The Civil Rights Defenders and 11 nongovernmental organizations that form part of the Coalition for the Universal Periodic Review made public the results of their monitoring and recommendations concerning the respect for and promotion of the political and civil rights in Moldova. In a news conference at IPN on May 16, representatives of a number of NGOs presented the conclusions of the second report that is to be analyzed in the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s session of this November.
Alesia Vidruk, program manager at the Civil Rights Defenders, said that in November the Moldovan authorities will report how the 122 recommendations assumed at the 2012 session were fulfilled before the UN member states. The Coalition of NGOs for the Universal Periodic Review aims to assess the situation of the political and civil rights in the country and to compile alternative reports so as to offer a complex picture of the observance of human rights in Moldova. During the first months of this year, the NGOs produced three reports that highlighted the problems faced in the area of political and civil rights and the difficulties experienced by society and formulated a series of recommendations.
According to Alesia Vidruk, the experts submitted 90 recommendations on at least ten topics of public interest, such as the human rights, discrimination and equality, hate crime and hate speech, justice sector reform, access to justice for members of the LGBT community, torture and inhuman treatment, access to information, the freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
On March 24, the reports were remitted to the UN in Geneva. These form part of the information that will be presented to the member states. Thus, at the session of the UN Committee of November 4, the UN member states will be able to formulate recommendations designed to improve the human rights situation in Moldova during the next four years and a half.
Alesia Vidruk noted that until July 25, the Moldovan authorities are to compile an official report on the implementation of the 122 recommendations on human rights assumed before the UN member states in 2012. According to the official procedures, the authorities are to consult and debate this report with civil society before submitting it to the UN.
Over the next several months, the Coalition of NGOs for the Universal Periodic Review plans to stage lobbying activities involving representatives of embassies working in Moldova and abroad so that these make the countries they represent to support the initiatives submitted by the Coalition and in order to formulate new recommendations for the authorities.
