Five NGOs call to tolerance and request adopting Antidiscrimination Law

Five nongovernmental organizations call on the authorities to pass the Antidiscrimination Law and urge society to be tolerant. The NGOs say the people do not know the real objective of this law because a group of persons, which includes church representatives, are trying to mislead public opinion and hamper Moldova’s entry into the EU. In a news conference at Info-Prim Neo on Thursday, the executive director of Transparency International Moldova Lilia Karaschuk said a group of people aim to prevent the Government from discharging its obligations as regards the liberalization of the visa regime. “This group is small and thus they try to use the Church as an instrument to achieve their goal. The Church should not become involved in such discussions,” she stated. According to Lilia Karaschuk, the non-adoption of this law will have very serious consequences for Moldova. “By such acts, we show that we are against guaranteeing the human rights and that we are a country of losers. They started already to call to civic disobedience in our country,” said the director of Transparency International Moldova. The head of the Public Policy Institute Arcadie Barbarosie considers that the authorities should assume things that are not understood by society, but which objectively will improve the situation of every member of society. According to him, the persons who are against the Antidiscrimination Law launched a campaign that is based only on lies. “These persons, who present themselves as representatives of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, substantiate their arguments on lies. The Moldovan Metropolitan Church acts like a brake to the European integration process and the process of developing the country,” he said. Sergiu Ostaf, the head of the Resource Center for Human Rights (CreDO), said the law is important for implementing the constitutional provisions. “It’s not enough having general constitutional provisions. We need a special law that will put these provisions into practice,” he stated. He also said that every citizen of Moldova can be easily integrated into one of the minority groups, according to certain criteria. Amnesty International Moldova believes that the law on the combating of discrimination will contribute to cultivating a culture of tolerance in Moldova. The association’s program director Igor Stoica said the erroneous messages that are often based on hatred towards certain social or religious groups mislead public opinion and this can endanger the people’s security. “Any bill should be aimed at ensuring the observance of human rights, while the opinions for and against should be regarded through the angle of dignity and welfare of everyone, even if society disapproves of the lifestyle of some people,” said Igor Stoica. Adopting the Antidiscrimination Law is a condition imposed by the EU in the dialogue on visa liberalization.