Motion for a recommendation | Doc. 12165 | 04 February 2010

Putting an end to personal vendettas in Albania

Signatories: Mr François ROCHEBLOINE, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Artsruni AGHAJANYAN, Armenia, NR ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Denis BADRÉ, France, ALDE ; Ms Doris BARNETT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Arlette GROSSKOST, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Michel HUNAULT, France ; Ms Francine JOHN-CALAME, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr François LONCLE, France, SOC ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria Manuela de MELO, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Ana Catarina MENDES, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr René ROUQUET, France ; Mr Armen RUSTAMYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Ms Marina SCHUSTER, Germany, ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The rule of law is one of the core values of the Council of Europe and, as stated in the preamble to the organisation’s statute, forms one of the foundations of all genuine democracy.

In particular, the rule of law requires conflicts to be settled by the justice system, not personal revenge.

It is therefore most shocking that, in Albania, a code of honour from a bygone era allows the families of guilty persons to be murdered in the name of revenge, for no less than seven generations.

Practices of this kind are totally incompatible with the values of the Council of Europe.

The Parliamentary Assembly therefore recommends that Albania combat this custom most vigorously.