Civic activists who defend human rights in the Transnistrian region are more often persecuted by the unrecognized local authorities. Persons from the region who become more vocal and speak about human rights violations there are persecuted and face detention in inhuman condition, experts of Pomo-LEX Association noted in the report “Human Rights in the Transnistrian Region of the Republic of Moldova in 2022”, IPN reports.
“The persecution of civic activism in the Transnistrian region is a systemic problem that regrettably has been witnessed for many years. In the recent past, the persecution of people who are more courageous and try to raise issues of public interest - economic, social, political situation or the observance of human rights in the region - has accentuated,” Promo-LEX lawyer Pavel Cazacu said in the report launch.
According to Vadim Vieru, Promo-LEX programs director, the human rights situation on the left side of the Nistru has worsened, but nobody is penalized for the serious abuses witnessed there. “It is regrettable that after tens of years of abuses and illegalities that are repeatedly confirmed, it seems that the state, when it goes to human rights, gives up. The Government of the Republic of Moldova prefers to prioritize other subjects than the human rights. If the country’s reintegration is really a goal, they should start with the strengthening of the Reintegration Policies Bureau and the designing of a plan to this effect, which would focus on human rights,” stated Vadim Vieru.
The lawyer called on the authorities to consider the opportunity of imposing individual penalties on persons who allow the human rights and freedoms in the region to be seriously violated. “There is no Government view on how to promote and ensure the observance of human rights in the Transnistrian region. What is happening now in this field is rather reactive behavior to the developments. The Government doesn’t do anything to prevent human rights violations in the Transnistrian region,” said Vadim Vieru.
The experts recommend the authorities to adopt a law like the Magnitsky Act, to approve a plan for protecting the persons who are victims of the Transnistrian regime, to ensure the human rights defenders’ free access to the region, to develop the capacities of the Reintegration Policies Bureau and the Ombudsperson’s Office.
