RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Albanian Government:

On Harassment, Intimidation and Violence Against Journalists:
* Conduct prompt and thorough investigations of government officials, including police personnel, implicated in abuses against members of the media, and prosecute or discipline those responsible.

* Issue and enforce directives to the police to end the widely tolerated harassment and intimidation of journalists by police officials.

* The Ministry of Interior should establish a formal, disciplinary framework for internal investigations into press reports of police abuses, irrespective of whether there is an official complaint by the victim.

* Amend criminal laws to remove the requirement of victim complaints for the prosecution of all serious offenses committed by police personnel.

* Parliament and the General Prosecutor should analyze the failure of the prosecutorial system to investigate the serious police abuses against journalists and other individuals identified in this report. The General Prosecutor should take measures to ensure the proper investigation of any such crimes in the future.

* Provide training to police personnel regarding the rights of the press to cover police activities and the right of the public to be informed about human rights violations, police misconduct, and other matters of legitimate public interest.

* Ensure the impartial access of journalists to government information and facilities. Government agencies should take steps to implement the 1999 freedom of information law. In addition, administrative measures should be taken to enhance the transparency of public administration and do away with its legacy of official secrecy.

On Defamation Laws and Their Application:
* Repeal criminal insult and libel provisions (sections 119, 120, 239, 240 and 241 of the Criminal Code). As a matter of particular urgency, repeal prison sentences for insult and libel as well as any procedural privileges for public officials who bring criminal defamation charges, starting with the involvement of the judicial police and public prosecutorial system in the investigation and prosecution of such charges.

* Amend the Civil Code and other relevant laws to establish clear standards of liability, evidence, and compensation in civil defamation cases, consistent with international and European human rights law and practice. The government should establish a reasonable statutory cap on civil awards for non-pecuniary damages, and consider requiring defamation victims to take steps to mitigate damage to their reputation by demanding apologies, corrections, or the publication of replies prior to taking court action.

* Legislate and ensure that journalists have a general, enforceable right to protect their confidential sources, which can only be restricted in exceptional cases of compelling public interest. Journalist defendants should not only enjoy the right to refuse to disclose the identity of confidential sources, but their refusal to do so should not be used against them.

* Provide periodic and systematic training to judges on international human rights law, and in particular the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. This would require, at a minimum, to make the key parts of such jurisprudence regularly available in Albanian.

* The Albanian High Court should use its constitutional powers to guarantee freedom of expression and the press in compliance with international and European human rights law and practice. In particular, the High Court should ensure that appeals against decisions of lower courts are not arbitrarily dismissed as inadmissible.

* The Albanian High Council of Justice should investigate instances of apparent judicial bias or serious professional inadequacy in the defamation trials reviewed in this report.

On State Advertising Laws and Practices:
* Take immediate steps to ensure the unbiased and apolitical allocation of state advertising, in accordance with Albania's public procurement and other laws.

* Consider amending such laws to make them more consistent and to include additional guarantees against abuse by government officials for political reasons or personal gain. Ban the allocation of state advertising through non-competitive procedures, such as direct procurement, except under narrowly defined, exceptional circumstances.

* Investigate allegations of improper allocation of state advertising, including cases of retaliation against media criticism of government officials or agencies. Discipline officials responsible for abuse of discretion.

* The High State Control (Albania's public audit agency) should ensure compliance with state advertising laws, and take appropriate disciplinary action against official abuse.

* Increase the transparency of state advertising. This can be done, for example, by requiring all government entities subject to public procurement laws to publish detailed, periodic reports of their advertising activities and the procedures used to assign advertising contracts.

* Establish an independent body to allocate any form of government subsidies to the media, in accordance with the principles and procedures set forth in the relevant recommendations of the Council of Europe.

* Take steps to stop the politically-motivated harassment of private businesses that advertise with the opposition or critical media.

To Albanian Journalists' Associations:
* Promote compliance with the journalists' code of ethics and in particular the voluntary publication of apologies, corrections, and replies for inaccurate or unfair statements.

* Promote the pursuit of available constitutional and judicial remedies for the enforcement of press freedoms and the right to information. Such avenues may include, when appropriate, petitions to the Albanian Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights, as well as motions for compliance with the freedom of information law (with competent courts and the People's Advocate).

To the International Community:
* Urge the Albanian authorities to ensure full respect for media freedoms in bilateral and multilateral meetings, and follow up on the Albanian government's commitments regarding media freedom.

* Monitor closely the activities of Albanian law enforcement agencies, and condition any aid to those agencies on their improving their human rights record. Report publicly on police violence and intimidation of media professionals.

* Enhance monitoring and reporting of media freedom violations related to coverage of Albanian elections. Such monitoring should take place during campaign periods, on election day and through possible run-offs.

* Evaluate and report on the performance of the Albanian judiciary with respect to enforcement of freedom of expression standards and human rights generally. Assist the Albanian authorities in designing training and other mechanisms to address the identified shortcomings. Support scholarly reviews of the human rights jurisprudence of Albanian courts.

* Call upon the Albanian government to ensure the fair and disinterested allocation of state advertising to a diverse range of media outlets.

* The World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should make respect for media freedoms an element of their country assistance strategies. Support for a free and independent media should also become an integral part of efforts to combat corruption in Albania. In particular, international financial institutions should require the fair allocation of any advertising related to privatization, public construction, or other projects in which they are involved.

* Support the development of civil society organizations committed to media monitoring and development, including credible and impartial mechanisms for surveying circulation and audience levels.

To the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE):
* The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media should take steps to enhance OSCE monitoring of media freedoms in Albania and to engage the Albanian authorities in a structured dialogue to remedy continuing abuses, including those set out in this report.

* Call for the abolition of criminal defamation in Albania.

* The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights should thoroughly investigate and publicly report on cases of harassment and assaults on the media in the course of Albanian elections.

* The OSCE Presence in Albania should monitor and report publicly on violence against media professionals, and defamation trials involving journalist defendants. It should also undertake ongoing monitoring of the allocation of state advertising, and assist the Albanian authorities in improving relevant laws and practices in that area.

To the Council of Europe:
* Pay closer attention to violations of media freedoms in Albania in the context of the Parliamentary Assembly's monitoring procedure on the honoring of obligations and commitments by member states. In this respect, the Monitoring Committee should reconsider the assessment of the situation contained in its June 2000 report.

* Continue assistance to the Albanian authorities on the drafting of a new press law and support amendments necessary to bring Albania's criminal and civil defamation laws in line with international standards.

* Assist the Albanian authorities in providing systematic and periodic training to judges and prosecutors of all levels on the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court. As a matter of priority, such training should cover freedom of expression and fair trial issues.

* Assist the Albanian Chamber of Advocates and/or journalist associations in providing training for interested journalists and defense attorneys on defamation issues and internationally protected media freedoms.

To the European Union:
* Condition progress in Albania's Stabilization and Association Process on respect for media freedoms. The EU should insist on sustained and effective measures to prevent and punish violence against journalists, improvements in the judiciary's human rights performance, and guarantees that allocation of state advertising is not abused for political purposes.

* Make human rights training of judges and prosecutors a priority of the joint European Commission-Council of Europe assistance to the Albanian judicial system. Such assistance should include support for the establishment of a continued legal education system for Albanian legal professionals.

To the United Nations (U.N.)
* The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression should follow up on his findings and recommendations from his visit to Albania in June 2000, including his recommendation that criminal defamation be removed from the Albanian Criminal Code. The Special Rapporteur should also raise with the Albanian authorities the outstanding issues of intimidation and violence against journalists, defamation laws and trials, freedom of information, and state advertising.

* The U.N. treaty bodies should strongly urge Albania to comply with its long-overdue reporting obligations under all human rights treaties it has adhered to. In reviewing Albania's compliance with the respective treaty obligations, the treaty bodies, and the Human Rights Committee in particular, should consider the violations of media freedom cited in this report.