FLASH
Shkruar nga Eduard Halimi
Today they are located on Albanian soil, but according to the government, under Italian jurisdiction. An absurd construction, with cells where goods are kept, not human beings. An "innovative" agreement according to the Italian government and an epic compromise for international support for our government tired of scandals in 12 years...
In Albania, in an isolated field of Gjadri, structures officially called "reception centers" for migrants but which in reality are armored container cells, received the first 50 migrants yesterday, according to an epic agreement for the lack of transparency between Italy and Albania.
Accompanied in handcuffs and with over 80 Albanian and Italian police officers, the handcuffed immigrants will remain locked up in the container center for up to 180 days, under strict police control.
There is no court in Gjadra. There are no law offices or lawyers. They do not yet have an office where they have the right to seek asylum. They are in handcuffs and armored container cells, but not for any crime; they have not killed anyone, they have not stolen, they are not drug traffickers! The only “guilt”: they are poor, tired of their governments and the lack of a future in their countries, they have sacrificed, like many Albanians, for a better life.
Their children, mothers, sisters, brothers may have seen the images of them handcuffed, escorted to the prison with container cells in Gjadra. I don't believe they know anything about the agreement. We, the lawyers, know very little either. I don't know how they will explain to them and perhaps even to themselves that they have done nothing criminal, except for the desperate request for a better life, but a controversial political agreement between countries they do not know brought them to a member state of the Council of Europe, Albania, where they are seeking international protection.
Today they are located on Albanian soil, but according to the government, under Italian jurisdiction. An absurd construction, with cells where goods are kept, not human beings. An "innovative" agreement according to the Italian government and an epic compromise for international support for our government tired of scandals in 12 years.
• Decision 2/2024 – A heavy shadow over the justice of the Constitutional Court
Although lacking in transparency, the agreement, which Italians call "innovative," was unsuccessfully challenged by the opposition in the Constitutional Court two years ago.
Yesterday, when they arrived, I started reading decision no. 2/2024, where the Constitutional Court refused to see the agreement as a human rights issue. The judicial majority ruled that the “Albania-Italy” protocol “does not create new restrictions” and does not need ratification.
I have been following this issue closely. I have written about it before. The epic lack of transparency forced the CC to orient itself according to the words of the deputies in the Laws Committee. They did not receive information. They did not see the camp, the containers. Neither did the deputies who signed them.
I had a very difficult time professionally accepting the reasoning in paragraph C.1.2, points 50 and following of the decision that the agreement does not affect human rights. I know many of the members of the CC. But honestly, I had a hard time agreeing with them. How can it not be called a restriction of human rights when immigrants are locked up for 6 months in container cells, without a court decision, without the right to a lawyer or asylum? Do immigrants have the right to habeas corpus, to go to court against detention? Do they have the right to have a lawyer? How will they find one? Online? What about the asylum application online?
How could those members of the Constitutional Court or their advisors be unaware of, or in the worst case, refuse to read, the ECHR decisions that have spoken clearly:
• Hirsi Jamaa v. Italy (2012) – Italy was convicted of collective return of migrants to Libya without individual assessment.
• MSS v. Belgium and Greece (2011) – detention and camp conditions were deemed inhuman and degrading.
• Khlaifia v. Italy (2016) and Rahimi v. Greece (2011) – detention without due process and without access to legal protection is a systemic violation of the ECHR.
Have you read the "CoE Guide to the Rights of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers", which my colleague Bianku quotes in his article yesterday, regarding the conditions of detention and respect for fundamental rights?
It is true that the CoE and the ECHR have issued strong warnings against placing immigrants in detention or detention facilities without due process and guarantees of rights, and clearly emphasize that asylum seekers must have immediate access to legal aid, individual risk assessment, and humane living conditions.
All emphasize: people are not goods. They cannot be stored in container cells, escorted in handcuffs, and held in solitary confinement awaiting deportation.
Therefore, decision 2/24 is deeply disturbing, with serious shadows over justice, as it denies reality by aiming for compromise towards the political pact and as such is a dangerous step towards an inhumane precedent and outside any international standard.
"Container Cells: A Prison in Disguise"
"Let no one inflict on another what he himself would not be willing to endure."
Unë i përkas asaj klase njerëzish që kanë ndjeshmëri ndaj emigrantëve. Kjo nuk ka të bëjë vetëm me profesionin tim dhe pasionin ndaj drejtësisë, por edhe me popullin tim. Popullit tim, që e ka vuajtur në lëkurë trajtimin çnjerëzor, që ka gjysmën e vet jashtë në emigrim, dikur me anije, nga mali, e sot me gomone për në Angli. Nuk ikin nga dëshira, nuk braktisin me dëshirë; ikin për një jetë më të mirë, me sakrifica sublime. I përkas këtij populli që nuk e njeh ksenofobinë, por di të jetë i ndjeshëm sepse kujton motrën/vëllain, kushëririn, shokun, mikun emigrant. Ndaj trajtimi i emigrantëve që mbërritën dje, shkakton tek unë një ndjenjë dhembshurie, aq edhe revoltë. Revoltë edhe ndaj heshtjes. Revoltë edhe ndaj atyre që miratuan këtë trajtim dehuman në Shqipëri. Atyre deputetëve dhe anëtarëve të GJK-së që e miratuan!
Çfarë menduan ata dje në mbrëmje kur panë 50 fatkeqë në pranga drejt qelive “container”? A e menduan sikur ta kishin në trupin, familjen e tyre? Sikur familjarët e tyre, apo ata vetë, të ishin atje në qelitë container? Jo duke mos bërë asgjë, si fatkeqët që mbërritën dje, por sikur të akuzoheshin për krime? A e dëgjuan kryetarin e Bashkisë së Tiranës që bëri edhe suicide politik duke iu sulur ministrit të drejtësisë, duke diskretituar rëndë median dhe avokatët që e ndihmonin vetëm mos vijë në paraburgimet e Tiranës, edhe pse janë 3 dhe me kushte shumë më të mira se burgu me qeli kontejnerësh? A do ta quanin “Alkatraz” qelitë container nëse ata vetë apo familjarë të tyre do izoloheshin atj? Termi “qendër pritjeje” është maskim cinik. Dhe unë kam qenë dhe jam i vendosur në bindjen time se askush nuk mund të ketë një trajtim dehuman, edhe nëse akuzohet për krime, apo dënohet kushdo qoftë, e jo më fatkeqët që erdhën dhe në pranga për t’u vendosur sikur të jenë mallra.
Jo. Njerëzit nuk janë mallra. Ata nuk ruhen në kontejnerë për 6 muaj. Ata kanë histori, familje, frikë, dinjitet dhe të drejta. Ky trajtim i dehumanizuar është fyese për vetë themelet mbi të cilat u ngrit Europa pas Luftës së Dytë Botërore.
Por a është e mundur, sipas ligjislacionit të BE-së për kthimet, të dërgohet dikush kundër vullnetit të tij në një vend ku nuk e ka origjinën apo përmes të cilit nuk ka kaluar? Mario Gulielmetti, profesor në çështjet e migracionit, thotë JO. “Një marrëveshje me një vend të tretë do të ishte një parakusht i domosdoshëm për zbatimin e këtij skenari, ashtu si dhe një rishikim i rregullave të BE-së. Rreziku për të shkelur parimin e moskthimit me forcë (non-refoulement) është i lartë. Skenari tre paraqet sfida të mëdha ligjore dhe praktike. Është e diskutueshme nëse ky skenar është në përputhje me vlerat e BE-së.”
“Qelitë-container janë simbol i dështimit” – shkruan kolegu i famshëm italian Nicola Canestrini – një sistem që nuk është në gjendje të menaxhojë krizën e vet në mënyrë njerëzore dhe me respekt për të drejtat.
Konkluzione
I know that politics is the art of compromise, but I have long been proud to be free. Free to express, to speak, and to say what I feel. And the treatment of immigrants as commodities is outrageous.
There is no right interpretation of the Constitution when containers replace freedom. When silence replaces justice.
"Prison should not be transformed into a space of humiliation for anyone. We need a justice system rooted in dignity, not dehumanization."
And we will have to speak out about this and not remain silent in the face of this inhumane treatment, for anyone, but today it was the turn of the unfortunate immigrants placed in container cells."
Lini një Përgjigje