PRESS RELEASE: Launch Of The Third Joint Civil Society Report On Human Rights In Kosovo

Pristina, May 11, 2022: We are delighted to announce the official publication of the third joint civil society human rights report in Kosovo. The report provides an overview of the human rights situation in Kosovo in 2021, including the most pressing problems and challenges to realizing human rights as well as human rights violations in relation to the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. It assesses civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; human rights issues relating to specific groups and persons in vulnerable situations; and several cross-cutting human rights topics, such as transitional justice, corruption, and human rights as well as the environment and human rights. 

Thirty-seven civil society organizations (CSOs) working on protecting and promoting human rights in Kosovo have joined forces to draft this report. In addition to further enhancing cooperation and coordination between different civil society actors coming from different backgrounds, this report seeks to continue providing joint monitoring and reporting on human rights in Kosovo at the local as well as international levels. The report addresses pressing human rights issues and challenges in Kosovo that were chosen after a thorough consideration of the local context during a consultative process with a number of human rights CSOs. In addition, the report provides a number of concrete recommendations to Kosovo’s institutions, which aim to improve the human rights situation in Kosovo. 

CSOs contributing to this report call on Kosovo institutions and other relevant stakeholders to take appropriate actions and measures, as per the recommendations provided in the report, in order to address the human rights concerns and problems identified and presented in the report. Unless addressed, these concerns and problems will most likely persist or even deepen, hindering the enjoyment of human rights in Kosovo as guaranteed by Kosovo’s Constitution, legislation, and several directly applicable international and regional human rights instruments. As some of these human rights challenges have been exacerbated by COVID-19 and measures to contain it, we also call on Kosovo authorities and all other actors to place human rights front and center in the COVID-19 response and recovery measures. 

The following 37 CSOs contributed to the referred report: Activism Roots, Advancing Together (AT), Artpolis, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), Balkan Sunflowers Kosova  (BSFK), Berlin Center for Integrative Mediation – CSSP, Center for Affirmative Social Action (CASA), Centre for Equality and Liberty (CEL), Civil Rights Program Kosovo (CRP/K), CiviKos Platform, FOL Movement, Forum for Civic Initiative (FIQ), Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), HANDIKOS, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK), Coalition of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) for Child Protection (KOMF), K10 Coalition with the leading NGO Action for Mothers and Children (AMC), Kosova Education Center (KEC), Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (KRCT), Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Kosovo Young Lawyers (KYL), Kosovo Youth Council (KYC), Local Initiative LINK, Medica Gjakova, Missing Persons Resource Center (MPRC), Network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women’s Organizations of Kosovo (RROGRAEK), New Social Initiative (NSI), NGO AKTIV, 32NGO THY, Roma Versitas Kosovo (RVK), Syri i Vizionit, Terre des Hommes Kosovo (TDH), Voice of Roma Ashkali and Egyptians (VoRAE) and Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Kosovo (YIHR KS).

The full report is available in Albanian, Serbian, and English and is enclosed in this press release. 

For any questions you might have, please contact Marigona Shabiu (marigona@yihr.org), and/or Fiona Haxhiislami (fiona.haxhiislami@yihr.org).