Amnesty International Report 1995 - Moldova

At least 15 people were on death row at the end of the year. In the self-proclaimed Dnestr Moldavian Republic (DMR), at least three political activists were reported to have been detained repeatedly for short periods; they were possible prisoners of conscience. Reports of ill-treatment in custody in the DMR continued. One death sentence was commuted in the DMR. Political parties favouring reunification with Romania fared poorly in parliamentary elections in February. A March plebiscite called by President Mircea Snegur confirmed overwhelming popular support for Moldova's status as an independent country. The DMR, which continued to regard itself as a separate entity (see Amnesty International Report 1994), introduced a state of emergency in January in the territory it controlled. A new constitution adopted in July retained the death penalty as "an exceptional measure of punishment". Comprehensive statistics were released on the application of the death penalty from 1980 to 1993, during which time 67 people were sentenced to death and 43 executed. One woman was among those sentenced. Eight death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. In 1993 two men were sentenced to death for premeditated, aggravated murder, but the last executions recorded took place in 1989. At least 15 people were believed still to be on death row at the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In the DMR at least three men were said to have been detained repeatedly for short periods solely because of their peaceful political opposition to the authorities. For example, Alexei Mocreac, leader of a movement advocating the territorial integrity of Moldova, was placed under administrative arrest in Grigoropol for three days in March. In August he was arrested again and held for the full 30 days allowed under state of emergency legislation. The charge, denied by him, was petty hooliganism. Allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officers in the DMR continued. Alexei Mocreac reported that he was beaten on the first day of his detention by police officers who also threatened him with execution. Journalist Anatoly Holodyuk was said to have been beaten by a major in the DMR Security Ministry on 10 October. He had been threatened by uniformed security agents two days earlier for reporting on protests against the DMR's ban on using the Latin alphabet when writing in the Moldovan language. One death sentence was commuted in the DMR in September. Ilie Ilascu had been convicted in 1993 of violent political acts after a trial that appeared to fall short of international standards (see Amnesty International Report 1994). One of the five other defendants, Petru Godiac, was released in June after serving his sentence. In October Vladimir Garbuz, the only defendant to plead guilty and whose testimony implicated the others, alleged publicly that his confession had been extracted under duress. He had been pardoned and released from his six-year prison sentence in July. Amnesty International continued to urge that all pending death sentences be commuted. The organization called on the DMR authorities to ensure that no one was imprisoned for the non-violent exercise of basic human rights. Amnesty International also urged a full and impartial investigation into all allegations of ill-treatment in detention. Amnesty International called for a review of the case of Ilie Ilascu and his co-defendants.