Albanian Helsinki Committee

Limited progress on electoral reform, few investigations into corruption and regular attacks against freedom of speech tarnished Albania's year as chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, six rights organisations stated in a report published on Monday.

Some spoke of dire conditions in the centre and the growth of gangs stealing from and assaulting other residents.

Others, migrants trying to reach Western Europe, said they had been left out in the cold despite seeking refuge at the centre, its doors closed under a lockdown across the country to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of Albanians have to endure insufficient space and bad conditions in pre-trial detention centres as a result of the unusually high number of people awaiting trial for electricity theft and breaches of the driving code.

It was creating conditions for "inhuman and degrading treatment", Rustemi said in a press conference on Monday.