During this year, UNDP has assisted the Albanian government with several issues, such as monitoring the quality of drinking water for the capital and helping Albania participate in various international seminars, mainly on economic issues. In an interview with ATSH correspondent, Mr. Jean Nicolas Marshali, UNDP representative in Albania, stated, among other things: «This year we are discussing with the Committee for Exchange and Technology and the various ministries how to use our resources for next year. Albania wants to join the developed countries, and based on this classification we have decided to grant Albania free assistance of 15–18 million US dollars for technical assistance over the next four years. This also includes postgraduate training or the provision of scholarships for students abroad. We will also help the Albanian government reform the central and local administration and reorganize the ministries and their structures, work that we have already begun with the assistance of the World Bank. We will help Albania reform the industrial sector. In this field we have the support of the World Bank, Germany and Italy. There is another sector in which we will support the Albanian government: science and technology, through their reform and the provision of the relevant resources in this field. (ATSH)

Frequent changes in local government during the year have led to numerous social problems accumulating in the capital, requiring solutions. Particularly evident is the uncontrolled movement of the population. In recent years, uncertain about their lives, hundreds of families from the districts rushed to settle on the outskirts of the capital in the hope of a better life. Thanks to the legal paralysis of that time, they did what they could: they put together a shelter and found work, even though they did not have residence registration. Many other families likewise arrived with proper documents, which have been sitting in the archives of the relevant offices at various levels of government for years. Thus, the number of people displaced from the districts has grown day by day, and today the sins of the old officials have been left at the door of the new government. Of course, for this city’s major troubles, the representative of the old government and the [unclear] ultimatum to leave. Meanwhile, newcomers are everywhere: they build a house in Tirana and get a job, and, strangely, nobody has asked them for any documents, nor is anyone asking them now! It is quite obvious that the old officials must have liked such a muddle. As the saying goes, “the wolf wants fog.” Until recently, an appeal signed by [someone] and addressed to residents of the districts, urging them to come to Tirana, had been circulating. Residence registration was a very tempting field for business, but the sudden turn of events burned their papers in their hands. Even though someone had taken a deposit for this “paperwork,” around 1,800 applications for residence permits are now held at the district council alone. But how many more are held by the communes and the city municipality? If someone exceeds the permitted period of stay, the representative of the old government determines that they must wants fog.” Thus, to this day, thousands of applications for residence permits are being quietly kept on hold under this unwritten system, without [unclear]. And this is not without consequences. People who face government-office clerks every day raise their voices, insisting that this is an injustice being done to them, while the clerks reply: “We don’t know…” In Tirana around 3,000 families live without residence registration! — For this reason, some of them are also losing their right to social assistance. — Has the free movement of people been made legal? With proper documents that have been [unclear]… residence registration has been of events burned their papers in their hands. Although communes and the city municipality? In our country, many former political prisoners have still not received legal exoneration. They have only been amnestied and, as a result, do not enjoy the rights of a citizen who has been criminally convicted [text unclear]. Law 7514, dated 30.9.1991, “On the exoneration, amnesty and rehabilitation of former political prisoners and persecuted persons”… The question arises: Should residence permits be granted to newcomers from the districts? If we refer to international conventions that establish human rights, it follows that every citizen has the right to live wherever they wish. From conversations I have had with local-government representatives, when the issue of residence registration has come up, although they acknowledge this right of the citizen, their silence has led me to understand that they do not want to encourage the granting of residence permits in Tirana. This, have been archived for years in the desk drawers of officials at different levels of government. Thus, the number of people who have moved from the districts has continued to grow day by day, and today the old rulers’ mess has course, given the major problems facing the capital, this fact is a mere drop in the bucket; nevertheless, some 3,000 families without registered residency are not so few that they can simply be ignored. The reader can imagine the circumstances of a resident who is not registered in Tirana. They cannot be born, they cannot be educated, they cannot work, they cannot receive a pension, they cannot... and they cannot die in Tirana. Of course, such laws exist all over the world. Wherever you is not the only manifestation of negligence in this regard. For some time now, they have been out of work for 5–6 months and have been going back and forth to complete the documents. But under the pretext that they “are not registered in Tirana,” they have been sent from one place to another for months; and now, even if their residence permit is approved, they have lost their right to assistance, since according to the law only people who had ended their employment within 30 days were entitled to assistance. Therefore, since the right to assistance was not approved within the month, they do not receive it. So if the government truly wishes to provide assistance to these people, with such… (Continued on page 2) find a school, complain to the government. Also troubling is the fact that, taking into account that even those who are registered and have been granted assistance are not being paid. Some of them have been out of work for 5–6 months and keep coming only those to assistance.

On the scandal involving aid from “Levante Co” (According to a statement made by the administrator of the firm “Levante Co” in the daily newspaper “La Gazeta del Mezzogiorno”), In a statement concerning the gifts made by this concession, Perniola continues, they were subsequently approved by the government in Tirana, which transmitted them through the Italian Embassy in Tirana. Thus, “Levante-Co,” seeking to clear itself of responsibility for its activities, shifts part of the scandal onto the Albanian government of that time. Who is responsible, “Levante-Co” or the former Albanian government? Or are we perhaps dealing with joint responsibility, based on an unwritten agreement between representatives of the Albanian government and “Levante-Co”? Will the truth about this matter come out, or will it too be shrouded in the mysterious shadow of the corruption of that period? shadow of the corruption of that period? shadow of the corruption of that period? E. PALOKA

In recent days, the arrival of food aid from various countries, including Italy, Turkey, the European Community, etc., has intensified. Aware of the importance of this aid, the workers at the seaport of Durrës are working at high productivity to handle the goods. Special praise is due to the personnel of the “Pelican” operation, who, through their discipline, diligence and self-sacrifice, have earned the respect and gratitude of our people. Such work has made it possible to distribute aid even to the most remote areas of Albania. However, some districts have created obstacles and difficulties for the normal distribution of food products. In Burrel, Lushnjë, Berat, Tirana, Fier, Kuçovë, etc., Italian convoys have been greatly delayed during unloading because of poor organization and a lack of workers or warehouses. The most flagrant case is that of the district of Berat, where workers were absent and the Italian servicemen had to unload 130 tons of sugar and rice themselves, working until 2:00 a.m. In Lushnjë, the unloading of five containers with 95 tons[?] began at 10:00 in the morning and ended at 11:00 p.m., delaying the Italian vehicles beyond the prescribed limits and disrupting the distribution schedule for the other districts. In addition, some districts that are to receive relatively small quantities of goods, for which Italian vehicle convoys cannot be sent, do not send their own vehicles, despite repeated notifications from the aid coordination and distribution office. The “Pelican” command also has complaints about the police forces in some districts, which do not escort the convoys or protect them during distribution, thereby enabling theft and misuse. Since several ships carrying substantial quantities of food are being handled simultaneously at the port of Durrës, and even larger quantities are expected to arrive, local authorities in the districts need to remedy these shortcomings, which are due to human factors, so as not to cause such anomalies that delay the supply of food to the population. (ATSH)

At the proposal of the Council of Ministers, on 5.6.1992 the President of the Republic issued Decree No. 203, concerning the declaration and verification of profits made from 1.1.1990. When this decree was issued, those with a guilty conscience began to feel fear in their bones. At last, the day would come when the bosses of the transition period would have to account for their sins. Under the decree in question, the Council of Ministers was supposed to assign duties to subordinate bodies for its implementation and review the situation in September, with the conclusions of the review to be reported to the People’s Assembly. But now October is coming to a close and this report has not been submitted to the Assembly! Why? Surely there is nothing to present, since the decree has not been implemented! Basically, it has not been implemented anywhere! Wherever you ask, no one can show you any material proving that work is being done on this, apart from the decree signed by the President. Thus, now that the deadline for declaring taxable income has passed, the corruption of the red nomenklatura can breathe freely again. Indeed, its members are now also making successful debuts in scandals. Of course, we cannot conclude this observation without mentioning the responsibilities of the advisers and [unclear] attached to the President and the Prime Minister, who should be present at every session on the revision of the laws of the Albanian state. Z. LESHI

The Embassy of the State of Palestine presents its compliments to the newspaper «Rilindja Demokratike» and has the honor to inform you that it is pleased to regard your newspaper as an important publication serving the democratic processes in Albania. We are pleased to note that, from time to time, news and activities concerning the Palestinian people’s cause have also found coverage in your newspaper. Thanking you for your goodwill, we hope for more fruitful cooperation in the future. ALI KURDI Ambassador of the State of Palestine

Television announcers get excited when they announce that funds will come from all over to put a line or an industry into operation, and so on. Because to hold out your hand and beg in order to put into operation industries that are completely outdated, inefficient, and even totally worn out is just like driving yet another knife into the wound-ridden body of the national economy, Television announcers get excited when they announce that funds will come from all over to put a line or an industry into operation, and so on. Because to hold out your hand and beg in order to put into operation industries that are completely outdated, inefficient, and even totally worn out is just like driving yet another knife into the wound-ridden body of the national economy. This is the path that the “restructuring” of the Albanian economy should follow, if we want Albania too to become part of Europe. But is this happening everywhere? Unfortunately not! So that there may also be a key, as well as lower prices, thanks to the application of contemporary technologies. wound-ridden body of the national economy. Undoubtedly, assistance must be sought, indeed persistently. But it should serve primarily to modernize industry and mineral extraction, agriculture and the processing of agricultural produce, env- lower prices thanks to the application of contemporary technologies, Undoubtedly, assistance must be sought, indeed insistently. But it should serve primarily to modernize the mineral-extraction industry, agriculture, and the processing of agricultural products, The offices authorized to issue licenses, before issuing them, must have the approval of groups of specially selected specialists (appointed by the Committee of Science and Technology itself), who guarantee that the investment is genuinely profitable. Otherwise, what is the point of doing it! The inhumane communist regime that ruled for half a century in our coun- Regardless of who makes the investment—the state or a private party, a joint venture or a foreigner—it must not be allowed even to begin unless it is carried out on the basis of the latest advances in science and technology, which are the only guarantee of high efficiency. our country for half a century, in order to keep people in perpetual poverty by making them dependent on the regime even for a safe to keep their bread in, made the factories and workshops it opened, the production lines and kilns it established, merely so that people would have somewhere to work. “In the future, when capitalism has put down roots in the Albanian economy, this game of imposing restrictions and issuing licenses, and these opinions, will automatically be entirely eliminated. For then the economic laws of capitalism will operate with all their force: those of value, supply and demand, competition, etc. But now we are in a transitional period, and if we proceed backwards, the transition will be prolonged without limit. So let us not postpone the ‘victory’ of capitalism in Albania any longer. RENATO SOTIRI

Of the Albanian Helsinki Committee on the exoneration of all former political prisoners . prisoners and persecuted persons”… leaves outside the scope of exoneration people who were convicted of acts set out in Chapter I of the Criminal Code as crimes against the state. But the articles in this politicized chapter were based on recognition of the Fatherland and the State as entities that accepted only socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat. People who may have organized movements or uprisings, or taken part in them to overthrow the dictatorship, were convicted of treason against the Fatherland and, under the aforementioned law, do not receive exoneration. Exoneration should not have been granted only to people convicted for their political beliefs, but also to those who acted to put their democratic beliefs into practice. The police state established after 1945 also misapplied certain articles of the Criminal Code, such as the one concerning espionage, etc. Under this accusation, people were convicted merely for a meeting or conversation with a foreigner. Others were punished as activists in organizations that operated outside the INC and were labeled traitorous organizations, at a time when their members had been proclaimed martyrs of democracy. and when our history has not yet delivered its final judgment on their role in the fate of the Fatherland. The blame still weighs even on former political prisoners who took a hostile stance toward other states of the former socialist camp. At the time the law “On guilt...” was proclaimed, it was a great victory for democracy and was accompanied by many measures favoring this segment of the population. But the Albanian Helsinki Committee believes that this law is inadequate for former prisoners and evasive. Completing it, or passing a new law, would further consolidate democracy by establishing the legal status of former political prisoners. The presumption of innocence for every person convicted of so-called crimes against the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat should be a legal presumption. In particular cases, the law may provide for the reconsideration of cases by the courts where evidence of guilt is involved, but these must always be assessed according to the fundamental principles of the legislation of all democratic countries. The Albanian Helsinki Committee calls on the Government and the People’s Assembly to prepare and promulgate as soon as possible the law that will grant former political prisoners legal exoneration and restore to these people all their civil rights. Albanian Helsinki Committee Chairman ISUF VRIONI ... [??] political and the rehabilitation of former political people who were convicted of acts provided for in Chapter I of the Penal and the State only as socialist and as a the above-mentioned law, do not receive exoneration. Exoneration should not be into practice. The police state established after 1945 also distorted the application of certain articles of the Penal charge, people were convicted merely for meeting or talking with a foreigner. Others were persecuted as activists of organizations that operated outside the INC and were described as treasonous organizations, at a time when their members had been declared martyrs of democracy