Moldovan police applies torture: UN

Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, presented his final report to the United Nations Human Rights Council wherein he noted the commitment of the Government of Moldova to uphold and promote human rights and, hence, progress made since independence in 1991. A release sent by the UN to Info-Prim Neo news agency, reads that Manfred Nowak welcomed initiatives under way to prevent torture, in particular the creation of a national preventive mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The report is based on a joint visit by the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk, to the Republic of Moldova, including the Transnistrian region, in July 2008. Based on discussions with public officials, judges, lawyers and representatives of civil society, interviews with victims of violence and with persons deprived of their liberty, often supported by forensic medical evidence, the Special Rapporteur concluded that ill-treatment during the initial period of police custody is widespread. He also discovered serious allegations of torture in some police stations. A number of cases of ill-treatment were reported to the Special Rapporteur in institutions under the Ministry of Justice, mainly in terms of inter-prisoner violence. While recently some torture cases have reached the courts, the Special Rapporteur found that, overall, most mechanisms for complaints are ineffective. Further, the Special Rapporteur found that conditions in police cells do not conform to international standards and are not suited to holding people for long periods. Detention in such conditions for up to several months, as practised in the Republic of Moldova, amounts to inhuman treatment. Some institutions, in particular the pre-trial facility in Chişinău, were severely overcrowded. The Special Rapporteur received numerous complaints about the restricted access to medical care and the poor quality of food. With regard to the state’s legal framework, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the fact that torture has been criminalized and that safeguards are, by and large, provided for by the legislation. In order for the safeguards to be effective, however, the special Rapporteur found that various players in the criminal law cycle must live up to their responsibilities and denounce cases of torture.. With regard to the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, the Special Rapporteur was particularly concerned about the lack of complaints and monitoring mechanisms. The communique announces the Special Rapporteur called upon the international community to assist the Government of the Republic of Moldova in its fight against torture by providing financial and technical support.