"If none of us is willing to die for freedom..." atëherë të gjithë ne do të vdesim nën tirani.” — *Timothy Snyder
"Dear reader,"
Confronting the communist past of the country, which marked severe violations of human rights during the second half of the 20th century, constitutes the primary objective of the Authority for Information on the Documents of the Former State Security since its establishment and operation in 2017. This confrontation is carried out by the AIDSSH through access to the archival documents of the former State Security and by cross-referencing documents from other national archives, testimonies from the affected and survivors, and analyses by historians and scholars from various fields that intersect with the issues surrounding the events of the past.
Albania was admitted as a member of the United Nations on December 14, 1955, after numerous requests in which the government committed to:accepting without any reservations all the obligations arising from the UN Charter and that it was ready to fulfill them..”[1]
But who were these rights and did the Albanian government fulfill them?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, defines the fundamental human rights, such as: the right to life, liberty, and personal security, protection from torture and inhuman or unequal treatment, personal freedom and security, protection from slavery, freedom from arbitrary decisions, pre-trial detentions, and unlawful imprisonments, freedom of thought, speech, and political representation, the right to a fair trial, and the right to an adequate standard of health and medical treatment.
This convention also defines the rights related to imprisonment, such as: the right to be protected from physical or psychological mistreatment, to serve the sentence in humane conditions, to receive information regarding the sentence; to communicate with family, lawyers, and consular authorities, in accordance with the rules and limitations set by law, to receive visits from family members, friends, and human rights organizations, to request a review of the sentence, and for rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Regardless of the political system, the international community has agreed that human rights are universal and must be respected by all countries. However, human rights and the rights of dissenters (individuals who oppose the regime) in totalitarian countries, such as Albania and in countries with similar political systems, where censorship, pressure, and persecution were imposed, have been violated.
The United Nations and other human rights organizations have tried to protect the rights of dissenters and influence totalitarian governments to change their practices. However, totalitarian states, like Albania, have disregarded these efforts and used force and violence to eliminate dissent.
"Dear reader,"
In February 2023, by order of the Authority, a working group was established with the aim of commemorating one of the most significant events of the rebellion against the dictatorial regime—the 50th anniversary of the first major revolt at the Spaçi prison on May 21, 1973. It was a two-day uprising by the prisoners, which caused a strong shock to the security institutions and alarmed the communist leadership.
Torture, violence, forced and unpaid labor, poor working conditions, slave exploitation, mistreatment, malnutrition, punishment in solitary confinement under temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius, death from the collapse of galleries, suicides from despair, and then unjust re-sentences of 25 years in prison, executions on charges of committing so-called terrorist acts—these are all key terms in the history of Spaçi.
To bring the narrative of this revolt to light, thousands of archival document pages were reviewed and studied, providing the working group with information about the uprising, its protagonists, the resistance against police violence, the siege by numerous military forces, tanks, and helicopters, and the subsequent suppression of the revolt, the arrest, and execution of four prisoners considered the most active, along with the re-sentencing of 66 other prisoners.
For the creation of this archival collection, the working group did not limit itself to internal research. In addition to the archival documents of the former State Security, other official documents were added, secured through institutional cooperation, from which even more was learned about the nature of this forced labor camp.
The call from the ADSSH to shed light on the atrocities in this political prison and forced labor camp was answered with the testimonies and expertise of professors and mining engineers, including Dr. Viktor Doda, former Minister of Energy and Mines, and former engineer at this mine, as well as Prof. Dr. Kimet.
Fetau, a professor in Geology-Mining, the economist Fran Gjergji from "Albakër," and Dr. Femi Sufaj, Deputy Director General of Prisons, introduced us to the work involved in extracting copper and pyrite, the inhumane conditions, the work quotas, and the laughable wages, in stark contrast to the millions the state earned from exploiting the labor of political prisoners.
Through this collaboration, the AIDSSH secured findings that had not been made public before, such as: the political prisoners in this camp were used as a labor machine, mistreated, malnourished, and poorly paid. Only after meeting the over-100% work quota did they receive just 10% of the wage of a miner in free working conditions. The labor of the prisoners generated significant revenue, which was used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Finance for investments. Data from the archives revealed that in 1969, the mining system extracted only 50,000 tons of copper, while by 1981, production had increased by about 200,000 tons per year. By cross-referencing archival documents, the working group at the Authority concluded that, over 23 years, Spaçi became a forced labor camp where 2,000 political prisoners produced 2.82 million tons of copper and 1.3 million tons of pyrite, from which 2,500 kg of gold was extracted.
The analysis of archival documents from the former State Security, along with other official documents, authentic oral testimonies from former political prisoners at this camp, and communication with local institutions, led the AIDSSH to uncover new facts regarding the existence of the remains of missing individuals—those who were killed or died while serving their sentences at the Spaçi prison.
The research conducted in the documents of various institutions, such as the General Directorate of Prisons, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the General Directorate of Archives, confirmed the fact that some of the former detainees—those executed, killed, or who died from exhaustion and illness during their sentence, accidents at work, or during escape attempts—still do not have a grave.
Based on this, the Authority decided to initiate an administrative investigation procedure to verify the suspected burial sites and clarify the fate of the forty-four missing individuals. This process includes cooperation with local government bodies to protect the sites from being altered, as well as collaboration with law enforcement institutions for the recovery of the remains of individuals who were killed or died during their sentence at the Spaçi prison.
The disappearance of graves, as observed, served two purposes: not only to silence opponents and critics but also to create insecurity and fear among others, forcing them to remain silent and not oppose the authorities.
The disappearance of graves constitutes a violation of the fundamental human rights declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations. For the missing person, this includes the right to liberty, the right to personal security and humane treatment (including freedom from torture), the right to a fair trial, to legal representation, to equal protection under the law, and the right to the presumption of innocence. The victims also include their families, who spend the rest of their lives searching for information about their missing loved ones.
The full framework of the history of Spaçi was completed with the collection of over 50 audiovisual testimonies from individuals who survived the punishment in Spaçi and from the families of those who were executed, as well as from those who suffered there. Spaçi has been widely discussed over the years, with notable figures of the time giving testimonies, such as Visar Zhiti, poet and former minister, Fatos Lubonja, a publicist and active media figure, and painter Maks Velo through his works. However, the AIDSSH went further, expanding the circle of witnesses. Their voices, which had been silent until now, are now part of history.
Through the testimonies, and by documenting the fate of the families, we captured the class struggle. The accounts from the children of former prisoners in this labor camp reveal dreams of education cut short, the fear of possible internment, and the confrontation with the stigma of being the "child of the enemy of the people."
Leonard Dervish Bejko, the son of former prisoner Dervish Bejko, a protagonist of the revolt who was sentenced to execution, in his testimony shares his intense, traumatic experiences of growing up without a father. He speaks with rightful pride about the values his father's figure conveys, while also expressing the meaningful hope that one day his remains will be returned to the family.
Their testimonies will be carefully managed and made available to any researcher at any time, in accordance with the archival regulations of the Republic of Albania and the will of the citizens who have entrusted us with their stories, through the agreement signed with the interviewer. The AIDSSH undertakes to manage and preserve these recordings to the standard of a valuable historical archive.
In this memory project, the AIDSSH made sure to include students from the country's artistic schools, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports, through the organization of a national competition to create a logo dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Spaçi Revolt. The final goal was to educate the new generation about the injustices of the past and the growing need to respect the victims. The winning logo was used throughout 2023 in the official written communication of the Authority and is part of this publication.
"Dear reader,"
The methodology developed within the framework of the project. "50 years since the Revolt in the Spaçi Prison" "Implemented by the AIDSSH, with access to archival documents, analysis of internal sources and specialized resources of the Authority, the acquisition of academic knowledge from contracted experts, the collection of over 50 testimonies from survivors and their families, the administrative investigation into forced disappearances, the analysis of legal facts concerning unjust sentences and harsh re-sentencing that violated even the laws of the time, testimonies about mistreatment and dehumanization, and the involvement of youth in the memory process through the creation of the logo, all of this has brought us today to this book dedicated to the memory of the victims of a time that must never return."
In it, you will read about the judicial process, political sentences, re-sentencing, unpaid labor, the missing, testimonies of survivors, and the experiences of their families.
They were ready to die for freedom. They fought against tyranny from the trenches created by it and died to give us the lesson: Be brave, stand against tyranny! Because, as it is said, Timothy Snyder “"If none of us is ready to die for freedom, then we will all die under tyranny."[5]
What do we learn from the past, and what do we want to leave behind?
Ky libër është një mësim që vjen nga historia e djeshme për shoqërinë e sotme.
The compensation of former political prisoners continues to be accompanied by its own set of problems. The authorities in power over the past three decades have paid little attention to the psychological rehabilitation of former detainees, uncovering the truth, public apology, and genuine remembrance. If these areas improve, it will mean we are taking steps that ensure non-repetition.
For the AIDSSH, the challenge remains the communication of messages to specific age groups, especially pre-university students. Despite numerous projects aimed at improving history education in schools, critical thinking, historical empathy, and multiple perspectives have not yet been successfully fostered.
The official history curriculum, according to the analysis by the expert contracted by the AIDSSH, generally avoids discussing the severe human rights violations committed against other groups or addressing other sensitive topics. Therefore, the Authority has taken it upon itself to produce special publications on the Spaçi Revolt, with texts written for these age groups by children's authors, supported by the academic expertise of the best historians of this period.
The children's book and an adapted film about the event and its history are planned to be part of the educational platform. "Learning from the Past – Open Educational Resources 1944-1991"", which aims to assist history teachers in conveying the event to students in the pre-university system. The archival collection, testimonies, legal analysis, and the children's story will also be part of the website that commemorates the Spaçi Revolt."
Through this ensemble of media, teaching and educational productions, we want to commemorate how political prisoners in the infamous Spaç prison fought against unjust sentences, against torture, violence, tyranny, and to echo a historical event, the victims of which still wait to be treated with justice and dignity. Further acts of reflection are expected from society, both in terms of the rehabilitation of all former convicts, and the return of the Spaç prison camp to a museum of collective memory to remember that crimes against life and human dignity were committed there.
Dr.Gentiana Sula
Chairman of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents
[2]https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%ABshilli_i_Kombeve_t%C3%AB_Bashkuara_p%C3%ABr_t%C3%AB_Drejtat_e_Njeriut
[3] Arkivi i AIDSSH,File "Object of special importance Spaç, Re-education Department no. 303"; file no. 335, year 1973, "Some conclusions on an extraordinary event in the re-education department of enemies of the people in Spaç"; Investigative-judicial file for the five groups of prisoners who were re-convicted for the revolt, including those sentenced to death.
[4] The penal system in Albania during the communist regime, autor Femi Sufaj (1945-1990)
[5] Timothy Snyder, Author of "Twenty Lessons of the 20th Century," American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust.
[6] On the inclusion of knowledge about the crimes of communism in pre-university school curricula", by Prof. Dr. Aljula Jubani, AIDSSH study, 2023