114 oT pic: The mental health system as a target of transitional justice: Mental Health reform in post-communist Albania political punishments and sufferings they have faced in the past. The state pledged to apply measures of reparation and rehabilitation of people who had been accused unjustly, with a special priority on material and moral help for their fast reintegration in society. With an addition in 1993, beneficiaries from this law would include those who died in Hetuesia (during the investigation process), people who were shot without trial, people who were murdered in attempting to cross Albanian border, those who were accused of political crimes and were locked in psychiatric institutions for compulsory treatment and those who were punished for defamation and insult against the highest organs of the state and communist party. Although in this first law, there is no specific mention of victims of punitive psychiatry, in general, there are mentioned benefits that the politically persecuted would have. They had the right to return to the home where they lived before prosecution or deportation. They and their families gained the right to return to universities and also were promised that the state would employ them based on their profession. In addition, this law would set up a commission with the membership of deputies, representatives of government, officials of the judicial system and members of the Association of former political prisoners to review the political crimes of the socialist state against Albanian population, representing a limited truth-telling process, in principle. In December 1991, in democratic Albania a series of trials took place against 20 officials in the communist regime including the only female accused, the widow of the dictator, Nexhmije Hoxha. The most frequent accusation against them was ‘abuse of national wealth’, and Nexhmije Hoxha was sent to prison. The 1993 reparation law, which included even the people who underwent compulsory treatment through a court decision, provided monetary compensation, during the years 1993-1994. There were a few facilities for families such as the right to study and some of them were employed, but there were no organized efforts for their rehabilitation. Although the state promised to ensure them housing opportunities, this objective is yet to be realized. Some of these people are obliged to rent a house, because their financial condition doesn’t support buying a property. Taking in consideration that these individuals has been isolated in a psychiatric institution, with the presence of mentally ill people and with continuous surveillance and pressure from medical staff, no detailed analysis or examination about the consequences of this abnormal exposure was made. One of the interviewees stated that he had never been invited to be examined, while another stated that they had only brief examinations, which were used for statistical purposes. In addition to damaged mental health during the isolation, post-traumatic stress is another disorder that can affect people who had been under pressure, torture and trauma. In the legal context, the most important timeline for the former persecuted people in the communist regime is during the years 1991, 1993-1994 and 2007. As mentioned above, in 1991 the first law of reparation was published and during the period 1993-1994, its implementation was in process. The first years of democracy in Albania were promising in terms of reparations because the victims of the regime and their relatives benefited from monetary compensations, employment, and housing and education opportunities for themselves, families and relatives. However, not all the needs of the former persecuted people were addressed and not everyone benefited from these measures. Furthermore, medical evaluations and examinations to measure the physical and psychological consequences of the victim’s health weren’t performed, and these are anyway not mentioned in the reparation laws. Although the reparation process began in 1993, according to a report from the Albanian Supreme State Audit Institution, only one third of the predicted monetary compensation has been delivered to victims or their families. There is no assigned deadline for monetary compensation.26 26. The Albanian Supreme State Audit Institution, Rehabilitation of the persecuted people in the transition period, (Decision Nr.86, 2016).