Interior Ministry admits abuse at hands of police

The Ministry of Internal Affairs admits there are cases of torture and ill-treatment while in police custody, but makes all the efforts to curb this phenomenon, Larisa Tatian, department head at the Ministry, told a news conference today. In addition to the seminars and trainings organised earlier, the Ministry plans to reconsider the criteria for assessing the performance of the police officers. Instead of using the rate of discovered crimes as the basic criterion, the Ministry will assess the performance of the policemen by asking the opinion of the residents in the respective district. The measure is expected to make the police officers give up the practice of applying undue violence in pursue of a better professional record, Larisa Tatian explained. At the same time, the Interior Ministry official informed that the pre-trial detention centres will be transferred under the subordination of the Ministry of Justice, as stipulated in the Moldova-EU Action Plan, while the health professionals working at remand centres will be subordinated to the Ministry of Health. Another measure to be taken is to kit out the remand centres with audio and video equipment, Larisa Tatian added. The detention conditions in the remand centres have been considerably improved in the recent years, the official stated. The persons in custody may freely confer with their lawyers, are given professional medical assistance, and have access to drinking water. Only few remand centres do not have bathrooms and closets with permanent sewage connection. In the course of this year the Ministry has carried out 42 inspections at pre-trial detention centres, which ended in 17 internal investigations and disciplinary punishment imposed on 14 officers for violation of human rights and detention conditions. In first half this year, five police officers were penalised for application of torture and inhumane treatment.