CAT/C/CR/34/ALB
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B. Positive aspects
5.
The Committee notes with appreciation the ongoing efforts by the State party aimed at
strengthening human rights in Albania. In particular, the Committee welcomes the following:
(a)
The adoption of a democratic Constitution in 1998 that enhances protection of
human rights, including the prohibition of torture, establishes a maximum 48-hour limit on
detention before which a person must be brought before a judge, and the direct applicability of
ratified international treaties and their superiority over domestic laws;
(b)
(c)
(d)
The adoption of:
(i)
The Law “On Innocence, Amnesty and Rehabilitation of Ex-political
Convicted and Persecuted Persons” in 1991, amended in 1993;
(ii)
The Law “On Migration” in 1995;
(iii)
The Criminal Military Code in 1995;
(iv)
The Law “On the Rights and Treatment of Prisoners” in 1998;
(v)
The Law “For the Ombudsman” in 1999;
(vi)
The Criminal Code in 1995, amended in 1996, 1997 and 2001;
(vii)
The Law “On the Organization and Functioning of the High Justice
Council” in 2002;
The ratification of:
(i)
The European Convention on Extradition and its additional Protocol
in 1998 and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its two Protocols
in 1996;
(ii)
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2002 as well as of
most of the United Nations conventions and protocols for the protection of
human rights;
(iii)
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in 2003;
Specific measures for law enforcement personnel:
(i)
The adoption of the “Code of Police Ethics” in 1998;
(ii)
The organization of training for the police through a project of education
in the field of prevention of torture by the Ministry of Public Order in
cooperation with non-government organizations (NGOs).