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The Council has not been informed about
specific cases of ill-treatment of children in detention in Albania. However,
the fight against torture is a strongly held conviction of all EU member
states and a priority for the EU's human rights policy. The EU is resolved to
strengthen its international activities towards prevention and eradication of
all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment in all parts of the world.
To this end, the Council agreed in
April 2001 the Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The guidelines
also mention the need for special protection for children. They provide the
EU with an operational tool for use in its contacts with third countries and
in multilateral human rights fora, in order to support and strengthen the
on-going efforts for global prevention and eradication of torture.
The Council is aware of the weaknesses
in the Albanian judicial and penitentiary system. The subject was already
touched upon i.e. during the work of the High Level EU-Albania Steering
Group, as documented in the Commission's report on the work of this
body The Albanian government has
committed itself, in its Action Plan for the negotiation period of the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement, adopted in December 2001, to
continue reforming the prison system, by fulfilling the legal requirements
on the rights and treatments of inmates, as well as to continue improving
the Police ethics, through approving a new code of Police ethics, establishment
of a monitoring system on the behaviour of the Police at every Police
Directorate and constant training in the field of human rights. The
Council expects that those reforms will also improve the situation of
minors.
The regular dialogues the EU has with Albania
within the Stabilisation and Association Process provide opportunities to
verify the resolute pursuit of reforms to which the Albanian authorities have
committed themselves, as the country moves closer towards the common goal of
European integration and closer relationship with the EU.
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