Ombudsman for double murder and suicide in Pristina: Police told family members to endure violence

It told them that “Kosovo has good laws concerning violence against women and violence in the family, but there is a impasse in implementing it”.

Ombudsman Hilmi Jashar, in launching this project, said the state has obligations to protect citizens, hoping that this project will affect awareness of all walks of society.

He cited the case of double murder and suicide that took place three weeks ago in Pristina, which shocked the whole country.

Jashar said that since 2002 this family has reported the violence that the family head has exerted on others, but they have turned their family upside down without making a choice.

A case we had three weeks ago in Pristina a double murder and a suicide, all of which occurred during a period of a weekend and did not have Kosovo families that have not been shaken. This is preliminary information launched in the media. In 2002, this family reported to the police that there is constant domestic violence, and the police told him that you as a family are a father, and that no one else is given to your father, so be careful and endure. The case then follows in 2004, 2005, is the same thing in the courts, it's your family that kept you and raised you, that's the assessment they get. Then it goes on ahead in 2008, still the problem continues in the police, the case is filed in court, a defence order is issued, but virtually nothing happens. In 2012 the story continues again, the family is forced to rent, but because of poor conditions they still owe it to their families. In 2017 the case is presented to the prosecution, the prosecution filed the file and sent to the tribunal, since then all institutions are silent. Throughout this period, that person has had mental health problems for which care institutions have been aware and nothing has happened again”, he said.

In the case of launching the project, Isabel Servoz-Gulcilu, chief of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina, said women in Kosovo face different discrimination and barriers.

Vulnerability to women and domestic violence are serious violations and the phenomenon is widespread throughout the world. Women in Kosovo also face different discrimination and barriers. We have to be clear that they are human rights violations and that as such they should be handled by the country's institutions. The Istanbul Convention is the first instrument aimed at tackling discrimination against women. It presents a framework to combat violence against women and domestic violence”, she said.

National Co-ordinator against Family Violence Naim Celaj said Kosovo has good laws regarding violence against women and domestic violence, but there is a impasse in implementation.

This is a year of changes in laws initiated by the Government and dealing directly with gender equality and domestic violence or measures that institutions will take for protection from this phenomenon. The Kosovo Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights has taken the initiative to amend the law on protection from domestic violence, and I've used this as a good moment for us to empower mechanisms that implement the law, taking into account reports I've had in analysis from the past, but also by general estimates, from any meeting like this one that turns out that Kosovo has good laws, but there is a deadlock. Instead of changing laws, we must empower mechanisms that apply those laws”, he said.

European Council Project Division Co-ordinator Larssa Kireeva cited some of the main objectives of the <x0 project Strengthening the fight against violence against women and domestic violence, phase two, ”.

This is a project planned for two years and has already begun and will continue until March 2021. The purpose of this project is to combat discrimination against women, reporting, awareness of society in preventing this phenomenon and taking concrete steps on the part of institutions”, she said.

Otherwise, the project was built on research findings and recommendations “Establishing service map for victims of violence against women in Kosovo”, conducted within the first phase of the project in 2017.