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A one month-campaign meant to back the prevention of torture and rehabilitation of torture victims started in Moldova today, on the eve of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which is being commemorated on 26 June. The campaign will conclude with a national conference on 25 July, which is also the date of the sixth anniversary of the first Moldovan National Torture Preventing Mechanism.

The campaign is organised by the Moldovan Centre for Human Rights and the “Memoria” Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims. Together with representatives of the “Promo-LEX” association, the organisers of the campaign held a news conference today, during which they urged public authorities, specialised institutions and the civil society to consolidate their efforts in order to fight torture.

The one-month campaign will include several activities. The organisers will place banners promoting anti-torture messages in 20 Moldovan districts. They will also organise roundtables and book donations. The “Memoria” Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims will host a Doors Open Day on 26 June.

In the context of the campaign’s launch, representatives of the institutions responsible for the event presented their conclusions on Moldova’s current results with fighting torture and maltreatment, supporting torture victims, including in the breakaway Transnistrian region. Thus, according to the Moldovan Centre for Human Rights, the penitentiary No 13 from Chisinau, penitentiary No 17 from Rezina district and the penitentiary No 11 from Balti municipality, are the weakest points of the Moldovan penitentiary system, as regards the imprisonment conditions. The ombudsman’s advisor, Olga Vacarciuc, said the ombudsmen had recommended the penitentiary No 13 ceased its activity.

The slogan of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture for the 2013 campaign is “Torture victims have the right to rehabilitation. Let’s make it a reality”.

Source: blackseanews.net