DAS: government corruption, gender-based violence, among key problems in Kosovo

Other problems in the report for 2022 include other forms of violence, as well as crimes or threats against ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups.

While publishing the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that reports published for a large part of the world's countries demonstrate the United States' commitment to advancing human rights in the world.

Corruption, Lack of Transparency in Government

The report for 2022 mentions that the law envisions criminal penalties for officials involved in corruption, but that Government has not implemented the law as a whole.

“has been several cases of government-level corruption reporting. Officials have sometimes engaged in corrupt practices, with no punishment. The lack of effective judicial supervision and fragility for law enforcement has resulted in this problem”, said the report.

It has been mentioned that several corruption cases have been repeatedly appealed and that the judicial system, on occasion, has allowed the expiration of the prescribing of cases.

“in December 2021, the Kosovo Institute for Justice has identified 11 corruption cases that have jeopardised the forecast; in January, seven of these cases have expired due to prescription”.

The report also mentioned the Anti-Corruption Agency and the National Audition Office as responsible for combating government corruption.

By September, the Anti-Corruption Agency has published 29 opinions on specific cases that have potentially been conflicts of interest and activities that could in the future constitute conflicts of interest. Prosecutors have filed 150 charges regarding corruption, and in 34 cases sentences have been pronounced by October”.

The report for 2022 also mentioned that nongovernmental organisations in Kosovo, but international organisations, have repeatedly highlighted the failures of the judicial system to punish cases of corruption, so very few cases of senior officials involved in these violations have ended with penalties.

For more, in the corruption part, two major corruption investigations at the border between Kosovo and Albania have been mentioned.

“The findings have resulted in the arrest of 74 Kosovo Police officials, two Kosovo Customs officials and 34 Albanian Police officials”.

“Later, in September, three police officials have been sentenced to 15 to 30 months in prison for abuse of their positions, for accepting the bribe, and offering aid for smuggling goods at border points between Kosovo and Serbia”.

Part of the report mentions that the trial launched in 2019 against former Agriculture Minister Nenad Ricalo still has no epilogue.

He and eight other ministry officials have been charged with abuse of power, since they allegedly manipulated grants.

Discrimination and Social Abuses

In the part of the lack of gender-based investigation into violence, the report notes that such cases, including sexual violence and other violations, are not often reported by victims because of social stigma and lack of trust in authority.

By September [of 2022], prosecutors have investigated 160 cases of violations and filed 30 indictments”.

The report cites an 11-year-old violation in Pristina by five suspects an adult and four minors.

In December, prosecutors have filed charges against suspects, charging people with trafficking, using the sex services of child victim and pornography”.

Later, the 35-year-old pregnancy was mentioned in the courtyard of the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo in November.

The suspect, her husband, escaped arrest and committed suicide two days later.

The police have confirmed that the victim has previously reported domestic violence and has been on police protection”.

The report also concludes that fewer women hold leadership positions in businesses, police or government.

The Ombudsman's institution has reported that women are often subject to discriminatory employment practices, as well as forms of discrimination, including sexual harassment in the workplace, both in the public and private sector”.

According to the report's findings, women in Kosovo “are under-represented in the labour market, as only one in five women is an active part of the formal labour market. /rel/