CoE Commissioner for Human Rights seeks clarity on police’s responsibility for ‘breakdown of professionalism and respect for basic standards’

More than three hundred persons were arrested in Chisinau, Moldova, in connection with the post-electoral demonstrations in early April. A significant number of them were subjected to ill-treatment by the police, some of which was severe. This was the conclusion of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, after a visit in the Moldovan capital from 25 to 28 April 2009, reads a press release of the Council of Europe, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The Commissioner interviewed various persons who were, or had been, deprived of their liberty in connection with the post-electoral demonstrations and violence. Commissioner Hammarberg noted that, though the majority of the demonstrators had behaved peacefully, some of the protesters used violence and committed acts of vandalism. The riot control measures appeared to be largely ineffective. According to information that the Commissioner obtained, persons were apprehended by plainclothes policemen who reportedly did not identify themselves. Arrestees reported that they were beaten on apprehension, during transport and in police stations, including during questioning. The files studied by the Commissioner’s medical expert contained records of injuries which were consistent with the accounts of physical ill-treatment given by the people who had been in police custody. The scope and severity of this ill-treatment is illustrated by the fact that 105 persons had to be treated at the emergency hospital in Chisinau; of them, 24 had to be hospitalized. According to the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor General, as of 28 April 2009, more than 50 complaints concerning ill-treatment were being processed, and one criminal prosecution had been initiated. Several of the people who had been arrested complained that they hade not been given the possibility to notify their relatives of the fact of their custody, or that they had not been allowed access to a lawyer until their first appearance before a judge. The Commissioner’s official interlocutors accepted that the police had abused its powers in the aftermath of the protests when dealing with persons deprived of their liberty. It is clear to the Commissioner that there is a need to review not only the behavior of individual policemen, but also the responsibility of their superiors. It is of great concern that these violations could take place in spite of a legal ban of torture, formal preventive safeguards, a code of conduct for the police and a number of training courses. Full clarity must be established on the responsibility of this breakdown of professionalism and respect for basic standards. Impunity in this case would set a negative precedent. Instead of requesting media outlets and non-governmental organizations to justify their critical reporting, the government authorities should encourage victims and witnesses to come forward and contribute to the investigations. A full report from the Commissioner’s office will now be drafted, submitted to the Moldovan government for comment and then made public, reads the press release of Council of Europe, quoted by Info-Prim Neo.