Research materials

After the latest report by the Italian TV show “Le Iene” about a case of blood feud, the website “Albania News – The Voice of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy”, through Arbër Agalliu’s words, seeks to outline the phenomenon more accurately. We share with you this opinion as a further way of pressure on Albanian authorities in order to undertake effective actions against such practice. For years, Operazione Colomba volunteers, together with local associations, have been asking the implementation of the law n.9389 of 4/5/2005, which establishes the creation of a Coordination Council and its functioning in order to cope with the phenomenon of blood feuds. For this purpose, Operazione Colomba encourages everyone to join the campaign #KunderGjakmarrjes (Against Blood Feuds) to promote the transition to a restorative justice and to nonviolent means to eradicate this practice. (more…)

“Families which are supposed to take revenge sometimes, do not even mean to do it, but there is a social obligation that pushes them to take action. We believe that these families are victims of this phenomenon twice: in addition to the loss of a loved one, their members are regarded as potential assassins by the rest of society. We do our best to stand by both parts involved in the feud. Every day we visit these families in order to bring them some positivity and thereby defuse the tension. This is not easy. It is a long and challenging process.”

When talking about the phenomenon of the blood feuds in Albania, there is the risk to address superficially an issue that, actually, is difficult to grasp.
First of all, in order to understand the vendettas, it is essential to consider the Albanian socio-political context. At the beginning of the 90’s, Albania came out of a ferocious dictatorship, which lasted for about 50 years and attempted to make disappear several traditions of the country. Paradoxically, for this reason, nowadays the blood feud practices are so hard to eradicate. Indeed, despite the strides forward Albania has made in the last 20 years, the legacy of the previous regime, as well as the weaknesses of the democratic institutions and the shortcomings of their judiciary system, have created the conditions where traditional values and customs are practiced and carried out in a distorted way. (more…)

During the past days, in Italy, Blood Feuds have been a topic of discussion due to a report broadcasted by the Italian tv show “le Iene”. Without going into the details of the report, Operazione Colomba wants to take the chance to appeal to the Albanian institutions and civil society so that they urgently cope with this social issue.
For years, Operazione Colomba volunteers and other local associations have been asking for the application of the law n. 9389 of 4/5/2005, which foresees the creation and the functioning of a Coordination Council for the eradication of the Blood Feuds phenomenon.
In this regard, in order to carry on with the ongoing awareness-raising action against this phenomenon, Operazione Colomba invites everyone to join the campaign #KundërGjakmarrjes (against Blood Feuds), which promotes the application of restorative justice and non˗violent means to tackle this phenomenon.

We thank the institution of the People’s Advocate (Ombudsman) for publishing on the website avokatipopullit.gov.al our three-year report “Descriptive document on the phenomenon of ‘hakmarrja’ and ‘gjakmarrja’ to raise awareness among Albanian and international institutions – III edition -“. For us, the collaboration with this important institution is strategic in order to safeguard the fundamental rights of the people affected by the phenomenon of blood feuds.

The report is available in English here.

Even BBC of blood feuds. It is important to talk about it, to inform and to lobby institutions, so that they cooperate with civil society to eradicate this plague from Albania. Volunteers of Operazione Colomba support involved families and try to advocate for this change.

Read the article on the BBC website