05-17-2008, 10:00 PM
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Banned
Guru
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Mighty Serbia
Posts: 3,555
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Relicts of Dark ages in Albania
Quote:
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings; however, the country continued to experience high levels of societal killings. Many killings occurred as the result of individual or clan vigilante actions connected to traditional "blood feuds" or to criminal gang conflicts. According to the interior ministry, at least five persons were killed during the year in blood feuds based on the medieval Code of Lek Dukagjini (the kanun). Approximately six persons were killed for revenge. The National Reconciliation Committee (NRC), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that worked on blood feud issues, estimated that there were as many as 78 deaths from feuds nationwide.
According to the NRC, approximately 860 families were effectively self-imprisoned during the year due to blood feuds. Property disputes accounted for four-fifths of formally declared blood feuds, with the remainder pertaining to issues of honor or violations of the home (e.g., theft, trespassing, etc.). The NRC estimated that there were several hundred additional blood feuds stemming from trafficking, which are typically not formally declared out of shame. Of the 738 families reported effectively self-imprisoned in 2005, 166 left the country, including 93 families that sought formal political asylum in other countries.
The NRC claimed that fear of revenge prevented approximately 182 children from attending school, 86 of whom were permanently confined to their houses. Traditionally under the kanun, which was practiced particularly in the northern part of the country, only adult males are acceptable targets in blood feuds. However, women and children often were killed or injured in attacks because the kanun was not always strictly observed.
According to the Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes Foundation, the phenomenon of blood feuds was intensified in the northern part of the country as a result of increased internal migration. Mountain villagers, who were most likely to follow the kanun, migrated to low-lying areas, cities, and towns, and many constructed homes on disputed land, triggering a blood feud.
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http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78797.htm
This is the Albania that wants EU membership, and still functions by some medieval codes of behavior, including blood revenges.
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