Albania: Task force established to investigate falsified attestation letters for blood feuds, including activities and cases investigated; reconciliation groups, including whether any have been investigated for providing false attestation letters (2012-February 2014)

1. Overview of Blood Feuds

According to Balkan Insight, blood feuds in Albania trace back centuries to the Canon of Lek Dukagjin [also known as Kanun], which dictates that when someone is killed, the victim's family may take retribution by killing a male member of the extended family (27 Oct. 2011). Similarly, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, defined blood feuds as "premeditated revenge killing by a member of a murder victim's family, committed to allegedly restore honour lost as a result of the initial killing" (UN 23 Apr. 2013, 5). Families under threat of a blood feud often isolate themselves in their homes due to fear of retaliation, or to show respect for the victim's family (Sweden 14 June 2013, 4).

Sources note that modern blood feud killings in Albania sometimes deviate from the traditional rules (Professor 3 Feb. 2014; UN 23 Apr. 2013, 6; Sweden 14 June 2013, 4), including killings of women and children (ibid.; Top Channel 19 June 2012).

2. Whether There Is a Task Force

In 3 February 2014 correspondence with the Research Directorate, an official of the Honorary Consulate of Canada in Tirana provided information obtained at a meeting on 31 January 2014 with the Head of Sector, Directorate of Serious Crime, Organized and Serious Crime Department of the Albanian State Police. The Head of Sector indicated that no "task force" had been established to investigate falsified attestation letters for blood feuds (Canada 3 Feb. 2014). Instead, the Albanian State Police has worked in cooperation with the Prosecutor's office to investigate individual cases related to falsified attestation letters (ibid.). The investigations are carried out on a case-by-case basis (ibid.). When false documents are found, the holder of the document is questioned about its sources (ibid.).

3. NGOs Working in the Area of Blood Feud Reconciliation

In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a professor emeritus of history at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, who has researched and written about Albanian blood feuds, said that two of the larger NGOs involved in blood feud reconciliation are the Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation (Komiteti i Pajtimit Mbarëkombëtar, CNR) and the Missionaries for Peace, but there are several smaller NGOs involved in blood feud reconciliation, as well as a number of individuals, such as mediators or elders (Professor 3 Feb. 2014). The People's Advocate Office [also known as the Albanian Ombudsman] (Avokati i Popullit), Albania's national institution that aims to protect citizens' human rights and freedoms in relation to public administrative bodies, has also worked to address the issue of blood feuds (Albania 2012, 8, 18). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Chief of Coordination, International Relations and European Integration of the People's Advocate, noted that their office has cooperative agreements with several NGOs that also deal with blood feuds, although the nature of the agreements is broad rather than specifically about blood feuds (ibid. 7 Feb. 2014). The People's Advocate reportedly has agreements with the following NGOs that are involved in blood feud issues:

Forumi i Mendimit te Lire;

Fondacioni per Zgjidhjen e Konflikteve dhe pajtimi e mosmarreveshjeve [Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes];

Civil Rights Defenders;

Albanian Helsinki Committee;

Mesuese per femijet e ngujuar ne Shkoder;

Instituti Shtepia e Drejtesise dhe Pajtimit Kombetar [Institute Home of Justice and National Reconciliation];

Tirana Legal Aid Society (ibid.).

4. NGOs Investigated for Providing False Attestation Letters

In October 2011, Balkan Insight conducted an undercover investigation that found that some NGOs were "routinely" selling documents to Albanian asylum seekers in Europe, claiming that the holders were involved in a blood feud even if a real conflict did not exist (27 Oct. 2011). In December 2011, media sources reported that Gjin Marku, the head of the National Reconciliation Committee [also known as Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation (CNR)], and a member of the Peace Missionary Association, were charged with selling falsified certificates that claimed people were the victims of blood feuds (Balkan Insight 5 Dec. 2011; Top Channel 2 Dec. 2011). According to the news source Top Channel TV, the mayor of Malesi a Madhe and the head of Postriba commune had also previously been charged with falsification of documents related to blood feuds (ibid.). For further information see Response to Information Request ALB103902.

The CNR claims that the accusation that Gjin Marku, the chairman of the CNR, falsified documents about blood feuds was a "political set-up" involving the police, traffickers and government authorities (CNR 28 Dec. 2011). The CNR further claims that the chairman was cleared of the charges in May 2012 (12 May 2012). In 10 May 2012 correspondence with the Research Directorate, an official at the Embassy of Canada in Rome wrote that the Albanian Ministry of Interior had said that a police certificate dated 17 April 2012 certifying that no penal proceedings were being issued against Gjin Marku was genuine (Canada 10 May 2012).

The Canadian official was told that there is no "official list" of NGOs that have been under investigation for providing falsified attestation letters related to blood feuds (ibid. 3 Feb. 2014). Without providing details, the Head of Sector at the Albanian State Police reportedly said that some NGOs have been under investigation and that the chairman of an NGO has been detained for a few days, but he was not at liberty to release the names of individuals and NGOs that have been under investigation by the Albanian State Police (ibid.).

In a fact-finding mission to Albania about blood feuds that was conducted in April 2013, the Swedish Migration Board reported that, according to a representative of the Department of Serious Crimes of the Albanian Ministry of Interior,

[translation]

[t]he volunteer organisations [working with blood feud reconciliation] that previously issued attestations have ceased doing so, because the police are investigating this part of their activities. The police have no mandate to control the organisations and determine which of them are trustworthy. The police have no interest in exposing any individual organisation, but would rather cooperate with them. The police have seen many false documents and legal proceedings have been initiated against those who issued them. (Sweden 14 June 2013, Sec. 4.2.2)

The Swedish Migration Board also reports that, according to a representative of the Ombudsman in Shkoder,

[translation]

there are corrupt volunteer organisations that have provided Albanians with false attestations and incorrect advice about the possibilities of applying for asylum abroad. Legal processes involving this have been initiated. But the representative emphasises that the majority of volunteer organisations and the Church are doing a very good ("heroic") job and that it is enough that one organisation misbehaves in order for headlines to appear. (ibid., Sec. 4.2.3)

A journalist at Balkan Insight, in a 13 February 2014 telephone interview, told the Research Directorate the following:

NGOs that issue attestation letters do not have any legal authority to do so. Many of them make money by selling attestation letters. Some NGOs exaggerate the number of blood feuds because of this. However, some people who have attestation letters and apply for asylum may have legitimate claims. I think the best way to check would be to check the information with the local police.

The Nationwide Reconciliation Committee [CNR] has issued attestation letters but has no legal authority to do so. The statistics that they claim of the number of blood feuds--10,000 in the last 20 years--is nowhere close to reality. (13 Feb. 2014)

The Swedish Migration Board states that the CNR was the organization most frequently mentioned by the sources they consulted in Albania as being linked to "accusations of corruption and the issuing of false attestation letters" (Sweden 14 June 2013, Sec. 4.2.3). A representative of Caritas Albania, an organization established by the Catholic Church with 95 missions in Albania that provide emergency relief and social development services (Caritas n.d.), reportedly described the CNR to the Swedish Migration Board as [translation] "the largest organisation in the field [blood feud mediation], with a great deal of resources and power, but that the organisation is controversial and that it is difficult to evaluate whether it possesses real knowledge in this area" (Sweden 14 June. 2013, Sec. 4.2.3). The Caritas representative also expressed the opinion that the CNR did good work in the 1990s, but became "corrupted" after 1997 (ibid.). In addition, a representative of the Helsinki Committee questioned the capacity of the CNR "beyond purely financial activities" (ibid.).

In a 2012 decision by the UK Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal, the judges stated, "We consider that the organisation [CNR] and Mr. Marku are wholly unreliable and that no weight can be placed on the attestation letters they produce" (UK 15 Oct. 2012, para. 55).

In contrast, the Professor said that in his experience, the CNR and its chairperson "had a pretty good reputation" for their work in blood feud reconciliation (Professor 3 Feb. 2014).

According to the Swedish Migration Board, a representative of the EU delegation to Albania said that the leader of the CNR was arrested (Sweden 14 June 2013, Sec. 4.2.3). The EU representative also noted that "there may be corruption links between the volunteer organisations, the police, and municipalities" (ibid.).

An article by the Independent Balkan News Agency states that the Department Against Corruption of the Durres Police launched an operation against organizations that issued false documents about blood feuds for the purpose of claiming asylum in the EU and Canada, and made arrests on 18 February 2014 (Independent Balkan News Agency 19 Feb. 2014). The article provides the following details about the arrests:

Based on an inquiry lasting several months and the evidence that was collected, the District Court of Durres issued an arrest warrant against Ndrec Prenga, 61 years of age, resident in Durres, head of the National Assembly of the Missionaries of Nationwide Reconciliation of Albania and the head of the Committee of Reconciliation for the District of Durres, Tom Marena, 70 years of age, resident in Durres, member and intermediary who has been previously arrested (in January this year) for unlawful possession of weapons; Petrit Ndoj, 33 years of age, resident in Arapaj, Durres, who was issued with a forged document. The court said that these three persons will face trial for "Active corruption in the private sector" and "Forgery of documents". (ibid.)

The official at the Honorary Consulate of Canada in Tirana stated in 26 February 2014 correspondence with the Research Directorate that 12 people have been arrested in Shkoder city for issuing falsified documents on blood feuds, including the local secretary of the Reconciliation Committee (Canada 26 Feb. 2014).

5. Verification of Blood Feuds by State Agencies

The Director of the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes (AFCR), a Tirana-based NGO that is involved in blood feud reconciliation, indicated in correspondence with the Research Directorate, that he is not aware of any agency responsible for issuing official attestation letters verifying that a person is in a blood feud (AFCR 7 Feb. 2013). The Balkan Insight journalist also said that there is no government authority issuing attestation letters about blood feuds (13 Feb. 2014).

According to the English-language executive summary of the Swedish fact-finding mission:

There are no authorized certifiers of existing blood feuds in Albania, neither within the Albanian authorities, nor among non-governmental organizations. Corruption rumours in relation to issuing of certificates appear to be of substance. Against this background, it cannot be expected that an Albanian citizen, who declares him- or herself to be threatened within a blood feud, to present a certificate when applying for asylum. It is reasonable to argue that such a certificate would not have been issued in due order, as there is no such order in place. However, it is important to underline that a submitted certificate is not necessarily false or issued on inaccurate grounds. (Sweden 14 June 2013, 5).

However, the Head of Sector of the Directorate Against Serious Crime of the Albanian State Police told the Canadian official that "[n]ormally State Police may issue a letter indicating whether a family is isolated due to a blood feud" (Canada 3 Feb. 2014). However, he did not provide further details (ibid.). The Professor said that the Ministry of Interior issued documents verifying whether a family was involved in a blood feud under the previous government, but he was not sure whether it continued after the 2013 elections and change in government (Professor 3 Feb. 2014). He said that the issuance of the letters "likely involved the state police" (ibid.). He noted, though, that "few letters" were issued by the state authorities (ibid.). Further information about the issuance of letters verifying blood feuds by state agencies, including issuance procedures, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Sources indicate that the Albanian State Police launched a database of persons involved in blood feuds (Top Channel 20 June 2012; EU 10 Oct. 2012, 17; UN 23 Apr. 2013, 7), in June 2012 (ibid.; EU 10 Oct. 2012, 17). According to an article by Top Channel TV, the data includes information on both families involved in the blood feud, the age of the males, the date when the feud started and the cause (20 June 2012). The 23 April 2013 UN Human Rights Council's Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Christof Heyns described the database as follows:

According to the information received, the database covers the entire country, and includes all physical persons directly identified as involved in a blood feud. The database contains information both on cases submitted to the court and cases that are not followed up through official channels. It is regularly updated. The State Police, the Prosecutor-General's Office, the representatives of the courts, and the People's Advocate are reported to have access to this database. (UN 23 Apr. 2013, 7)

While the Special Rapporteur encouraged the further development of the database, the report also said that "there was not yet a verifiable and reliable source of statistical data on blood feuds in Albania" and noted that the police and NGOs used different methodologies with varying statistics (ibid.). Similarly, the Executive Summary of the People's Advocate Special Report on Blood Feud states that there are "no accurate statistics" about blood feuds, and that various NGOs claim higher figures than the police (Albania Apr. 2013, 2).

The Head of the Directorate of Serious Crime at the Albanian State Police told the Canadian official that there are 91 families in Albania who are "registered" with the police as being isolated as a result of blood feuds, affecting 200 people (Canada 3 Feb. 2014). The breakdown by region is as follows:

Kukes district: 19 families

Durres district: 3 families (22 persons)

Lezhe district: 9 families (42 persons, including 19 females and 4 children)

Shkoder area: 60 families (140 persons, including 33 children) (Canada 3 Feb. 2014).

The official noted that the families affected in the Shkoder area include 48 families in Shkoder district and 10 families in Malesi e Madhe (ibid.). The State Police reportedly have a "full list" of these families (ibid.).

The Canadian official reported that the Prosecutor issued an order on 3 February 2014 to question all persons isolated because of blood feuds to identify the responsible parties, and to collect this information by 30 May 2014 (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Albania. 7 February 2014. Avokati i Popullit. Correspondence from the Chief of Coordination, International Relations and European Integration to the Research Directorate.

_____. April 2013. Avokati i Popullit. Executive Summary of the People's Advocate Special Report on Blood Feud. Sent to the Research Directorate by the Avokati i Popullit on 24 January 2014.

_____. 2012. Avokati i Popullit. Annual Report on the Activity of the People's Advocate 1st January - 31st December 2012. [Accessed 9 Jan. 2012].

Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes (AFCR). 7 February 2014. Correspondence from the Director sent to the Research Directorate.

Balkan Insight. 13 February 2014. Telephone interview with a journalist.

_____. 5 December 2011. Besar Likmeta. "Albanians Charged Over Fake Asylum Claims." [Accessed 23 Jan. 2014]

_____. 27 October 2011. Elvis Nabolli. "Blood Feuds Sold as Tickets to Belgian Promised Land." [Accessed 7 Feb. 2014]

Canada. 26 February 2014. Honorary Consulate of Canada in Albania. Correspondence from an official sent to the Research Directorate.

_____. 3 February 2014. Honorary Consulate of Canada in Albania. Correspondence from an official sent to the Research Directorate.

_____. 10 May 2012. Embassy of Canada in Rome. Correspondence from an official sent to the Research Directorate.

Caritas. N.d. "Albania." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2014]

Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation (CNR). 12 May 2012. "Statement for International Organizations, Medias and the All of the Governments of Representatives of UN." [Accessed 27 Jan. 2014]

_____. 28 December 2011. "Memo of the National Asambly of the Reconcilation Missoonaries." [Accessed 27 Jan. 2014]

European Union (EU). 10 October 2012. European Commission. Albania 2012 Progress Report. (SWD(2012) 334 final) [Accessed 20 Jan. 2014]

Independent Balkan News Agency. 19 February 2014. "Associations Against Blood Feud Assist Albanians Who Seek Asylum in the EU." [Accessed 26 Feb. 2014]

Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. 3 February 2014. Telephone interview.

Sweden. 14 June 2013. Migrationsverket. Blodfejder i Albanien. Translated by the Translation Bureau, Public Works and Government Services Canada. [Accessed 2 Jan. 2014]

Top Channel. 20 June 2012. "Official Blood Feud Database." [Accessed 23 Jan. 2014]

_____. 19 June 2012. "Blood Feud, 5% of the Crimes in 2011." [Accessed 23 Jan. 2014]

_____. 2 December 2011. "Falsification with Blood Feuds." [Accessed 23 Jan. 2014]

United Kingdom (UK). 15 October 2012. EH (blood feuds). Tribunal Decisions, [2012] UKUT 348. [Accessed 27 Feb. 2014]

United Nations (UN). 23 April 2013. Human Rights Council. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Christof Heyns. (A/HRC/23/47/Add.4) [Accessed 20 Jan. 2014]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Attempts to contact representatives of the following organizations were unsuccessful within the time constraints of this Response: Albania - Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Ottawa; Institute Home of Justice and National Reconciliation; Top Channel TV. The Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe, a representative of the EU delegation to Albania and a professor at Bournemouth University were unable to provide information.

Internet sites, including: Albanian Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma and Torture; Amnesty International; ecoi.net; Factiva; Human Rights Watch; Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Transitions Online; United Nations - Refworld.