Three high schools in Transnistria seek help from ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted the applications of three Transnistrian high schools –Tighina-based “Alexandru cel Bun”, “Stefan cel Mare” from Grigoriopol (relocated to Dorotskaya) and Rybnitsa-based “Evrica” – for examination in several months. The applicants include 170 parents, children and teachers who say they are intimidated by the Transnistrian authorities because they want to study and teach Romanian in Latin scrip, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on July 5, Doina Ioana Straisteanu, jurist of the association Promo-Lex, said the ECHR was informed about the violation of the right to private life, right to education and to nondiscrimination. The plaintiffs complained the authorities in Transnistria harass the parents, students and teachers of the three lycees. Doina Ioana Straisteanu said the ECHR seldom takes such admissibility decisions and does so only when the cases are very complicated. The head of “Stefan cel Mare” school Eleonora Chercavski said the lycee was relocated to Dorotskaya village in Dubasari district in 2002 and the children and teachers have to travel from Grigiriopol to Dorotskaya and back. The students, parents, teachers and the administration want the school to be moved back to the old building in Grigoriopol town. Eleonora Chercavski urged the Moldovan constitutional authorities to take a more serious attitude. “We had been and remained ‘cannon fodder’. We want our work to be appreciated,” the school’s head said. Eugenia Halus, the head of “Evrica” high school, said in 2004 the Rybnitsa authorities forced them out of the building that belonged to them and they remained in the street. “We started to work in the building of a kindergarten. We want to have a building that will meet the conditions of a high school,” Eugenia Halus said. She also said there are persons who are inimical to the children who study Romanian. The institution’s windows are often broken by malevolent persons. Promo-Lex head Ion Manole said that if the ECHR rules in favor of the three lycees, it will be a success in ensuring the observance of the human rights in Transnistria. “We decided to seek help from the ECHR as there is no mechanism that could oblige the Tiraspol regime to respect certain norms and principles. A decision by the High Court would provide more political instruments for exerting international pressure on the Transnistrian region so that it observes the human rights,” Ion Manole said. Alexandru Postica, another jurist of Promo-Lex, said their claims concerning the moral and material damage in the three cases will be submitted to the Court by September 20. “We hope the Court’s decision will guarantee these children’s right to study in the mother tongue, in Latin script,” the jurist said. There are eight Romanian language schools in the Transnistrian region: 5 lycees, two secondary schools and a boarding school for orphans in Tighina (Bender).