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Start of the one-year
project “running detention facilities from a human rights standpoint”at the
Lezhë detention facility
16.06.2006
On June 7, the Albanian Helsinki
Committee (AHC) promoted at the Lezhë Detention Institution the one-year project
being realized with the support of the United States Department of State.
Participating in the meeting
organized on this occasion were Ms. Edlira Papavangjeli, AHC Program
Coordinator, Mr. Charles Morrill, U.S. Embassy Political Officer, Mr. Jan van
den Brand, Regional General Director from the Netherlands, Lezhë Prison senior
officials, and the detention administration.
The $50,000 one-year project to raise
the level of awareness and knowledge of human rights and implementation of laws
on the part of the Lezhë prison detention facility is being implemented with the
financial support of the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights and Democracy
Fund, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the General Directory
of Prisons (DPB), the Lezhë detention sector, and AHC.
Aside from the program’s promotion,
the purpose of the meeting was to obtain the input of the detention
administration and its senior officials on priority issues they would like to
see addressed as well as the methodology for the future sessions at the Lezhë
detention institution.
At the end of the meeting, some of
the themes were identified:
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The process for taking in and
admitting detainees as well as their treatment from the medical and
educational aspects, as well as their preparation for transfer to prison.
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Training of officers and staff on
basic roles for their work on the detention’s internal security.
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A program for the training of
local trainers of the institution.
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The request – complain mechanism.
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Communicating structures and
cross-sector cooperation at the institution, as well as
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Cooperation and communication of
the detention administration with the outside world.
To implement the project, AHC will
involve foreign experts with a lot of experience in running penitentiary
institutions, jurists qualified in the penal field, human rights activists and
observers, as well as a dedicated staff with the necessary experience.
One of the goals of the project is
that the pilot Lezhë detention serve as a model for other detention facilities
subordinate to the Ministry of Justice toward good management of penitentiary
institutions where detainees’ human rights and dignity are respected.
AHC monitors respect for human rights
and freedoms and reacts for their reinstatement; sensitizes citizens about the
protection of their rights and freedoms; helps improve legislation and the
practice of laws through critique and recommendations during their drafting and
later their implementation.
AHC’s mission includes respect for
detainees’ and persons sentenced to imprisonment and their treatment according
to international standards and domestic legislation. The rights of detainees and
convicts are an important part of fundamental human rights. AHC has been working
since 1998 in the detention area through monitoring, awareness-raising, and
training programs, as well as through counseling, lobbying, legal critique, and
publications.
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