Prishtine, 31 March 2023 – The Ombudsperson, pursuant to Article 135, paragraph 1, of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and Article 29, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Law no. 05/L-019 on Ombudsperson, has submitted today the 2022 Annual Report to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.

The Report discloses the state of human rights in the country as well as the work conducted by Ombudsperson Institution, and provides an analysis and assessment of the situation with respect to certain forms of violation of the rights of individuals or certain social groups. The Report presents cases of systematic and individual violations of human rights and freedoms and Institution’s activities with regard to promotion and education on human rights at many levels.

The Report contains Recommendations for authorities responsible for the issues that have been handled by the Ombudsperson but at the same time it provides Opinions and Proposals to undertake measures to contribute and raise awareness in increasing the respect for human rights.

During 2022, the largest number of citizens’ complaints were related to judicial bodies, which is at a similar level as in previous years. Additionally, there are complaints related to violation of the right to health care, labor rights, social protection, property rights, suspicions that they have been discriminated against, etc.

During this reporting year, OI received a total of 1,602 complaints, of which 910 were deemed inadmissible, while 676 complaints were decided as admissible for investigation, and 16 other cases are under consideration. From complaints admissible for investigation, 23 percent of citizens complained about the violation of the right to have a fair and impartial trial; 21 percent of them about the right to legal remedies, while 12 percent of the complaints were about the right to work, etc.

On the other hand, the OI has initiated 42 cases according to official duty (Ex-Officio), while from this number 16 Ex-Officio cases has been initiated based on media reporting.

The Ombudsperson welcomes the review of the Annual Report by the Assembly of Republic of Kosovo, in a plenary session in the future, as provided for in Article 29, paragraph 3, of Law no. 05/L-019 on Ombudsperson.

Full Report in English will be available soon at www.oik-rks.org