The accusations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against detainees should be immediately investigated impartially by an independent governmental agency. The subject was discussed by deputy heads of penitentiary institutions of Moldova in an workshop that centered on the inadmissibility of torture staged by the Comrat-based Institute for Democracy, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the Institute.
The employees of jails were taught that all the detainees should be treated with respect, based on dignity and their value as human beings. None of the detainees should be subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The security and safety of detainees, personnel, service providers and visitors should be constantly ensured.
The deputy heads of jails said they face a shortage of medical personnel in penitentiary institutions. The constant anxiety about their life made the doctors avoid working in prisons. On the other hand, if the prisoners do not have access to medical service when they ask, this is considered ill-treatment and torture.
In the workshop, the employees of the penitentiary institutions learned more about the national and international torture prevention mechanisms. “The resolution of the General Assembly adopted a reviewed text of the minimum standard rules for the treatment of detainees and approved the working group’s recommendation to name these rules the Rules of Nelson Mandela, by the name of the president of South Africa Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,” says the press release.
The training course was held at the Training Center of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions of Moldova and was organized in partnership with the National Institute for Women of Moldova and the Tiraspol-based Media Center with the support of the European Union, through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights within the project “All together we will say NO to torture in Moldova: civil society against torture”.
