Foreigners on Spaç

The violation of human rights in Albania and especially the conditions in which political prisoners served their sentences were also in the attention of world public opinion. The conditions in the Spaç prison-camp, with a population of over 500 political prisoners, were assessed as particularly harsh in the 1982 human rights report prepared and published by the organization “Amnesty International”.photo)

According to this report, prisoners extracted copper in eight-hour shifts, 6 days a week, without any kind of protective clothing. Production targets are described as onerous, and prisoners who failed to meet these targets would face additional hours of work or isolation. Prisoners slept in unheated barracks, with straw mattresses on wooden platforms. Food was scarce and of poor quality. It was necessary to supplement it with parcels from the prisoners’ families and with foods produced on farms attached to the prison camps, which were purchased by the prisoners themselves. Medical care, provided by staff recruited mainly from among the prisoners, was insufficient. 

In the report published in December 1984, the organization “Amnesty International” expressed concern about the denial of human rights and the restriction of political freedoms. While noting the lack of fundamental social and political freedoms for all Albanians, “Amnesty International” reported the lack of legal guarantees for political prisoners during investigations and court procedures.photo)