In Albania, currently, 5,564 individuals are in prison, the majority of whom are pre-trial detainees, specifically 3,008.
Out of the 20 prisons in the country, according to the General Directorate of Prisons, only two of them are overcrowded, namely the Drenova prison in Korça and the Shën Koll prison in Lezha, where 430 individuals with health issues are held, particularly with mental health problems.
Three prisons facing closure
Overcrowding and inadequate conditions in some of the correctional facilities are the main problems noted by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe (CPT) in a report prepared after an inspection carried out in May of the previous year in the premises of prisons and pre-trial detention centers in Albania.
In this report, published on January 12, the closing of the Tepelena prison is recommended, as the facilities are degraded, with poorly ventilated cells and small spaces that, as stated, do not meet the standards.
For extremely poor conditions, this report also mentions a part of the facilities of the “Jordan Misja” prison in Tirana, as well as in Shën Koll in Lezha.
Hans Wolff, vice-president of the CPT, described said conditions to “Inside Albania” host, Alice Taylor.
“The Kruja prison has been closed, and the inmates have been transferred to Lezha and Tirana. The conditions, especially in Lezha, are unacceptable. They are problematic, and if the number of prisoners increases, we are concerned. There are other issues in the Tirana 313 prison. There are problems with mold. It is overcrowded. In cells, inmates have only 2-3 square meters of space per person. They do not have sufficient hot water. The water is heated with highly dangerous electrical wirings. It is truly problematic and likely needs reconstruction,” stated Wolff.
The CPT vice-president raised similar concerns even for the Tepelena facility.
“The problems were evident. It is a very old prison. The state of repairs and hygiene conditions in most cells on the upper floors was acceptable, but not on the lower floors. There were many people. The hygiene situation in the showers was appalling. The bathrooms were not partitioned, which is one of our standards. This was not the case. There was mold, damaged tiles, and we think this is unacceptable”.
Concerns about pre-trial detainees with mental health problems
Wolff also raised concerns regarding the quality of care especially when it comes to inmates with mental health issues.
“Access to care is difficult in some prisons because there are no psychiatrists. But even where there are, psychiatrists come only a few hours a week and it is impossible to see everyone. When it comes to caring for mental health issues, this is not only done by psychiatrists. It can also be done by trained nurses. We have discussed with the Albanian authorities the need to train prison guards to deal with these people. It is important to organize therapeutic and professional activities. There can be psychologists, professional therapists to help these people spend their days. What happens now is that these people are generally locked in a room for 23 hours a day or more and left there. We call this warehousing, and it is clearly inappropriate. It can amount to inhuman treatment,” explained Wolff.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Prisons, Fehmi Sufaj told Radio Free Europe that there is no overall overcrowding, as the capacity of the prisons is for 5,727 individuals, but only two of them suffer from this problem.
“There is overcrowding in the Drenova prison in Korça and in Shën Koll in Lezha, while in the other six, there are few, 2 or 3 persons more than the capacity,” he says.
“In Lezha, the situation is concerning; there are 430 pre-trial detainees with health measures, while pre-trial detained women with these problems are in the prison hospital in Tirana. We have signed a document for them to be under the jurisdiction of health authorities,” says Sufaj.
All pre-trial detainees with health measures who were in the Zaharia prison in Kruja, which was closed in November 2021 due to conditions described as scandalous in various international reports, were transferred to Shën Koll in Lezha.
Since then, authorities promised that the Shën Koll prison in Lezha would be an “intermediate station” until a hospital is designated for them, but this has not yet been realized.
Ombudsman: The report is more positive, but there are still problems
For the Ombudsman’s institution in Albania, the latest report from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe is among the most positive. According to them, it addresses the same issues that this institution has noted during inspections.
“This does not mean that we have a situation to be praised, but it requires energetic and important interventions to improve conditions in our penitentiary system,” says Erida Ballanca, head of the Ombudsman’s institution, to Radio Free Europe.
“This report recognizes the fact that there is a dignified treatment approach for these individuals, as well as a lack of cases of violence by police or prison staff. So, this is a phenomenon overcome. I believe that the findings are in line with what the Ombudsman has noted during our inspections,” adds Ballanca.
She adds that, especially, the concern of the Ombudsman regarding the treatment of individuals with health measures needs to be addressed.
“In our assessment, this is the most problematic part of the penitentiary and health system in Albania,” says Ballanca.
More pre-trial detainees than convicted individuals
Currently, in Albanian prisons, more than half of the individuals in cells are pre-trial detainees.
The Government has announced a penal amnesty, although it is not yet known when.
The policy remained a hostage to political clashes in the Parliament of Albania, and the initiative was not voted on as usual on the eve of the year-end holidays.
However, CPT vice-president Hans Wolff expressed doubts to Euronews Albania, whether such an initiative is the correct way to avoid overcrowding in prisons.
“Amnesty is one of the means. We are usually critical of it. It can help in the short term to reduce the number of prisoners, but amnesty will never alleviate overcrowding in prisons. What we want is a holistic, sustainable strategy to reduce the prison population. Therefore, other measures, such as house arrest or bail, alternative sentencing options, need to be promoted. It needs to be seen if changes can be made to the Penal Code because countries that significantly reduced the prison population made changes to the Penal Code to reduce sentences for various crimes”.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Prisons says that he cannot comment on the work of the prosecution or the courts, but admits that there is a problem.
“I can say that many of the ‘arrest with imprisonment’ measures are replaced with lighter measures or lifted. This shows that there is something that should have been seen better when this measure was decided,” says Sufaj.
“It is expected that amnesty will also ease the situation in prisons regarding overcrowding, as around 600 people are expected to benefit,” says Sufaj.
Plans for new prisons and reconstructions
In the projects of the Ministry of Justice in Albania, the construction of a new prison in the south of the country is planned.
Sufaj says that “a new prison will be built in Gjirokastër, after the closure of Tepelena”, and that “the Jordan Misja prison in Tirana will be completely renovated”.
However, CPT vice-president Wolff is of the opinion that the facility in Tirana needs more than refurbishment.
“We think that renovating this old block is not possible, and new construction is needed to provide acceptable conditions. There are plans to build a new specialized institution, for which funding from the EU is needed. The plan is for it to open in 2028, but we are in discussions with the Government to expedite it,” stated Wolff.
In Albania, due to a lack of conditions, the Zaharia prison in Kruja, the Tropoja prison, the Saranda prison, and the Vaqarr prison in Tirana were closed earlier.
