21.03.2024. » 05:52
OP - ED Human rights in Kosovo, rule of law and cooperation with institutions
The Constitution of Kosovo contains many provisions regarding the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights. Article 3 of the Constitution declares that the public authorities in Kosovo ensure the equality of all individuals before the law and full respect of "internationally accepted fundamental human rights and freedoms". Thus, without the need to go to other laws about the protection and provision of human rights, the aforementioned law says enough, and it should be enough for every individual in Kosovo to feel free and inviolable.
The Constitution of Kosovo contains many provisions regarding the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights. Article 3 of the Constitution declares that the public authorities in Kosovo ensure the equality of all individuals before the law and full respect of "internationally accepted fundamental human rights and freedoms". Thus, without the need to go to other laws about the protection and provision of human rights, the aforementioned law says enough, and it should be enough for every individual in Kosovo to feel free and inviolable.
The Constitution of Kosovo also contains other laws that correctly emphasize that the rights of every individual are protected without any exception and without discrimination. For example, Article 7 of the Constitution of Kosovo establishes that the constitutional order of Kosovo is based, among other things, on the principles of equality, respect for human rights and freedoms and non-discrimination, and embodies gender equality as a fundamental value.
Kosovo and international conventions on human rights
Although Kosovo cannot officially become a party to international human rights conventions and mechanisms, Article 22 of the Constitution stipulates that eight United Nations (UN) and regional human rights instruments are directly applicable in Kosovo, thus providing additional legal resources that protect and promote human rights in Kosovo. In an important development for the rights of women and girls, the Assembly of Kosovo (AK) amended Article 22 by adding the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) to the list of human rights instruments that are directly applicable in September 2020.
The rule of law in Kosovo
In November 2023, the "World Justice Project" has published the index for the rule of law at the global level in different countries. Kosovo this year has fallen by one position in the ranking, however, the rating of 0.56 is the same as last year.
In 2022, Kosovo was in the 57th position in the Rule of Law Index compiled by the "World Justice Project". And in 2023, Kosovo has fallen by one position, however the evaluation with points remains the same. In 2022, Kosovo was the first country in the Western Balkans for the rule of law, while this year Kosovo shares an equal rating with Montenegro.
In this article, among the many aspects that explain human rights, I choose to address one of the most sensitive segments in society, which is equal rights and the fight against gender-based discrimination.
LAW NO. 05/L-020 FOR GENDER EQUALITY
This law is in compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Directive on the creation of a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, the Directive on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of women and men in matters of employment and occupation, the Directive on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment of women and men in matters of social security, the Directive on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment between women and girls engaged in an activity in a capacity self-employed.
Article 5 of this law clearly explains the measures that institutions must undertake to avoid any form of gender discrimination. Specifically, three of the paragraphs quoted below are among the most important for the aspect I have chosen to address in this article:
1.3 the inclusion of gender integration in all policies, documents and legislation;
1.4. ensuring selection, employment and assignment processes, including management positions, in accordance with the requirement for equal representation of women and men;
1.5. the inclusion of gender budgeting in all areas, as a necessary instrument to guarantee that the principle of gender equality is respected in the collection, distribution and allocation of resources;
The situation in local institutions
From the practice and daily life of my work, especially with local institutions in the Municipality of Skenderaj, what you can notice directly has to do with the discrimination of women in their involvement in politics. This is because despite the fact that the law on gender equality guarantees equal rights, still most of the political parties in their election lists adhere only to the election law, and include 30% women in their lists, not even placing a woman in any case as a list bearer and not as a candidate for Mayor of the Municipality. cDespite this type of discrimination, women in the Municipality of Skenderaj have proven that they are just as much ladies, and the largest number of those who secured seats in the Municipal Assembly won them without the need for a quota, getting more votes than many of the men on the electoral rolls.
Also, it is the second mandate that a woman leads the Municipal Assembly of Skenderaj, and in both cases, the Assembly was led with competence and skill.
Gender discrimination can also be observed in the executive, where out of 11 municipal directorates only 3 of them are led by women, which lowers the percentage even more than that in the legislature, and even some of the main departments that in the past have been led by women (procurement and general auditor's office), are already under the leadership of men, this is a regression in terms of promoting gender equality in our Municipality.
Cooperation with institutions
Despite the fact that the situation reflected above is not favorable and continues to present us as a masculinist society, an important fact that seems optimistic has to do with the cooperation of local institutions with civil society and citizens.
This is because during my work as an activist, in many cases recommendations for change have been taken into account and this has been reflected in a special way in the allocation of grants by the Municipality of Skenderaj, where certain Directors have treated them equally or in certain cases even with priority, women who have applied for support of any kind. This in some form has given an impetus to the economic empowerment of women, and many of them have managed to create financial independence precisely from this support.
The aforementioned changes give hope that women have begun to be considered equal in society, however, I consider that we are still very far away, and a lot of work is needed in this direction, to achieve the equality that we should aim for as a society.
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