Mid-Dlam
Ghad-Dawl (MDD) works with both prisoners and their families.
Our members visit all inmates in Malta’s only prison once
a week. We had been denied access to the Juvenile Section for
four years but permission was granted again on the 30th December
2003. Meanwhile, family support groups are held to aid families
every fortnight. A project that will secure the interests of
victims of crime will be launched in December 2004 – Victim
Support Malta.
2003 has been a very important year for our
organisation. Membership has been strengthened and it is now
possible to
work on a broader level. The introduction of the International
Desk, of which I am responsible, was part of the restructuring
that took place. The launch of our new web site occurred in
May 2003 – www.mddmalta.org. The number of inmates in the Maltese prison
(Corradino Correctional Facility – CCF fluctuates between
250-300, out of which approximately 25% are foreigners. The majority
of these are
Arabs, but there are also a good number of Africans, as well
as Europeans. Around ten inmates are African holding European
passports. The Female Section, having constantly 15-20 inmates
is overwhelmed with foreigners, these being always over 80%. In
2003, the Maltese prison saw the appointment of a new Director
with which we have excellent and continuous
contact.
A new, modern division also started being used and will help
better the classification of prisoners and solve the problem
of crowding. The report of the European Commissioner for Human
Rights (COE), Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, based on a visit of October
2003, described the conditions in the Maltese prisons as "satisfactory". In 2003 MDD started assisting European inmates in asking for
transfer under the 1983 Convention. The main difficulty encountered
is the harsh sentencing policy adopted over the last decade,
particularly in drug related offences. Drug trafficking carries
a maximum of life imprisonment, and this simply means for life
under Maltese Law. This outlines the difficulty to transfer
prisoners, bearing in mind that most inmates are sentenced
on drug related offences. The Maltese Government is constantly
refusing to adhere to the sentence conversion procedure prescribed
in the Convention, and we have seen Dutch and Italian prisoners
being denied transfer due to the disparity in sentencing. MDD also focuses on the Arab and African
prisoners. In fact, we have a liaison in Libya, which is
assisting contacts with
prisoners’ families and the authorities. Our Board of
Directors made a courtesy visit to Libya in February 2003,
whilst a month earlier they met the Nigerian Community. Transfers
are much easier given that Malta and Libya have a bilateral
agreement in this respect. A similar agreement agrees with
Egypt, and another with Morocco is underway. In respect of Maltese prisoners abroad, we have commenced
contact with them. Given that the government does not yet provide
us with such information, we are able to gather it from their
families. Hence, contact with Maltese prisoners in Italy has
just started. It is a priority to get the information from
our government as it is precluding us from working with our
co-nationals.
Report by Tonio
Cachia - Official
for the International Desk
Email contact
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