The young men in the Transnistrian region continue to be persecuted for the refusal to enroll in the military units of the unconstitutional regime. Those who oppose the draft are fined, arrested, announced wanted and face legal action. The situation of the young persons who are persecuted by the Transnistrian regime was discussed at public debates at Info-Prim Neo on April 30. The event formed part of the series of public debates “Current problems in areas of vital importance: convergent and divergent views”, launched by the National NGO Council.

“The military service is equal to detention as when the young people are caught by the Transnistrian authorities they are forced to choose between prison and army. The people living in the region are thus scared,” said the head of Promo-LEX Association Ion Manole. According to him, more than 40,000 of the about 55,000 possible victims of the military system of the region are citizens of Moldova.

Ion Manole said the young people who want to avoid the Transnistrian army ask to be taken under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense of Moldova, often through the agency of Promo-LEX Association, trying thus to protect themselves from persecution. In order to deprive the young men of such a possibility, the Transnistrian authorities start to supervise them when they are at school so as to draft them when they reach the required age.

The head of the Reintegration Office Ion Stavila said the problem of forced enrollment of the young people will be solved when the Transnistrian region is granted a special status, as integral part of Moldova. “It is hard to help these persons. We are now looking for solutions,” said the official. He stressed that the persecution of this group of people is part of the intimidation campaign carried out in the region, which is targeted mainly at the civil society. Ion Stavila refereed to the case of journalist Ernest Vardanyan, who was arrested over ‘betrayal of the state’, the case of the Bender town resident Ilie Cazacu, who was arrested 40 years ago under the same charges, and other cases.

Sergiu Vylkov, a member of the Join Control Commission (JCC) on behalf of the official Chisinau, explained that the Transnistrian delegation often opposes the inclusion of related issues in the agenda. “Even if the JCC works in the Security Zone, we do not have access to Transnistrian military institutions as many of them are located in the area illegally, including in breach of the Moldovan-Russian ceasefire agreement of 1992,” said Vylkov.

According to Ion Manole, the situation is serious and can be overcome by applying international documents like the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, whose ratification has been delayed by the Parliament for 10 years. Viorel Barbanoua, a member of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, said that if the Rome Statute is applied both the constitutional authorities and the inhabitants of the region will benefit from additional instruments for fighting the human rights violations and other illegalities committed by the Transnistrian authorities.

According to the data of Promo-LEX, legal cases were opened in 2009 against 290 young people from Transnistria who refused to join the local army. Young persons of certain religions banning doing the military service were fined. A study made two years ago by Promo-LEX revealed several cases of death in the Transnistrian army.

Source: Info-Prim Neo

Eight persons held in a remand center in Rybnitsa sewed up their lips with needle and thread and went on a hunger strike in protest against the inhuman treatment against them. After two days of strike, the detainees were fed by force and treated by doctors.

“The incident happened 10 or 20 days ago. We do not know when exactly because we have two sources that give two different dates,” the president of the Human Rights Association Promo-LEX Ion Manole has told Info-Prim Neo.

The jurists of Promo-LEX were informed about the incident by local residents.”According to our sources, the detainees protest against the inhuman treatment. They are humiliated and forces to sign false statements against themselves,” Ion Manole said.

He also said that they could not yet find out the names of the eight detainees and their place of birth. A member of the Association traveled to Rybnitsa, which is located in Transnistria, to find relatives of the detainees.

“Promo-LEX informed the Moldovan authorities and international organizations working in Chisinau about the incident. Somebody should have unlimited access to such institutions in the Transnistrian region. We plan a meeting with the authorities to tell them about this,” Ion Manole said.

Earlier, 90 persons detained in a remand center in Tiraspol also went on hunger strike. Neither the international organizations such as the OSCE nor the Moldovan NGOs could enter the center to clarify the situation.

Source: Ipn.md

2009-07-17/17:02 Human rights activists and relatives of three Moldovan policemen gathered Friday outside the Russian Embassy in Chisinau to protest the arrest of the officers by the uniformed services of the breakaway region of Transnistria.

Officers Vladimir Dragulea, Ion Rybca and Dumitru Vieru were arrested in Tiraspol on July 14 for a period of three days, and were initially due to be released on Friday, but their arrest was prolonged for another two months.

The policemen were seized on charges of illegal arrest and abduction as they went to Tiraspol on a mission to capture a suspect, explained Eugeniu Rybca, the brother of one of the officers.

“We contacted the constitutional authorities and we were told that the activities of the Interiors Ministry had been coordinated with the Transnistrian police, and there is evidence in this regard”, said Rybca. “We demand the immediate and unconditioned release of the three Moldovan citizens, who are detained in disrespect for their rights”, added Rybca, who is also a lawyer.

“The separatist authorities attempt to impose themselves by arresting not only civilians but also functionaries from Moldova in a bid to show that they are the only ones which have authority in the region and can do whatever they please. We think this is a blatant violation of the European Convention (on Human Rights) and in particular of the right to freedom and safety of a person”, said Alexandru Postica of the human rights watchdog “Promo-Lex”.

The arrested officers are held in separate cells. Most likely they will be represented in court by lawyers from Transnistria.

Source: INFO-PRIM-NEO
http://www.info-prim.md/?x=24&y=24592