Albania asked for more efforts on prisoners’ situation

STRASBOURG, Jan. 21 – The Council of Europe’s Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) published its report on the June 2008 ad hoc visit to Albania.
In the course of the visit, the CPT observed improvements in various areas. In particular, in contrast to the findings made during previous visits, the majority of persons interviewed by its delegation stated that they had been treated correctly whilst in police custody; nevertheless, a number of credible allegations of recent physical ill-treatment were received. As regards conditions of detention in pre-trial detention centers, the CPT found that significant progress had been made.
The CPT has recommended that the Albanian authorities redouble their efforts to combat ill-treatment by the police and to improve, as a matter urgency, conditions of detention in police stations, which remained unsatisfactory.
The report has been made public at the request of the Albanian Government.
The main objective of the visit was to review progress made as regards the implementation of the recommendations made by the CPT following its previous visits to Albania. Particular attention was paid to the treatment of persons detained by the police and conditions of detention in remand prisons and pre-trial detention centers.