Ombudsman Ceslav Panico addressed letters to the UN Secretary General and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, asking to institute a special mechanism for monitoring the human rights in the Transnistrian region. He drew attention to the fact that the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region has worsened considerably together with the start of the armed conflict in Ukraine, IPN reports.
The letter addressed to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović tells about the current human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and about the backsliding witnessed in this regard in the recent past.
It was noted that even if the Ombudsman’s Office in 2022 managed to stage two monitoring visits to prisons on the left side of the Nistru, the access to the separatist region remains banned to the ombudsman and to the whole personnel of the Ombudsman’s Office. This way, independent monitoring of the observance of the human rights and a mechanism of protection for persons from the Transnistrian region cannot be ensured in an efficient and safe way, in accordance with the international standards.
Together with the start of the armed conflict in Ukraine, the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region has worsened considerably. The separatist authorities banned people’s contact with the constitutional authorities and instituted criminal punishment for such actions, imposing also additional restrictions on the movement of persons in the region. “Also, the assassination of political leaders in the region remains a perpetual risk to the persons who want to assert themselves in the public sphere. Simultaneously, the dialogue between Chisinau and Tiraspol on human rights issues has been blocked for many years by representatives from Tiraspol,” the Ombudsman’s Office said in a press release.
Ceslav Panico called on the international officials to institute a new monitoring procedure, including by appointing a special rapporteur or creating a special mission on the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region.
