On 4-6 December 2018, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will examine the measures taken by the Republic of Moldova to implement the Corsacov cases group (26 judgments of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings on police ill-treatment and non-investigation of ill-treatment). The Government of the Republic of Moldova committed itself to the Committee of Ministers to reduce the phenomenon of torture.

In this context, on 22 October 2018, the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM) forwarded to the Committee of Ministers a communication on Moldova’s guarantees against ill-treatment and the impact of measures taken by authorities to prevent ill-treatment.

LRCM urged the Committee of Ministers to ask the Moldovan authorities:

1) transfer of the personnel of the temporary detentions facilities from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice;

2) install video cameras in all police temporary detention facilities;

3) improving the quality of investigations regarding allegations of ill-treatment and treating these cases with priority;

4) ensure that persons suspected of ill-treatment are immediately suspended from their duties and remain so throughout the investigation;

5) amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code to provide access to the victim of ill-treatment to material of the criminal investigation, as well as the exclusion of compulsory psychiatric examination of all victims of ill-treatment;

6) reviewing the practice of conviction in cases of ill-treatment and the application of appropriate sanctions;

7) generate accurate statistical data on ill-treatment cases, including on the length of investigations and judicial proceedings, the suspension from the office of suspects and the penalties imposed.

In 2016, the LRCM forwarded another communication on this subject to the Committee of Ministers.

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Non-commercial organizations and complainants can communicate to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on measures taken to enforce ECtHR rulings and prevent similar violations in the future. For more details on how to make these communications click here.