We cooperate with professional watchdog organisations that provide legal aid and lobby for legislative changes. Another focus area in Albania is to strengthen media ethics through trainings and by organising debates on the issue of self-regulation.
Read about the current human rights situation in our country report Human rights in Albania
17 May is the International Day Against Homophobia, in commemoration of the removal of homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization in 1990. In connection to this, Civil Rights Defenders’ partner in Albania, Aleanca Kundër Diskriminimit të LGBT, organises a two-week long event to raise the awareness on discrimination.
(Updated in October 2012) The awareness of citizens regarding domestic laws and the European Convention on Human Rights (EctHR) remains low. Nevertheless, the ECtHR is considered to be the most important and secure legal instrument to guarantee human rights protection and reinstatement of violated rights. Up to now, the European Court has delivered 33 judgments [...]
Until 1993 persons with disabilities were invisible, kept in institutions, and no one talked about their rights. Today the issue is less controversial but Blerta Cani Drenofci, Executive Director of Albanian Disability Rights Foundation, says she her choice of career has often been questioned: “In the beginning I met a lot of ignorance. My friends were surprised that I wanted to work with this issue.”
This year Albania participated in Paralympics for the first time ever. But the obstacles that Albanians with disabilities must face are still high. Their human rights are violated on a daily basis and a person with disabilities is commonly regarded as a ‘misfortune’. Welcome to a seminar on September 26 with Blerta Çani Drenofci, Executive Director at Albanian Disability Rights Foundation.
We are deeply concerned about the poor conditions of 30 Roma families in Albania. In a letter to the local authorities we request that they make sure the families get access to running water, electricity and proper housing.
Several Roma families have recently been evicted and denied alternative accommodation. In a letter to the Albanian authorities we demanded them to protect the families from forced evictions. Read the answer from the Office of Prime Minister.
Civil Rights Defenders is concerned about the discmrinaion against LGBT people in the public debate in Albanina. We condemn the statements made by politicians and call on the authorities to put an end to the hate speech endorsing violence against LGBT persons.
Within our collaboration with the Albanian organisation Aleanca we are launching a campaign against homophobia. Together with them we have produced a video clip to highlight the wide spread discrimination, that will be followed by several events connected to the International Day againt Homophobia on May 17.
Several Roma families have recently been evicted and denied alternative accommodation, according to our partner Albanian Helsinki Committee. Civil Rights Defenders has sent a letter to the Albanian authorities demanding them to protect families from forced eviction and to respect the right to housing of Roma families.
Civil Rights Defenders is organising a two-day regional conference in cooperation with Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) on the theme “The role of civil society, citizens and media in the Western Balkans: Challenges as an opportunity“. The conference will be held in Sarajevo, November 22-23. Journalists, activists and civil society organisations from the [...]
Albania aims at joining the EU, but much remains to be done before that can happen. In cooperation with the Albanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (AHC) Civil Rights Defenders monitor and assess dismissals of public employees in local and central administration.
Human Rights Defenders and LGBT activists from all over the world gather in Stockholm during Pride. We have invited ten activists from six countries with the aim to support their struggle against discrimination and their quest for the rights that some of us take for granted.
Widespread lack of respect for human rights, in particular discrimination against vulnerable groups, remains of great concern in Albania. Civil Rights Defenders believe that the media can play an important role in raising awareness about human rights and mobilizing civic engagement. A cooperation with Independent Local Media Association (ILMA), to engage citizens in debates on radio about the most important human rights issues, has therefore been established.
In Albania a Law on Legal Aid was adopted in December 2008 and entered into force in April 2009. At the moment, however, access to justice is not equal for all citizens. Together with Tirana Legal Aid Society (TLAS) Civil Rights Defenders provide legal services for individuals belonging to marginalized groups through court and administrative procedures. This gives people better access to their legal rights and welfare benefits.
LGBT issues are generally silenced in Albania, and the lives of LGBT persons are marked by isolation and lack of support. In order to terminate their isolation we work actively to promote and empower the LGBT community in cooperation with the organisation Aleanca.
To improve the rule of law in Albania we provide a legal clinic, in collaboration with the Albanian Helsinki Committee, where we offer free legal aid to arrested, pre-trial detained and convicted persons, Roma and Egyptians. In 2010 approximately 500 complaints and more than 1000 free legal aid services were treated within the legal clinic.
Every year Civil Rights Defenders organise trainings for our partners. This year our partners in Albania and Kosovo received training in public speech.
On the 21st of January a demonstration organized by the opposition and held in Tirana ended in violent clashes between police forces and demonstrators. As a result, four persons were killed and large numbers were injured both among the protesters and the police. Many demonstrators were detained. It is not clear when they will be [...]
Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with the Albanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (AHC) in this specific project aims at improving the situation regarding protection against discrimination in Albania. We do this by raising capacities of our legal aid partners and the Institution of the Commissioner against Discrimination in handling cases of discrimination as well as increase the capacities of lawyers, people from public structures and civil society to understand and follow cases of discrimination.
Albania has adopted an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law and we raise need to awareness on the new law particularily among faculty students and professors as well as teachers and pupils from high schools for it to be effective in protecting against discrimination.
Civil Rights Defenders exhibition ”Our Rights” will be shown at the fifth edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival in Albania. Our Programme Officer Peter Mossop will be participating at the festival. The organizers themselves present the ideas and aims of the festival in the following way: Human Rights in Albania have been an [...]
On April 20 the European Court of Human Rights condemned Albania for having violated the right to a fair trial and the prohibition against torture in the case Lika and Laska vs Albania.
On March 23, 2010 the Albanian Constitutional Court decided to abolish the controversial Lustration Law (targeting former officials of the communist regime) as incompatible with the Albanian constitution. The abolition is a success for our partner Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC).
Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with Centre for Legal and Civil Initiatives, CLCI, aims at increasing women’s access to justice. This is done by providing free legal assistance, monitoring the implementation of the Law on domestic violence, and organising awareness raising activities in regard to women’s rights among the general population.
With the aim to improve Albanian media’s ethical conduct, and contribute to an increased self-regulation of media, Civil Rights Defenders organise in-house training courses on ethics and self-regulation for media outlets together with our partner Albanian Media Institute. These trainings are a supplement to the efforts of establishing and implementing a formalised self-regulation mechanism in the country.
Since 2006 Civil Rights Defenders has cooperated with Tirana Legal Aid Society, TLAS, in assisting Roma families to register their children, but also other members of the families, in order to help them get access to some of the most fundamental human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections. Hundreds of families have been assisted through our joint efforts so far.
Albanias new all-inclusive anti-discrimination law bans discrimination on the grounds of various characteristics, such as political, religious or philosophical beliefs, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.
In cooperation with Albanian Disability Rights Foundation, Civil Rights Defenders provide legal aid to persons with disabilities, and to their families. Our efforts include raising awareness and recognition of human rights by spreading information to stakeholders that are one way or the other involved in disability issues, but also to the general public.
The address to a shelter for victims of domestic violence was revealed on TV, endangering the safety of the victims as well as the staff of the shelter. In a letter we urge the Minister of Justice to protect victims of domestic violence as well as human rights defenders in Albania.
Civil Rights Defenders partner Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF), has received the “Albanian Leadership Award 2009″ for its efforts within civil society. The prize is awarded to highlight positive role models and innovations that strengthen ethical standards in Albanian society.
A well known albanian journalist was brutally attacked following a series of reports about tax evasion, unlawful privatisation and oil smuggling. We demand from the authorities to investigate the case and bring those responsible before justice.
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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