Tirana 22nd of July 2013
Conclusions of the National Expedition of the reconciliation
missionaries on the causes of the increasing violence in the
Albanian society.
Since 6th of January the Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation has organized the
work with the reconciliation expedition including the period of campaign before and
after election. Without any support and even attacked for the opponent attitude toward
the bad governance, the Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation has never interrupted
his work for the prevention of killings and the support of the families in need. Although
the killing phenomena had the same intensity as in 2012, during the electoral campaign
there occurred less killings than before and after this campaign. This was due to the fact
that during the campaign there was a mobilization of all the factors in order to avoid the
clashing of citizens for political reasons. Even the expedition, in addition to the work to
keep in control the families in enmity, incited the citizens for a wider and more cultured
participation in political debates and voting process. From 1221 isolated families and
3800 others hidden from the enmity, it became possible for 260 hidden families and 46
isolated families to be accompanied by the missionaries to the polling station. Since the
request of the committee for the application of the moving voting boxes was refused by
Central Election Commission, most of the citizens involved in enmity were deprived
from the right of voting. About 30 000 other families that have land disputes in rural
areas and have moved to metropolis without changing the civil state, had found it
difficult to go to the areas where they have their residence and voter registration. The
isolation and hidden citizens lacked the confidence for the guarantee of life. The distrust
to move toward the polling station accompanied by the missionaries was based to the
bitter experiences such as the killing of Gentian Beqiri while he was in house arrest and
guided by two police officers, the killing of Rolanda Doku who had a protection warrant
of police by court decision and the killing of Frederik Marku and his son, Jurgen Marku
who had just emerged from the Police Station where they asked for protection. The
working groups of the Committee are activated in 2800 villages, 300 communes and 60
municipalities. In 2013 we have a higher intensity of killings than in 2012. Until now
there are 78 persons killed, 65 man and 13 women, 18 of these killings are committed
within the family.
According to the Police:
For revenge and blood feud there are 18 victims, 17 males and 1 female.
For property motives 6 victims, 5 males and one female.
For weak motives 19 victims, 14 males and 5 females.
For honour motives 2 male victims.
For jealousy motives 4 victims,1 male and 3 females.
For political motives 1 male victim.
For other motives 26 victims , 23 males and 3 females.
By accidental armed killings there are 2 male victims.
But the definitions of these killings by the police have been constantly unbiased, tending
to cover the truth.
The Albanian government, has not only been incapable to find the alternatives that
increase the level of public safety and the protection of citizen’s life, but with its
irresponsibility has aggravated the tendency of crime in society together with poverty.
The government has constantly been against the strategy of the Committee of
Nationwide Reconciliation for the cultivation of the law culture and the prevention of
crime through the cooperation of the government with the community, of the citizens
with the police and institutions, as well as the application of the models that bring the
control over the territory and increase the level of national safety. Facing the situation
that has been out of control, the government recently was satisfied only by the
amendments that increase the amount of punishment for the killings for revenge and
blood feud, family killings and those because of the duty. The review of laws should be
another step and the Ministry of Justice should not have done any proposals for the
legislation on crime against life and property without consulting with the Committee of
Nationwide Reconciliation because, as it has done until now, it was wrong.
The killings in Albania are killings by self justice, in the absence of justice and state of
rule and law and not according to the rules of blood feud. The Committee of Nationwide
Reconciliation has a clear strategy and has asked that the notion of the killing for blood
feud not to be mentioned in code because the blood feud as a Kanun term has not a real
base in today’s terms of Albanian society. The killings by self justice are not blood feud.
This unclear policy of legislators has blurred the society and its institutions. On one side
the government declares that we do not have killings for blood feud or they are very few
and at the other hand it roots the notion in penal code and judicial practice. Even when a
person declares that has committed a killing for blood feud it should not be accepted
because this claim is under a distorted Kanun mentality and psychological degeneration
of the conflicted person. The proposal of the Ministry of Justice for over 30 years
sentence or life imprisonment for the person that has killed for blood feud when the first
killer is free or was less than 15 years in prison, does not prevent but encourages the
killing for blood feud. It would be appropriate that every killing to be punished by life
imprisonment and not less than 30 years in prison, to prevent the killing for blood feud
and to justify the grave punishment if it happened. There should be specified cases when
the killing is done accidentally or in extreme circumstances of self defence. On the other
hand, since the moment when the killing is specified in the penal code, the killers and
their defence will declare other circumstances. This thoughtless method of government
encourages the charge killings. The same has happened with the law for the punishment
of those who threat for isolation. After the approval of law against the isolation none of
the threatening persons declared that he wants to take blood feud, but that does not
forgive the family of the killer thus avoiding the law. The Committee of Nationwide
Reconciliation has prepared and will introduce to the new government the full report for
the law reform to eliminate these contradictions in penal code and justice system.
Gjin Marku in reconciliation expedition
Not only foreign medias but also many unformed intellectuals and politicians leave the
burden of the responsibility to the patriarchal mentality of Albanian society not wanting
to affirm that this violence culminates even to the women and children who have no
connection to the mentality or the customs of Albanians, as they often declare. This
violence, in its all dimension, is a typical violence of barbaric transition, led and oriented
by a bad policy without any vision and often barbaric. Albanians from an educated
society for centuries with the culture of law and rule in community, are transformed into
a society with destructive trend, corrupted, included in crimes and self justice because of
this bad policy that is orienting people toward self justice and crimes of all kinds.
The situation becomes more aggravated when we face the intensive development of the
unreported crime in Albania which is in the most alarming levels that a society can have.
Our society during these 23 years of transition has degenerated toward hidden crime not
only by the citizens who are victims but also by the government which with its
demagoguery propaganda covers the crimes and corruption. The killings organized by
state in the period in middle of 1992-1996, those of 1997, of 2008 in Gerdec and of 2011
in front of prime ministry are still unpunished. While in the other countries of Balkan
and Europe the reported crimes are from 15 to 40%, in Albania this level is only 2.6 %.
Even in this percentage the part that has made denouncement repented due to the
lacking of justice. The cases of unreported violence for years to the women in Narte or to
the women massacred the last week , are only the top of the iceberg of crime that
happens in Albanian society. This happens because the culture of non denouncement
and impunity appears firstly to the representatives of state. Only 1.4 % of the cases of
corruption in government have been denounced, 98.6% of this corruption that is
developed in front of public eye remains unreported and unpunished. Even on those few
cases when there is a report, this action has resulted into rivalry for benefits within
government.
The Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation has decided on 4th of September to call the
fourth congress of the reconciliation missionaries where there will be a full panorama of
the situation and the strategy ,hoping that the new government will cooperate to change
the situation in Albania. The media and the international community are invited to
make the maximal efforts to bring in the attention of public this strategy of the
Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation which is the only institution with sincere
constructed opposing to bad governance and works in full independence from the
policy, for the country’s interest and the integration of Albanians in European Union.
Tirana 22nd of July 2013