Mrs. Agnes Kersten

St. Annastraat 124

6524 GM Nijmegen

The Netherlands

Prosecuter General

Z. Theodor Sollaku

Prokurori i pergjithshem,

Rruga Qemal Stafa

Tirana

Republic of Albania

Nijmegen, 2005-03-07

Dear Procurator General,

Albania has to appear before the Committee against Torture in Geneva in May 2005.

In 1991 the Albanian government introduced legal and other measures to avoid torture and ill-treatment in policestations.

Amnesty Internatinal reports there are still allegations that police officers have tortured or ill-treated detainees. That organisation considers that the real number of incidents is far much higher then the reported incidents.

And when the formal complaints are made, only seldom the police officers suspected of torture or ill-treatment are brought to justice. This leads to impunity for torture and ill-treatment.

The articles 12, 13 and 16 of the UN Convention against Torture oblige the authorities to undertake prompt and impartial investigations, whenever there are reasonably grounds to believe that torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment has taken place.

Article 14 gives victims of torture or ill-teatment the right to redress and ‘an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation’ including rehabilitation and in case of death in custody as a result of torture, dependants should be entitled to compensation.

Amnesty Internatinal has documented incidents in which the autorities have failed to respect the state's obligations under the Convention, and documented barriers to prosecution including official indifference and difficulies in obtaining medical documentation. In some cases the anonymity of police officers serving the Special Forces and Rapid Intervention Forces prevents prosecution.

I urge you to ensure that :

-Investigations are started whenever a detained person brings out alleges torture or ill- treatment, even if no formal complaint has been made.

-Prosecuters should be directed to prosecute all acts of torture or other physical or mental ill- treatment by police officers or other law enforcement officials under Articles 86 and 87 of the Criminal Code;

-All suspected police officers should be brought to justice and if proven guilty the sentence imposed should be commensurate with the gravity of the crime;

I hope that the measures to implement such changes be brought into practice soon, so that Albania shows its intentions to abide by its obligations under the Convention.

I thank your for reading this letter and I hope to be kept informed on the progress of implementing the Amnesty International recommendations.

Yours sincerely,

Agnes Kersten

c.c. :     Minister of Justice; Z. Fatmir Xhafa

Minister of Public Order: z. Igli Toska

Avokati i Popullit Dr. Emir Dobjani