CCPR/C/119/D/2602/2015
putting their own families in danger. Since the police perceive the conflict as a family feud,
the author does not find it logical to seek police protection.
2.8
On 20 November 2014, one of the author’s cousins was granted subsidiary
protection in France on the ground that he was a victim of the same blood feud and that the
Albanian authorities were not able to provide him with effective protection. According to
European Union legislation, subsidiary protection can be granted if the threat originates
from non-governmental perpetrators and the State is unable or unwilling to provide
effective protection. The author requested the Board to take the decision of the French
authorities and such legislation into account.
2.9
On 25 February 2015, the Board rejected the author’s request to reopen asylum
proceedings.
2.10 The deportation of the author and his family to Albania was scheduled for 26
February 2015. However, the deportation was postponed, for unknown reasons, 12 hours
before it was due to be carried out.
2.11 The author has submitted three documents in support of his claim. The first is a
certificate dated 9 January 2013, in which the head of the G. village and the mayor of the
municipality of F.K. confirmed that the H. family were in conflict with other families.
Since 1992, three people have been killed and two have been injured, evidence of which
was reflected in relevant court decisions. Despite the time that has elapsed, the relationship
between the feuding families has not improved because customary law is strict in Albania,
which means that the members of the H. family continue to be at risk.
2.12 The second document is a translated certificate of the prosecutor’s office dated 2
September 2014, confirming that the first-instance court of K. district had opened criminal
proceedings (No. 344), under articles 89 and 278/4 of the Criminal Code, for intent to cause
minor injuries and for illegal possession of firearms in relation to the event that had
occurred on 16 August 2014 in K. district, in which A.H., a resident of the G. village in the
K. district, was wounded by gunshot in the leg.
2.13 The third document is a statement by the Albanian Human Rights Group dated 26
December 2014, for the attention of Asylret, a Danish refugee organization, stating that
blood feuds remained a very serious problem in Albania. A blood feud implies a social
obligation to commit a murder in order to reclaim the honour brought into question by an
earlier murder or moral humiliation. Although the exact number of murders associated with
blood feuds remains unknown, it is on the rise, as is the geographical reach of the problem.
The H. family were trapped in the cycle of a blood feud. On 2 September 2014, the
prosecutor’s office of first instance in K. district registered prosecution case No. 344 in
relation to the injury of A.H. on 16 August 2014. All attempts to reconcile the four families
failed in December 2012. The families live in tension and there have been constant threats
to continue the feud. These circumstances forced the author to flee to Denmark in 2013 as
he and his family feared for their lives because of the blood feud. The Albanian Human
Rights Group finds that no concrete steps have been taken to eradicate blood feuds, despite
cooperation among the relevant structures. There is little or no aid from the Government for
families trapped by blood feuds and there is no protection where mediation has failed. The
police are often reluctant to interfere in blood feuds for fear of getting involved themselves.
The corruption and indifference of the State authorities make it difficult to eliminate this
phenomenon, which also claims the lives of women and children. Although blood feuds
tend to occur in the north of Albania, they spread as families go into hiding elsewhere. The
northern dialect gives people away and they are often found and murdered. People who
seek revenge for the murder of their relatives search for their victims until they find them; it
is easy to find people who hide in Albania because it is small. As regards the H. family, the
Albanian Human Rights Group has emphasized that the only solution that would guarantee
a normal life for the family was to live abroad since the Albanian institutions could not
provide adequate protection to ensure their physical integrity in Albania.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that his and his family’s deportation to Albania would be in
violation of their rights under articles 6, 12 and 17 of the Covenant.
3