Recently, the European Court of Human Rights informed the Governments of Moldova and the Russian Federation on eight applications that include complaints from 1651 owners of farmland in Dubasari as well as three farming companies. The applicants are residents and inhabitants of villages Dorotcaia, Pirita, Molovata-Noua, Pohrebea and Cocieri, situated on the left bank of the Nistru River, and own farmland in the vicinity of their villages.

The problem of farmland located on the other side of the Tiraspol-Dubasari-Ribnita road route first occurred in 1998 in several localities (Dorotcaia, Pirita, Cosnita, Cocieri), when the Transnistrian separatist regime installed illegal roadblocks on the Tiraspol-Ribnita road. The illegal installation of these blocks allowed representatives of the separatist regime to harass the applicants and try to seize those land lots during these years, which amounts to a continued violation of the applicants’ rights.

At the end of the farming season of 2004, applicants were denied access to their properties, incurring losses of tens of millions of lei. In early 2005, the farmland owners were stopped from working the land, bearing enormous losses again.

Thousands of Dubasari farmland owners protested in Chisinau, urging the Governments in Chisinau and Moscow to take action to observe the Moldovan-Russian Agreement of 21 July 1992, which guarantees free movement in this region of Moldova. Governments actions were insufficient to guarantee the full exercise of property rights, so many farmers and landowners filed complaints with the European Court.

At the Court, applicants allege a violation of Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in connection with the violation of the right of ownership or use of land shares, and of Article 13 in connection with the lack of an effective remedy at the national level in connection with violations of Article 1 of the European Convention.

The applicants are represented at the European Court of Human Rights by Promo-LEX lawyers and legal counsels.

More details on the statement of facts are available here.

Oleg Filin, citizen of Moldova and resident of the city of Chisinau, was kidnapped on 25 March 2009 from his home in the Moldovan capital, and was transported to the twon of Dubasari. On 21 October 2009, in violation of all procedural rights, Oleg Filin was “sentenced” by the alleged Dubasari “court” to eight years in prison.

On 15 July 2010 the applicant lodged a complaint with the General Prosecutor Office seeking the initiation of criminal proceedings and sanctions of all persons involved in the abduction and illegal detention in Moldova. On 26 July 2010, a prosecutor from the Ciocana district Prosecution office issued an ordinance of refusal to initiate criminal proceedings on grounds that the actions did not contain elements of an offense. On 7 October 2010, the Prosecutor General overruled the ordinance of 26 July, and ordered to start criminal proceedings on the case under Article 328. 1 of the Moldovan Criminal Code. On 10 December 2010, the prosecutor from the Ciocana Prosecution office ordered the cessation of criminal case no. 2010488051 on the grounds that the actions did not contain elements of the offense. The prosecutor’s ordinance was annulled by a superior prosecutor on 21 January 2011, who ordered the resumption of proceedings. On 7 June 2011, the investigation was suspended on the grounds that it was impossible to identify the persons who committed the offense.

On July 9, 2010, the applicant filed a civil action against the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Moldova in connection with his illegal detention in the eastern region of Moldova. He also submitted a petition to the Russian Ambassador to Moldova, in which he described his conditions of detention, which he believes are contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Namely, the cell in which he was held is not provided with drinking water, light or ventilation. Between April and September 2010, the applicant did not have access to hot water. The applicant also claims that, while submitting his complaint to the European Court of Human Rights, he was detained together with people suffering from tuberculosis.

In his action to the European Court, the applicant claims infringement of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in connection with his detention in inhuman conditions, Article 5 in connection with the illegal detention in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, Article 6 regarding the refusal of Moldovan courts to examine the applicant’s action, and Article 13 in connection to the lack of an effective remedy at the national level in relation to violations of Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the ECHR.

The case is represented at the European Court of Human Rights by Promo-LEX lawyers and legal counsels.

More details on the statement of facts are available here.

Three months after the European Court of Human Rights pronounced the judgment which recognized the violation of the right to education in the Transnistrian region of Moldova (Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia case), the Russian authorities have not pay the compensation they were obligated to and failed to take any step to enforce required general and individual provisions.

To enforce the ECtHR judgment with respect to paying the established compensations, representatives of the plaintiffs filed claims to the Russian government agent to the ECtHR, as well as the Russian Finance Ministry and State Treasury. Insofar, none of addressees gave any response to the claim.

Also, in our opinion, the authorities concerned (Moldova and Russia) ignored their obligations under the European Convention and ECtHR judgment of 19 October 2012, and made no visible efforts to solve the problems related to:

1. Excluding illegal and abusive provisions in the local regulations that restrict the use of the Latin alphabet for the functioning of Romanian (Moldovan) language in the Eastern region of Moldova (Article 6 of the regional “Law on languages”, Art. 12th of the region’s “Constitution”, Art. 200/3 “Code of administrative violations” of the region, Decree of 18 August 1994 on the prohibition of the use of Latin script in schools);

2. Canceling provisions of the so-called local authorities of the cities of Ribnita, Bender and Grigoriopol on evacuating the Latin script Lyceums from the buildings they previously held;

3. Restitution of buildings used before the forced evacuation by the “Evrica” Lyceum in Ribnita on Gagarin St, by “Alexandru cel Bun” Lyceum on Kosmodemianskaia St. in Bender, and returning the building used by the “Stefan cel Mare” Lyceum from Grigoriopol until 2002;

4. Canceling the requirement to register educational institutions operating based on the national curriculum with the local administration in Tiraspol;

5. Canceling any prohibition regarding the provision of books, manuals or other goods and materials used in the educational process in Latin script schools.

6. Prohibition of discrimination and intimidation campaigns that were admitted and sometimes organized by local separatist administrations, especially acts of vandalism and hooliganism against those who wish to study in these schools.

Contrary to populist statements of representatives of the separatist regime in the recent years, the situation of Romanian-language schools remains difficult. According to school principals, all conditions are in place to disrupt teaching. Retention of school buses of the “Stefan cel Mare” Lyceum from Grigoriopol, that takes students to a school in Doroţcaia or persecution of a student of the “Lucian Blaga” Lyceum in Tiraspol shows that the Tiraspol regime is intended to continue to violate the right to education in the region.

We therefore demand the Moldovan legal authorities, the government of Ukraine, which is a mediator in the Transnistrian conflict and currently holds thet chair of the OSCE, the observer parties: United States, European Union and OSCE, and especially Russia, to take consistent and effective efforts to ensure non-discriminatory conditions for all students and parents in the Transnistrian region, as envisaged by the respective ECtHR judgment of 19 October 2012.

Promo-LEX will notify the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of the fact that the Russian Federation ignores obligations assumed by ratifying the European Convention for Human Rights.

For more details, please contact: Iulia Munteanu, Press Officer
Tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069072579, email: [email protected]

Promo-LEX Association has launched a new edition of the study “The rights of recruits in the eastern region of Moldova”. This study is an objective analysis of the situation in Transnistria recruits, both citizens of the Republic of Moldova and of other states, required or forced to do military service in illegal paramilitary units from the left bank.

“For 20 years, young people living in Moldova present oaths of allegiance to an unconstitutional regime, self-proclaimed on Moldovan land”, said Alexandru Zubco, author of the study. “Those who refuse to serve this illegal regime are hunted and persecuted by the region’s administration, and Moldovan legal authorities are often indifferent to these phenomena, ignoring their positive obligations,” concludes Alexandru Zubco.

The author believes that the responsibility for this situation lies largely on the national government and the legal authorities that failed, in 20 years, to develop mechanisms or effective tools to protect and guarantee the human rights of their citizens of this region. Moldova did not create minimum conditions to register young Transnistrian men in their military records and enrollment them in constitutional structures.

Occasionally, the public learns about cases of abduction of persons right at Transnistrian checkpoints, and these men are then forced to accept enrollment or face prosecution for alleged criminal offences. Despite the efforts of the Chisinau delegation to the Joint Control Commission, victims remain in captivity, which demonstrates that the peacekeeping format designed to assure the safety and rights of persons in the Security Zone is inefficient and needs to be changed.

The study is developed within the cross-border cooperation project “Transnational network for the protection of the rights of recruits and conscripts: empowering young people in situations of discrimination by the state”, implemented by the London School of Economics and Political Science, and funded by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

Electronic version of the study in Romanian is available here.

For further information, please contact:
Alexandru Zubco, Lawyer, Promo-LEX Association,
Phone: (22) 31 09 45, e-mail: [email protected]

On January 14th, 2013 took place the Press conference on the topic “Evgheni Sevciuc becoming president takes revenge. Alexander Coliban – the next prisoner in Tiraspol for the next 2.6 years.” In which participated the relatives of the young man and the representative of Promo-LEX Association, Pavel Postica.

Alexandr Coliban, aged 22, from Chisinau, was convicted by the unconstitutional bodies from transnistrian region to 2.6 years of prison. Alexander was convicted for distributing electoral leaflets against Evgheni Sevciuc for the “presidential elections” campaign from 11 September 2011 in the transnistrian region.

On October 23rd 2011, a group of people hired by Alexandru to post and distribute electoral leaflets in the region were detained in the town of Grigoriopol. Alexandru immediately went to Grigoriopol to clarify the situation, and was detained by the Transnistrian “law enforcement” on charges of slander (actions punishable under Article 126 of the “criminal code”) and on impeding the free exercise of the electoral right or the activities of electoral authorities following the distribution of defamatory materials against candidate Evgheni Sevciuc (actions punishable under Art. 137 of the “criminal code”).

Alexandr was detained for three days, and pressured to confess his supposed guilt and testify against the organizer. Convinced of the lack of criminal content in his actions, Alexandr admitted that indeed he recruited and hired people for campaigning and provided them with electoral materials. Moreover, he indicated who exactly hired him for this work and how much he was paid for it.

“Starting with October 31st, 2011, the regional Transnistrian “public” television broadcast a series of six thematic programs about the defamation campaign against candidates, including images. Also the TV programs presented all materials, “defamatory” election posters against candidate Evgheni Sevciuc. We conclude that it is about revenge considering that after becoming “president”, Sevciuc addressed a letter to the court expressly requesting a tougher punishment for Alexandru – a prison sentence for a maximum term of 3 years and 6 months”, mentioned Promo-LEX Association lawyer, Pavel Postica.

“Respectively, since June 9th, 2012, Alexandru Coliban is held in illegal detention in Tiraspol. Moreover, his detention is clearly politically motivated. All the “defamatory” materials were made public through the local media more than once. In our view, the impact of posting slandering electoral leaflets on pillars is incomparable with the impact of showing these posters on TV – although no one was punished for the broadcast, at least not criminally charged”, added Pavel Postica

Svetlana Coliban, the mother of the young man, asks the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation (which has influence on the eastern territory of Moldova) to solve this problem and to release her innocent son.

Association Promo-LEX by any possible and legal means will defend the legitimate interests of Alexandr Coliban and promptly submit the case to the European Court of Human Rights. In connection with the above, we ask the authorities of Moldova and of the Russian Federation, and other bodies involved in the 5+2 format:

1. To take action on this serious case of violation of the right to freedom and personal security and the right to free expression in respect of Alexandru Coliban;

2. To see to an immediate and unconditional release from prison of Alexandru Coliban, and his medical examination;

3. To punish under national legislation the persons responsible for violating the rights of Alexandru Coliban.

The press conference is available here.

For more details, contact: Paul Postica, lawyer Promo-LEX Association
Tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069165154, e-mail: [email protected]

• January 1st – The Promo-LEX Association monitors the situation and gets actively involved in the case of Vadim Pisari’s murder by a Russian soldier of the peacekeeping forces, an incident that took place in Vadul lui Voda, Chisinau city.
• January 17th – The Promo-LEX Association initiates and participates in the elaboration and launch of the Appeal of the Civic Coalition for Free and Correct Elections towards the initiators of the constitutional referendum regarding the modification of the 78th article of the Constitution.
• January 18th – The Promo-LEX Association initiates and participates in the elaboration and launch of the Appeal of the civil society representatives regarding the urgent necessity of changing the actual format of the peacekeeping mission from Moldova.
• January 20th – The Promo-LEX Association initiates and participates in the elaboration and launch of the Declaration of the human rights organizations from Moldova concerning the actions of the judge Sergiu Furdui, vice president of the Criminal Court of the Supreme Court of Justice.
• January 24th – The European Court of Human Rights has pronounced the judgment in the case of Brega and Others v. The Republic of Moldova (app. no 61485/08) finding violations of art. 5 § 1 and art. 11 of ECHR. The case has been represented by the memebers of The Promo-LEX Association.
• January 25th – The members of The Promo-LEX Association participate at the hearings in front of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights representing the interests of 170 persons in the case of Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia.
• January 31st – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 51st edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• February 2nd – The Promo-LEX Association celebrates the International Day of Elections urging citizens to show activism and responsibility in the exercise of the voting right.
• February 10th – The Annual General Meeting of the organization is convened.
• February 17th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 52nd edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• February 28th – The Promo-LEX Association develops and launches the appeal concerning the organization of the formal “5 +2” meeting in Dublin. Promo-LEX requests the examination of the situation and the release of 9 victims from illegal detention.
• February 28th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 53rd edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• March 2nd – The Promo-LEX Association monitors the situation in Corjova, Dubasari, where the separatist administration has violated the right to peaceful assembly of a local group.
• March 7th – The Promo-LEX Association, as a founding member of the International Cooperation Platform “Civic Solidarity”, participates in the meeting of Platform members.
• March 14th – The European Court communicates the Government of the Republic of Moldova the case Craciuneac v. Moldova. The case concerns the victims of the April 2009 events (app. no 77407/11), represented by the members of the Promo-LEX Association.
• March 19th – The Promo-LEX Association launches the Report “Discriminatory ill-treatment in Moldova”.
• March 21st – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 54th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• March 28th – The Promo-LEX Association requires the central constitutional authorities to ensure the respect of young men rights in the transnistrian region regarding their forced enrollment campaign into paramilitary forces in the transnistrian region of Moldova.
• March 28th – The Promo-LEX Association signs the public Call for initiative to reform the European Court of Human Rights.
• April 3rd – The Promo-LEX Association participates in the official launch of the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation (GNDEM). The Declaration is translated into Romanian and promoted nationally by The Promo-LEX Association.
• April 19th – The Promo-LEX Association elaborates and sends to the Ministry of Justice a number of proposals for completing the National Action Plan on Human Rights (NAPHR) for 2011-2014.
• April 24th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 55th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• April 25th – The Promo-LEX Association elaborates the comparative research “Legislation and practice regarding political participation in the Eastern Partnership Countries”.
• April 30th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 56th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• May 3rd – The Promo-LEX Association presents the Report on human rights situation in the transnistrian region of Moldova in 2011.
• May 5th – The Promo-LEX Association prepares and sends an alternative report to SPT (Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, UN).
• May 10th – Promo-LEX lawyers present the opinion regarding the proposed amendments to the Electoral Code from the perspective of media regulation within election campaign.
• May 13th – The Promo-LEX Association participates in the NGO Fair “Get to know the NGO that represents you!”.
• May 15th – The European Court of Human Rights has pronounced its judgment in the case of I.G. v. Moldova (app. no 53519/07) finding violation of art. 3 of the ECHR. The case has been represented by the members of The Promo-LEX Association.
• May 18th – The Promo-LEX Association organizes training courses for its network of observers and invests in the continuous training of Long Term Observers (LTO).
• May 21st – The Promo-LEX Association participates in the Moldova – EU dialogue, on the human rights observance tier.
• May 28th – The Promo-LEX Association attends the meeting of the Supreme Court Plenum in which the explanatory decision on the protective measures in cases of domestic violence is adopted.
• May 29th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 57th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• June 10th – Promo-LEX observers participate in the monitoring of the local electoral process in Romania.
• June 15th – The Promo-LEX Association organizes the Round Table “The Role of Observers in the Electoral Process. The Importance of Codes of Conduct.”
• June 21st – The Promo-LEX Association sends repeatedly to the Ministry of Justice a number of proposals for completing the National Action Plan on Human Rights (NAPHR) for 2011-2014.
• June 26th – The Promo-LEX Association signs an appeal supporting victims of torture and participates in a campaign dedicated to the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
• June 26th- The Promo-LEX Association signs the public appeal regarding the initiative of amending the Code of Civil Procedure concerning judgments motivation.
• June 28th – The Promo-LEX Association organizes the Press Club on “The Torture Phenomenon and the Rehabilitation of Victims from the transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova”.
• July 3rd – The Promo-LEX Association, Institute of History, State and Law of the ASM, The Center for Reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, The Institute for Research and Scientific Expertise in Law have held the Scientific-Practical Conference on the personal security in Moldova.
• July 4th – The Promo-LEX Association signs the Appeal for the establishment of the Commission selecting candidates for the post of judge at the ECHR.
• July 10th – The European Court issues a decision on Calancea v. Moldova case (app. no 50425/11) which accepts mutual settlement between the parties and the recognition of violations by the government. The cause is represented at ECHR by Promo-LEX members.
• July 11th The Promo-LEX Association launches a public appeal for the release of Alexandru Ursu from illegal detention.
• July 11th – The Promo-LEX Association signs the public Appeal on the withdrawal of the bill on amendments of the Civil Procedure Code and amendments regarding the status of judges and ensuring the activity of certain courts.
• July 13th – The Promo-LEX Association joins the call to the Russian authorities to reject the repressive Draft legislation on “Foreign Agents”.
• July 21st – The Promo-LEX Association celebrates its 10 years of activity.
• July 25th – The Promo-LEX Association initiates and participates in the development and launch of the Declaration of Human Rights organizations from Moldova on the actions of the Head of the Criminal Police and of the Director of the Center for Personal Data Protection.
• July 29th – Promo-LEX observers participate in the monitoring of the referendum from Romania.
• July 31st – The Promo-LEX Association signs the joint civil society call on frauds committing while collecting signatures for the Republican legislative referendum on joining the Customs Union of Russia – Belarus – Kazakhstan.
• August 1st – The Promo-LEX Association welcomes the release of three persons whose interests are represented at the ECHR (Ostap Popovschi, Cilei Alexandru and Cebotari Anatol), from the illegal detention of the separatist regime in Tiraspol.
• August 8th – Promo-LEX observers participate within the ENEMO mission in the long-term monitoring of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
• August 16th – Participating in the international conference in Prague “Domestic observation of elections in European countries”, Promo-LEX contributes to the creation of an international election observation platform.
• September 3rd – The Promo-LEX Association monitors the situation and the respect of pupils and teachers rights from the transnistrian region, founds problems and requires the authorities to ensure the respect of the fundamental rights for the inhabitants from the Eastern region of the country.
• September 17th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 58th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• September 21st – Promo-LEX holds the training “Defending human rights in the transnistrian region through national and international instruments and mechanisms”.
• September 23rd – Participating in OSCE HDIM, Promo-LEX submits a memorandum on the situation of human rights in the transnistrian region.
• September 25th – Promo-LEX prepares and signs an Appeal against the draft of the Resolution on traditional values.
• September 28th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 59th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• October 2nd – Promo-LEX and CNP have held public debates on the legal framework aimed at exercising the right to freedom of assembly in Moldova.
• October 12th – Promo-LEX intervenes in the defense of Alexandru Bejan, harassed by the Tiraspol administration.
• October 16th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 60th edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• October 19th – The public meeting of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. The issue of the decision in the case of Catan and others v. Moldova and Russia. The Court finds violations of article 2 of Protocol 1 of the Convention by the Russian Federation. The case has been represented by the members of the Promo-LEX Association.
• October 22nd – Promo-LEX prepares and submits the resolution on the steps to be taken to ensure the right to education in the eastern region of Moldova (Transnistria).
• October 25th – Within international missions supported by ENEMO and ODC (Open Democracy Committee) Promo-LEX observers have involved in monitoring short-term parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
• November 5th – The Promo-LEX Association welcomes the release of Alexandru Ursu from illegal detention. A. Ursu’s interests are represented by Promo-LEX members.
• November 5th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 61st edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• November 6th – The European Court issues a decision on Craciuneac v. Moldova case (app. no 77407/11) which accepts mutual settlement between the parties and the recognition of violations by the government. The cause is represented at ECHR by Promo-LEX members.
• November 7th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 62nd edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• November 14th – Promo-LEX participates in civil society consultations on the future of the European Court, Strasbourg.
• November 15th – Promo-LEX participates at the traditional biannual meetings of lawyers and NGOs from Europe in Strasbourg.
• November 16th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 63rd edition of the RDCT newsletter.
• November 16th – Promo-LEX participates in the meeting of NGOs on monitoring enforcement of ECtHR judgments, Strasbourg.
• November 19th – Promo-LEX participates in a Mission from Moldova and provides technical support to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in their research visit on the observance of the right to be free from torture and the right to a fair trial.
• November 23rd – The European Court communicates the Government of The Republic of Moldova the case Repeşcu and Repeşco v. Moldova (app. no 64785/11). The cause is represented at ECHR by Promo-LEX members and refers to the use of torture in No 13 prison from Chisinau.
• November 25th – December 10th – The Promo-LEX Association gets involved in the campaign “16 days against gender-based violence”.
• November 24th – The Promo-LEX Association organizes the intellectual game “Know Your Rights!” for young people from the transnistrian region.
• November 29th – The Promo-LEX Association along with Casa Marioarei Shelter and Moldova.org disseminates the short movie “The victims of domestic violence between fear and legislative flaws”.
• December 4th – The Promo-LEX Association conducts the Human Rights Week and launches interviews with personalities born in the transnistrian region who talk about human rights.
• December 5th – The Promo-LEX Association, as a member of the Civic Solidarity Platform participates in the Civil Society Conference organized by OSCE. There were developed recommendations for reforming the OSCE human dimension process.
• December 10th – The Promo-LEX Association prepares and submits the report on the situation of human rights in the transnistrian region of Moldova, 2012 retrospective.
• December 10th – The Centre of Human Rights from Moldova establishes Ombudsman’s award, awarded in 2012 to The Promo-LEX Association.
• December 10th – Through the Ministry of Defense order no 464 of 10/12/2012, The Commission for the research of the phenomenon of violation of statutory rules between the soldiers is established. A Promo-LEX representative has been included under this commission.
• December 12th – Promo-LEX presents the study on freedom of assembly in the transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
• December 12th – Promo-LEX participates in the presentation of the Memorandum on transnistrian conflict settlement. The document represents the vision and proposals of civil society on methods of solving the transnistrian conflict.
• December 12th – Promo-LEX members present the research “Freedom of assembly in the transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. Object of constitutional regulation and the influence of external factors”.
• December 12th – The Promo-LEX Association along with 11 other organizations that support or perform observation of national elections in the states of the Eastern Partnership, the Russian Federation and the European Union launches “The European Platform for Democratic Elections” (EPDE) in Warsaw.
• December 17th – The Promo-LEX Association launches the evaluation report assessing the implementation of the Law 45 on the protection order in the Republic of Moldova during 2008 -2011.
• December 19th – Promo-LEX publishes the informative note on the Government Decision Project regarding the structure and personnel of the General Inspectorate of Police.
• December 20th – The Promo-LEX Association releases the 64th edition of the RDCT newsletter.

In 2012 Promo-LEX has celebrated its 10 years of activity. We have listed only a part of the Associations’ activities in this anniversary year.

On behalf of all our beneficiaries, The Promo-LEX Association expresses gratitude to its partners for their contribution and support in 2012: European Union Delegation to Moldova, Open Society Institute Budapest, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, Soros Foundation-Moldova, Civil Rights Defenders, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.S. Mission to the OSCE.

On January 1, 2012, at around 7.15 minutes at post No.9 of the peacekeeping forces near Parata village, a conscripted Russian military performed gunshots with his service weapon in the direction of a car driver. At the wheel of the car was a resident of Parata village, Vadim Pisari, born in 1993, citizen of the Republic of Moldova. As a result, Pisari Vadim died at the emergency hospital in Chisinau.

On 4th of January 2012, the Russian Federation authorities based on the incident from the 1st of January 2012 initiated a criminal case according to the provisions of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, homicide by negligence.

On 9th of January 2012 on the official website of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published an article in which was stated that the actions of Russian peacekeeper were in full compliance with the military regulations in force and respectively he had not committed any violation of the legal provisions. In this respect, the lack of an investigation conducted under all aspects and only a week after the incident, the Russian Federation authorities have publicly stated that the Russian officer who caused the death of Pisari Vadim is actually innocent. Further the Russian authorities only simulated an investigation into the incident.

On 9th of February 2012, following statements from several officials of the Russian Federation, the representatives of the deceased Pisari Vadim addressed the Russian Federation authorities an interpellation in which requested information on the death case investigation and interfered with a request to recognize the relatives of the deceased as representatives of the victim in the case “investigated” by the Russian authorities. On 12th of April 2012, the Russian Federation Prosecutor Office sent to the representatives of the deceased Pisari Vadim a response which informs that they do not recognize as representatives of the deceased Pisari Vadim his parents or the family appointed lawyer.

On 5th of June , 2012, the Pisari family lawyer put forward a second request to the Russian Federation Prosecutor’s Office in which once again requested to recognize the relatives as representatives of the victim. On 8th of August 2012, the Russian Federation Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to the lawyer which informs that Russian legislation does not provide the possibility for the extradition of their own citizens to other countries for prosecution. Also confirmed the refusal to recognize the relatives of Pisari Vadim or the family appointed lawyer as representatives of the victim. Furthermore through this letter the family was not informed of the termination of the criminal investigation in regard to the Russian officer Cojuhari VG.

On 12th of December, 2012, the Pisari family lawyer sent a new complaint towards the Russian Federation Prosecutor’s Office in which reiterated the request to be informed about the stage of the investigation conducted by the Russian authorities and request to be recognized as representatives of the victim.

On 21st of December, 2012 on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published a commentary of the official representative Lucasevici A., which informed the public opinion that the criminal case examined by the Russian authorities was closed and the Russian officer Cojuhari V.G. was removed from criminal prosecution because in his actions were not observed constituent elements of a crime.

Thereby, almost one year after the incident and the initiation of the criminal prosecution, the Russian Federation authorities responsible for organizing and conducting the criminal investigations have demonstrated professional incompetence, total negligence for the minimum standards of an efficient investigation in the spirit of the European Convention, cowardice and fear to timely and publicly recognize the reached conclusions and adopted decisions. At the same time we consider that the Russian Federation investigative authorities only simulated an examination of the incident because they have reached exactly the same conclusion that was officially launched on the 9th of January , 2012, namely ,a week after the incident.

For details contact attorney Alexander Postica, Program Director Promo-LEX tel.069104851

Warsaw – On 12th December 2012, twelve civil society organisations supporting or conducting citizens’ election observation in the states of the Eastern Partnership, the Russian Federation and the European Union have launched the “European Platform for Democratic Elections” (EPDE) in Warsaw.

“The support of citizens standing for democratic elections wherever they are at risk in Europe is our common aim and responsibility” said Stefanie Schiffer, chair of European Exchange (Berlin) and newly-elected coordinator of the Platform. Whereas all six countries of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) and the Russian Federation have committed themselves to the principles of electoral democracies through their constitutions and international obligations, today none of these states fully meets the standards of democratic elections. “Election fraud has become a common tool for some of the post-Soviet countries to preserve power. The poorest records belong to the European Union’s immediate neighbour states, Belarus and the Russian Federation, as well as Azerbaijan.”

The aim of the “European Platform for Democratic Elections” is to assist citizens’ election observation in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and in the Russian Federation, and to contribute to democratic election processes throughout Europe. The Platform will develop innovative methodologies to detect election fraud through citizens’ observation, it will train citizens’ observation networks in Eastern Europe and it will contribute to raising awareness for the findings of citizens’ election observation in European political structures.

The first activities of the European Platform for Democratic Elections are directed towards supporting citizens’ observation during the upcoming presidential elections in 2013 in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as towards the regional elections in the Russian Federation and in Ukraine.

The founding members of the European Platform for Democratic Elections are the Association GOLOS (Russia), Belarusian Helsinki Committee BHC (Belarus), Committee of Voters of Ukraine CVU, Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center EMDSC (Azerbaijan), European Exchange (Germany), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly VANADZOR (Armenia), Human Rights Center “Viasna” (Belarus), International Society for Free Elections and Democracy ISFED (Georgia), Norwegian Helsinki Committee NHC, Civil Network OPORA (Ukraine), Association Promo-Lex (Moldova) and Swedish International Liberal Centre SILC (Sweden).

A fixed-time team-played quiz game (JIETF) is a mind sport where teams try to identify the correct answer to trivia or general knowledge questions in a fixed period of time. The team’s goal in the game is to answer to a greater number of questions than their rivals.

The event brought together three teams: Phoenix (Lucian Blaga Lyceum, Tiraspol); ProVeritas (Evrika Lyceum, Rîbnița); and Intelect (“Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt” Lyceum, Grigoriopol).

The event was organized together with the Moldovan Mind Game Club and aimed to promote the culture of human rights through knowledge and information multiplication.

Octavian Sirețeanu, the host of the game, stated: “At this session of mind games, the three teams had the opportunity to give a try at three different games. All the rounds included both questions pertaining to human rights, the event’s theme, and general knowledge questions. As concerns the teams’ performance, I should remark that it had been a tight race before one team eventually managed to obtain a comfortable lead just in the final round. The players prepared well for the thematic questions on human rights, and seldom had troubles answering such. In the general knowledge questions department, answers wouldn’t come that easy, but most of the time, with a little tip, they would eventually crack them. The final results were fair, considering that that was their first experience of the kind. I wish the players to keep playing mind games, and with a bit of experience I think that this group can produce some valuable players.”

“Through this activity, we planned to involve the youth in the region into promoting human rights culture in a new, more interactive fashion. The three teams showed great interest and motivation throughout the game. The competition spirit added dynamism to the game and created a friendly environment for all the participants in the event. We plan to support the organization of quiz games during the Human Rights Decade in a number of education institutions in the region”, said Olga Gordila, Civil Society Program coordinator at Promo-LEX.

“I took part for the first time in such an activity and we were a little bit nervous in the beginning. But we managed to overcome our emotions as the game advanced. It was extremely interesting, because it tried our knowledge, our speed of thinking, and teamwork skills. Together with our teachers, we will try to hold such quizzes in our school, too”, said one member of the team ProVeritas.

The activity was part of the “Promoting Human Rights and Strengthening Civil Society in Moldova’s Transnistrian Region” Program, which is implemented thanks to the financial support offered by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Between July 23rd and October 29th, 2012, the International Election Observation Mission ENEMO monitored the Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine.

Under Observation Mission, 86 international observers ENEMO, conducted 546 visits to polling stations, observed the tabulation process in 42 precincts and followed the transfer from polling stations in 40 electoral districts.

ENEMO found that, compared with the pre-election period in 2006 and in 2007, a large number of violations of electoral law were found. Violations mainly refer to use of administrative resources, harassment and intimidation of candidates and journalists.

ENEMO’s top priorities are objectivity, impartiality and trustworthiness of the information collected by its observers, which is required by ENEMO responsibilities before the documents network endorsed. The focus at all stages of observation was on: Local Political developments, Work of the Election administration, Activities of Political parties / candidates, Work of the Local / regional administration, Specifics of the Election campaign, Media environment, Women and minority participation, Work of NGOs and Local non-partisan observers, Assessment of the voters education activities and Monitoring of official Complaints and appeals. ENEMO monitors worked closely with domestic and international observation missions whose observation methodology meets international standards.

During the pre-election period ENEMO released three summary reports which were presented at official press conferences. ENEMO prepared and presented a report on Election Day. The Report is available here.
The final Report on the Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine will be issued by ENEMO in the close future.

Promo-LEX Association is a member of ENEMO Network starting with 2009. Thus, under the ENEMO monitoring mission, Promo-LEX delegated 2 long-term observers to monitor, during August 5th – November 2nd, 2012, the Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine. Additionally, during October 25th-30th, Promo-LEX also delegated 4 short-term observers to monitor the Election-Day under the ENEMO monitoring mission.

For further information, please contact:
Maja Milikic, Deputy Head/ PR Officer; Cell: +380 (0) 99 753 31 32, E-mail: [email protected]
Pavel Postica, Program Director, Tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069165154, e-mail: [email protected]

The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) is an international network consisting of 22 leading domestic monitoring organizations from 17 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ENEMO operates in full compliance with international standards for international elections observation. ENEMO member organizations have monitored more than 200 national elections and trained more than 200,000 observers. To date, ENEMO has monitored 15 election processes in seven countries.