As many as 23 complaints about the use of torture and 106 complaints about inappropriate detention conditions were submitted to the Office of the People’s Ombudsman in 2014. Most of the complaints with such content came from Penitentiary No. 13 of Chisinau, Penitentiary No. 2 of Lipcani and Penitentiary No. 15 of Cricova. The convicts complained mainly about the crowdedness in penitentiaries, the insufficient lighting of detention places and the lack of minimum conditions for personal hygiene, IPN reports.
In a news conference on June 23, senior consultant of the Office of the People’s Ombudsman Gheorghe Bosyi said that among the main deficiencies identified during fact-finding visits to jails are the non-ensuring of the minimum detention conditions in accordance with international standards and the commitments assumed by Moldova as a country that ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, use of violence against convicts, inappropriate legal assistance, ill-treatment during the first hours of detention, physical or mental constraining for making statements, and absence of minimal conditions needed for providing medical assistance in police units.
Twenty of the cases lost by Moldova at the ECHR refer to inhuman and degrading conditions at the Chisinau-based Penitentiary No. 13. Of the 81 convictions of Moldova by the ECHR over Article 3 of the Convention on Human Rights, in 63 of the cases Moldova was convicted for inhuman and degrading conditions.
In 2014, the ombudspersons filed 22 notices with recommendations for improving the situation of detainees to different institutions and made four requests to bring criminal or discriminatory proceedings against persons holding responsible posts, who committed acts that led to the violation of the basic human rights.
To remedy the situation, the Office of the People’s Ombudsman formulated a number of recommendations for the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family.
