When I was moved to Spaçi prison in 1970, life became even more difficult.” Many political prisoners were sent to work in the mines in dark, cramped conditions with poor sanitation and risk of serious illness, such as pneumonia. “I know many prisoners who died in those mines, forgotten in the mountains,” says Dom. “Today I still have nightmares.” Dom was released in the early 1990s and was referred to the Albanian Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma and Torture Victims (ARCT). Seeking justice was not a priority at the time – Dom was fearful of re-traumatisation from the legal proceedings. IRCT’s members featured in this report note that a fear of re-traumatisation is a common factor preventing torture victims from pursuing justice. “What could be done to help me?” Dom asks. “Prison was my whole life. I just needed someone to understand me, to talk to me and a quiet place for someone to look after me away from my past. “The rehabilitation centre is my church now. I come here, I meet people. They offer me medical assistance and the chance to share my story. I am blessed to have them. But we don’t have anything from the state.” A positive sentence at trial – whereby the perpetrator is prosecuted – will most likely have a positive effect on the rehabilitation of the survivor. Yet without trust in the system, without assurances that reprisals will not arise, without a guarantee of not being re-traumatised, victims often choose not to follow legal routes. Today Dom has still not sought justice. “I am old and sick and quite a lot of time has passed since my torture,” says Dom. “Justice has never been sought by any of the politically persecuted. Yet today we are still persecuted, labelled as the ‘former politically imprisoned’. It seems like we are treated as another class. “With that, how can we expect a fair trial? There is so much bureaucracy. Where justice mechanisms do exist, the courts are slow. I will die before I can get a decision. “All I can do is make others aware of the atrocities, share my story of rehabilitation and how necessary it is and hope that this persecution and torture never happens again.” 25