WRITTEN QUESTION E-0880/02 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. Ill-treatment of minors in Albanian prisons.
Date: 2002-04-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Albania, EU relations, child, children's rights, cruel and degrading treatment, infancy, prison system, torture

C 92 E/30

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

(2003/C 92 E/033)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0880/02

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(2 April 2002)

Subject: Ill-treatment of minors in Albanian prisons

According to Amnesty International, the ill-treatment of children in detention in Albania is a widespread
and very common practice. The case of eleven-year-old Ergest Sele who was tortured while in detention to
make him confess to the theft of a handbag, is one of many cases involving children who have been
tortured and abused during their detention by the Albanian police. The non-governmental organisation
‘The Children’s Human Rights Centre of Albania’ states in its report that the police made extensive use of
torture to force minors to confess crimes. Furthermore, the children are afraid that if they bring charges
they will be subjected to further abuse.
It should be remembered that Albania has ratified all the
international conventions banning torture, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Will the Commission say whether it intends to bring pressure to bear on the Albanian government to take
urgent measures to safeguard and protect the rights of children in detention and to prosecute those
responsible and also whether it intends to call on the Albanian Minister of Justice to promote legislation
establishing a system for dispensing justice to minors?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2002)

The Commission takes allegations of ill-treatment and torture very seriously. The Union has underlined its
determination to tackle the issue in the ‘Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ which were adopted by the General Affairs
Council in April 2001 (1). These guidelines refer, inter alia, to the need for special protection for children in
this context.

The Commission has pointed out on several occasions that Albanian prisons and detention systems need
to be improved, especially as far as prisoners on remand are concerned, and that Albanian law
enforcement bodies should be better acquainted with their human rights obligations, and implement them.
It has also underlined the deficiencies of the Albanian judicial system and the need for Albania judges to
address human rights cases properly. All these institutional weaknesses affect also minors in detention.

The Commission is taking every opportunity to stress the importance for Albania to properly address the
above issues. It will continue to strees the need to pay particular attention to the treatment of minors
brought to justice and to underline that this treatment should meet international standards during the
whole process (arrest, trial, detention).

The Commission provides specific financial support to address issues related to the detainees’ conditions
and the respect of their rights, including awareness-raising and training programmes for the police, the
judiciary and other target groups, which should help progressively to improve the standards applied in
places of detention, including to minors.

(1) http://ue.eu.int/newsroom/newmain.asp?lang=1.