WORLD REPORT 1997 - Albania

Human Rights Developments

The Albanian government=s respect for human rights continued to decline in 1996. Police violence, politicized courts, electoral manipulation and control of the media were systematically used by President Sali Berisha and his ruling Democratic Party to eliminate rivals and consolidate power.

The most public violations occurred at the time of Albania=s third multi-party elections for parliament on May 26. Physical violence, ballot stuffing and voter list manipulation by state employees in favor of the ruling party occurred in numerous electoral zones. Opposition parties refused to recognize the results, which gave the Democratic Party 122 out of 140 seats in parliament.

The main opposition parties were denied permission to hold a protest rally in Tirana on May 28. Opposition leaders and demonstrators gathered nevertheless and were beaten by plain-clothed and riot police, including the deputy minister of the interior. Members of the international media, foreign election observers and human rights monitors watched the police attack and detain dozens of people, among them members of parliament and elderly protesters.

Electoral violations had, in fact, begun long before the vote. In late 1995, the so-called AGenocide Law@ established a government-appointed commission to review the files of the communist-era secret police. Those who held high-ranking positions in the communist government or were found to have Acollaborated@ with the former secret police were banned from holding public office until the year 2002. In the months leading up to the elections, the commission banned 139 individuals from participating in the elections, only three of whom were from the Democratic Party.

Before and after the elections, the government kept up its attack on the independent press. In January, the country=s largest daily, Koha Jone (Tirana), and the newspaper of the opposition Socialist Party, Zeri i Popullit (Tirana), were accused of collaborating with the Serbian secret police, although no supporting evidence was made public. Shortly thereafter, the police confiscated six distribution vans owned by Koha Jone. On January 30, Koha Jone journalist Altin Hazizaj was arbitrarily charged with assaulting two police officers and held in detention for two days. On February 16, another journalist, Fatos Veliu, was detained and beaten by police in Saranda, allegedly because he had written an article about corruption in the local police.

On February 26, police detained and questioned the entire staff of Koha Jone about a bomb that had exploded that morning in Tirana. In connection with the bombing, a journalist from the newspaper Populli Po (Tirana), Ylli Polovina, was later fined U.S. $300 for Ainciting public violence@ because of an article he had written about the assassination attempt on Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov in November 1995. On March 12, the editor of Populli Po, Arban Hasani, was fined $2,160 for two articles that the court found to be capable of Ainciting of national conflict@ and Adefamatory of the secret police@ (SHIK).

A number of Albanian and foreign journalists were abused by the Albanian police during the May 28 demonstration in Tirana, including Gianfranco Stara and Spiro Ilo from Associated Press Television and Eduardo del Campo from El Mundo (Spain). Bardhok Lala from the Albanian newspaper Dita Informacion (Tirana) was abducted by the secret police after the demonstration, severely beaten and left for dead in a lake on the outskirts of Tirana.

Despite promises of reform, the Democratic Party maintained firm control of the state radio and television. Some private stations were tolerated, although there was still no legislation to allow for private electronic media. Most of the private stations avoided news or political reporting.

Throughout the year, the government continued to prosecute those it claimed were responsible for past crimes. At least thirty former communist officials were sentenced to high prison terms for various Acrimes against humanity,@ such as ordering the shoot-to-kill policy on the border. At the same time, some former officials with close ties to the current government avoided prosecution. On March 15, four people were sentenced to between two and four years of imprisonment for trying to reestablish the former communist party (Party of Labor), which was banned in 1992. On September 16, another four people were convicted on the same charges.

On October 16, four days before municipal elections, the police arrested fourteen people it claimed were members of a communist terrorist organization that sought to overthrow the government. No evidence was made public, raising speculation that the arrests were timed as a campaign move before the elections.

Women=s rights were another growing concern in 1996. Domestic violence was a serious and widespread problem that was virtually ignored by public officials.

The one area of improvement in 1996 was the status of the Greek minority in the south of the country. In August the Albanian government opened three Greek-language schools in areas where the Greeks had long requested minority-language education. Relations between Greece and Albania improved steadily throughout the year, although Albania=s Greek minority still complained about job discrimination and the slow return of church property.

The Right to Monitor

The main human rights organization in the country, the Albanian Helsinki Committee, was denied permission to monitor voting in Tirana polling stations during the May parliamentary elections. Six weeks before the elections, its telephone line was cut. Foreign human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, were free to investigate abuses in Albania during 1996, but were monitored by the secret police. Many foreign organizations observed the May 26 parliamentary elections without interference, although the government limited the number of monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that could observe the October 20 municipal elections.

The Role of the International Community

The international community=s attitude toward the government of Sali Berisha changed radically after the May elections. Since coming to power in 1992, President Berisha had enjoyed the strong support of the international community, most notably the U.S. government, despite clear signs that human rights violations were repeatedly taking place. A number of top-ranking western officials visited Albania in the weeks preceding the elections, thereby lending credence to the Albanian government. In return, Berisha opened up Albania=s ports and airstrips for NATO use and encouraged moderation among the ethnic Albanians in neighboring Kosovo and Macedonia.

After some delay, the U.S. government, the European Parliament and Council of Europe expressed their strong disappointment with the elections and encouraged the Albanian government to hold new elections as soon as possible. The U.S. State Department issued a number of statements that highlighted human rights problems and proposed possible solutions.

The OSCE sent two missions to monitor the parliamentary elections, one from the Parliamentary Assembly and one from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The report of the latter was substantially stronger than the report of the former and accurately documented most of the electoral violations. The Albanian government then accused some members of the ODIHR delegation of being communist sympathizers and limited the number of ODIHR monitors allowed to observe the October 20 local elections. Refusing to accept any limitations on mission size, ODIHR, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly, did not monitor the vote.

On April 20, the European Parliament criticized the May elections and urged the Albanian government to release political prisoners, a reference to Fatos Nano, leader of the Socialist Party, who has been in prison on political charges since July 1993. In June the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging European Union governments to make it clear to Tirana that closer cooperation with the E.U. is conditional on elections being held in full accordance with international standards. In September the European Commission released the second part of a $44 million E.U. financial aid package agreed upon in 1994. The Commission announced that the release was a result of Albanian authorities= introduction of a coherent set of political measures and economic reforms.

On October 2, the Albanian parliament ratified the European Convention on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, as was required by Albania=s accession to the Council of Europe in July 1995. However, the Albanian government failed to remedy other human rights concerns identified by the council, such as ongoing restrictions on freedom of expression and the lack of an independent judiciary.