Covering events from January - December 2003

There were numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment by police; victims included children under the age of 18. Police officers were not held to account. Prison conditions amounted to cruel and degrading treatment. In the self-proclaimed Dnestr Moldavian Republic at least three political prisoners remained held and prison conditions were inhuman and degrading. Large numbers of Moldovan women continued to be trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation.

Torture and ill-treatment

There were numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment in police custody. In most cases detainees were refused access to a lawyer and to an independent medical examination. Minors were questioned without the presence of a parent, lawyer or responsible adult. Most of the victims were criminal suspects. However, in some cases people were apprehended by police without any apparent motive before being beaten and then charged with assaulting a police officer, to pre-empt investigation of allegations of torture. The authorities were often unwilling to conduct prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of ill-treatment.

  • In July, two men were stopped by police in Leova as they made their way home after a party. The police officers reportedly accused them of being drunk and, when the men refused to get into the police car, beat them with a baseball bat and a gun. The men were then taken to the city police station, where the beatings allegedly continued for several hours. They were taken to a hospital to check the amount of alcohol in their blood and were then returned to police custody, reportedly without receiving medical treatment. After a visit by the local prosecutor, who took an official statement, the two men were released. However, on the same day a criminal investigation was opened against the two men for assaulting the police officers.After the two men lodged a complaint, a criminal investigation was initiated against two police officers for abuse of police powers. Both investigations were continuing at the end of the year.
  • In July, a 14-year-old boy was reportedly ill-treated by three police officers in Cojuşna. The boy was detained on suspicion of theft; no one was informed of his detention. Officers tried to coerce the boy into signing a confession, but he refused to sign any papers without his mother or a lawyer being present. The boy was taken into a windowless room by an officer and beaten with a rubber stick on his head and body. The boy was released at 6pm on the day of his arrest and returned home. He was subsequently admitted to hospital where he remained for several days receiving treatment for his injuries. In November the Străşeni Prosecutor's Office decided not to initiate a criminal investigation into the alleged ill-treatment of the boy, apparently on the grounds that "he is a thief".
In May the UN Committee against Torture expressed concern about the "numerous and consistent allegations of acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in police custody" and "[t]he reported lack of prompt and adequate access of persons in police custody to legal and medical assistance, and to family members". The Committee criticized the reported failure to ensure prompt, impartial and full investigations into the numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment, contributing to a culture of impunity among law enforcement officials. It also raised concerns about allegations of a dysfunctional criminal justice system, apparently caused in part by a lack of independence of the procuracy and the judiciary.

Prison conditions

Prison conditions did not improve and often amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Overcrowding, lack of sanitation and inadequate food provision and medical treatment, as well as ill-treatment by prison guards and inter-prisoner violence, were reported. Prison authorities used excessive force to quell protests by prisoners.

  • In March a raid by prison guards resulted in the death of one detainee, Vadim Fanin, and injuries to a large number of other inmates at prison colony 29/4 in Cricova. According to reports, 40 officers taking part in a cell search fired directly at inmates protesting against the confiscation of personal items, ill-treatment and inhuman and degrading conditions in the facility.

Self-proclaimed Dnestr Moldavian Republic (DMR)

A Russian proposal for resolution of the status of the breakaway region was rejected in November by President Voronin. Initially, he had hailed the plan as a "realistic compromise", but subsequently withdrew his support. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had expressed concern about the lack of clarity in the proposed agreement, particularly concerning the division of powers between the central and regional authorities.

Political prisoners

In March a delegation from the European Court of Human Rights (Grand Chamber) took evidence from 43 witnesses in Chişinäu and Tiraspol in the case of the socalled "Tiraspol Six". Alexandru Leôco, Andrei Ivanţoc and Tudor Petrov-Popova, who remained in prison at the end of the year, had been convicted in 1993 of "terrorist acts". There were concerns that the six men had not received a fair trial before a court in the DMR.

Death penalty

The Supreme Court of the DMR confirmed the death sentence of F.I. Negrya on 25 June. However, in September the Ministry of Justice stated that the moratorium on executions, in place since July 1999, remained in force.

Prison conditions

In November a delegation of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) examined the situation at prison colony 29/8 in Bender, which functions as a medical institution specifically equipped for detainees with tuberculosis. According to the CPT the penitentiary was cut off from running water and electricity supplies in July by decision of the Bender municipal authorities. The institution forms part of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova, but is located in an area under the control of the DMR. Having visited the prison colony in February and July the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Moldova reported that the conditions of detention for the over 650 detainees amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; in particular it noted the lack of sanitation, inadequate food provision and harsh living conditions, which could be considered "a sentence to a slow death".

Violence against women

In its 2003 reply to the UN Economic and Social Council the Moldovan government indicated that it did not envisage separate legislation to criminalize domestic violence.

According to a 2003 UN Development Programme study, a significant and growing part of the population of Moldova was stricken by poverty. More than half the population were believed to receive an income lower than the minimum subsistence level. Low salaries and high unemployment were the main reasons behind the growth in trafficking of human beings from the country. Trafficking networks were reportedly targeting Moldova as a source for women and girls who could be trafficked for sexual exploitation, as well as for human organs for use in transplants.

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