United Nations
CCPR/C/121/D/2837/2016*
International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
Distr.: General
21 December 2017
Original: English
Human Rights Committee
Decision adopted by the Committee under the Optional
Protocol, concerning communication No. 2837/2016**, ***
Communication submitted by:
B.Z. et al. (represented by counsel, Dorian
Matlija and Theodoros Alexandridis)
Alleged victims:
The authors
State party:
Albania
Date of communication:
13 January 2016 (initial submission)
Document references:
Decision taken pursuant to rule 97 of the
Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to
the State party on 21 October 2016 (not issued in
document form)
Date of adoption of decision:
8 November 2017
Subject matter:
Forced eviction and demolition of housing of
Roma community
Procedural issues:
Exhaustion of domestic remedies; substantiation
of claims
Substantive issues:
Effective remedy; cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment; freedom of movement; unlawful and
arbitrary interference with one’s home and
family; discrimination on the ground of ethnic
origin
Articles of the Covenant:
2, 7, 12, 17, 23, 26 and 27
Article of the Optional Protocol:
5 (2) (b)
1.1
The authors of the communication are B.Z., H.Z. and K.Z., all nationals of Albania
of Roma ethnicity, born in 1967, 1965 and 1984 respectively. They allege that Albania has
violated their rights under articles 2, 7, 17, 23, 26 and 27 of the Covenant by forcibly
evicting them from Roma settlements twice, in October and November 2015, and by failing
to provide them with accommodation immediately after their eviction. In addition, they
claim that their forced return to Elbasan, their city of origin, constitutes a violation of their
* Reissued for technical reasons on 9 January 2018.
** Adopted by the Committee at its 121st session (16 October−10 November 2017).
*** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Ilze
Brands Kehris, Sarah Cleveland, Olivier de Frouville, Christof Heyns, Yuji Iwasawa, Ivana Jelić,
Bamariam Koita, Marcia V.J. Kran, Photini Pazartzis, Mauro Politi, José Manuel Santos Pais, Yuval
Shany and Margo Waterval.
GE.17-23033(E)