The Council of Europe calls on the Moldovan authorities to promote the zero tolerance policy with regard to ill-treatment. In a report compiled following checks on the execution of the ECHR decisions in the Levința group of cases, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ascertained that the low number of cases sent to court and of convictions against persons who used ill-treatment points to a continuous problem concerning the efficiency and quality of investigations, the Legal Resources Center from Moldova says in a press release that is quoted by IPN.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe welcomed the Constitutional Court’s judgment of November 29, 2018, concerning the necessity of ensuring the access of the injured party and of its representative to the materials of the investigation and asked for information about the time when the adjustments to the legal framework will be adopted. Given that the persons suspected of use of ill-treatment are seldom suspended from post, clear information was requested about the practical situation in this regard. In order to prevent new convictions by the ECHR, information was requested about the measures taken to combat practices of official non-registration of arrest and detention.

The lack of confidentiality during the medical examination of persons in police custody is another underlined problem. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe repeatedly invited the authorities to adopt additional measures for ensuring such confidentiality.

Earlier, the Legal Resources Center from Moldova and Promo-LEX Association informed the Committee of Ministers about the existence of these problems and mentioned the lack of a tangible impact of the reforms and measures to fight ill-treatment implemented by the authorities so far.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe carried out checks during September 14-16, 2021. The ECHR decisions in the Levința group of cases point to the use of torture and ill-treatment by the police, inefficient investigation of these, conviction based on evidence obtained by torture and non-provision of adequate medical assistance to detainees. The next examination session was set for 2023.