Indpendent Agencies Report - Alb, Ser, Eng.pdf - QKSS

It is interesting to note that once a complaint against the Kosovo Police is filed with the Ombudsperson,
the complaint is referred by the Ombudsperson to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate for further
investigation. 355 The Ombudsperson only initiates his own investigations if the Police Inspectorate takes
no action although there are no clear criteria which define when such a situation exists. An
interpretation of the legislation shows, that such practice is not necessarily required by law, since the
Ombudsperson can still initiate investigations on its own at the same time as referring the complaint to
the Police Inspectorate.
The most important defect of the current Ombudsperson mechanism seems to be the lack of willingness
on part of the government institutions to follow up on the reports and recommendations of the
Ombudsperson. The general perception is that the reports submitted by the Ombudsperson to the
Assembly of Kosovo are not being taken seriously and have not resulted in any specific action to
address the issues raised in the reports. 356 The newly established right of the Ombudsperson to file a
referral to the Constitutional Court has not been tested out yet. Lack of adequate follow up by the
judiciary against cases of human rights violations and abuses of authority, identified in reports of the
Ombudsperson; seem to have contributed to a general feeling of disappointment with the justice system.
Individuals might hesitate to refer complaints to the Ombudsperson, assuming that no action and
consequences against the respective public authority and civil servant will follow anyway. 357 Also, some
civil society organisations are of the opinion, that the Ombudsperson is not active enough in promoting
his services to the public and in taking specific action since there seems to be a lack of sufficient
awareness among the general public, of the functions and jurisdiction of the Ombudsperson
Institution. 358 This lack of public awareness campaigns, with respect to the promotion of human rights
and the insufficient cooperation between the Ombudsperson and other public institutions, are also an
issue raised repeatedly by at least one member of the Assembly of Kosovo. 359
Inadequate follow up on reports and recommendations of the Ombudsperson is not the only deficiency.
There are complaints about the restriction of access to official documents by the Ombudsperson during
355 Ibid;
356 Interview with Mr. Veton Vula; Interview with Mr. Rifat Marmullaku, Expert on Security Policies, dated 30 May 2010,
Interview with Mr. Driton Selmanaj, KDI Kosovo, dated 30 April 2010
357 Interview with Mr. Hilmi Jashari, Ombudsperson Institution, dated 24 February 2010
358 Interview with Ms. Bojana Guzdic, Communication for Social Development, Gracanica, dated 15 May 2010.
359 Interview with Mr. Ibrahim Makolli, Member of the Kosovo Assembly, dated 19 May 2010.
96