The legislation aimed at making the judges more responsible is not fully implemented, while the random case distribution system is vulnerable. In Moldova, torture is still used against persons who are in police custody, while the persons with mental disabilities are not deinstitutionalized and are easily deprived of mental competence. Such conclusions are contained in the reports compiled by the Civil Rights Defenders and 11 nongovernmental organizations that form part of the Coalition for the Universal Periodic Review. These monitored the observance and promotion of the political and civil rights in Moldova.
In a news conference at IPN, representatives of a number of NGOs presented conclusions from the report produced as an alternative to the official report of the authorities that is to be analyzed during the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s session of this November.
Galina Bostan, director of the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption, said the adoption of legislation on the judicial system is one of the greatest accomplishments of the authorities during the last few years. The augmentation of the budget intended for the judiciary is another achievement. But the adopted legislation is poorly implemented. The vulnerability of the random case distribution system is also a problem as it was repeatedly shown that this program can be influenced by the human factor. The selective publication of court decisions is another problem.
According to Galina Bostan, the authorities must find possibilities to make the judges disciplined. The salaries of judges should be yet raised. Parliament should adopt the changes needed for implementing the package of anticorruption laws.
Vanu Jereghi, executive director of the Moldova Institute for Human Rights (IDOM), said the authorities must intervene to ensure the arrested persons are fed when these are transported to courts of law. These persons are taken from the detention place at 7am and are brought back late in the evening and are not fed in the period.
The IDOM director also said that the persons with mental disabilities are treated badly. The personnel of psychiatric institutions need to be trained. The number of employees at these institutions should be increased as a person cannot cope with 50 patients. In Moldova, it is very easy to lose mental competence and it is practically impossible to regain it. The legislation should be thus reviewed.
