Kosovo
International judge tells Rotarians of on-going challenges in Kosovo
As the saying goes-- that was then, this is now.
Judge Slattengren didn’t expect to invest himself so heavily in the birth of this new nation, Kosovo-- but now that he has, nobody is less likely to walk away from this challenge than he. The only thing that might tear Slattengren away from his role in this Act of world history is if the United Nations ran short of money and discontinued operations. (Which could happen as early as this month if Congress delays UN membership payment. But, that’s another story.)
Kosovo, where Slattengren has lived and worked for three years now, is set to be officially acknowledged as an independent nation in about one year.
In 2002 Slattengren was among 18 international judges recruited to serve alongside Kosovo judges in resolving lingering war crimes cases. The United Nations judges were also working to help get a justice system in place for the emerging nation. (The major war crimes tribunals were at The Hague, Belgium.)
“I went as a non-permanent U.N. employee,” Slattengren explained last week. “Originally I was going to be there under one year.”
Slattengren is now one of five judges on Kosovo’s Supreme Court. He’s one of two international (UN) judges on a panel with three local jurists. The war crimes trials are a thing of the past and Slattengren is glad of that. “I frankly don’t like to even talk about them,” he declared.
A day on the bench now focuses more on initiating a free market economy in Kosovo and building legal tenets like property rights and privatization of business.
When he isn’t in court or in his apartment in the city of Pristina-- Slattengren has the Kosovo social scene to become involved in, and for him that means spreading the word about Rotary Club International, a passion of Slattengren’s.
“I see a lot of the same challenges for each-- in establishing this new capitalist society and trying to build Rotary,” he observed.
With decades of Communism as their old foundation Kosovo citizens aren’t familiar with concepts like personal responsibility, fair competition and incentives for producing superior goods and services. They don’t understand that things in a democratic nation start from the ground-up, they understand a more dictatorial approach.
“When you start a business there,” he mentioned, “the first thing you look for is somebody to bribe,” Slattengren emphasized that everybody is programmed to being “...told what to do, it’s very hard to get even the judges to make a decision.”
Slattengren was guest speaker at the Chisago Lakes Rotary Club last week.
He told those gathered for the meeting that the Kosovo economy and society will change but it’ll happen slowly. He shared stories of what a struggle it has been to get a Rotary Club accepted into the official Rotary International structure, when Kosovo isn’t even considered a “nation” yet. He knows of only four Rotary Clubs there now.
Rotary Intl. Clubs in Chisago Lakes and St. Croix Falls have a relationship of sorts with Kosovo. Rotary helps fund a medical doctor to practice there and Slattengren spoke of his work establishing a charitable account for destitute families of murdered Kosovo police officers, an effort that Rotary supports.
Slattengren’s “goal” is to hatch seven Rotary Clubs in Kosovo.
The region presents its unique set of hurdles in that it is a hodge-podge of broken communities and long-held grudges that pit various ethnic groups against one another, he explained.
“Grudges are held for a long, long time, generations,” he continued.
He is hoping Rotary philosophy calling for the more fortunate to help the less-fortunate will lead the way to a new era. A favorite photo Slattengren brought to the Chisago Lakes meeting shows himself in the center of a group seated around a table, in a seemingly civil and friendly bunch. But the group includes historic ethnic enemies who only came together because of Rotary he said.
The Chisago Lakes’ Rotary Club meets each Tuesday, around the lunch hour, at a local spot. For a while Hazelden hosted the meetings but construction of an expanded women’s facility there and the need for more food service space for growing populations means the Hazelden location will no longer be available.
The July 11 meeting will be at ............former Minnesota Twins great Jack Morris is going to be the guest.
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