In the course of this year, Amnesty International Moldova documented multiple human rights violations, including harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and civil society organizations, including by draft laws that envision the imposition of inadmissible restrictions and reporting obligations on NGOs, IPN reports.

According to the organization, the authorities didn’t manage to solve systemic problems of the criminal justice, in particular the precarious detention conditions and limited access to medical care in penitentiaries. Violating the principle of non-return to the country of origin in case of an imminent danger of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, the authorities illegally expelled seven Turkish teachers without giving them the chance of challenging the decision.

“The Republic of Moldova prepares for the parliamentary elections of 2019. The pre-electoral period offers the political leaders the possibility of assuming concrete commitments to respect, protect and promote the economic, social and cultural rights and to address the violations of civil and political rights. The Moldovan authorities should also recognize the importance of NGOs and other players of civil society so as to support the ensuring of human rights for all the persons without discrimination, being obliged to publicly denounce attacks against, intimidation and harassment of human rights defenses and other activists of civil society organizations,” Amnesty International Moldova said in a press release.

The organization regrets that by their rhetoric, some of the politicians of the ruling Democratic Party and its allies aimed to discredit, and, in some of the cases, to harass and intimidate those who criticize them, including human rights defenders, other activities, independent journalists and civil society organizations.