Editing Enver Hoxha (section)

=== Political repression and emigration ===
[[File:Former political prison in Girokaster.jpg|thumb|Former political prison in Gjirokastër; during Hoxha's rule, political executions were common, and as a result, about 25,000 people were killed by the regime and many more were persecuted or sent to [[Forced labour camps in Communist Albania|labour camps]]]]
[[File:Tirana Park+Statues.jpg|thumb|Checkpoint memorial in Tirana featuring a bunker, walls from [[Spaç Prison]], and a fragment of the [[Berlin Wall]]]]
Certain clauses in the 1976 constitution circumscribed the exercise of political liberties, which the government interpreted as being contrary to the established order.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=129}} The government denied the population access to information other than that which was disseminated by government-controlled media outlets. Internally, the [[Sigurimi]] used the same repressive methods which were used by the [[NKVD]], the [[Ministry for State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]], the [[KGB]] and the [[German Democratic Republic|East German]] [[Stasi]]. At one point, every third Albanian had either been interrogated by the Sigurimi or they had been incarcerated in [[Forced labor camps in Communist Albania|labour camps]].<ref>Raymond E. Zickel & Walter R. Iwaskiw. ''Albania: A Country Study''. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress. p. 235.</ref> The government imprisoned thousands of people in forced-labour camps or it executed them for alleged crimes such as treachery or disrupting the [[Dictatorship of the Proletariat|proletarian dictatorship]]. After 1968, travel abroad was forbidden to all but those people who were on official business. [[Western culture|Western European culture]] was looked upon with deep suspicion, resulting in bans on all unauthorised foreign materials and arrests:{{cquote|The former student, now the mayor of Tirana, said that he would cower beneath the bedclothes at night and listen to foreign radio stations, an activity which was punishable by a long stretch in a labour camp. He became fascinated by the [[saxophone]]. Yet, because such musical instruments were considered an evil influence and were thus banned, he had never seen one.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4379499.stm| title = Dance fever reaches Albania| date = 26 March 2005}}</ref>}} Art was required to reflect the styles of [[socialist realism]].<ref>Keefe, Eugene K. ''Area Handbook for Albania''. Washington, D.C.: The American University (Foreign Area Studies), 1971.</ref> Beards were banned as unhygienic in order to curb the influence of [[Islam]] (many [[imam]]s and [[Bektashi|babas]] had beards) and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] faith. The justice system's legal proceedings regularly degenerated into [[show trial]]s. An American [[human rights]] group described the proceedings of one trial, noting that the defendant was not allowed to question the witnesses. While he could express objections to certain aspects of the case, the prosecutor dismissed them, telling him to "sit down and be quiet" because they claimed to know better.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|p=46}}</ref>

 In order to lessen the threat which political dissidents and other exiles posed to the regime, relatives of the accused were often arrested, [[ostracised]], and accused of being "[[Enemy of the people#Albania|enemies of the people]]".<ref>James S. O'Donnell, "Albania's Sigurimi: The ultimate agents of social control" ''Problems of Post-Communism'' #42 (Nov/Dec 1995): 5p.</ref> Political executions were common, and at least 5,000 people—possibly as many as 25,000—were killed by the regime.<ref>15 Feb 1994 ''The Washington Times''</ref><ref>"WHPSI": The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators by Charles Lewis Taylor</ref><ref>8 July 1997, ''The New York Times''</ref> [[Torture]] was often used to obtain confessions:{{cquote|One émigré, for example, testified to being bound by his hands and legs for one and a half months, and to being beaten with a belt, fists or boots for periods of two to three hours every two or three days. Another was detained in a cell one meter by eight meters large in the local police station and kept in [[solitary confinement]] for a five-day period punctuated by two beating sessions until he signed a confession; he was taken to ''Sigurimi'' headquarters, where he was again tortured and questioned, despite his prior confession, until his three-day trial. Still another witness was confined underground for more than a year in a three-meter square cell. During this time, he was interrogated at irregular intervals and subjected to various forms of physical and psychological torture. He was chained to a chair, beaten, and subjected to electric shocks. He was shown a bullet that was supposedly meant for him and told that car engines starting within his earshot were driving victims to their executions, the next of which would be his.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|pp=46–47}}</ref>}}
During Hoxha's rule, there were six institutions for political prisoners and fourteen labour camps where political prisoners and common criminals worked together. It has been estimated that there were approximately 32,000 people imprisoned in Albania in 1985.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=134}}

Article 47 of the Albanian Criminal Code stated that to "escape outside the state, as well as refusal to return to the Fatherland by a person who has been sent to serve or has been temporarily permitted to go outside the state" was an act of [[treason]], a crime punishable by a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of death.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|p=136}}</ref> The Albanian government went to great lengths to prevent people from defecting by leaving the country:<blockquote>An electrically wired metal fence stands 600 meters to one kilometer from the actual border. Anyone touching the fence not only risks electrocution but also sets off alarm bells and lights which alert guards stationed at approximately one-kilometre intervals along the fence. Two meters of soil on either side of the fence are cleared in order to check for footprints of escapees and infiltrators. The area between the fence and the actual border is seeded with booby traps such as coils of wire, noise makers consisting of thin pieces of metal strips on top of two wooden slats with stones in a tin container which rattle if stepped on, and flares that are triggered by contact, thus illuminating would-be escapees during the night.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|pp=50–53}}</ref></blockquote>