French senator recommends Moldovan authorities to scrap dungeons

French Senator Robert Badinter, who is on a fact-finding visit in Chisinau, is recommending the Moldovan authorities to renounce dungeons in the correctional system and to build a cultural center in place of Penitentiary no.13 in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo. Robert Badinter came to Moldova to examine the detention conditions for the minors. “The problem of the pre-trial detention conditions must be urgently resolved. The Government and Parliament should see what is to be done to protect the rights and ensure the protection of the minors. Democracy in a country doesn't stop at the gates of the penitentiary”, Robert Badinter told a news conference after visiting Penitentiary no.13 on Friday. The French senator urged Moldovan Justice Minister Alexandru Tanase to close the dungeons in the penitentiary “urgently and once and for all” . “I was shocked by the echoes of the past. The detention conditions are inhuman, the inmates have limited space, they don't have sanitary conditions, the toilet is from the Middle Ages and the taps are placed too high. This state of affairs must change”, said Robert Badinter. Alexandru Tanase said the juvenile justice is one of the priority areas where the government continues to make significant progress. Penitentiary no.13 is an inheritance from the Soviet times. “What you have just seen is absolutely unacceptable in a democratic state. Those arrested children were sentenced to detention, not to inhuman conditions. The European future of Moldova depends on how the correctional system is reorganized”. While Parliament adopted a decision to demolish Penitentiary no.13, there is no money to execute it, not to mention to build a new penitentiary, which would cost 20 million euro. “We count on grants or some other sources to launch this project”, said Alexandru Tanase. Victor Petrachi, the warden of the Penitentiary, says all the dungeons are to be closed soon. “I do agree that this penitentiary should be demolished. These horrible conditions affect not only the inmates, but also the prison staff”, he added. Dirk Schuebel, the head of the EU Delegation in Moldova, reiterated the need for a new juvenile judicial system, where detention would be the last solution. The European Union is supporting Moldova in this sense through a project to reform the penitentiary system and train prison staff. The project started 6 months ago and will last for two years. “The Convention of the Rights of the Child encourages member-states to consider the reintegration potential of the children that are in conflict with the law. The children can learn from their own mistakes and they should be taught to respect the rights of the others”, UNICEF Representative in Moldova Alexandra Yuster told the same news conference. Built in 1846, Penitentiary no.13 currently accommodates 987 inmates, including 26 minors aged 15 years or older. Sen. Robert Badinter is a high-profile criminal lawyer and a university professor, mainly known for his struggle against the death penalty and for his efforts to promote human rights. The visit of the French Senator to Chisinau was organized by UNICEF and the Embassy of France in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union and the Council of Europe.