Amnesty International Report 1996 - Moldova

Moldova committed itself to abolishing the death penalty and to introducing a moratorium on executions. At least 21 people were on death row at the end of the year, but no executions were carried out. There were further reports of torture and ill-treatment in custody in the self-proclaimed Dnestr Moldavian Republic (DMR), in one case resulting in death. President Mircea Snegur left the ruling Agrarian Democratic Party in July, accusing it of blocking reform, and was elected in August as head of a new political party, the Party of Revival and Harmony. The Moldovan Government declared a formal end to the conflict with the Gagauz minority in August, after a special government commission finished disarming a Gagauz battalion whose members benefited from an amnesty declared by the Moldovan parliament. The peace settlement began in 1994 when Gagauziya was granted special autonomous status by the Moldovan parliament. A political solution to the status of the self-proclaimed DMR had not, however, been achieved by the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1995). In June parliament abolished the death penalty as a possible punishment for 14 military crimes committed in wartime or during combat operations. Moldova joined the Council of Europe in July and undertook to introduce a moratorium on executions and to abolish the death penalty within three years. New statistics were released to the Council of Europe on the application of the death penalty from 1992 to 1994: six death sentences had been handed down, but no executions were carried out, reportedly because of the lack of necessary facilities. At least 21 people were believed still to be on death row at the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1995). In July Moldova signed the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In November it acceded to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In December parliament voted to abolish the death penalty in the republic's Penal Code. There were further allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers in the DMR. In January Georgy Anatolyevich Isayev was allegedly beaten by officials of the Special Purpose subsection of the DMR Ministry of Internal Affairs while held at the Rybnitsa District Department of Internal Affairs, and at another location to which he was taken while blindfold. Georgy Isayev was reportedly unconscious and in intensive care the following day, suffering from severe injuries including seven fractured ribs. A criminal case was initiated in connection with the alleged beatings. Another resident of Rybnitsa, Aleksandr Kalashnikov, died in the custody of officers of the city's Organized Crime Prevention Department (OBOP) in March. He was reportedly arrested in March by four men in civilian clothes, who identified themselves as members of OBOP, on the grounds that his car had been used in a crime, although Aleksandr Kalashnikov maintained that the vehicle had not been in use since August 1994. Later that day an acquaintance was said to have seen Aleksandr Kalashnikov's body lying on the floor in an office in the OBOP building. His relatives were informed by the Prosecutor's Office that the death was caused by severe trauma causing fractures to 15 ribs, damage to the lungs and bleeding. Charges, including premeditated murder, were brought against two officials from the Rybnitsa Department of Internal Affairs. It was reported that Andrei Ivantoc and Ilie Ilascu, two of the six people sentenced in 1993 for crimes against the DMR (see Amnesty International Report 1994), were unwell and being ill-treated in prison. Amnesty International welcomed the commitment by Moldova to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty. The organization urged the DMR authorities to investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in detention, and especially the death in detention of Aleksandr Kalashnikov. In November Amnesty International received a reply from the Procurator of the DMR, in which he admitted that the alleged ill-treatment had taken place in Rybnitsa. He also stated that investigations into the criminal cases brought against law enforcement officials in connection with the beating of Georgy Isayev and the death in custody of Aleksandr Kalashnikov were continuing. Amnesty International called for a review of the case of Ilie Ilascu and his co-defendants, and asked for those still detained to receive appropriate medical treatment.