On Thursday, on the 2nd of May 2024, the Assembly of Kosovo discussed the US State Department Report for Kosovo.

The member organizations of the Human Rights Network (HRN) have followed with concern the discussions in the Assembly of Kosovo on this report and the statements of the Minister of Finance Hekuran Murat. In his speech, Minister Murati stated “…If we go into the quality and then analyze the sentences, we see that in some cases even the reporter has fallen prey to the disinformation of some media that are still part of the old guard and some CSOs that masquerade as such or are extensions of the old guard….”

Statements with such accusations with the claim that previous governments control them are direct attacks on CSOs and media freedom in Kosovo. A lynching practice of this nature towards CSOs and the media, right before World Press Freedom Day, is an indicator of the lack of cooperation, an underestimation, and degradation of the work of activists and journalists and the media by the Minister of Kurti’s Government.

Reports such as CSOs Report on Human Rights, the US State Department Report, the European Commission Report, and others should serve as an overview of the delays and problems that the state and citizens of Kosovo are facing, and based on such reports, each Minister must reflect on his/her work.

Starting from this dangerous practice of lynching and denigrating the work of NGOs and Media, and many other cases in the last year, today Kosovo has marked an alarming regression, being ranked 19 places lower in the Reporters Without Borders index on media freedom. Statements like this issued by Minister Murati further contribute to this negative trend.

Human Rights Network (HRN) member organizations call on government officials to refrain from lynching statements and use such reports, including the Civil Society Report on Human Rights 2023 which will be published on May 16, 2024, as a constructive criticism and work towards improving the situation in the country.

Human Rights Network (HRN) member organizations:

Youth Initiative for Human Rights – YIHR KS

Center for Equality and Liberty – CEL Kosovo

Kosovo Law Institute – KLI

Kosovo Gender Studies Center – KGSC

New Social Initiative – NSI

Voice of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians – VORAE