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Albania – Elections – Political Violence – Democratic Party – Shkoder – State Protection

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Albania – Elections – Political Violence – Democratic Party – Shkoder – State Protection Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA Research Response Number: ALB30175 Country: Albania Date: 1 June 2006 Keywords: Albania – Elections – Political violence – Democratic Party – Shkoder – State protection This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Questions 1. If possible, please provide a comprehensive list of the candidates and results in the various electorates for the July 2005 Albanian elections. 2. To what extent was there political violence around the time of those elections? 3. Please provide copies of any detailed independent reports on the conduct of those elections. 4. Have there been reports of Democratic Party supporters being harmed or killed in the wake of the July 2005 elections? 5. Have there been any recent reports of political violence in Shkoder? 6. To what extent does the state provide protection against political violence? RESPONSE 1. If possible, please provide a comprehensive list of the candidates and results in the various electorates for the July 2005 Albanian elections. The Albanian Central Election Committee website http://www.cec.org.al/2004/Zgjedhejekuvendfiles/Rez- zgjedhje2005/rezultatet%20100%20zona/buletini.htm - Accessed 18 May 2006 (Attachment 1) provides a comprehensive list of the candidates and the results achieved by each of them in the 100 electorates for the July 2005 Albanian elections. It is in the Albanian language and comprises more than 200 pages. 2. To what extent was there political violence around the time of those elections? The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an independent observer of the 2005 elections in Albania, comments that The 3 July 2005 parliamentary election complied, only in part, with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, and marked some progress in the conduct of elections in Albania. It was a competitive contest and voters were offered a wide electoral choice from a range of political parties. Yet, the process was again protracted and at times uncertain (OSCE/ODIHR 2005, Republic of Albania: Parliamentary Elections 3 July 2005 – OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report, p 1, 7 November. http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2005/11/16905_en.pdf – Accessed 29 May 2006 – Attachment 2). The Office states that violent incidents marred the campaign but less widespread than in previous elections (OSCE/ODIHR 2005, Republic of Albania: Parliamentary Elections 3 July 2005 – OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report, p 13, 7 November. http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2005/11/16905_en.pdf – Accessed 29 May 2006 – Attachment 2). It is supported by the OSCE ambassador to Albania, Pavel Vacek when he said that the Sunday’s ballot went off without the high level of violence that had marred previous elections (‘OSCE: Albania Elections Marred by Violence’ 2005, VOA, 6 July http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_07_05_1054.html – Accessed 22 May 2006 – Attachment 3). While media coverage of the July 2005 elections was far from extensive and detailed, all the reports found on the elections indicate that there were three fatal and numerous less serious incidents around the time of the elections. Many of the minor incidents were not reported in the media. BBC reports a few fatal incidents during and post elections period. Two men have been killed during post-election celebrations in Albania. One man was shot outside opposition party offices in the central town of Lushnje. The second man was killed in an apparent reprisal shooting. The third man, an election official was shot dead on Sunday, the election day in the capital Tirana (‘Two die in Albania poll violence’2005, BBC, 5 July http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4650933.stm – Accessed 22 May 2006 – Attachment 4). In describing the shooting on the election day, Sunday, 3 July 2005, Economist comments that: An official from the Republicans, a right-wing opposition party, was shot dead outside a Tirana polling station. (‘ALBANIA: Albania’s election: Berisha beacon’ 2005, Economist Online, 7 July http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4154570 – Accessed on 18 Jul 2005 – Attachment 5) “Other reports states that it is unclear if political motives were behind the murder” (‘OSCE: Albania Elections Marred by Violence’ 2005, VOA, 6 July http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_07_05_1054.html – Accessed 22 May 2006 – Attachment 3; ‘Rivals claim victory in polls seen as a test for Albania’s EU future’ 2005, AFP, 3 July http://archive.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=50770 – Accessed 26 May 2006 – Attachment 6). OSCE/ODIHR cited a few incidents around the election day. In Shijak (EZ26), the Socialist Party supporters broke into a private building and assaulted its occupants for displaying opposition posters, and the vandalizing of party offices in Fier, Korça, Laç, Shkodër and Tirana (OSCE/ODIHR 2005, Republic of Albania: Parliamentary Elections 3 July 2005 – OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report, p 13, Footnote 38, 7 November. http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2005/11/16905_en.pdf – Accessed 29 May 2006 – Attachment 2). In the course of the re-run of the elections on 21 August 2005, a government supporter was arrested in the southern district of Gjirokastra for beating two journalists from newspapers close to Berisha’s opposition (Puto, Artan 2005, ‘Albania: An Election Completed’2005’, 30 August http://www.projecttransitionaldemocracy.org/document.php?docid=1785&regionid=25&proj ecttransitionaldemocracy=c8df88b820c7a2bdc41a3ad4ecfbcbd2 – Accessed 30 May 2006 – Attachment 7). Also an allegation is made by a supporter of a candidate for the main opposition Democratic Party in Tirana that he was beaten up while out electioneering on 20 June. He blames followers of a rival candidate (Albania: Election campaign turns nasty’ 2005, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 23 June: http://iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=242097&apc_state=henibcr2005 - Accessed on 27 Jun 2005 – Attachment 8). While it is difficult to single out either side of the Albanian politics for violence, the OSCE ambassador to Albania, Pavel Vacek places the blame squarely on the extremists of the main Socialist and Democratic parties. He points at the armed militants of the respective parties (‘OSCE: Albania Elections Marred by Violence’ 2005, VOA, 6 July http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_07_05_1054.html – Accessed 22 May 2006 – Attachment 3). 3. Please provide copies of any detailed independent reports on the conduct of those elections. One of the most comprehensive independent reports on the conduct of the July 2005 Albanian Parliamentary election is OSCE/ODIHR 2005, Republic of Albania: Parliamentary Elections 3 July 2005 – OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report, 7 November http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2005/11/16905_en.pdf – Accessed 29 May 2006 – Attachment 2). Another report is the Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee for the Observation of the Parliamentary Elections in Albania (3 July 2005) 2005, Observation of the Parliamentary Elections in Albania (3 July 2005), 12 September http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/workingdocs/doc05/edoc10664.htm – Attachment 9). A third report somewhat academic is not strictly about the conduct of the elections but a post election survey of voters. It provides a background for the election violence (Ilirjani, Altin 2005, Political Choice in Albania. The 2005 Albanian Parliamentary Election http://ajp.alpsa.org/archives/issue11/ilirjani.pdf – Accessed 22 May 2006 – Attachment 10). 4. Have there been reports of Democratic Party supporters being harmed or killed in the wake of the July 2005 elections? While media coverage of the July 2005 election was not complete, no report has been located of Democratic Party supporters being seriously harmed or killed in the wake of the July 2005 elections. The only report found is about an allegation made by a supporter of a candidate for the main opposition Democratic Party in Tirana. As mentioned above, he claimed that he was beaten up while out electioneering on 20 June 2005. He blames followers of a rival candidate (‘Albania: Election campaign turns nasty 2005, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 27 June – Attachment 8). In the past the Democratic Party has made serious claims that their members and supporters were killed or harmed. However, most of them are not confirmed and were denied by the government. But the government was not entirely innocent. The Democratic Party often legitimately complained about incidents of police harassment of its members and of the dismissal of some of its members from official positions for political reasons (US Department of State 2000, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 – Albania, 23 February – Attachment 11; US Department of State 1999, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998 – Albania, 26 February – Attachment 12). 5. Have there been any recent reports of political violence in Shkoder? It appears that as the law and order situation in Shkoder has improved since 1997, no serious recent report of political violence has been sighted although the distinction between political and non-political incidents is not clear-cut
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