The European Court of Human Rights informed the Government of the Republic of Moldova on the case of Tatiana Machina (case file no. 50435/14).

Tatiana Machina is a young woman with disabilities, who is able to move only in a wheelchair. Since February 2011 until September 2015 she had been detained in Penitentiary no. 13. She stated that during the entire detention period, the cell conditions were not adapted for people with motor disabilities and in all undertaken actions she needed assistance and aid of third persons. Thus, the young woman could not perform vital and basic activities, such as personal hygiene and eating. For instance, because the bathroom was not adapted for persons with disabilities, in February 2012 Tatiana fell and hurt herself severely, which led to several bruises on various parts of her body.

We would like to remind you that on 11 December 2014, the Council on Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Assurance of Equality (CPEDAQ) found discrimination in the case of Tatiana Machina, based on two criteria. The complaint she filed to the Council invoked the failure of Penitentiary Institutions Department and Penitentiary no. 13 to ensure reasonable accessibility and accommodation. You can find details here.

We would like to mention that Penitentiary no. 13 is still the most sensitive issue of the penitentiary system of the country. This is also proved by approximately 20 ECtHR judgments and rulings, which recognized the Government of the Republic of Moldova accountable for the violation of Article 3 of ECHR.[1] One of the most severe problems is still the overpopulation of the penitentiary; according to Promo-LEX Report on Human Rights – Retrospective of 2014, the maximum number of people to be detained in Penitentiary no. 13 is 1,000, while in January 2015 they had on record 1,203 persons.[2]

The complaint filed with the High Court alleged the violation of Article 3 of ECHR (the right not to be tortured and detained in inhuman and degrading conditions) corroborated by Article 13 (no effective remedies in national courts).

The applicant is represented by the lawyers and attorneys of Promo-LEX Association.

The European Court will examine the case alongside other two cases related to inhuman and degrading conditions of detention in Penitentiary no. 13. For more details, go here.

For more details, please contact: Alexandru Postica, Human Rights Program Director of Promo-LEX Association, Attorney. tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069104851, e-mail:
[email protected]

On 19 October 2012, the European Court for Human Rights pronounced a judgment in cases Catan and 27 others v. Moldova and Russia; Caldare and 42 others v. Moldova and Russia; Cercavschi and 98 others v. Moldova and Russia. The applicants are teachers, pupils, and parents from three schools with teaching in Latin alphabet from the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.

This Judgment found the violation of Article 2 of Protocol 1 – the Right to Education. The authorities of the Russian Federation were declared accountable for this violation.

The Judgment of the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court has not been executed so far.

Three years have passed since the Judgment was pronounced and Maria Robu, headmaster of “Alexandru cel Bun” Theoretical Lyceum from Tighina, states that “importance of the Judgment is not in providing pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, but in the acknowledgement of the fact that the Russian Federation was violating the right to education. We are realistic and never believed that Russia would meet its payment obligations on time. Now the local authorities still keep us under pressure, financial one this time. The expenses for the lease of the building are high and always keep us tense. Tiraspol administration, through us, puts pressure on Chisinau authorities, too.”

Eugenia Halus, headmaster of “Evrika” Theoretical Lyceum from Ribnita talked about the difficult conditions of lyceum operation, since 2004 when they were left without any premises. “When we resorted to ECtHR, we did not count on pecuniary damages, but rather wanted the entire world to know about the unlawfulness to which the Romanian language teaching schools are subjected in the Transnistrian region. At that point we trusted that the situation of the schools will change for better. Regretfully, absolutely nothing changed and the situation of the schools became even more difficult. The premises of our lyceum were not given back to us, premises for which millions of lei were allocated from the State Budget and now everything is in a disastrous condition. As time passes by, the situation becomes even more complicated because parents who could have enrolled their children to our lyceum lose the trust in the future of this school, given the schooling conditions and the continuous anxiety and uncertainty. More and more children go to study in the Russian language teaching schools, being attracted by the conditions they provide, while our school looks like a deserted shack.”

During the three years, Promo-LEX Association kept monitoring the situation and inform the relevant international institutions and the public on the situation of Latin alphabet teaching schools, including by means of the campaign Save the schools from Transnistria.

Currently the execution of ECtHR Judgment is on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) is alarmed about the increasing harassment of citizens’ election observers in the ODIHR region. EPDE members in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Belarus are affected by intimidation of staff members, criminal persecution, non-registration of the organisations or of labelling of the organisation as “foreign agents”. Authoritarian regimes “copy and paste” laws to restrict the watchdog function of independent election observers. EPDE has organised a discussion on the Human Dimension Meeting of ODIHR in Warsaw 25 September 2015.

You may find the conclusions of the discussion here.

Several reprezentatives of the civil society call on Moldovan decision-makers to take real ad effective measures to fight against corruption and ensure an independent and accountable judiciary

Representatives of the civil society are concerned with the lack of transparency and the possibility of adoption in a hurry of several legislative initiatives that include radical changed to the judiciary and the civil procedure code, as well as setting up specialized courts for corruption cases. The NGOs launched a public appeal calling the decision-makers, especially the Government and the Parliament, to adhere to the previously assumed commitments and to refrain from adopting in a rush the initiatives that could turn dangerous in the Moldovan context. Decision-makers were also called to continue the implementation of the Justice Sector Reform Strategy for the period 2011-2016 and promptly implement the activities provided by the strategy.

In particular, the signatories of the public appeal are concerned with the proposals regarding the reorganization of the Supreme Curt of Justice (SCJ); selection of the majority of judicial inspectors from the civil society;  entitlement of the SCM with the right to check the judges’ assets and to dismiss them if they cannot prove the legality of acquiring such assets; payment of the court fees after the case is finished instead of the moment of submission of the court claim;  setting up deadlines for examining cases in courts to the detriment of the quality of justice and creation of specialized courts for corruption cases.

The signatories are concerned with the fact that the decision-makers are protracting the implementation of the law on prosecution service and the related legislation, the fact that the three draft laws regarding the national integrity system are not being promoted, taking into account the fact that the respective draft laws were subject to inclusive public consultations with the decision makers, civil society, national and international experts and were rejected by the Government on 16 June 2015. These normative acts set up the institutional framework and real instruments to prevent and fight corruption. Civil society representatives maintain that protracting the adoption of the respective draft laws can mean only one thing – that the Moldovan authorities are not interested in creating real and effective tools to fight corruption, but are imitating the process of fighting corruption.

The signatories call on the Government and the Parliament to, among others, urgently adopt the draft law on prosecution service and related laws, as proposed by the working group; reassign prosecutors, support staff and criminal specialists and investigators in the prosecution system and the National Anticorruption Center to strengthen the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s office according to the model of the National Anticorruption Directorate from Romania; adopt the draft law on the National Integrity Center, the draft law on personal assets and interests and the draft law amending and supplementing certain normative acts, in the version proposed by the Ministry of Justice to the Government in June 2015; appoint in key positions persons according to their professionalism and integrity, and not according to political criteria and continue the implementation of the Justice Sector Reform Strategy for the period 2011-2016  and promptly implement the activities provided by the strategy.

The signatories call on the judiciary, in particular the Superior Council of Magistracy and affiliated bodies and the Ministry of Justice,to, among other, thorough monitor, detect and sanction any violations in the random distribution of cases in courts, ensure audio recording of all court hearings, strengthen judges’ disciplinary accountability mechanism and promote at the SCJ of only judges with impeccable reputation and of the highest professional standards.

The full text of the public appeal is available here in Romanian and in English.

17 September 2015, Chisinau – Promo-LEX Association launched on 17 September the Final Monitoring Report of the General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015. The document was discussed during a round table, with the participation of representatives of the relevant public institutions (Central Electoral Commission, Parliament Republic of Moldova, CCA, GPI, NAC etc.), civil society, mass media, and partners.

The report presents the performance of the key electoral stakeholders during the period between 3 April and 31 July 2015. Thus Promo-LEX Observation Mission has concluded that this year’s local elections were marked by a moderate participation of the population, a tight competition and satisfactory organization of the election by the relevant bodies.

See the Report here.

This year’s election started with the pre-election period marked by uncertainty regarding the organization of the election, and ECC had to amend the regulatory framework within less than a year until the elections, which is against the recommendations of the Venice Commission. With a few exceptions, the electoral bodies were set up within the time-frame set by the CEC electoral calendar and had, mostly, a correct and impartial behaviour towards the election candidates.

A major problem was the access to check the lists of voters, which has affected the voters’ trust in the electoral process, and the deficient interpretation of the electoral legislation on the preparation of the lists of voters based on residency has allowed the artificial migration of voters and has caused a few incidents involving violence and the ravaging of a polling station.

Promo-LEX mission also found that the current election campaign was latent in the beginning and became more dynamic in the last month, when the election candidates diversified the electioneering methods. Also, observers have worriedly identified isolated cases of violence and intimidation, use of provocative discourses leading to hatred against the counter-candidates, as well as the presents offered for electoral purposes.

Promo-LEX Observation Mission noticed a relative increase of the transparency level in reporting on the financial means used by the election candidates, but also the continuation of certain major shortcomings in this area. Also, in comparison with the Parliamentary Elections of 30 November 2014, Promo-LEX noticed less involvement of the local and regional mass-media in reflecting the election campaign for local elections.

On the basis of the findings of the final report, Promo-LEX Observation Mission formulated 42 recommendations for public authorities, election candidates and other relevant stakeholders aimed at improving the legal framework and the election procedures. The following are among the key recommendations:

• Develop, adopt and complement the Electoral Code with a new provision that would set a single date for the general local elections;
• Add norms to the Law on Personal Data Protection that would ensure transparency of and access to the lists of voters;
• Add norms to the Electoral Code that would ensure the exercise of the right to vote for voters who don’t have a domicile or residency;
• Amend the legal norms that regulate the votes recounting so that the expenses for the organization of the recounting to be covered by CEC if the initial results were found to be incorrect or by the party that has requested the recounting, if the initial results are confirmed;
• Establish a single financial threshold for all election candidates (independent candidates and candidates appointed by the political parties) at electoral constituency level, as well as establish the obligation of drafting financial reports for each electoral constituency;
• Ensure a mechanism to avoid the possibility of disguising the identity of the de facto donors of the election candidates (by wiring the financial resources to the party’s account and thereafter, to the electoral accounts through single transfers from the party’s account);
• Apply the existing gradual sanctions for the violation of the legislation on election campaigns financing, without selective approaches for some election candidates, political parties and/or independent candidates;
• Hold accountable the persons guilty of having used administrative resources, offered electoral presents, used forbidden symbols during the election campaign, instigated to violence and intimidated citizens.

The findings and recommendations of the Observation Mission for the 2015 General Local Elections were possible to be made thanks to the involvement of 1954 national observers. The recommendations result from the findings arrived to in more than 5786 reports obtained from Promo-LEX observers in the field, including 3719 comprehensive reports on visits, 1814 reports on events / incidents, 253 district reports and 1836 reports developed on the election day. Promo-LEX also conducted the Quick Count and the Parallel Vote Tabulation in three constituencies: Chisinau, Balti and Comrat.

The Final Monitoring Report of the 2015 General Local Elections is developed on the basis of four interim reports submitted during the election campaign and of 2 totalization reports on the election day.

We remind you that Promo-LEX Observation Mission declares itself to be neutral and equidistant towards the election candidates, it is not an investigation body and does not assume the express obligation to support the observers’ findings by evidence.

The General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015 were monitored by Promo-LEX Association under its Monitoring Democratic Processes Program. The Observation Mission is part of the activities, carried out by the civil society under the aegis of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections. The Observation Mission of the General Local Elections of 14 (28) June 2015 was supported financially U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Council of Europe and benefits of technical assistance provided by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).

For additional information, please contact: Simion Ciochină, Communication Officer of the 2015 General Local Elections Observation Mission, Tel: 0 (22) 49 26 84, GSM: (+373) 69 11 96 94, E-mail: [email protected].

The 30^th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council will take place from 14 September to 2 October 2015, where the Survey on the Prevention of Human Rights Violation and its practical implementation will be discussed. The document was drawn up in July 2015 at the request of the United Nations Human Rights Council by its Resolution No 24/16.

The survey will provide a concept about how to prevent the violation of human rights, identify practical means to prevent violation of human rights and highlight the role of the international and regional stakeholders.

The concept of preventing human rights violation is not only about passing laws, adopting strategies and action plans, it is about creating a strong prevention system at the national level, supported by efficient work of Non-Governmental Organizations and complemented by international and regional protection mechanisms that ensure enhanced promotion of respect for human rights. Promo-LEX Association – an organisation with special advisory status at ECOSOC – contributed to the development of the survey of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner. See the document here.

Against this background, we would like to draw your attention to the Statement of the High Commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, in the opening of the session, who – referring to the Republic of Moldova – urged the authorities to provide immediate and well-founded answers as regards the approach to citizens’ discontent in relation to the incorrect use of public money, lack of transparency and the failure to provide information, participate and bear responsibility. For details go here.

The Moldovan national, Mr. Vladislav Dohotaru, had spent more than one year in the custody of the separatist structures of Donetsk. He was recently transferred over in the custody in the constitutional authorities of Ukraine. Thanks to the involvement to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine, at the initiative of Promo-LEX Association, efforts were made to ensure that the human rights and fundamental freedoms are observed and that he is granted a fair trial. Thus, after more than five months, Mr. Vladislav Dohotaru was moved from the town of Donetsk to Mariupol.

We remind you that on 30 March 2014, Mr. V. Dohotaru, a native of Tiplesti village, Sangerei district, who is a long-haul truck driver got into a traffic accident in Novoazovsk region, Village of Lebedinskoye. The accident resulted in many casualties who were either dead or injured. As he himself was severely inured, he was treated in a hospital in Mariupol, and criminal proceedings were instituted against him. After his health condition improved, Mr. V. Dohotaru was transferred to a remand prison in Donetsk, which was back then under the jurisdiction of Ukrainian constitutional authorities. After the events escalated in Ukraine and control over that region was lost, none of his relatives and friends had any other information or any other contact with him. Moreover, his son was denied access to the region when he tried to go and look for him or see him.

As reported by Mr. Dumitru Sliusarenco, lawyer of Promo-LEX Association, “We now need to make sure that all the legal procedures are complied with, that the family and friends are allowed to see him and that he is provided the necessary help. Also, we shall start the procedures that might bring Mr. V. Dohotaru back to the Republic of Moldova.”

Find here or here more details about this case.

For more details, please contact:  Carolina Bondarciuc, Press Officer Promo-LEX: GSM 060280980, Tel/Fax (+373 22) 450024, e-mail [email protected]

On 4 of August, 2015 the International Day of Solidarity with the Civil Society is celebrated in Belarus for the fourth consecutive year.

In the last 20 years the situation of human rights in Belarus has not changed. Death penalty is still applied, people are persecuted and detained on political grounds, while the fundamental rights and freedoms are limited in the entire society. Nevertheless, the human rights defenders and activists continue to promote non-violence and human rights.

The action of solidarity with the civil society in Belarus is an opportunity to lend support and show that the activists for human rights are not alone, to talk to nationals of different countries about the reality in Belarus and to say in different languages that: “Solidarity is stronger than repression!”

Promo-LEX Association – member of the International Federation for Human Rights (International Federation for Human Rights / FIDH) – joins the actions carried out at the international level and urges the civil society in he Republic of Moldova, and also the ordinary people to send a message of support to the human rights activists in Belarus.

Go here for details about the meaning of this day and what actions can be taken.

The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) strongly condemns the intimidation of leaders of Russian election observer organization – Golos, member of ENEMO.

On July 7, 2015 the law enforcement authorities raided the apartments of the co-chairmen of the board of the Golos Movement, Grigory Melkonyants and Roman Udot, as well as the executive director of the Interregional Public Foundation-Golos, Tatiana Troynova.  Later the same day, the Golos office in Moscow was also raided.  As a result of extensive house and office searches, which were conducted with some procedural violations, documents and electronic equipment have been confiscated and seized by the authorities.  This comes after the case being filed against the head of the regional office “Golos-Volga”, Lyudmila Kuzmina. Mrs. Kuzmina was allegedly accused of not paying the taxes on money donated from the central fund of Golos in 2010-2012.  Furthermore, Ms. Kuzmina was threatened with a psychiatric examination by the Russian prosecutor’s office in April 2015.

Worth noting, that this is not the first time that Golos has come under significant pressure from Russian authorities. Prior to the parliamentary elections of 2011 and prior to the Moscow mayor elections of 2013, Golos was subject to state intimidation. In 2011 Golos was fined for false accusations of breaching the election law for publishing an Interactive Map of Election Fraud and in 2013 the organization was fined and forced to stop its activities for not registering as a “foreign agent”. Back in December 2011, ENEMO has issued statements in reaction to intimidation of Golos[1].

ENEMO is strongly alarmed by the attempts of the state to threaten independent election observer organization and its activists.  ENEMO considers that the house searches represent direct intimidation of Golos activists aimed at hindering and restricting the monitoring work of the reputable observer organization in Russia prior to the upcoming local elections in September.  These latest actions are part of the larger crackdown on civil society organizations and independent activists in Russia in an attempt to silence critical voices in the country.

Being the largest and recognized citizens’ observer group in Russia, Golos observation efforts are critically important for ensuring transparency and increasing the trust in elections in the country. As in the case of all ENEMO members, Golos observation is conducted in accordance to the internationally recognized standards for domestic monitoring of elections.[2]  Attempts to threaten Golos activists and prevent their non-partisan work would signal that Russian Federation does not welcome independent and professional election monitoring thus undermining the legitimacy of electoral process in Russia.

ENEMO condemns the persistent harassment and intimidation on the civil society and ENEMO member organization Golos.  The Network calls upon the Russian Federation to respect the country’s international commitments and guarantee the internationally recognized right of citizen observers to conduct election observation without restrictions.

ENEMO (European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations) is a group of 22 civic organizations from seventeen countries of Europe and Eurasia. ENEMO seeks to support the international community’s interest in and support for democracy in the post-communist countries of the OSCE region, to assess electoral conditions and the political environment, and to offer accurate and impartial observation reports. ENEMO international observation missions evaluate the electoral process using international standards for democratic and fair elections and benchmarks in the assessed country’s legislation and constitution.

ENEMO member organizations are: Centers for Civic Initiatives – Bosnia and Herzegovina; Center for Democratic Transition – Montenegro; Center for Free Elections and Democracy – Serbia; Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society – Kyrgyzstan; Committee of Ukrainian Voters – Ukraine; Election Monitoring Center – Azerbaijan; GONG – Croatia; ISFED – Georgia; It’s your choice – Armenia; Citizens Association MOST – Macedonia; Pro Democracy Association – Romania; Republican Network of Independent Monitors – Kazakhstan; Golos – Russia; Obcianske Oko – Slovakia; Belarusian Helsinki Committee – Belarus; Society for Democratic Culture – Albania;, Monitoring Center – Montenegro; Promo LEX – Moldova; KRIIK Albania Association; Human Rights Centre Viasna – Belarus; Foundation for Support of Civic Initiatives – Kazakhstan; Kosovo Democratic Institute – Kosovo.

[1] http://www.enemo.eu/golos_support.htm

[2] DECLARATION OF GLOBAL PRINCIPLES FOR NON-PARTISAN ELECTION OBSERVATION AND MONITORING BY CITIZEN ORGANIZATIONS and CODE OF CONDUCT FOR NON-PARTISAN CITIZEN ELECTION OBSERVERS AND MONITORS, as Commemorated on April 3, 2012, at the United Nations, New York, http://www.gndem.org/declaration-of-global-principles,The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) strongly condemns the intimidation of leaders of Russian election observer organization – Golos, member of ENEMO.