Dear Speaker of the Parliamentary of the Republic of Albania.

Dear Deputies of the Parliamentary of the Republic of Albania!

It is a pleasure for me to see the representatives of the people who through the interest in presenting the Annual Report of the Ombudsman, show their commitment to the protection of human rights.

We are living in difficult times. But there are specific situations which help people forget the divisions and tighten the ranks, disregard the differences and emphasize the commonalities.

Tough periods for humanity, such as wars or major disasters, have been the basis for substantial victories of civil rights and for the establishment of consensuses on which is constructed the whole democratic structure where the modern society lives.

Consensus, thus, that prevails when society is put to the test, it is not an impossible craft, but a necessary technology. A society like ours, which, due to the circumstances of history, experiences a state of permanent abnormality, must thus have such consensus and agreement, the daily bread of an insurmountable refrain. We need social consensus on many things and many instances, but let us seek it and let us lean towards it, especially in these times of successive crises that have overlapped our nation’s 30-year long sadness for still immature democracy and powerless economy, which we all, as citizens, as operators of this wonderful tool called the state, we have not yet been able to offer to them.

What have the citizens demanded from us? They have demanded to make Albania a European country as well as to restore trust in the justice system and the state. Seemingly simple concepts, these two aspirations imply complex operations. It is sufficient to see their result and understand the real dimension of the citizens’ disappointment and the need for us to change the approach, philosophy, practice and implementation. The sooner we understand and start to change, the better and more honest it will be, first for our relationship with the country and our people and second Europe where we intend to enter.   

Nevertheless, thank you that despite of such difficult days, you had the kindness to receive the Annual Report of the institution of the Ombudsman, which I am presenting to you today. Presentation of our institution to the Parliament is practically a process of accountability which we fully respect, as we believe that only a combined and comprehensive accountability system is the guarantee to achieve our goal: building a truly functional democracy, an aspiration that our citizens have been expressing for 30 years.

The year we left behind was the first year when the Ombudsman finally, with the support of the Parliament, managed to complete its high level of administration with 5 commissioners. This important step has come to fruition in the quantitative and qualitative increase in the number of recommendations issued to address the complaints submitted to our Institution.   

During 2019 we reviewed 4171 complaints. Of these, 1384 were considered as complaints "within the jurisdiction and competence", while 2327 were treated in the form of advice on legal path that citizens should follow for further procedures.

For the period January-December 2019, the Institution of Ombudsman has addressed a total of 213 recommendations (15.1% more than in 2018) addressed to the Public Administration bodies, including the central and local ones.

The level of acceptability and applicability of these recommendations is as follows:

134 recommendations or 63% of them have been acknowledged (about 25% of them have been fully implemented; about 66% of them have been partially implemented; and about 9% of them have not been implemented)
10% of which have been rejected;
4% of which are without answers;
23% of which are in process.  
At the top of the list of human rights problems in our institution is the lack of an effective justice system to guarantee human rights. The lack of an effective Constitutional Court and the lack of an effective Supreme Court have been fundamental problems in guaranteeing human rights in the country. As a result, our institution unites voices with the Parliament of the Republic of Albania for the fastest implementation of all objectives of the justice reform.

The implementation of this reform is a national priority that should bring the results that we have better inspired in the constitutional changes and the relevant legal package: restoring public confidence in the justice system, guaranteeing them to have a fair trial and by judges not affected from influences of any kind and nature.

The focus of our work remains the respect of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. Regarding the respect of human rights by the State Police bodies, there are, occasionally, problems which are mainly related to psychological or physical abuse at the time of arresting, escorting or interrogating at the police authorities; inhuman and degrading treatment in the premises of the police authorities mainly due to the conditions of the detention premises, but also some illegal escorting or keeping in the state of escort beyond the legal deadline; not receiving, not administrating or not following up on reports or complaints made by them; violating the free exercise of the constitutional right to assembly; damaging the health of citizens from tear gas thrown during rallies, or occasionally problems with the proportionality of police intervention.

From the inspections carried out in the Penitentiary Institutions of Criminal Decisions have ascertained the urgent infrastructural problems in most of them; overcrowding in some of them and unfortunately even where conditions are extremely difficult. The lack of a Special Medical Institution for the accommodation and treatment of persons who have received from the court the measure "compulsory treatment" and "temporary hospitalization" has again penalized Albania for violating the European Convention on Human Rights because these people suffer in degrading conditions and, at worst, terribly overcrowded in the case of Zaharija Prison in Kruja. After my third report on this fact and after the report of the Institution of the Ombudsman for 15 consecutive years in this hall, I wish that we do not have the pain combined with exhausting powerlessness to find a solution for these people. For this year I can say that unfortunately their situation has worsened due to overcrowding.

In order to ensure a good administration of the penitentiary system, the recruiting and treating staff it should be taken into consideration, guaranteeing appropriate working conditions and financial compensation.  

Guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially property rights, over the years has continued to create problems that have violated, among other things, property rights. Certain public bodies in many cases have not implemented the administrative procedure in accordance with the provisions made in the laws and bylaws in force.  

In our administrative practice, we continue to identify problems and challenges related to the implementation of legislation for the protection of children's rights. These issues and challenges are related to the need to establish new services in pursuit of the dynamics of children's needs; the fulfillment of the deinstitutionalization reform of children; drafting comprehensive social policies at the local level; lack of budgets to guarantee the integrated child protection system; strengthening the responsible state mechanisms that guarantee the effective realization of the supervision, promotion and protection of the rights of the child, etc.

The Ombudsman Institution estimates for 2019 that the current situation of rights and freedoms of women and girls in Albania, despite the measures taken at the legislative level, is characterized by sharp problems, especially in terms of suffering gender-based violence and violence in family, access to justice, employment and social services.

The current economic assistance is insufficient to address the needs of vulnerable groups in general and especially those of female-headed households, Roma and Egyptian women, or those from other vulnerable groups, as well as victims of domestic violence or trafficking of human beings. Not setting a subsistence minimum it is unjustifiable.

The rights of persons with disabilities continue to be guaranteed at the secondary level and the objectives set by law to guarantee them a life without additional barriers to employment are still not being achieved.

In the approach of the institution of the Ombudsman, the principle on which the functioning of the health care system should be based is the quality of service and efficiency, guaranteeing the safety of the patient. It still remains problematic: the medical treatment that is not in accordance with the standards, the bureaucracy regarding queues at the University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa", lack of medications, lack of medical protocols, shortage of doctors and nurses in regional hospitals and rural areas, etc.

The right to education is one of the most important human rights, the qualitative implementation of which guarantees the future of our society. During the year, the report identified problems related to the quality of teaching, with the exception of tuition fees for students with financial needs, administrative problems from university staff and administration staff, employment and claims of equality violations to be employed or transferred from the portal "Teachers for Albania", etc.

One of the basic components of democracy is good governance which means good administration. There can be no good governance when the public administration does not respect the human rights. The right to good administration is part of the citizens’ rights. It is in the constitutional right of the institution of the Ombudsman to be able to make the public administration more sensitive towards public opinion and more responsible to the requirements for justice and credibility in fulfilling its functions.

There is an increase in the demand of citizens to seek the intervention of the Ombudsman or its institutional position on issues of high public interest. This is a responsibility that we try to exercise and realize as much as we can despite the very limited capacities we have.

Human and financial support remain essential to ensure that public institutions comply with national and international human rights standards and acts. I have to add that last year our institution entered the re-accreditation process for status A and one of the evaluation criteria taken into account in the accreditation process is the appropriate financial support from the state budget to such an extent as to enable the gradual realization and progressive activities of national institutions, in order to fulfill their mandate.

Dear Members of the Parliament, with reference to the subject mentioned above it was just a general summary of the issues that you will find detailed in the Annual Report of the Ombudsman Institution, which I am certain you have studied in detail.

Thank you for your attention,