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Spaç Prison Camp

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Emri Spaç Prison Camp
Vendndodhja: Spaç, Mirditë
Viti i Ndërtimit: 1968
Viti i Mbylljes: 1990
Burimi i Informacionit: Kastriot Dervishi
  • In the spring of 1968, after ‘wandering’ and building the greatest works of socialism, Unit No. 303 stopped at their last station in Spaç. The purpose of the settlement was to extract the ore in Spaç and process it in Reps, a place where a copper enrichment plant was built.

    On 28 April 1968, the last transfer of convicts took place from Elbasan to Spaç in Mirditë. The former convict, Kristo Mema, says that the date of his arrival is 20 April 1968. The former commander, Haxhi Gora, writes in a letter dated 18 September 1980 that the relocation of convicts continued throughout April. Based on the testimony of Robert Vullkani, it turns out that the prisoners arrived in three groups in Spaç.

    Tanush Kaso was one of the people who moved from Elbasan to Spaç. The convicts were those placed in 7 large sheet metal and wooden barracks, covered with bituminous membranes. Nearly 100 convicts stayed in a barrack. Some prisoners were: Ali Hoxha (musician), Osman Kazazi, Haki Slatina, Astrit Delvina, Robert Vullkani, Ernest Troshani, Vangjel Lezho, etc. Later came convicts as Father Zef Pllumi, etc. The command was placed outside the camp surrounding. As soon as prisoners arrived, a protest started because they did not want to work in the mine. From this, the former military prisoner, Dilaver Radeshi, went on a prolonged hunger strike, which he interrupted only by the arrival of his mother in prison. Pyrite and copper was mined in Spaç. The mine was highly primitive, equipped only with some wooden armature. The water was unhealthy, containing many minerals from the Spaç’s soil. Many convicts quickly lost their teeth due to the hard water.

    According to the unit security scheme, Spaç was a camp surrounded by rugged terrain. There were 30 guard posts. Four military platoons served to secure the unit. Minerals were mined in 4 such areas.

    Spaç convicts had the following personal belongings: 2 pairs of clothes, one aluminium or plastic bottle, one toothbrush, one notebook, one bowl, one aluminium spoon, one mattress, blankets (number untold), and one sheet.

    According to the internal regulations of the camp, convicts had to obey the command for everything; they had to perform the work norm, etc. They were allowed to receive 15 kg of items from their families (fruits and vegetables were not included), to meet family members two times a month for 15 minutes, to send two letters a month to their family members (always within the country), to subscribe to the press, etc. Telegrams and postcards were allowed without restriction. Convicts could also write letters to the Central Committee of the Labour Party of Albania, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the High Court, the Ministry of Interior, local bodies, etc.

    On 17 June 1968, convicts tried to build a tunnel to escape but failed. During 1969, 15 people attempted to escape, of whom six were captured or neutralized, and nine others were captured within 1–8 days. A case study found that 61% of them had chosen the lousy weather, with fog, rain, and snow, after having studied the guards’ conditions. Escape attempts occurred during shift changes or from mine galleries.

    Residential palaces gradually replaced barracks. Around 1971, the first prisoners’ block was built. In 1973 work began on the construction of the second block adjacent to the first. In case of war, the unit would move to Berat.

    The unit organized the work according to a daily plan. The main points of this plan were according to a schedule:

    5:30 am waking up

    6:00 am – 6:30 am breakfasts

    7:00 am – 3 pm work in the mine

    5 pm – 5:10 pm appeals

    5:10 pm – 7:30 pm reading of the press and materials of the Labour Party of Albania

    8 pm – 8:30 pm lunch

    9 pm – 5:30 am sleep

    During 1973, there were 65 objections about going to work. After taking repressive measures that year, a year later, the figure dropped to 7.

    The plan was to extract 59,600 tons of copper by November 1973. Fifty-nine thousand seven hundred two tons had been extracted. For pyrite, 32,858 tons was extracted, or 1.8 thousand above the plan.

    The plan for 1974 was to extract 65,000 tons of copper. Seventy-six thousand was extracted. For pyrite, 43,000 tons or 3,000 over the plan was extracted.

    In 1975, about 517 people worked in the unit, while 152 convicts were locked up in cells.

    In 1975, 356 firearms, mostly automatic, were in the Spaç unit.

    In a 1976 report, the unit command reported:

    ‘In Unit No. 303 Spaç, for four years, have been no escapes of convicts. Two who attempted in 1975 were annihilated without leaving the camp surroundings. Enemies of the Party and the People, with a pronounced social danger, are being punished in Spaç.’ ‘The staff have difficulties in securing them in the ward and work fronts, due to the terrain where this ward is deployed,’ it was said in the annual report of prisons.

    In 1976, 96,513 tons of copper was extracted out of the 90,000 tons planned. In the same year, 36,057 tons of pyrite was extracted out of the 36,000 tons planned.

    In 1976, Unit 303 employed 633 convicts, of whom only 67 were ordinary. The number of prison staff guarding convicts at the time was 152 persons.

    Escapes from the camp could only be made in working moments, through short galleries. Thus, on 9 December 1977, convicts Stavro Guxo and Manol Qirici escaped unharmed, slipping through all the vigilance of the camp guards.

    The data of the camp command dated 26 December 1977 informs us that the capacity of the two buildings were meant for 762 prisoners, while at that time, there were 73 more, making up a total of 835 prisoners.

    At the end of January 1977, there were 725 political prisoners and 28 ordinary prisoners. At the end of December 1977, this number reached 877 political and 48 ordinary prisoners.

    At the end of January 1978, there were 877 political prisoners and 48 ordinary prisoners. At the end of November 1978, there were 905 political prisoners and 37 ordinary prisoners.

    A piece of information dated 14 October 1978 stated that the convicts Vasil Ziu, Frederik Shestani, Refik Beqo, Ushtar Çobo, Ilir Agaraj, Nikolla Shyti, and Gaspër Gaspri had refused to go to work saying that they were ill. For this action, they were convicted of entering the cell.

    If we look at the statistics, we will notice, for example, that only in January-July 1979 the prisoners had mined:

    – 89,459 tons of copper.

    – 3,275 tons of pyrite.

    – 2,547 metres of linear works.

    The quality of the ore was 0.93.

    All works exceeded the planned productivity.

    The heights at which the convicts worked were 698-700 meters above sea level. There were exits to the outside of the camp in almost all galleries. But to get out, you had to know them. Suspected escape galleries were blocked. However, not every gallery could be closed. According to a piece of information dated 24 August 1978, the Spaç camp had three checkpoints due to maximum security conditions.

    On 11 June 1979, the convict Refik Beqo was killed. He was shot at from 5 guard posts, whereas the number of shooters was 13–17 (there were 30 guard posts total). After emphasizing the good sides of such ruthless shooting against the ‘enemy element’, the command criticized the useless waste of ammunition from 5 directions.

    At the end of January 1979, there were 920 political prisoners and 31 ordinary prisoners. Five hundred thirty convicts worked underground. At the end of September 1979, there were 919 political prisoners and 25 ordinary prisoners.

    In Spaç, the food was of poor quality, entirely outside any standard. After all, while food was terrible for military units, restaurants, or the general population, no miracle was expected in Spaç. But what is even more genocidal is the systematic way of poisoning that has been used against prisoners. Not in vain, the convicted Pal Gjergj Zefi (who caused the start of the Spaç Revolt of 21 May 1973), executed by firing squad, tells the investigator that the food he had consumed was poisoning by weakening the consumer and giving him a slow death. This is painful, considering the hard work that the convicts did, the daily violence they suffered and the numerous isolations.

    In a report dated 27 August 1979, it was acknowledged by the prison command that 150 prisoners had complained of poisoning. To come out clean, the command blamed the prisoners’ own ‘mistakes’ and the convicted doctor Jetulla Gashi, as if he had to answer for the poor quality of food and what the camp leaders were doing. Abdominal pain and vomiting accompanied the daily life of the prisoners. According to the same report, in the summer of 1979, 150 prisoners had expressed concerns.

    On 2 October 1979, the camp command announced that 32 convicts needed to be hospitalized, a relatively high number, knowing that this number is in fact just part of a larger one. During 1979, five convicts had refused food, while the convict Filip Rexha had tried to kill himself by jumping from heights.

    In 1980, 3,483 tons of copper and 1,400 tons of pyrite was extracted, as well as 128 linear meters of galleries. Working in the mine was considered dangerous in the reports of MIA officials, in part because prisoners had no helmets. In 1980 alone, 365 prisoners were injured, of whom one died, and 12 were in serious conditions.

    At the end of June 1980, there were 980 political and 20 ordinary prisoners. In the first half of 1980 alone, 118 convicts had been imprisoned.

    According to the information provided by the unit’s doctor, on 31 May 1980, 531 prisoners were working underground in Spaç. Two hundred ninety-five worked on the ground, and the others did not work due to illness. One hundred twenty-eight prisoners needed hospitalization. The camp itself had a nursing home consisting of 8 beds. A toilet served 60 prisoners. It had only a shower for 60 (if it worked). A prisoner had 1 m2 of space for ventilation out of the in bedroom.

    In 1981, there was an average of 1,056 prisoners (May data, 1,023 politicians, and 33 ordinaries). The capacity of the buildings was 504 people. So there was more than double. For the months of March-April 1981, 18 deaths were reported in Spaç. In June, the number of prisoners reached 1,064 (26 ordinaries only).

    During 1981, 83,623 tons of copper (or 3,000 above plan) and 35,650 tons of pyrite (650 above plan) were mined. Also, 3,184 linear meters of mineral works, exceeding the performance plan.

    According to information dated 20 September 1981, the unit staff and soldiers consisted of one officer, seven non-commissioned officers, and 29 police officers. They originally came 42% from the working class, 33% from the cooperative peasantry, 25% from the police, etc. Soldiers who came from mandatory service guarded only the external protection of the unit.

    On 16 October 1982, soldiers killed the convict Hysen Merdani (convicted of attempted escape) and Rexhep Goçi (convicted of agitation) three days later in an attempt to escape. The command proposed that the shooters receive an award certificate from the MIA.

    In the command’s report dated 20 April 1982, convicts Visar Zhiti, Muharrem Protoduari, Ibrahim Çuni, Zyber Selimi, Rexhep Gojani, Mysli Çelhyseni, Marash Kumbulla, were accused of ‘sabotaging’ the extraction of ore.

    ‘The current facts tell that this category of convicts hold their own positions contrary to party materials and teachings of Comrade Enver, the interests of the socialist society and their family. ‘Therefore, the command has given them punitive measures because they have committed violations for non-compliance with internal rules, keeping prohibited items…’ – the report stated.

    One of the prisoners released in Spaç was Hafiz Sabri Koçi. He suffered imprisonment for 20 years, many of which in Spaç. In this unit, he worked in the potable water system doing the work of a plumber.

    In 1983, 5 reports were brought from the Spaç camp about prisoners Xhevat Alibali, Dhimitër Nani, and Sandër Sokoli (executed a year later due to the Qafë-Bari Revolt), Murat Gjonzeneli and Petro Lekushi. The report dated 2 March 1983 focused on their comments about the book, ‘Titistët.’ For the convicts, Enver Hoxha was considered a student of Tito, while what he had written had no credibility.

    In 1985, the Unit 303 map showed that political and ordinary convicts were separated from each other. Outside the enclosure are the mine offices. On the left side, as soon as you enter the camp, the ordinary convicts were surrounded by a complex of 8 buildings. Five handicraft facilities are by the main road of the camp. Below them are 11 buildings (2 of which are residential) for political prisoners.

    In 1985, there were 470 political prisoners and 850 ordinary prisoners in the Spaç unit.

    In January 1987, the data show that Unit 303 had a capacity of 970 beds. There were 316 political prisoners (400 beds) and 521 ordinary prisoners (capacity was 570 beds).

    In Unit 303/1 Gurth Spaç there were 271 ordinary convicts (capacity 300 beds). These were ordinary convicts aged 19–25.

    In 1987 the command had a mineral extraction plan of 13 thousand tons of copper, but only 95% of it was achieved.

    In 1990 the number of prisoners decreased significantly. The developments of that year had an impact there. The prisoners refused to work. Based on this situation, on 5 June 1990, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mining Industry, Besnik Bekteshi, wrote to Minister Simon Stefani about the damages caused by the non-fulfilment of the plan by political prisoners. For this reason, he demands the evacuation of the place where there were still about 160 political prisoners in Spaç, as they would hire residents of the area.

    – On 13 June 1990, 60 convicts were transferred to Unit 311 Qafë-Bari.

    – On 14 June 1990, 30 convicts were transferred to Unit 313 Tirana.

    – On 19 June 1990, 705 convicts were transferred to Unit 305 Saranda and 327 Gjirokastra.

    Spaç functioned for political prisoners from 20 April 1968 to 19 June 1990. In the new conditions created in the country after 1990, by a joint order of the Ministers of Internal Affairs Gramoz Ruçi, Minister of Industry and Energy, Drini Mezini and Minister of Agriculture Ahmet Osja, on 13 April 1991, Unit 303 was made available to the respective company of mineral extraction. It was used for a few more years as a place where ordinary prisoners served their sentences until it was closed. From closure until today, the unit has gone into a state of unstoppable disrepair.

    The commanders and commissars of Unit 303 were of the professions: farmers, workers, gendarmes, shepherds, and agronomists. For a long time, these officials had primary education. By the end of the regime, they would have secondary education.

     

    Prisoners: