Two women were killed by their husbands last year. Men in dozens of cases since the war, have denied women the right to live. Hundreds of other cases of domestic violence have been reported. The chain of justice and security institutions is failing to prevent these cases. Women’s rights organizations and the ombudsman blame the justice and security institutions for the treatment, failing to react before the cases end in fatality.
In March last year, Sebahate Sopi was allegedly shot dead by her ex-husband, who then took his own life.
A few months later, in August, Kosovo was shocked by another event. The dead body of 18-year-old Marigona Osmani was left at the door of Ferizaj Hospital. She is suspected of being killed by her husband, 11 years older, because she could not cope with the ill-treatment she was subjected to two days in a row. After two days on the run, the deceased’s partner was arrested in a village in Ferizaj.
In addition to these two cases, during 2021 there was also a case of murder of a woman by her sister.
“As a result of domestic violence during the period January-November 2021, a total of three women lost their lives. […] Kosovo Police treats cases of domestic violence with seriousness and high priority where within the Kosovo Police is set up a special sector with special units within them, tat have investigative police officers who have completed training of different levels “, says Captain Arsim Shala, who is the head of the sector against Domestic Violence in the Kosovo Police.
Adelinë Berisha from the Kosovo Women’s Network says that these cases could be prevented, if there was a more appropriate institutional response during their treatment when women have asked for protection and support.
“A young woman of 18 years old, ended up fatally because her misfortune was that she had a partner who was a criminal, who before meeting her had already been known to all institutions in the Municipality of Ferizaj, for defense institutions, police, and the prosecution. We found out he had over 100 offenses committed. And if he were to receive a sentence in advance at the time he committed all these offenses, and there were death threats, offenses that would have kept him up to five years in prison if the legislation had worked properly, and maybe that would have prevented him from coming into contact with the deceased,” she said.
The director of the organization for justice and equality Inject, Luljetë Aliu says there is an institutional neglection when it comes to the treatment of these cases. She says the responsibility for these tragedies lies with the institutions.
“Cases that have ended fatally here, I have often stressed that a large part of the responsibility falls on the institutions. Institutional violence, which was also a term we discussed a lot in 2018, when we organized protests due to the Valbona case, was an attempt to raise the awareness of institutions. What happens with negligence, with delays in the courts, is institutional violence. It is a violation of human rights when the institution does not perform its duties properly and falters in protecting the rights of citizens who belong to you by law, this is violence that the institution does to the citizen,” Aliu told KosovaPress.
Further, while talking about the case of the minor from Ferizaj, Adelina Berisha adds that she was brutally killed and no one from the neighbors reported about it.
“Everything makes us believe that there was noise, there were screams, there were calls for help from the victim. But none of the neighbors has reacted to help the deceased and I think that in this aspect we as citizens have a hand in these killings. We have a hand in this exercise of violence that we are not becoming the voice of the victims to punish the acts of these perpetrators of violence “, adds Berisha, emphasizing that the victims during the reporting are being prejudiced by the police.
The state turns out to be responsible in the case of Sebahate Sopi in the neighborhood “Emshir” of Pristina, who was killed by her ex-husband.
The ombudsman, Naim Qelaj states that in this case there was a lack of care and responsibility for the protection of the victim.
“During this year, we have unfortunately had several cases of loss of life of our citizens, as a result of domestic violence. And the case that I want to mention here today, which obviously, in addition to raising concerns, has also specifically addressed a recommendation to the state on how to resolve issues related to domestic violence so that these cases are not repeated, has been the case of ‘Emshir’, the “Sopa”case. A case which we have analyzed and after investigations it has emerged that the state is responsible and has failed to fulfill responsibilities in relation to citizens when they are victims of domestic violence. In this case, there was a lack of care and the fact that the police and the prosecution have been negligent, we have two lost lives of our citizens “, declares Naim Çelaj.
During 2020, four cases of tragic murders were recorded. Last year, many protests and marches have been organized asking for institutional reaction and deserved punishments for persons who commit such acts.
