COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE HEARS RESPONSE OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

The Committee against Torture this morning heard the response of the Republic of Moldova to questions raised by Committee Experts on the second periodic report of that country on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Responding to a series of questions raised by Committee members on Wednesday, 11 November, the delegation, which was led by Valeriu Cerba, Counsellor of the Minister of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, said that the Public Prosecutor was responsible for investigating acts of torture or ill-treatment committed by State officials, under the 2005 law. Those cases could be brought to the Prosecutor's attention through complaints, or the Prosecutor could initiate an investigation on his own initiative, following media reports for example. In January 2009 a special prosecutor had been established to monitor the rights of citizens during criminal proceedings with a view to providing an independent monitor of police activities.

With reference to the April events, 104 cases of allegations of torture or excessive use of force against protestors had been brought this year. In all, out of the supposed victims of police violence, it was found after medical examinations that 15 had suffered minor bodily harm, 9 had suffered from severe bodily harm, and 1 person had died from his injuries. In that respect, the delegation wished to clear up some of the incorrect reports coming from non-governmental organizations on the April events. For example, in April three cases of suicide had been recorded that were not related to the protest actions of 7 or 8 April. The dates did not even match. In the case of the individual who had died as a result of injuries, the medical examination had not found any injury that could have led to death. It was further stressed that the Ministry of Health had not issued any edict or message against the finding of evidence of torture and ill-treatment to health facilities or medical workers.

In further questions and comments, Nora Sveaass, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Republic of Moldova, expressed serious concern about the delegation's statement that complaints of torture or ill-treatment that were more than 10 months' old were refused because it was too difficult to establish the facts. Alexander Kovalev, the Co-Rapporteur, noted that the police had been masked during the April events and asked what the Government planned to do to combat that practice in the future. Among concerns raised by other Experts were instances of hazing in the army, which had increased over the past year, as well as concerns about the financial status and scope of the body established to act as the national preventive mechanism against torture under the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

The Committee will submit its conclusions and recommendations on the report of the Republic of Moldova towards the end of the session on Friday, 20 November.

As one of the 146 States parties to the Convention against Torture, the Republic of Moldova is obliged to provide the Committee with periodic reports on the measures it has undertaken to fight torture.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. today, it is scheduled to begin consideration of the fifth periodic report of Spain (CAT/C/ESP/5)


Response of the Republic of Moldova

Responding to a series of questions raised by Committee Experts on Wednesday, 11 November, the delegation of the Republic of Moldova said that, with regard to the preparation and training of officials in crowd management, this year they had organized three seminars with the participation of the leaders of the police in crowd management. In May and July there had been two tactical trainings at the national level, as well as training of police commissioners with regard to safety and the use of force to maintain public order. A United Kingdom representative had also organized a training session.

As for methods of interrogation and the rights of suspects, the Government had sent recommendations to all criminal investigation institutions, including on the period of preliminary detention, regarding the upholding of the rights of those charged or on remand. Every year a seminar was held with the staff of the criminal investigation unit on upholding the law during interrogation and reports were made on that issue. On 10 April this year the Government had sent requirements to the criminal investigation unit with regard to the prevention of torture.

All interrogations of persons in custody or under arrest were carried out in the presence of a lawyer of the suspect's choice, either a private lawyer or a public defender, the delegation added. The right to a lawyer applied from the moment of arrest.

In 2008, 14 criminal cases had been brought against police and 1 against the Ministry of Justice by the Public Prosecutor's Office. In the Ministry there was also an internal security unit, which also brought cases against Ministry of Justice officials – 53 cases in 2008 and, in the first 10 months of this year, 27 cases.

Concerning the ratification of international human rights instruments, the delegation noted that the Republic of Moldova had signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and it was currently preparing legislative acts to ratify it, as well as studying the technical feasibility of the Convention's implementation. The Government had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on children and armed conflict, in 2004, and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in 2007, and reports had already been submitted under both of those instruments.

As for the ratification of the Rome Statute, the delegation said the Government had signed that in 2001 and had then embarked on a programme to harmonize national legislation with the Statute. That work was almost complete. They had amended their Criminal Code and had introduced all the international crimes set out, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2009, they had unfortunately not had a functional Parliament to address remaining issues, but it was a priority issue for the new Government.

To strengthen the legislative framework in the area of human trafficking, the Parliament had adopted a national strategy and plan of action to combat human trafficking and to provide assistance to victims. The Ministry of Labour provided social protection to families and had set up a centre to provide shelter and care to trafficking victims. As for prosecutions, in 2008, 215 cases had been uncovered of which 96 had gone to court and, so far this year, 172 cases had been uncovered and 88 had gone to court.

Regarding the Committee on Complaints and the resumption of its activity, the delegation noted that its activities were carried out on the basis of Governmental decrees. It had been set up to hear complaints from persons held in custody. It included, as a rule, judges and members of law enforcement, a doctor, a person from social services, a representative of the childcare authorities and a representative of a non-governmental organization working in the field. The Committee worked effectively to review complaints by prisoners, including through visits to prisons.

With respect to gender issues, the delegation drew attention to a new law on domestic violence, which had entered into force in 2008. That law provided for prevention, sanctions, and victim rehabilitation for such acts. There were temporary centres for the family, which provided legal, medical and social services, as well as emergency accommodation services.

Concerning the Roma, there was a national plan of action to support the Roma, 2006-2010, which sought to involve the Roma in all spheres of life in the state. In accordance with a Government decree of 2006 supporting the national plan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had provided a study programme for police on the culture of different ethnic areas in an effort to prevent discrimination and in 2008 three seminars had been organized in areas where the Roma lived.

On the issue of psychiatric patients, the delegation said that patients were treated on the basis of informed consent. Treatment of children was done in accordance with international standards for drug administration. There had been a number of improvements made in psychiatric facilities, including provision of greater space for recreation, and a range of therapies were used, including sports therapy and occupational therapy.

The delegation highlighted the great strides made in reducing tuberculosis among prisoners, including through the establishment of a special rehabilitation unit in one penitentiary. The rate of initial infections had been reduced by more than half, from 400 in 2006 to 153 in 2008. Mortality had also dropped by almost half between 2008 (15 deaths) and 2009 (9 deaths). In addition to comprehensive drug therapies provided to such patients, with the support of international donors, tuberculosis patients were receiving food supplements as well.

The Public Prosecutor was responsible for investigating acts of torture or ill-treatment committed by State officials, under the 2005 law. Those cases could be brought to the Prosecutor's attention through complaints, or the Prosecutor could initiate an investigation on his own initiative, following media reports, for example. In January 2009 a special prosecutor had been established to monitor the rights of citizens during criminal proceedings. A separate prosecutor was also established with regard to the military. Those new special prosecutors had been established with a view to providing an independent monitor of police activities.

For the first nine months of this year, 64 such cases had been uncovered, 20 of which had been referred to the courts. Allegations in such complaints included beatings with water bottles, application of electric shocks, and smothering. There was no indication of any specialized instruments of torture being used. Therefore, the delegation felt there was no need to enact legislation regarding trade in instruments of torture.

With regard to the 25 rulings of the European Court of Human Rights on torture and ill-treatment, the delegation said that those had given rise to new actions and amendments to the procedures in the Republic of Moldova. In particular, following the European Court ruling, the Colibaba case was being reconsidered.

A total of 104 cases of allegations of torture or excessive use of force against protestors had been brought, the delegation said. In all, out of the supposed victims of police violence, it was found after medical examinations that 15 had suffered minor bodily harm, 9 suffered from severe bodily harm, and 1 person had died from his injuries. There were also allegations that in some cases involving the use of excessive force by police, the police involved had been wearing masks and did not have any visible signs of identification. An investigation into those cases was being undertaken by the Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as by the Commission to investigate the April events.

The delegation also wished to clear up some of the incorrect reports coming from non-governmental organizations on the April events. For example, in April three cases of suicide had been recorded that were not related to the protest actions of 7 or 8 April. The dates did not even match. In the case of the individual who had died as a result of injuries, the medical examination had not found any injury that could have led to death. Moreover, the Ministry of Health had not issued any edict or message against the finding of evidence of torture and ill-treatment to health facilities or medical workers, as had been suggested yesterday.

Regarding murder and abortions, the delegation noted that national legislation did not sanction women who obtained abortions. The case referred to by the Committee Expert had not been a case of abortion or forced abortion. It had been a case where a woman gave birth to twins in secret and had killed them and buried them in her yard. The woman in question had been tried and referred for psychological treatment.

Responding on the issue of superior orders, the delegation said that a new amendment to the Criminal Code provided that those who executed orders that were manifestly illegal were criminally liable, whereas those who did not execute such orders were not liable for an offence. Acts of genocide and crimes against humanity were considered to be manifestly illegal and no superior order could therefore be an excuse to such acts.

There were alternative sentencing measures under the Criminal Code of 2003, including probation; community service; and postponement of imprisonment for pregnant women or women under the age of eight, thus bringing the criminal justice system into accord with European norms, the delegation said.

There was a separate juvenile justice system. Minors were not usually arrested, but if they were the maximum preliminary detention limit was reduced to 24 hours (from 36) before being brought before a judge.

There had been one complaint of incommunicado detention, which had been brought to the European Court of Human Rights, but the Government had explained that that was not actually a case of incommunicado detention and the individual in question had subsequently surfaced in Ukraine. So there had been no real complaint in this area.

With regard to the seriousness of torture penalties, in the delegation's view was that two to five years' imprisonment was sufficient. That only involved "light" torture, where no serious bodily harm was incurred. There was another provision where serious harm resulted, for which three to six years' imprisonment applied. If sexual violence was used as a method of torture, a sentence of 5 to 12 years applied.

Confessions obtained under violence or torture were not acceptable evidence in a court of law in the Republic of Moldova. Two cases this year were cited as evidence that judges would open investigations if the petitioner complained that a confession had been obtained under coercion, and other examples were enumerated, including a 2006 case, in which a confession had been excluded as evidence as it had been ruled to have been obtained under torture.

Questions by Committee Experts

NORA SVEAASS, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Republic of Moldova, with reference to superior orders, underscored the importance of training to ensure that those receiving orders were aware.

Ms. Sveaass was seriously concerned about the statement made by the delegation today that complaints more than 10 months' old were refused because it was too difficult to establish the facts. Was it that, from a medical point of view, 10 months was too long, or was that from a legal point of view? There were many cases of torture around the world that would not have been able to have been brought with such a time limit. That was why good documentation was essential.

Another concern was whether individuals in prisons were able to request a medical examination of their own volition and what happened to the medical reports in such cases. Ms. Sveaass had the impression from the report and the presentation that such reports were just filed away.

Ms. Sveaass was not clear on what independent mechanism existed to monitor complaints against the police. She had heard about the special prosecutors, but she asked for more information about how they worked, including with the bodies set up to monitor complaints in the prisons.

With regard to responses on the April events victims, Ms. Sveaass reiterated that there had been quite a bit of documentation, including photographs, that showed serious bodily harm had been suffered by protestors, as well as a number of complaints from persons injured in those protests that said they were turned away from hospitals. Those had to be investigated and she hoped that would be done within the context of the Parliamentary commission.

ALEXANDER KOVALEV, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of the Republic of Moldova, thanked the delegation for clear and comprehensive answers, in particular with regard to questions of human trafficking. In 2002 the Council of Europe had adopted a Convention on Human Trafficking, and it would be a good thing for the Republic of Moldova to join it.

Mr. Kovalev also welcomed replies and information regarding the April events. As had been noted by another Committee Expert, the police had been masked, and he wondered what the Government planned to do to combat that practice in the future?

Mr. Kovalev also appreciated replies regarding the Roma; actions taken following the European Court of Human Rights decisions on torture; the new construction of prison facilities and others.

Other Committee Experts then raised some additional concerns and asked questions on a number of issues, including what were the circumstances that allowed for preventive arrest of minors and how many such arrests had been made; who ruled on whether a confession had been obtained under torture or not, i.e. was a separate trial held or was a determination made by the current trial judge; allegations that police had not provided adequate protection to a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered group under attack, and what the obligations of the police were of in such instances.

An Expert was still concerned about instances of bullying and hazing in the army of recruits by senior officers, which had increased over the past year, and the fact that only cases in which grievous bodily harm had been found were investigated. Moreover, she had not understood the delegation's response today on this issue. They had explained that the term of national service had been limited to one year and that that would improve the problem. She could not see how, other than by limiting the duration for which such acts could occur.

An Expert asked for clarification on the national preventive mechanism on torture established in accordance with the Optional Protocol on the Convention, a national advisory body on torture linked with the Ombudsman's Office. While the body was called advisory, the members considered themselves to be the national instance for the prevention of torture. In addition, he had heard of financial constraints as well as security concerns from members, who were not provided with security or funds to make the necessary visits.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to some of the additional questions raised in the remaining time, the delegation said that, with regard to the 10-month limit on torture complaints, the truth was that the more time that passed following such acts, the harder it was to establish that harm had been inflicted by the alleged perpetrators and rendered the successful prosecution of such cases very difficult. It was underscored that the 10-month limit was not a set rule or regulation, but rather a practical consideration.

The procedure for confidential medical examinations of detainees was mandatory when the person entered the place of custody or for serving sentences. The doctor carrying out the medical exam was obliged to inform the Public Prosecutor and the Parliamentary Advocate if it was detected that the detainee had been subjected to torture. In such cases the detainee was entitled to demand certification by a doctor of their choosing and their conclusions were treated on an equal footing with other evidence.

With regard to independent monitoring of police actions, the delegation said that the special prosecutors were an interim measure. They were currently looking to other models, including in a number of European countries, as the basis for establishing a fully independent body for that purpose.

On the issue of hazing, the delegation clarified that what it had meant by saying that limiting mandatory army service to one year would have the effect of equalizing the victims and the bullies was that the problem generally involved older recruits and new recruits, and not superior officers. Under the previous law, military service was for two years.

Providing statistics on juveniles, the delegation said for the first 10 months of 2009, 65 minors had been taken into preliminary detention. Of those, 19 had been released after the 24-hour period and 46 remained in detention.


Finally, the delegation affirmed that the Republic of Moldova had indeed adopted the Council of Europe Convention on Human Trafficking.


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