Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office and of Amnesty International Moldova discussed the cooperation agreement signed by the two institutions in 2010 and possibilities of resuming the dialogue, IPN reports.

Prosecutor General Eduard Harunjen said it’s a pity that the planned joint working meetings didn’t take lace and he would like these to be held in the future. “We have a cooperation agreement that is gathering dust, but we want to be useful and to have active cooperation, especially because we have the same ideas and priorities. We, as you, want the human rights to be a priority,” he stated.

Deputy Prosecutor General Mircea Rosioru noted that the largest part of the objectives defined in the signed agreement refer to training in the field of human rights and the prosecution service reform centered mainly on this aspect. “We want this partnership, this dialog to be intensified and the cooperation agreement to be eventually extended. Regrettably, prosecutors’ powers weren’t extended. We focused on criminal cases in the main, but these are surely cases where the human rights should be respected. After reading the reports by Amnesty, the prosecutors get the impression that things are looked at from one perspective only. When there is a partnership, we should be involved,” said Mircea Rosioru, noting it is important for those who collect facts about a subject to do this from a number of sources.

Amnesty International Moldova director Cristina Pereteatcu said the cooperation agreement centers on training, but other aspects can also be addressed and the organization is ready to update the accord of 2010, if this is necessary. Amnesty International Moldova works according to a different principle compared with other organizations and, if the prosecutors ask to be told the sources used in the reports, they should know that the national experts do not know these. “The jurists have their ways to communicate with sources. Our contribution is rather small. We only warn about violations and that the information is verified,” stated Cristina Pereteatcu. She added that Amnesty International Moldova’s strategy for the next few years centers on the training of specialists in the field of observance of human rights.

Amnesty International Moldova during the next few years will invite highly-qualified specialists from the country and abroad, who will provide the prosecutors with information updated according to the international standards as to how it is right to act in different situations.