Malta fares well in human rights report

di-ve.com

Vanessa Macdonald by Vanessa Macdonald - editorial@di-ve.com
Local News -- 12 March 2010 -- 10:55CEST
Malta fared well in the US’s human rights report for 2009, with the main negative comments relating to the treatment of migrants, although the sentence given to man who dressed as Jesus in Nadur was also cited.

The country reports have been drawn up by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for the past 34 years, and the report on Malta found no problems in many sections analysed, such as fair and free elections, a sound judiciary and protection against discrimination.

However, it highlighted reports that the government detained irregular migrants under harsh conditions and that there were some restrictions on free speech. Societal problems included child abuse, trafficking in persons and substandard work conditions for irregular migrants.

• Migrants
Authorities detained irregular migrants under poor conditions for up to 18 months during review for protected status. In August 2008, authorities charged 4 prison wardens with assaulting and seriously injuring a prisoner following his attempt to escape from a government correctional facility. The case was ongoing at year’s end.

Conditions in government-run detention centres for migrants were poor, with overcrowding and unsanitary prison space.

There was some hostile speech toward Muslims in blogs, letters to the editor, and comments associated with Internet-based articles on migration problems; the focus was primarily on the irregular immigrant status of many Muslims rather than on their religion. There were no reports that the government instituted any steps to prevent or punish such hostile speech under this or other provisions of law.

The population included more than 10,000 persons of Arab, African, and eastern European origin. There continued to be isolated reports that owners of some bars and discos periodically discouraged or prohibited darker skinned persons, particularly of African or Arab origin, from entering their establishments.

In June authorities charged a bouncer at a popular entertainment area with causing a serious injury followed by death after a Sudanese migrant, whom he allegedly hit in the face, died of head trauma. The case was ongoing at year's end.

Irregular migrant workers from Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and other sub-Saharan African countries sometimes worked under conditions that did not meet the government's minimum standards for employment. In September 2008, according to press accounts, the General Workers' Union issued a report documenting what it called the "exploitation" of migrant workers.

• Legal issues
Lengthy delays in both criminal and civil trials were frequently reported. During 2008, the ECHR issued judgments that found 1 violation by the country of the right to a fair trial and 1 violation involving the length of the proceedings.

The law restricts cultural activities that publicly vilify the Catholic Church. In March authorities arrested, tried, and gave a suspended 1 month prison sentence to a man convicted of giving offense to the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion by dressing up as Jesus Christ during February carnival festivities in the village of Nadur.

In February the Board of Film and Stage Classification prohibited production of the Anthony Neilson play, Stitching, on the basis that it was blasphemous and obscene. The production company, Unifaun Theatre Company, instituted legal proceedings against the prohibition; at year's end the case was before the courts.
In October, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption issued a report indicating their judgment that penalties for judicial corruption were too low.

• Abuse
A number of sources consistently claimed that authorities did not pursue cases of alleged sexual abuse of children by Catholic clerics unless a parent or adult filed a formal complaint but instead allowed the church to handle the matter internally. Once a complaint was filed, however, authorities followed the same police investigative and judicial processes as for other such complaints.

The law prohibits trafficking in persons for all purposes; however, there were rare reports that persons were trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation.

The number of cases was too small to constitute a pattern, but the country has been a destination for women trafficked from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Sweden, and other European countries. In addition irregular migrants from African countries who arrived en route to Italy and elsewhere may be vulnerable to human trafficking.

Most traffickers appeared to be Maltese nationals acting independently. In some earlier cases, traffickers appear to have identified vulnerable targets for sexual exploitation after the potential victims arrived in the country. In other cases traffickers recruited their victims abroad, telling them they would be performing legitimate work in Malta, and later forcing them into prostitution.

There were no reports that authorities condoned or facilitated trafficking in persons during the year; however, a police officer convicted of complicity in trafficking in 2005 remained free on appeal.


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