The Malta Independent 14 February 2025, Friday
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Home Affairs Minister ‘responsible’ for prison’s institutional mismanagement, ‘should resign’

Wednesday, 5 February 2025, 11:05 Last update: about 8 days ago

Pressure mounts on Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to resign as 19 organisations are calling for his resignation following an Ombudsman's report which uncovered systemic mismanagement of the prison at Kordin.

A report published on Friday by the Ombudsman has concluded that there was systemic maladministration at the Corradino Correctional Facility during Dalli's tenure as Director of Prisons from July 2018 to December 2021.

The Ombudsman's prison report reveals the appalling situation in prison prevailing under Alexander Dalli's Directorship. Dalli stripped inmates of their human dignity and actively fostered an environment of abuse, humiliation and violence, the organisations said Tuesday.

Vulnerable inmates - persons with addiction or mental health problems, and migrants - were specifically targeted by his tyranny through practices that are the stuff of nightmares. Under his watch, Malta had the dubious honour of having the highest percentage of deaths inside penal institutions both in terms of general mortality rate and in terms of suicide rate.

Yet despite published information on the infernal situation in Corradino, the Government has held nobody to account. Instead, in yet another exercise of impunity and lack of accountability, the Government entrusted Alexander Dalli with the highly lucrative job of running the so-called Malta-Libya Coordination Centre with the power to oversee the very same groups he had racially humiliated and abused: migrants, the organisations said.

It beggars belief that the Home Affairs Ministry is now defending Dalli's position, notwithstanding this extremely damning Ombudsman report. We welcome the initiatives implemented in recent years, including the prosecutions against two prison warders. Nonetheless, no other disciplinary measures were taken.

It is also not clear if reparation and compensatory schemes have been established to provide victims of such harsh human rights violations with the justice they deserve and, where needed, support for their recovery. To date, no senior figure was held criminally or politically responsible.

The report describes the situation at Corradino as one of "systemic maladministration". It is clear that the weight of responsibility for this scale of institutionalised human rights violations lies with the Home Affairs Ministry portfolio: previously Michael Farrugia, subsequently and presently Byron Camilleri.

Minister Camilleri oversaw this collapse of one of the most important institutions under his wing, to the detriment of those inmates who fell under Dalli's reign of terror, the statement said. His continued tenure is indefensible. He must resign immediately. Malta needs justice, not more cover-ups.

The organisations asked the Prime Minister Robert Abela to: Request Minister Camilleri to step down from his position; Remove Alexander Dalli from any Government position; Establish a reparation and compensation scheme for victims of Dalli's cruelty; Publish a timeline for the prompt implementation of the Ombudsman's recommendations; Grant real access to all places where anyone is deprived of their liberty to civil society organisations and the media.

Statement was signed by : 1. aditus foundation 2. African Media Association Malta 3. Blue Door Education 4. Dar Hosea 5. Department of Youth, Community & Migration Studies, University of Malta 6. Drachma LGBTI 7. Drachma Parents 8. Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta 9. Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta) 10. The Joint Action Movement 11. Mediterranean Aid Education Centre Italy 12. MGRM 13. Moviment Graffitti 14. Paulo Freire Institute 15. PEN Malta 16. Prof. Andrew Azzopardi 17. Spark15 18. St. Jeanne Antide Foundation 19. Women's Rights Foundation

The Nationalist Party has also called for Camilleri to resign, presenting a motion of no confidence in him in Parliament.
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