National experts analyze Moldova's convictions by ECHR

After examining a number of cases in which Moldova was convicted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), national experts formulated recommendations for the Ministry of Justice and the Parliament and presented them at the workshop “ECHR's Decisions against Moldova – Causes and Methods for Moving on”, which was attended by representatives of the Government and the civil society, Info-Prim Neo reports. The director of the Institute for Penal Reform Igor Dolea, who is one of the authors of the presented study, said that the study aimed to identify legislative, institutional and subjective shortcomings that reveal the authorities' behavior in a case or another. The largest part of the recommendations focus on the violations of the European Convention on Human Rights' article banning the use of torture. The experts identified such problems as the limited space in detention places, the use of torture by the police, the poor food provided to detainees or the forced feeding to prevent hunger strikes and the lack of medical staff. “Only 1% of the money allocated by the state to the Department of Penitentiary Institutions goes on food. From legislative viewpoint, this is normal. A Government Decision specifies the norm of meat, vegetables and milk for a prisoner. But in practice, things stand differently,” Igor Dolea said. Speaking about the use of torture, the expert stressed that the Stalinist principle “not the method, but the result counts” is still used in investigations in Moldova. Vladimir Grosu, governmental agent to the ECHR, said that though the European Court convicted Moldova in many cases of use of torture until January 1, 2008, the most serious cases have been witnessed this year. “The ECHR does not say that the use of torture must be punished with imprisonment, but measures must be taken to hinder such violations in the future,” Grosu said. Jurist Vlad Gribincea said only the authorities can take steps to avoid the cases of torture. He stressed that it is very difficult to change the work methods used by the police officers during over 10 years. The study was carried out with financial support from the OSCE. It is based on the decisions against Moldova passed by the ECHR during September 1997- January 1, 2008.