Prisoners’ rights are violated mostly: Moldovan Helsinki Committee

The rights of the imprisoned people were violated most often in 2007 in Moldova, the Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (MHCHR) finds, judging by the notifications it received. The organization launched its activity report for 2007 on Monday, March 24. According to the research, most often the detainees’ rights to health protection and medical assistance were breached, as well as the right not to be subjected to torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, the right to defense, correspondence, telephone talks, meetings, the right to a fair trial. Very many received petitions are liable to become cases to be won at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said the MHCHR president, Stefan Uratu. According to him, the state authorities undertake nothing to liquidate the problems conducting to the violation of the human rights in Moldova and obstruct these cases reaching the ECHR. The Committee accuses obstacles in communicating with prisoners, investigating cases, tergiversating trials. Up to now, the MHCHR has won 25 cases at the Strasbourg Court, as other 50 are pending. Concerning the observance and the promotion of the human rights in the Transnistrian area in 2007, the MHCHR expressed its concern as to the methodical attempts undertaken by the Tiraspol authorities to maximally destabilize the situation in the region and undertook advocacy actions. The organization mentions murders of soldiers and money extortions, registering cars in the area and the tax to enter the area on the left bank of the Nistru, which has not yet been annulled. In order to prevent and fight discrimination, the MHCHR executive director, Teodor Carnat, proposed a draft law on anti-discrimination in R. Moldova. The organization took actions as to the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Moldova. The state does nothing to integrate those people into society, opines Teodor Carnat. The committee has published a Guide for the defense of the mentally disabled. Visiting those four asylums and psychiatric hospitals from Moldova, the representatives of the organization remained terrified. “Those people are totally forgotten by the world,” says Teodor Carnat. The patients are deprived of the strictly necessary things, as linen, hygiene things or furniture. As they don’t have but immobilized beds in rooms, the sick have to carry all their belongings in the bosom. In 2007, the MHCHR worked only as volunteers. The number of employed lawyers was reduced from 130 to 6. The organization’s managers accuse the refusal of international donors to fund their projects, following the denigration actions organized by an auditing company. The committee sued the company which discovered irregularities in the management of the MHCHR’s finances.