Reconciliation Movement in 1990 a.k.a. '' (Verrat e Lukes, allegiance, To you I forgave thee blood, Kosovo)'', was an Albanian all-national movement for blood pardon in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. It was organized in 1990 by students, professors and workers' unions in Kosovo. It is part of similar movements throughout Albanian regions since the 1960s.

History

Gjakmarrja In the traditional Albanian culture, (English: "blood-taking", i.e. "blood feud") or ("revenge") is the social obligation to kill an offender or a member of their family in order to salvage one's honor. This practice is generally seen as in line ...

(literally "blood-taking" meaning "

blood feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...

") or Hakmarrja ("revenge") refers to the social obligation to commit murder in order to salvage honour questioned by an earlier murder or moral humiliation. This practice is generally seen as in line with the social code in

known as

Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit The Kanun (also aln, Kanû/-ja, other names include sq, doke, zakon, venom, usull, itifatk, adet, sharte, udhë, rrugë) is a set of Albanians, Albanian traditional customary laws, which has directed all the aspects of the Albanian tribes, Alba ...

, or simply the Kanun (English: The Code of Lekë Dukagjini). In 1980, many Albanians were locked in their homes because of the feud, though the murders continued. In Kosovo, many organizations were established for reconciliation campaigning that they "should stop the killings, because

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

is killing us". Such killings are said to continue till today, especially in

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. In the course of the reconciliation campaign that ended blood feuds among Kosovo Albanians, the largest restorative justice conference took place at Verrat e Llukës on 1 May 1990, which was attended by between 100,000 and 500,000 participants. The reconciliation campaign was led by Anton Çetta. Over a period of three years (1990-1992), approximately one third of the entire population of

was documented to be actively involved in restorative justice conferences to end the blood feuds. By 1992, the reconciliation campaign ended at least 1,200 deadly blood feuds, and in 1993, not a single homicide occurred in Kosovo.

References

{{reflist 1990 protests 1990 in Albania Albanian culture 1990 in Kosovo