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The disappeared from the communist dictatorship in Albania

2023-08-30 19:12:00, Aktualitet CNA

On the International Day of the Disappeared, the Authority for Information on the Documents of the former State Security and the OSCE held a meeting with associations, local authorities and former persecuted of the communist regime, in the premises of the Museum of Evidence and Memory of the Crimes of Communism.

The head of the Authority, Gentjana Sula, said that a decision has been taken on the administrative investigation on the burial sites of political opponents in the communist period.

"Yesterday, the institution made a decision to start the administrative investigation for the hidden burial sites in the Shkodra area. There have been several applications. There are about 13 families who are looking for their relatives. They have also brought us indicators for some burial sites. It is also a letter-request of the Catholic clergy, where the clarification of the fate, search and finding of the remains of some martyrs of the Catholic Church is requested", said Mrs. Sula.

The head of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents says that, although tens of years have passed, many families of the disappeared continue to search for their relatives and, for this reason, have applied to the institution she heads.

"There are over 250 applications that have come to our institution. They are people who have done excavations themselves, they have done research, they have indicators, they have been asking all these years. So, all these data will serve us so that, in the administrative investigations, we can come to the conclusion whether the suspected places are real or not. And then it will be passed to the other institutions, which we will set in motion in writing through already verified suspicions".

Three decades after the fall of communism, families of the missing still seek to learn how they were killed and where their relatives were buried. Among them is the Ashta family from Dukagjini in Shkodra, one of the most persecuted Albanian families during the communist period.

"We have 11 people shot with trial, without trial, or died in exile. And, the ordeal of our family's suffering began in 1946 and ended on December 24, 1990. Of these 11, we have four without graves, starting with the mother who is the Martyr of the Church, Gjelos Lulashi, shot on March 4, 1946 with the group of clerics", says Ndoc Ashta.

The OSCE expert, Erjola Lika, said during the meeting that the OSCE is specially committed to the persons who disappeared during communism. Together with the Authority for Information on the Documents of the former State Security, OSCE, she said, she has been working for almost two years on drafting a draft decision that is expected to be approved by the government, which will enable in practice the implementation of the fundamental steps for the discovery and identification of burial sites and the missing from the communist period.

"We are trying to draft the legal basis for starting the process of searching and identifying the remains of missing persons. It was not an easy process because there are many Albanian institutions involved", she said.

According to Ndoc Ashta, the long period that has passed has made it extremely difficult to find traces of executions and the place where the bodies of political opponents of communism disappeared.

"There are few opportunities, but I say that the efforts are also not serious. The government has issued laws, undertaken something, but not seriously. Also foreign donors who, as far as I know, have made funds available, but maybe they haven't connected with the right people"

Tre dekada nga rrëzimi i komunizmit ende nuk ka një shifër të saktë të personave të zhdukur, ndërsa procesi për gjetjen e trupave të tyre duket i vështirë dhe thuajse i pamundur edhe për shkak të zvarritjes nëpër sirtaret e arkivave, institucioneve dhe burokracisë, çka e dëshmon edhe pyetësori i fundit, i publikuar dy ditë më parë nga kujto.al (Arkiva Online e Viktimave të Komunizmit në Shqipëri).

Sipas tij, nga familjarët e 175 viktimave të zhdukura gjatë komunizmit, më shumë se gjysma pohojnë se kanë kryer kërkime private në institucionet shtetërore dhe në arkiva për të zbuluar fatin e të afërmve të zhdukur.

Rreth 71% e tyre dështuan që t’i gjenin vendvarrimet, ndërsa vetëm 29% i kishin gjetur ato.

Po sipas këtij anketimi, rreth 62% e të anketuarve kanë deklaruar se kishin kërkuar ndihmën e autoriteteve, të tilla si Ministria e Brendshme, Autoriteti i Dosjeve apo policia. Megjithatë, 61% e vlerësuan me notë negative reagimin e këtyre institucioneve./ VOA