The Albanian Ombudsman has called on international and domestic institutions to intervene to calm the situation at the Outer Ring Road, after the government moved in to demolish 33 buildings today. They also called on the government to avoid conflict with protesting inhabitants, after 12 people were injured in clashes between inhabitants and police.
“The Ombudsperson Institution calls on other national and international authorities to intervene as soon as possible to calm the situation,” their press statement said.
It also urged authorities not to proceed with the project without clarifying the issue through all legal means.
“The Ombudsman draws the attention of state authorities to avoid conflict with citizens, not to implement a policy of fait accompli and not to exceed their power through unjustified diligence, especially in the circumstances where the case arising from the conflict has not been clarified.”
The Ombudsman said yesterday that they have asked the government to compensate residents who had been waiting for legalizations for years, and that they had submitted a report to the parliament that found a number of human rights violations.
However, the government is still continuing the house demolition in the area. The National Inspectorate for the Protection of the Territory (IKMT) announced that they have razed 24 building so far, and 9 more will be demolished today.
