New prisons and trainings for guardians aimed at eradicate torture

The Ministry of Justice developed the projects for the construction of two new prisons and the repair of another one. The actions are part of plan to eradicate torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities in Moldova. Besides, guardians will attend professional improvement courses and trainings in EU countries. The announcement was made by Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim on Thursday, during an international conference dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the National Mechanism for Prevention of Corruption in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. As regards Prison no.13 in Chisinau, consider a focal point of violations of inmates’ rights, Oleg Efrim said that the construction of a new prison outside the city would begin in 2013. It will have a capacity to accommodate 1000 inmates, nearly the same as the old one. Meanwhile, a new prison will be built in Balti with a capacity of 250 people. In Lipcani, the prison is being repaired and its personnel will travel to Norway for training. The Lipcani prison will be the first to have a woman as director. Oleg Efrim said that the new prisons will meet European standards and that workers found guilty of having tortured inmates will be banned from the system for 1to 15 years. The international scientific-practical conference “5 years since the creation of the National Mechanism for Prevention of Torture in Moldova” aims to facilitate experience exchange between Moldova and other countries or international organizations in order to improve the situation in this regard. The participants in the conference remarked that Moldova did take some measures to fight torture in detention facilities, however the authorities still have to change the mentality of the people working in the system. The term “torture” refers to any act that causes physical or psychological suffering to a person in order to obtain a confession or information from this person. Torture cases can be reported to the sector prosecutor or to the Human Rights Center by calling 23-48-00 or the hotline for torture issues 0-8001-2222.