Criminal justice system in Transnistria needs to be reviewed, UN expert

The criminal justice system in the Transnistrian region needs to be reviewed because it is overly punitive and not sufficiently directed at rehabilitation and reintegration. This opinion was voiced by Thomas Hammarberg, UN Senior Expert on Human Rights in Transnistria, at the conclusion of his second fact-finding mission to Moldova, the UN Office in Moldova said in a press release. Presenting his preliminary views, Thomas Hammarberg noted that the sentences in Transnistria are overly long and acquittals are very rare. The lengthy sentences frequently follow long periods spent in detention before and during trial, and that sentences of years appear to be applied even in the case of acts of little social impact, such as possession of small quantities of marijuana. “These practices affect not only the persons sentenced, but also usually family members, including older persons and children”, he stressed. Thomas Hammarberg also noted a number of issues related to conditions in penitentiaries, mentioning that particular regard needs to be paid to tuberculosis in prisons, as prisoners with tuberculosis are kept together in close proximity to one another. “This increases the risk that a person infected by tuberculosis may contract a second strain of tuberculosis, and therefore become much more difficult to treat. This is both very dangerous for the person concerned, as well as a major public health risk”, the expert underlined, adding that he would ask the international community to devote further resources to addressing this issue quickly. The UN expert also visited several institutions for persons with mental and intellectual disabilities Given the situation in Transnistria, the expert said he was positively impressed with the physical and material circumstances in the institutions he saw. A particular problem Thomas Hammarberg observed in Transnistria was domestic violence. “Full implementation of human rights requires that victims of such violence have adequate protection, including rapid access to shelter in emergencies and support from legal and counseling services. I believe that this area can and should be strengthened. I find important the discussion on a draft law on preventing and combating domestic violence and I hope that attention will also be directed to the current lack of shelters for victims of domestic violence”, stated Thomas Hammarberg. During his second fact-finding mission to Moldova, in particular to the Transnistrian region, Thomas Hammarberg visited Penitentiary no.1 in Glinnoe, two institutions for persons with mental and intellectual disabilities, and a Latin-script school. His comprehensive conclusions and definitive recommendations will come after the third mission and will be made available at the end of 2012.