Albania Civilian From

Shea emphasized that "Operation Allied Force" was launched to "save civilian lives not...expend them." NATO did not intentionally target civilians, he said. ...

Washington -- NATO military and civilian spokesmen expressed regret for the loss of life that occurred in an April 14 incident in which an allied pilot may have attacked a civilian vehicle in what he thought was a military convoy passing between the towns of Prizren and Djakovica in Kosovo. ... [Read More]

Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Albania

Conditions inside the prisons and detention centers remained poor, despite government efforts to address problems such as poor facilities and overcrowding as well as efforts to transfer convicted inmates from detention centers to prisons. According to the European Union's Judicial Reform, Asylum and Migration Operations Section, detainees had limited access to bathroom and showering facilities, and insufficient food; in some cases, space and privacy limitations kept them from engaging in religious practices. Access to employment opportunities for prisoners did not exist. The prison staff was poorly trained. During the year, prisoners and detainees rioted in Vlora, Lezha and Lac and held hunger strikes in pretrial detention centers in Elbasan, Corovoda, Korca, Malesia e Madhe and in prisons in Tirana and Burrel to protest poor living conditions, slowness of prisoner transfers from pretrial detention cells to prison facilities and the absence of prison employment. There were no reports o ... [Read More]

Destroying Excess Small Arms: U.S. Policy and Programs

Beginning in May 1998, the Albanian government bolstered efforts to collect weapons circulating in the civilian population, both through new legislation and increased law enforcement measures. This effort was assisted in 1999 by the initiation of a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) "Weapons in Exchange for Development" program (originally targeted at the Albanian district of Gramsh, later extended to Elbasan and Dirba). Under the UNDP program, a limited number of collected weapons were destroyed, though the focus of the program remained on collection of illegal arms. Efforts to eliminate collected and surplus stocks of Albanian arms began in earnest on September 7, 2000, when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Eric Newsom, joined by representatives of the Norwegian and German Embassies in Albania, signed a memorandum with Albanian Minister of Defense Ilir Gjoni. According to the memorandum, 130,000-plus weapons collected from the civilian population since the 1997 c ... [Read More]

Department of State, International Information Programs, U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, December 1999 - "Preventing Conflict: Military Engagement in Peacetime"

DIILS initiates each program with an assessment trip to the partner country where a two-member team meets with U.S. Embassy staff and members of the partner country's military, press, and non-governmental organizations, and also lawyers and civilian officials. Following the initial assessment, a delegation from the partner country attends a planning phase in the United States, during which the details for the follow-on seminars are worked out. As an integral part of the planning process, the delegation is introduced to the civilian and military justice systems in the United States. Following the U.S. visit, the seminars are scheduled in the partner country. The seminars focus on topics that enhance international security and foster bilateral trust and confidence by emphasizing human rights, military justice, the rule of law, and civilian control of the military. ... [Read More]

Albania

The country is poor, and is in transition from central economic planning to a free market system; many questions related to privatization, property ownership claims, and the appropriate regulation of business remained unresolved. The country continued to experience slow but stable economic progress; however, 29.6 percent of the country's population of approximately 3.5 million live below the poverty line, with poverty greater in rural areas. Inflation was negligible during the year. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by about 7.5 percent to an estimated $4.3 billion (602 billion lek). The official unemployment rate was 16 percent, a slight decrease from the 17.5 percent of the previous year. With two-thirds of all workers employed in agriculture--mostly at the subsistence level--remittances from citizens working abroad remained extremely important, as did foreign assistance. The agricultural sector counts for 52.9 percent of GDP with industry and services contributing 25.2 and 21.9 ... [Read More]

USIS Washington File: WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET: RELIEF FOR KOSOVAR ALBANIANS 4/5/99

First, the President announced the appointment of Brian Atwood, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, to coordinate the U.S. Government's overall humanitarian response to the Kosovar refugee crisis. Administrator Atwood will chair a coordinating council to include: Julia Taft, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, who will take the lead in the response by the civilian agencies to the refugee crisis; James Lee Witt, Director of our Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who will coordinate private donations to the aid effort and ensure their proper delivery; and Lieutenant General John "Mike" McDuffie, who will be the coordinator for our military assistance to the relief operation. ... [Read More]

Albania

The law criminalizes trafficking in persons and provides penalties for traffickers; however, trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, remained serious problems. Police corruption and involvement in trafficking was a problem. A 2001 Criminal Code amendment introduced specific articles on trafficking that set the following penalties: Trafficking in persons (5 to 15 years in prison); trafficking of women for prostitution (7 to 15 years in prison); and trafficking in minors (15 to 20 years in prison). The General Prosecutor's office and police did not follow through on plans to establish an Organized Crime Strike force to handle high profile and sensitive cases. The lack of prosecution of traffickers remained a problem. During the year, 17 people were convicted for trafficking in persons. Traffickers who were arrested often were released because of insufficient evidence. If prosecuted, they often were charged for lesser cri ... [Read More]

Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction in Albania Memorandum

Reaffirms its commitment to destroy the small arms and light weapons looted during the 1997 crisis, including those that have already been collected and will be collected in the future from the civilian population, ... [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

Cyprus is a destination country for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Traffickers who forced women into prostitution continued to fraudulently recruit victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term "artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or for illegal work on tourist or student visas. There was increasing evidence of Chinese women being trafficked for sexual exploitation in Cyprus. The Government of Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Cyprus made some progress in its anti-trafficking efforts over the past year. The new police anti-trafficking unit produced successful results and showed vigilance in combating the problem. Government recognition of the problem improve ... [Read More]

Albania

Police separated men from women in pretrial detention centers and prisons which, as of July, were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. Pretrial detainees were not separated from convicted prisoners due to overcrowding.The country has no juvenile justice system, and children's cases frequently were presented to judges who had not received any education in juvenile justice. In cooperation with international donors, Albania's Magistrate's School attempted to address this problem by offering continuing legal education courses in the area of juvenile justice for judges. The Ministry of Justice reported that a total of 17 minors were serving prison sentences: 6 in pretrial detention centers and 11 in Vaqarr--the only prison in the country that has a special wing for juveniles. The Children's Human Rights Center (CRCA) noted that, while juveniles at Vaqarr were held in a separate wing of the prison, they mixed with adult prisoners ... [Read More]