The Ombudsman is conducting an unannounced inspection today and tomorrow at Shenkoll prison, within the framework of its mandate as the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture.
Preliminary findings are concerning. The inspection team noted severe overcrowding in the accommodation facilities and a significant shortage of medical personnel, in relation to the health needs of the prisoners. Such conditions violate human dignity and the minimum standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).
During the inspection, accommodation conditions, health care, complaint registers are being verified, and private conversations are being held with prisoners, without the presence of the institution's staff.
"This should not be an IEVP because these are not people who are serving a sentence. These are people against whom a medical measure has been taken. Meanwhile, the conditions are degrading. 12 people in a room in conditions that are denigrating for human rights, are a direct violation of human rights.
What we conclude is that an urgent intervention is needed here, we need to have a hospital with increased security, not a prison with two psychiatrists. So there is an extreme lack of medical staff here, there are extremely difficult conditions here. Part of the building is uninhabitable, so it is about to collapse, another part is concentrated, and 12 people in one cell. It is unacceptable. We need to intervene as quickly as possible, here the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice will have to take their responsibilities urgently", said the Ombudsman, Endrit Shabani.
Meanwhile, the mechanism's assistant commissioner, Gloria Çarkaxhiu, outlined efforts to transform this prison into a hospital.
"We also request that the level of organization as well as the organization itself of this institution be in the form of a hospital. So we cannot now be in front of an environment where the maximum capacity continues to be 280, but today we have over 430 patients who are there and receiving treatment," she said.
Ahmet Prençi, Commissioner, Mechanism Against Torture, highlighted the overcrowding of this prison.
"This institution with double the capacity of patients is impossible to respect the freedoms and rights of the people inside, and the basic idea is that this should no longer be a prison, it should be a hospital provided by the Ministry of Justice, with only the external perimeter by the prison police, and inside there should only be ample medical personnel, sufficient to perform the functional duty towards the services provided to the patients," said Prençi.
In conclusion, Endrit Shabani, the Ombudsman, requested urgent intervention, and said that this situation should be the number one priority of both ministries which have direct responsibility to intervene.
