Prishtina, May 29, 2024: The Human Rights Network (HRN) reacts to the decision of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo to not pass the Annual Report of the Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo (OIK) for 2022.

On May 23, 2024, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo voted not to approve the Annual Report of the OIK for the year 2022. Previously, the Parliamentary Committees had proposed to the Assembly to approve the Annual Report for the year 2022 in the plenary session. The Assembly did not discuss this report at all during the plenary session. After the presentation of the report by the Ombudsperson, Naim Qelaj, Ms. Arjeta Fejza, a member of the Assembly, spoke on behalf of the Vetëvendosje Parliamentary Group. Fejza recommended that the deputies not vote on the report. Only the majority deputies, not the opposition, were present in the plenary session. Without any further discussion, the report was put to a vote. Of the 61 participants, 58 responded to the call of the deputy of the ruling party, voting against the approval of the report.

The way this report was handled by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo is very concerning, which proves a deep lack of respect for human rights by the parliamentary majority and the party in the Assembly, but also by the opposition itself. Also, this approach demonstrates a lack of professional knowledge on the role of this independent constitutional institution and a tendency to interfere in the work of the Ombudsman Institution.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, the OIK is an independent constitutional institution whose mandate is to supervise and protect the rights and freedoms of individuals from illegal and irregular actions or inactions of public authorities. In this situation, if the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo respected the constitutional obligation to protect human rights, it would discuss the findings of the OIK’s annual report, which reflects the state of human rights. Furthermore, it would make an effort to address the recommendations of this report to the Assembly. However, the Assembly did exactly the opposite.

Recommendation No. 2 of the General Policy of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) for equality bodies makes it clear that for institutions like the OIK, these institutions “…must function without any interference from the state, political parties, or other actors” and that “Equality bodies can publish annual reports, which must be discussed by the parliament or its relevant committees and the government, but which must not be subject to their approval.” In line with this, the provisions related to the annual report of the OIK state that the Constitution mandates “The Ombudsperson shall submit an annual report to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.,” while Law No. 05/L-019 for the Ombudsperon specifies that “The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo reviews the Ombudsperson’s Annual Report in the plenary session, during spring session..” Thus, the Constitution and the law give the Assembly a mandate to review the annual report but not to approve or disapprove it.

On the other hand, it is paradoxical not to approve the Annual Report due to disagreement with its content. It would be a different situation if the deputies considered the report to have inaccuracies or irregularities. However, the deputies should be clear that any decision regarding the voting or non-voting of this report does not change the reported situation.

Further, in her speech, the deputy of the parliamentary majority emphasized that “This report is delayed in time, it is being reviewed now when more than a year has passed since the rational time for its revision has passed.” Unfortunately, through this statement, the deputy in question tried to transfer the blame from the Assembly to the OIK. According to the law, the OIK must submit the annual report by March 31 of the following year. The OIK fulfilled this obligation on March 31, 2023. The Assembly did not review this report until May 24, 2024, even though it had the obligation to do so during the spring of 2023.

This behavior of the Assembly—failing to hold any parliamentary debate regarding the OIK report, not voting on the report, and reviewing the report with about a one-year delay—clearly represents a lack of respect for human rights. This approach, marked by the Assembly’s easy vote against the approval of the report, demonstrates a tendency to interfere with the independence of the OIK’s work as well as it could be interpreted as a tendency to exert pressure on an independent constitutional mechanism like the OIK.

Member organizations of the Human Rights Network (HRN):

Youth Initiative for Human Rights Kosova (YIHR KS)

Association of Paraplegics and Children with Paralysis in Kosovo (HANDIKOS)

Center for Equality and Liberty – CEL Kosovo

Kosovo Law Institute (KLI)

Kosovo Center for Gender Studies (KGSC)

New Social Initiative (NSI)

Voice of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians (VORAE)