Press Briefing, 5 September 2003

Press Conference by Paul Coffey, Director, UNMIK Department of Justice on the incident in Dubrava Prison

“Last night, five male prisoners from Building 2 of the prison died as a result of fire and smoke caused when prisoners set fire to their mattresses during a demonstration. Sixteen additional prisoners have been hospitalised for burns and smoke inhalation; at least one of these 16 is in critical condition. One prison officer has been hospitalised for smoke inhalation suffered in an effort to help prisoners attempting to flee the burning building.

“Building 2 housed 174 prisoners. At 12:30 hours yesterday a group of prisoners forcibly overcame several unarmed guards inside Building 2 and seized their keys. The guards fled the building successfully. Prisoners then barricaded the main entrance to Building 2, denied entry to Penal Management Division (PMD) officials and demanded to be heard about complaints concerning prison conditions. After initially discussing their complaints with PMD the prisoners indicated that they thereafter would only speak with human rights representatives. PMD officials notified Mr. Besim Tafa, a local representative of the ombudsman institution in Pec/Peje. Mr. Tafa and an assistant arrived at the prison at 15:40 hours, were briefed on the situation and permitted Mr. Tafa to speak directly with the prisoners through an opened window grate. Between 15:40 and 20:40 hours, conversations continued between the prisoners and the Ombudsman representatives and with a representative of the criminal defense resource center, a human rights group in Kosovo. During this period, on a number of occasions, PMD officials advised the prisoners, through human rights representatives, that their complaints would be considered and addressed without subsequent discipline to the prisoners if they returned to their cells and restored order. Between 21:00 hours and approximately 22:00 hours negotiations continued between the prisoners and a PMD official. At approximate 22:45 hours, by which time it was completely dark, PMD officials informed the prisoners that due to security concerns they would have to return to their cells or PMD officials would forcibly enter Building 2. PMD officials advised the prisoners that it could not allow 174 unaccounted for prisoners to maintain control of and roam around at will inside Block 2.

“At approximately 22:45 hours, PMD guards, unarmed but protected by shields and helmets then attempted to enter Block 2. Someone inside threw a burning mattress at the guards. Prisoners then set other mattresses on fire, which caused the fire to burn quickly beyond their control. The subsequent flames and smoke reached the 2nd floor while fire brigades attempted to put out the flames and PMD officials attempted to try and get through the barricade. At approximately 23:15, prisoners were evacuated from Building 2 and given first aid.

An international judge has been appointed to conduct an investigation. The police commissioner has already secured the facility for this purpose and will work directly with the investigative judge. PMD will not investigate itself. However, the director inspected the prison last night and again this morning and instructed PMD officials to fully cooperate with the investigation.

“Block 2 prisoners, except for those hospitalised, will be assigned to other PMD facilities. The director personally addressed them this morning where they are being held at the prison gymnasium. They have been told that an inquiry will be made into their complaints, a criminal investigation will be conducted, and no further demonstrations of any kind in violation of prison rules will be tolerated.

“The next of kin of the deceased will be promptly notified in the next hors. Autopsies of the deceased prisoners will be promptly conducted to determine precise cause of death.

“A special panel of inquiry will also be formed consisting of international and local officials to determine at an appropriate time, so as not to interfere with the investigation, why this tragic incident occurred and how to prevent a recurrence.”

Questions:

Q: What did the prisoners actually want? What were their demands?

Paul Coffey: The general nature of the complaints were prison conditions in Dubrava, full housing conditions. I guess I can only articulate that it was general prison conditions, which had been expressed to the PMD from time to time in the past.

Q: In your view, were these complaints appropriate?

Paul Coffey: That is going to be for both the investigators and for the special inquiry panel to determine. I will not sit here today to put forth my own opinions as to the merits or to lack of these complaints. I feel confident to say that whatever the complaints were, they didn’t merit setting fire to the prison building. I shall also indicate that up until approximately 21:00 hours, and well into the evening, the situation appeared to be reasonably calm and their complaints were being addressed and discussed.

Q: Can you just tell us if the riot in the prison is over?

Paul Coffey: Yes, the prisoners who demonstrated, aside from those who are hospitalized, have been secured in the gymnasium facility or in another location in the prison. I stood right in the middle there this morning and I can say that all things considered, they were very calm. I have every reason to believe that while the tragedy is not behind us, the unrest at this time is.

Q: Can you tell us who these people were and what was the nature of their convictions?

Paul Coffey: There is Block Number One, which has the highest category of severe offenders - they are called ‘Category A’ prisoners. Building Number Two has prisoners who do not require the most observing and restrictions, but who have nonetheless committed serious crimes. My information is that 51 of the 174 prisoners in the compound are serving sentences for homicide. I should also mention that during the hours of negotiations, which started in mid-afternoon and continued in the evening on the second floor, a number of prisoners opened the windows and shouted to the guards that they were not part of the demonstration and wanted no part of it. And while that was not the most important factor in deciding to go into the prison when it became dark, it was a factor in so far as we knew that there were prisoners there who were not part of the protest and who might be at risk of those who orchestrated this event.

Q: How many prisoners does Dubrava Prison have?

Paul Coffey: The total number of prisoners in Dubrava is about 800.

Q: What happened to the rest of the prisoners who were in the demonstration, who were not involved?

Paul Coffey: The prisoners in Building Number One, the ‘Category A’ prisoners, seemed to have kept calm. We have just discussed Building Number Two. As to Building Number Three, which houses the same type of prisoners as Building Number Two, except that in Building Number Three there are only prisoners who are detained or awaiting trial. There was an unrest in Building Number Three, especially during the immediate hours in the evening 21.00 hours, 22.00 hours, when things began to escalate. Prisoners in Building Number Three, which sits quite close to Building Number Two (the two buildings are separated perhaps by a distance of 30-40 meters), began to brake windows and shout their support for the prisoners in Building Number Two. This was also a factor, in determining to move in rather than having the situation escalate even more, to the other parts of the facility. I am not aware of any difficulties in Building Number Four or in the Juvenile Detention Area.

Q: Will you take specific measures now, for example, to arm the guards in the prison after this?

Paul Coffey: I would rather not speculate on the future because I cannot predict what procedures are best for that area in the future. But I would emphasize that I absolutely do not think that weapons would have solved anything last night. If there is anything that has to be said about this event, I can at least say that firearms were not used by either side in the dispute.

Q: Could you just tell us whether it is easy to overpower the guards who are unarmed and in the aftermath, what disciplinary procedures are going to be taken against the rioters?

Paul Coffey: Let me answer the last question first. The criminal investigation will determine those who were responsible. Clearly those who didn’t participate will not be disciplined, but those who participated certainly are potential subjects of disciplinary proceedings.

Q: Can you please give us the names of those who died?

Paul Coffey: No I cannot. We have to notify the families and officially confirm those who died. It is not a secret in the sense that we will not keep that from you when we can release it. I am sure that the families and relatives would prefer to hear this from us rather than from you.

Q: Did the police attempt to take the situation under control before the tragedy? Did you take any measures against prison officials?

Paul Coffey: We haven’t taken any measures at this point against anyone and it will be upto both the investigative judge and the special panel of inquiry to give a broader approach, to assess any blame – whether it was inside or outside PMD. All I can say at this point is that the decision to enter the prison at the time, for the reasons given, appeared to me to have been appropriate.

Q: According to your information, do you think that anyone from outside actually helped the rioters?

Paul Coffey: I can’t answer that question. I won’t answer it because I don’t think it is appropriate at this point, I simply don’t want to preempt the investigation and certainly don’t want to speculate.

Q: We are aware that some high profile ex-KLA figures are serving their sentences in that prison. Were any of them in those blocks?

Paul Coffey: To my knowledge there is no such prisoner of that category. I know of some individuals of whom you are talking about and I am quite confident that they were not in Building Two.

Q: This is the second time a riot in Dubrava Prison has taken place. Were there any changes in the security arrangements after the first riot?

PC: Not that there haven’t been. But I am not aware of any increased security measures. In this particular situation, the escalation came when a match was thrown and that came completely out of the blue. I have been around in law enforcement for over 30 years. I have never heard of a prison except the one which has just opened recently, that didn’t have some form of prisoner complaints and unrest. That is not to justify what did or did not happen and what measures were or were not taken by the PMD, it is just to say that prisoner unrest that escalates to some type of demonstration is part of the prison environment unfortunately.