The Moldovan legislation needs urgent changes in order to fight the discrimination of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, of disabled and HIV-positive people. This is the conclusion of the report “Towards equality: Discrimination in Moldova”, Info-Prim Neo reports. Amnesty International proposes an amendment to the Law on ensuring equality that comes into effect on January 13, 2012. The association wants to include sexual orientation, sexual identity and health state among the reasons for discrimination forbidden by Article 1 of the Law. Another proposed amendment includes hate crimes on grounds of sexual orientation, sexual identity or disability in Article 77-1 of the Penal Code (Aggravating Circumstances). “The necessity of these changes is urgent, because the current environment of bias and stereotypes in Moldova gives birth to abuses and violence against disadvantaged groups and these crimes remain unpunished. The criterion for Moldovan legislation should not be set by predominant biases in Moldovan society, but by international standards”, said Heather McGill, Amnesty International expert for Moldova. She and Cristina Pereteatcu, executive director of Amnesty International Moldova, are of the opinion that discrimination is stimulated by the Moldovan political and religious leaders who make discriminatory statements against ethnic minorities and LGBT people. According to the experts, this exposes the victims to even more discrimination and deprives them of their fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression and of assembly, the right to education and healthcare. Cristina Pereteatcu says that the laws must be made to protect the citizens of the country and not to check so-called successes. The report “Towards equality: Discrimination in Moldova” stresses that according to European and international standards regarding human rights, the Moldovan Government must strive to create a society in which diversity isn’t seen as a danger, but as a source of enrichment for the whole society. The Government must take measures to prevent the negative use of stereotypes in public speeches, to raise the awareness regarding discrimination and to promote tolerance through education and public information.