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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.

Several civil society organizations consider that the forced removal of Turkish citizens on 6 September 2018 was politically-driven and done in violation of national laws and international treaties on human rights. A month after this event, the authorities' answers regarding the legality of the removal of Turkish citizens continue to raise many questions. In the absence of clear arguments confirming that there really existed a risk of a threat to national security, there is a strong presumption that the operation carried out by the authorities took place out of political interests and it actually was a camouflaged extradition at the request of the Turkish authorities.

Signatories request:
1. the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to request the President of Turkey the return to the Republic of Moldova of all Turkish citizens illegally removed from our country and to prevent such situations in the future;
2. the Prosecutor General to initiate criminal prosecution to bring to justice all those who have committed violations in connection with the "removal" of the seven Turkish citizens;
3. the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova to organize public hearings and publish all relevant information on this operation;
4. the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to grant asylum and other protection measures necessary for the families members of the "removed" persons and other foreign citizens in similar situation, especially in the context of Turkish President Recep Tayyp ERDOGAN visit, on 17-18 October 2018.

The text of the appeal is available here

Signatory organizations:

1. Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (CRJM)
2. Amnesty International Moldova
3. Journalistic Investigation Centre (CIJ)
4. Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER)
5. Institute for development and social initiatives “Viitorul”
6. ”WatchDog.MD” Community
7. Transparency International Moldova (TI-Moldova)
8. Institute for Public Policy (IPP)
9. Promo-Lex
10. Centre for Independent Journalism (CJI)
11. Center for Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC)
12. Association of Independent Press (API)
13. CPR Moldova
14. GENDERDOC-M
15. Law Center of Lawyers (CDA)
16. Center Partnership for Development (CPD)
17. Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE)
18. Independent Analytical Center Expert-Grup
19. Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims "Memoria"

The National Integrity Commission (NIC) was set up in 2012 to check the integrity of civil servants and persons of public dignity and to prevent corruption by verifying the wealth of these persons. In 2016, the institution was reorganized into the National Integrity Authority (NIA).

From 2013 until 2017, NIC initiated 1,185 control files and issued 398 decisions of various violations. Most violations relate to the declaration of assets and property (42%) and to the existence of conflicts of interest (41%). 49 files which request the decisions annulment were examined by the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ). Out of the 49 files for the period 2013-2017, the SCJ maintained the NIC decisions in 32 cases, and in another 17 cases the SCJ annulled the NIC's decisions.

The main findings resulting from the SCJ judgments are:

• Concerning the decisions of the NIC for the period 2013-2016, out of 12 acts abrogated by the SCJ, 2 referred to deputies in the Parliament, 3 - to the heads of the central public authorities, 1 to a judge etc., and out of the 21 decisions upheld by the SCJ, 7 referred to mayors / deputy mayors / district presidents, 9 - to civil servants, 4 to heads of central public authorities, etc.
  • SCJ has adopted contradictory decisions in similar cases and with a similar estimative value of undeclared goods;
  • Cases of incompatibility were interpreted differently when the function was remunerated.
• The highest rate of conflicts of interest was reported among the heads of local authorities - 4 cases, and the highest rate of incompatibilities was certified among civil servants with leading positions in central public authorities and local public authorities - 5 cases.

More details on SCJ decisions are available in the infograph below.

Civil society makes an essential contribution to the development and realization of democracy and human rights, in particular by participating in public life and ensuring transparency in decision-making.

In this context, the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (www.old2.old.crjm.org) analyses the transparency in the decision-making process at the level of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The analysis aims to investigate the extent to which the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova ensures transparency in decision-making.

As a citizen or as an NGO representative you had for sure interactions with the Parliament, or you have encountered situations where public data was not sufficiently clear to you. Your experience is valuable to us and we urge you to share it with us. Please answer to our questionnaire available here: https://goo.gl/X1B3Vc.

The deadline for completing the questionnaire is October 10, 2018.

Thank you for your involvement!