B. Karreç Detention Centre for Foreigners; (Read full CPT report)
31. For the first time, the delegation visited the country’s sole detention centre for foreigners in
Karreç. The Centre is located in the vicinity of Durres and was opened in 2010. With an official
capacity of 125 places, it comprised three detention units (Nos. 1 and 3 for single males and No. 2
for families and single females). Since its opening, the actual number of detainees had usually been
relatively low (with an exceptionally high number of more than 80 detainees in the autumn of 2018).
At the time of the visit, it was accommodating a total of twelve detainees (ten single men,19 one
married couple,20 no minors), most of whom had been held in the Centre for several months. 32. According to the relevant legal provisions,21 foreign nationals may be detained by order of
the immigration authority for up to six months. Under certain circumstances, the detention period
may be extended to a maximum period of twelve months. Asylum-seekers may be detained if they
have failed to apply for international protection within ten days upon entry into Albanian territory, if
they have no ID or for reasons of national security. 33. The CPT wishes to recall its position that every effort should be made to avoid resorting to the deprivation of liberty of an irregular migrant who is a child. In this regard, it is noteworthy that unaccompanied minors may not be detained in the detention centre but shall be accommodated in a social welfare institution for juveniles. The delegation was informed that, in recent years, families with children had not been detained in the Centre. The CPT welcomes this state of affairs and trusts that the Albanian authorities will continue to avoid placing parents with children in the Centre and ensure that when, in an exceptional case, minors are held there with their parents, their stay is limited to the shortest possible period of time.
34. The CPT acknowledges that the handling of foreign nationals who are detained pending
deportation is a particularly challenging task for both staff and the management. In establishments of
this type, it is not uncommon for CPT delegations to observe tensions between immigration detainees
and also between detainees and staff. At Karreç Detention Centre, the delegation gained the impression that existing tensions were at least in part the result of a quasi-total lack of activities (see paragraph 39) and the apparent lack of information provided to foreign nationals about the procedures applied to them and the possible length of their detention (see paragraph 49), as well as of major language barriers and lack of interpretation (see paragraph 43).
35. The delegation received a few isolated allegations of deliberate physical ill-treatment
of foreign nationals by custodial police officers (such as slaps or punches).
The CPT recommends that it be reiterated to custodial staff at Karreç Detention Centre
that all forms of ill-treatment of foreign nationals are illegal and will be punished accordingly.
36. Further, the CPT considers that the manner in which violent detainees were on occasion
subjected to mechanical restraint in the establishment’s security cell was unacceptable and could
easily be considered to amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. In this regard, reference is made to the remarks and recommendation in paragraph 46.
37. The information gathered during the visits suggests that inter-detainee violence did not pose
a major problem, and no complaints were received in this regard from foreign nationals who had been
interviewed by the delegation.
38. As regards material conditions, it is positive that communal spaces and detention rooms were
spacious (30 m², including annexe with toilet and shower, with four beds) and well lit. The CPT
acknowledges that furnishings and equipment had recently been damaged to some extent by detainees during a violent protest. Further, many of the sanitary facilities were found to be in a very poor state of repair as well as in appalling hygienic conditions. Moreover, many complaints were received about insufficient heating and the shortage of personal hygiene products. Several foreign nationals claimed that up to four persons had to share one bar of soap and one toothbrush.
The CPT recommends that the Albanian authorities take steps to ensure that the above-
mentioned deficiencies at Karreç Detention Centre are remedied without delay. Steps should
also be taken to ensure that all foreign nationals are provided with adequate supplies of
personal hygiene products (including, in the case of female detainees, sanitary towels).
39. Whilst acknowledging that foreign nationals benefited from an open-door regime within their
detention unit throughout the day22 and that the Centre had a small library (with books in English,
French and Arabic),23 the CPT is very concerned that hardly any recreational activities were offered
to foreign nationals. It is of all the more concern that allegations were received from detainees that
access to the open air was limited to only a number of days per month. The delegation was informed
that television sets in communal spaces had recently been destroyed by detainees. During the end-of-visit talks, the delegation called upon the Albanian authorities to take
urgent steps to ensure that all immigration detainees are offered at least two hours of outdoor exercise
every day (including at weekends), as stipulated in the applicable legislation, and preferably more. By letter dated 16 April 2019, the Albanian authorities informed the CPT that foreign
nationals were allowed to go outdoors every day to have access to the open air. The authorities further
indicated that “in the Centre there is an urgent need for building sport facilities, for providing the
detainees with access to televisions and internet, so that they can be informed about the latest news”.
In fact, there was sufficient green space on the premises of the Centres which could be used for sports
activities.
The CPT fully concurs with the authorities’ assessment of the situation. It recommends that
steps be taken at Karreç Detention Centre as a matter of priority to ensure that every detention
unit is equipped (again) with a television set and that all foreign nationals are provided with a
range of recreational activities (including sports). To this end, the involvement of external
service providers such as charity organisations and/or NGOs should be explored. Further, the Committee wishes to receive confirmation that all foreign nationals are
henceforth granted outdoor exercise for at least two hours per day (including at weekends).
