The partiality of the judges, the prosecutors' freedom of action, the shortage of professional and independent lawyers, the threats on the part of the police and the inactivity of the penitentiary authorities have led to a poor implementation of the mechanisms for the prevention of torture in Moldova. This is one of the conclusions reached by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Manfred Nowak while on a visit to Moldova between July 4 and 11, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a roundtable meeting on September 16, Nowak presented the report “Examination of Problems, Measures Taken and Solving of Cases of Torture and other Human Rights Violations in Moldova”. “The representatives of the Government have been very cooperative and promised to immediately put the recommendations into practice, but, unfortunately, I saw no changes after my last visit. The National Torture Prevention Mechanism does not work better than a year ago. The law on this mechanism is very ambiguous and does not specify the role of the participants and the relations between them. A plan of action should be also drafted,” the expert said. Nowak considers that the situation of the human rights in Moldova worsened considerably during the April 6, 7 and 8 events. “It is important that all the violations committed then be investigated by the competent authorities so as to rehabilitate and pay damages to the victims and punish the persons to blame.” Asked where torture is more often met in Moldova, the UN Special Rapporteur said that it is frequently used in police departments rather than penitentiaries, in order to extract confessions. Nowak also spoke about the poor detention conditions in prisons and psychiatric hospitals, trafficking in women and corruption in the judiciary system. He recommended the Moldovan authorities to create efficient and accessible mechanisms for filing complaints about cases of torture, implement torture prevention measures, hasten the reforms initiated at the Prosecutor General's Office, the police and penitentiary system so that they work transparently, include the right to damages of the victims of torture and maltreatment in the national legislation. He also said that the international organizations should increase the financial assistance provided for modernizing the Moldovan penitentiary system. For his part, the deputy Prosecutor General Vasile Pascari admitted that the statistical data and the April events confirm that the torture continues to be used in the Moldovan society. He said that there was set up a group of investigators of the Military Prosecutor's Office, who will examine the complaints filed after the April 7 events. Fourteen legal cases have been opened so far.