Reuters: Denmark worried about convicts to send to Kosovo

At a prison in eastern Kosovo, plans are under way to remove all local prisoners and free space for foreign prisoners to be transported by plane from Denmark, more than 2,000km away.

Denmark is expected to send 300 prisoners to the Balkan country -- the first time for Kosovo -- and a move criticised by many Danish human rights experts, Reuters reports, Klankosova broadcast.tv.

Kosovo's prison service will rebuild the Gjilan prison over the next two years according to Danish standards before accepting convicts from non-member countries in the European Union, who would be deported from Denmark after the sentence.

Eight-year-old prison itself does not raise concerns about human rights, but the decision to house prisoners in Kosovo, said Therese Rytter, legal director of “Dignity”, a Danish human rights organisation.

There have been reliable accusations of abuse in the past”, Rytter said. “This does not mean that it will happen (in Kosovo), but there is no doubt an increasing risk compared to whether they would have been in a Danish prison”, she said.

The US State Department in its 2023 report said that although Kosovo prisons met several international standards, violence among prisoners, corruption and inadequate treatment for disabled mental inmates continued.

The UN Committee against Torture said in a report from December 2023 that he was concerned about accessing prisoners to health care and family visits.

Kosovo's Parliament approved the agreement last Thursday, for which Denmark, a wealthy Nordic country, says it will help it face crowded prisons and the absence of prison guards.

In exchange, Kosovo, one of Europe's poorest countries, will receive 210m euros over the next 10 years.

No person convicted of terrorism or life in prison will be transferred to Gjilan, according to Danish Justice Ministry and Ismail Debrani, head of Kosovo prisons.

The “those individuals that will arrive are easily managed by our system”, Debrani said.

The prisoner's gender was not confirmed.

A Danish prison governor will co-administration the facility with a local director, while all guards will be local.

Kosovo prison Guardians will receive training from Danish authorities to ensure that the treatment of prisoners meets Danish and international human rights standards, the Danish justice ministry said.

But Danish human rights experts are not convinced.

A two-month course does not change behavior”, Rytter said.

Rinor Behluli, who lives near the prison in the village of Pasjak, said it does not matter where the prisoners come from.

Whether they are from Denmark, England or elsewhere, they are people imprisoned”, he said.

The first convicts are expected to be transferred between 21 and 25 months after the reconstruction of the prison, which is expected within weeks, according to the Danish justice ministry.