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Promo-LEX Association expresses its concern about the observance of the human rights in the Transnistrian region. For two years, the human rights defenders lack access to monitor the situation and provide legal assistance both for human rights defenders and citizens from the Transnistrian region. Human rights area is locally underrepresented, and lacks mechanisms or institutions able to monitor the observance of human rights, with a heightened risk of worsened human rights situation and abuses from the part of Tiraspol administration.

Two years from the initiation of the criminal files on the name of Promo-LEX Association members by the so-called Ministry of State Security from Tiraspol, the former KGB, we find with concern that the access in the region for human rights defenders is still restricted. In addition, the status of the files initiated by Tiraspol administration on the name of Promo-LEX members is uncertain.

The multiple efforts made by Promo-LEX to raise awareness of the constitutional authorities, international organizations and de facto administration of Tiraspol to the situation of human rights defenders from the Transnistrian region, did not trigger a positive result. The over 20 applications and requests forwarded to the regional ‘authorities’ and ‘courts’ were refused or ignored. The constitutional authorities efforts to discuss, in the format of ‘5+2’ negotiations, the subject of the situation of regional human rights defenders failed.

The national and international organisations’ calls in relation to the serious human rights situation in the Transnistrian region also failed to change the attitude of Tiraspol administration to this situation. A last UN report was developed in 2012 by the expert Thomas Hammarberg and described the critical human rights situation from the Transnistrian region. Since 2015, the human rights situation can no longer be monitored by the human rights defenders from Chisinau. This leads to the lack of responsibility of local administration for its deeds and serious violation of human rights.

Thus, Promo-LEX Association requires:

• President Igor Dodon to address the free access of Promo-LEX members in the Transnistrian region in the discussions with the de facto regional administration president;
• Government of the Republic of Moldova, particularly the Bureau for Reintegration, to recommend insistently the inclusion of the issue of stopping KGB threats to Promo-LEX Association on the agenda of the ‘5+2’ format meetings;
• de facto Transnistrian administration, particularly Mr. Ignatiev Vitalii, to answer to the questions put by the UN Special Rapporteurs on 7 December 2015, requesting to explain the legal grounds of the criminal file and of the special investigative measures applied to Promo-LEX and its members;
• ‘MRT’ Investigation Committee to provide information on the initiated criminal file, to communicate information on the special investigation measures applied to Promo-LEX members and to hand the order to start the so-called criminal file against Promo-LEX;
• Lapitchi Mihail, the so-called minister of state security of ‘MRT’, to cancel the so-called interdiction on Promo-LEX members.