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At a roundtable on October 18, the Promo-LEX Association released the Human Rights in Moldova Report. The Report is at its 4th edition and it offers a picture of the human rights situation in the Republic of Moldova during 2009-2010; the picture is more complex since it reviews the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region. Its 16 chapters were compiled by a group of experts representing 9 human rights NGOs.

Whereas after the April 2009 events a modestly positive tendency has been registered in the territory controlled by the legitimate Moldovan authorities in what concerns respect for the right to liberty and security of person, then in the Transnistria region the situation has worsened, with abusive arrests being one major issue. However, the Moldovan legitimate authorities have perpetuated the tradition to ignore the problems faced by the people living in that region and have shown little interest in identifying mechanisms to guarantee access to justice and observance of their fundamental rights.

Another issue placed high on the roundtable’s agenda was the situation in the justice system. According to legal expert Vladislav Gribincea: “The biggest problem is not in the legislation, but rather in the way this legislation is applied in practice. This nonobservance of the legal framework is due to a number of key factors including inadequate training of the bench, or corruption-related factors”. The expert also noted that in 2010 the judiciary saw perhaps the biggest dip in trust ratings in the reporting period.

Another human rights problem that has grown into a social phenomenon is domestic violence. Criminalizing domestic violence in 2010 was an important step by the Moldovan authorities in fighting violence against women. An important aspect that needs to be mentioned is the problem concerning the issuance of protection orders, which in most cases take 3 or 4 weeks to get, and in the meantime the victims continue to be subjected to domestic violence.

Concerning the right to vote and be elected, the roundtable participants highlighted the electoral reform that culminated in November 2010, when roughly 40% of the Election Code was amended. Pavel Postica noted: “It is important to remark that this reform was widely debated by civil society and a special parliamentary commission was created to coordinate the amendments both with civil society and political parties, even though in the end the final decisions were adopted by the governing alliance”.

The right to respect for one’s private and family life is a relative novelty for the Moldovan legislation. However, according to the author, it is ignored by both the authorities and the citizens, most probably because of a lack of awareness and of mechanisms to protect this right.

The roundtable’s participants appreciated the fact that it was for the first time ever that a human rights report in Moldova included a separate chapter dedicated to the rights of recruits and conscripts, a less numerous yet important group of citizens.

The event was attended by government representatives, civil society members and representatives of international organizations. Attending the event, Ombudsman Tudor Lazar has noted that the Report is a comprehensive study that reflects the situation of the observance of human rights in the country and also highlights the need for cooperation between civil society and authorities in promoting respect for human rights in Moldova.

The 2009-2010 Human Rights in Moldova Report is the result of a project in cooperation with Civil Rights Defenders. The opinions expressed in the Report belong to the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the Promo-LEX Association and of Civil Rights Defenders.

The Report is available in Romanian, English and Russian.

For further details please contact: Carolina Bondarciuc, Public Relations Officer
Tel: (22) 45 00 24, GSM: 069637849, e-mail: [email protected]