Ombudsman: Deported Gylenists Must Be Compensed by Kosovo

Only a thorough investigation by the State Prosecutor could give the country's citizens hope that such situations as this one was with the six Turkish citizens will no longer repeat. Thus has ombudsman Hilmi Jashari declared Justice in Kosovo “.

Jashari has said that state officials, including those of police, should be well informed when dealing with such situations where human rights violations are threatened.

I believe that the Kosovo Police have, especially the decision-makers, should be very well informed, because it is one of the perhaps delicate situations in the field of human rights when it comes to decision when a person is accused of grave criminal acts of other authority. From the perspective of human rights that is our mandate is a very serious violation of these constitutional and legal guarantees in our judicial system”, he said.

Jashar has stated that for the credibility of a state intended to build on the basis of democratic principles and in the sense that it aims to get involved in regional and international mechanisms, such as the Council of Europe or the European Union, fundamental human freedoms and rights are standards that are highly regarded.

I believe that in the near future, we have to see the evaluations of these mechanisms that they have for this situation, because they've already started a process of assessment, but this is definitely going to happen a little later. But it has definitely done neither honour in the sense of respect for human rights nor credibility as a state to ensure citizens in its territory subject to an international standard of human rights that is the goal of believing all democratic states”, Jashar said.

The ombudsman has declared that the State Prosecutor had to immediately launch an investigation into all state officials who were involved in the arrest and extradition of six Turkish citizens. According to him, after all those violations starting with the country's Constitution, the laws in power and European conventions on human rights.

“We are dealing with absolute rights violations and the absolute meaning given to these articles that we discussed is intended to set priority, or to put the entire human rights pyramid at these standards. Because not all articles of the convention have such an absolute character. Some of the provisions of the European Convention are left in the discretion of states to regulate in that sense that the state sees the most reasonable way to decide on the right of its citizens. But in these situations this rule makes exception as an international standard and does not leave them in the department of the State to decide how they want to fix this work within your country's borders. But it's also the international obligation that you can't break into any situation”, the ombudsman has declared.

According to him, an investigation on the part of the Prosecution does the country -- at least to repair the eventual consequences -- to track down the culprits, or the responsibilities behind the arrest and extradition of six Turkish citizens.

Jashari has said the situation is also delicate in understanding the initiative of procedures on the part of six Turkish citizens, who, according to the ombudsman report, were violated by basic human rights on the part of Kosovo institutions.

This is where the situation gets even more delicate and, in my opinion, is a little more hopeless for the fact that Kosovo is still not a member of any international human rights mechanism, except two that actually do not refer to such situations. They have no chance of eventually challenging the decisions of the Kosovo Republic authorities to assume at the Court for Human Rights because Kosovo has not yet ratified such a convention and is not an international party in this court. That's why everything remains within local mechanisms”, he said.

The ombudsman has declared that from the estimates they have made in the report is the fact that Turkish citizens should be compensated for the violations they have been made with.

These citizens would have to be compensated for the offense they were made with, because it's one of the most serious offenses as we say. And in cases where they are identified and if we are in the report that they are violating human rights, then the institutions of Kosovo would have to compensate for these citizens for their violations. It's the only satisphaction in such situations when human rights violations exist to compensate”, he said.

Jashari has said that in the event that the country's institutions ignore recommendations stemming from the ombudsman's report, then this constitutes the next violation.