Amnesty International Report 1999 - Moldova

MOLDOVA

Conditions of detention amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. At least four political prisoners remained imprisoned in the self-proclaimed Dnestr Moldavian Republic (DMR). Conscientious objectors to military service in the DMR continued to face imprisonment.

In fulfilment of Moldova's commitments on joining the Council of Europe, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by Moldova in October 1997, came into force in February. The Moldovan parliament said, however, that Moldova was unable to ensure the Convention's implementation in the self-proclaimed DMR. Experts of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which monitors compliance with the Convention, conducted their first monitoring visit to Moldova in October.

According to reports, little progress was made in legal and judicial reform. The parliament failed to adopt new criminal and criminal procedure codes and the norms of the old penal legislation continued to be applied, in some cases in violation of international standards. For example, under the provisions of the existing Criminal Code minor non-violent economic offences were still punishable by imprisonment. According to the Moldovan Helsinki Committee, a local human rights group, almost half of the detainees held in pre-trial detention centres had been charged with minor economic crimes, such as petty theft.

According to reports in April, the power to issue arrest warrants was finally transferred from the procurators to the courts, except in the DMR.

Prison conditions remained inadequate, with serious overcrowding. Conditions were especially harsh in pre-trial detention centres. The incidence of malnutrition and disease, especially tuberculosis, was high in all facilities.

There were reports of the continued use in the DMR of Presidential Decree No. 222 on the Introduction of a State of Emergency to detain political suspects. Under this decree, law enforcement officials can detain suspects for up to 30 days without charge and allegedly without access to a defence lawyer.

Ilie IlaÒcu, Alexandru LeÒco, Andrei Ivan†oc and Tudor Petrov-Popa of the so-called "Tiraspol Six", convicted of murder in 1993 by a court in the DMR (see previous Amnesty International Reports), remained in prison. Their trial had apparently failed to meet international standards of fairness and the men had allegedly been prosecuted solely because of their membership of the Christian Democratic Popular Front, a Moldovan party that favours reunification with Romania.

Ilie IlaÒcu, Alexandru LeÒco, and Andrei Ivan†oc were reported to be seriously ill and not receiving adequate medical care. The DMR authorities repeatedly refused to allow independent medical examination of the prisoners by outside experts, including representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Tatyana LeÒco, wife of Alexandru LeÒco, reported that when she visited her husband in October 1997 he was so ill that she had to call the emergency services against the resistance of the prison authorities. Alexandru LeÒco then had an emergency life-saving operation in hospital.

In March Ilie IlaÒcu was elected to Moldova's parliament for a second consecutive term, again from inside prison. According to his wife, Nina IlaÒcu, his conditions of detention remained very difficult and his health continued to deteriorate.

There were no provisions in the DMR for alternative service and conscientious objectors to military service continued to face imprisonment. According to reports, the DMR authorities repeatedly refused to register the Jehovah's Witnesses as a recognized religious confession, mainly on the grounds that their refusal to serve in the army, based on their religious beliefs, contradicted the law of the DMR for mandatory military service.

Amnesty International continued to call for a review of the case of Ilie IlaÒcu and his co-defendants, and for the four prisoners to receive appropriate medical care. The organization called on the DMR authorities to respect the right to conscientious objection to military service and to introduce an alternative civilian service.