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Report on the
fourth working session in
Lezha prison
Organized by the
Albanian Helsinki Committee
On 5-6 June 2006 Albanian Helsinki Committee
(AHC) carried out the fourth working session in Lezha prison premises. This
activity took place in the framework of the AHC’s project “Prison Reforms and
the Role of the Civil Society in Albania” aiming at the enhancement of the
awareness and recognition of human rights and rule of law by Albanian prison
administration. Specific objectives of this activity were improvement of
the daily program in the prison and communication of different sectors to
realize this program; raising professional capacities of the senior and middle
management staff of the penitentiary institutions in the process of managing the
daily program in the prison and last but not least, work possibilities in the
Lezha prison as part of the future daily programs.
The expert invited by AHC to offer his expertise
in this session was Mr. Jan van den Brand, Director Portfolio and Coordinator of
the External Relations in the Dutch National Agency of Correctional Institutions
in the Netherlands, at the same time, expert of the European Council in Eastern
and Central Europe. Mrs.
Edlira Papavangjeli, Programs’ Coordinator was representing Albanian Helsinki
Committee in this activity.
The working
session focused on some very important issues such as
the objective with a daily program; the
reference to the international standards regarding programs of activities;
presentation of the existing daily program in Lezha prison and recommendations
offered by the expert in improving the existing daily program in this prison;
how do the sectors (uniform and civil staff) interact within and between
themselves to implement the daily programs in the prison;
how should the
mission of security, treatment of prisoners with humane dignity and
reintegration of prisoners be realised in an open and trustful atmosphere in the
prison; presentation of the surveys
done among prisoners regarding work in this prison and recommendations offered
in regard with work and vocational training in the prison as an essential part
of the daily programs in the prisons.
The main recommendation of
this working session to the General Directorate of Prisons is the following:
although being aware of the overcrowding situation in all the Albanian prisons
and knowing the complexity of this issue, AHC and its expert recommends that
the total capacity of Lezha prison should
not exceed that of the present capacity (around 500 inmates including here the
pre-trial detainees), this will create possibilities to make use of one of the
present buildings for work activities, vocational training courses and other
educational and social activities for the prisoners;
The recommendations to the
senior and middle management teams of this prison are the following: four
working groups should be set up in this prison which are advised to focus on
these issues: the internal selection
procedures of the prisoners with regard to work in this prison (the education
sector may have the input here); the assessment and recommendation with concrete
use of the existing infrastructure for making possible the work in this prison
(heads of sectors may have the concrete input in this process); types of labor
that are possible to organize in this prison and acquisition of labor ( finance
department may have the concrete input in this process) and last but not least,
the potential professionals/masters to be identified who will be the guide of
the work in the prison.
The last topics are also
depended on the developments with the draft decision on employment of prisoners
and their remuneration which is still in the hands of the working group of the
GDP and the specialists of the Ministry of Justice.
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