Malta retains ‘free’ status in Freedom House report

Malta has retained its ‘free’ country status in Freedom House’s annual report of the country’s first year under Labour prime minister Joseph Muscat, who was elected back in March 2013.

But criticism for his handling of migration in the same year he was elected was prominently noted by the independent New York watchdog, after having refused to allow the tanker M/V Salamis from docking in Malta with a group of asylum seekers.

Malta was scored 39 points out of 40 for its guarantees on political rights: the electoral process was scored a maximum 12 points; political pluralism was also scored a maximum 16 points.

Freedom House's classification of Malta's status remained unchanged from 2013

‘Functioning of government’ was scored 11 out of 12 points, with special mention being made of MaltaToday’s story in January 2013 when it revealed that a former MOBC chief executive – Frank Sammut – had received large sums of money from Dutch commodities company Trafigura, in return for oil procurement contracts for Enemalta in 2004–05.

“The investigation extended to the former Enemalta chairman and also involves alleged kickbacks from oil company Total. In a parallel case, Island Bunker Oils Ltd, an oil barge company that took over business from an Enemalta subsidiary, is under investigation for money laundering. Seven individuals were arraigned in February on corruption and fraud charges related to these cases,” Freedom House reported.

The watchdog also made note of the Whistleblower Act being passed by the parliament in July, but also of a 2012 Eurobarometer survey showed that 51% of Maltese believed that the most negative effect of private companies on society was corruption.

“In 2013, another Eurobarometer survey revealed that 83% of Maltese saw corruption as a major problem plaguing the country.”

In June 2013, the Criminal Code was amended to remove the statute of limitations on officials charged with corruption, and to allow for stricter penalties for those found guilty.

Freedom House made special mention of Malta’s trigger-happy libel-mongers, saying the island was “plagued by libel suits” in 2013.

“Labour candidate Emmanuel Mallia, who later became minister of home affairs and national security, sought criminal proceedings against PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier in February after he was accused by the PN finance minister, Tonio Fenech, of involvement in the Enemalta fuel procurement scandal. In September, the Labour Party and newspaper l-orizzont were ordered to pay €5,000 to European Union (EU) Commissioner Tonio Borg for a 2007 advertisement that he claimed was slanderous.”

Freedom of expression, and associational rights each received a maximum 16 and 12 points.

Rule of law was scored with 15 out of 16 points, mainly over criticism on Malta’s “treatment of migrants in detention and refusal to assist migrants trapped off its shores”.

Freedom House made reference to the August 2013 incident in which Malta rejected the Salamis tanker carrying 102 immigrants from Africa. After it was stranded for three days, Italy accepted the migrants. In a separate case in July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that it was illegal for Malta to return 45 immigrants to Libya.

“Malta has also been criticized for poor conditions at holding centres for refugees and asylum seekers, which have led to rioting and even death. In July 2013, a fight broke out among 23 migrants held at the Safi detention centres; 18 migrants were injured and 8 hospitalized. Also in July, the ECHR ruled against Malta in a case involving a Somali migrant; she was held for 14 months in what were described as degrading conditions and suffered a miscarriage. Malta’s commissioner for children also expressed concern over detention of children while families await the outcome of administrative procedures.”

In December 2013, four former prison guards were sentenced to at least five years in prison for the 2008 beating of an escaped prisoner.

Individual rights were scored 15 out of 16 points by Freedom House, which noted that women were under-represented in government, occupying only 10 seats in the parliament and two in the Cabinet of Ministers.

Freedom in the World is an annual global report on political rights and civil liberties, composed of numerical ratings and descriptive texts for each country and a select group of related and disputed territories. The 2014 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 14 territories from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013.

The report’s methodology is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.