CERD Shadow report 2011 (CHRM)

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CENTRUL PENTRU DREPTURILE OMULUI DIN MOLDOVA

ЦЕНТР  ПО  ПРАВАМ ЧЕЛОВЕКА В МОЛДОВЕ

THE CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF MOLDOVA

MD-2012, Moldova, Chişinău, str. Sfatul Ţării, 16

Tel: 234 – 800; Fax: 225 – 442

E-mail: cpdom@mdl.net 

CERD2011 

 

ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION JANUARY 2011

TO THE UN COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ON THE 8^TH AND 9^TH PERIODIC REPORTS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION AF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

  

ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION JANUARY 2011

 TO THE UN COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

 ON THE 8^TH AND 9^TH PERIODIC REPORTS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION AF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

 

  

    The Center for Human Rights of Moldova

     Chisinau, Moldova,

     January 2011

 

 

     CONTENTS:

 

1. I.                  GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS…………………………………………4

 

1. II.               INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES  2, 4, 5 & 6…………..6

 

Article 2 (1) (d)……………………………………………………………6

 

National minority (art.2 (2))……………………………………………..8

 

Article 4 & 6……………………………………………………………..10

 

Article 5 (c) and 2 (2)……………………………………………………12

 

Article 5 (d) (vii)…………………………………………………………13

 

Article 5 (e) (v)……………………………………………………………14

 

1. III.           OTHER ISSUES OF CONCERN…………………………………..…..16

 

 I.                  GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

  

1. This alternative information on the 8^th and 9^th  Periodic Reports of Republic of Moldova concerning the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination submitted by the Government of Republic of Moldova in February 2010  is issued by the Center for Human Rights of Moldova (The National Human Rights Institution), (hereinafter as CHRM).

1. CHRM is Moldova’s national human rights institution, carrying out its activity in compliance with the Paris Principles.  The Centre for Human Rights is an independent state institution, whose main objectives are: the ensuring the activity of parliamentary advocates, aimed at guaranteeing the observance of constitutional human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Moldova by the central and local public authorities, by companies, institutions and organizations, regardless of the type of ownership and the legal form, by public associations and officials of all levels; improvement of legislation in the sphere of human rights protection;  legal education of population. In 2009, CHRM  was accredited as a B status National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) by the International Co-ordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights  (ICC).

1. Parliamentary advocates (Ombudspersons) form an independent institution, called the Human Rights Centre, along with the Centre’s staff. CHRM was established in April, 1998 under the Law on Parliamentary Advocates No.1349 of October 17, 1997.

1. Art.10 of the Law on Parliamentary Advocates provides that “While exercising their mandate, parliamentary advocates shall be guided by the Constitution, by this law, other laws of the Republic of Moldova as well as by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by the UN Convention on the rights of the child, by other pacts and treaties, to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.  In the event of a discrepancy between the pacts and treaties on the fundamental human rights, to which the Republic of Moldova is a party, and the domestic laws, the international norms shall prevail. And in compliance with art.11 par.(2) of the above-mentioned Law “Parliamentary advocates are guided in their activity by the principles of lawfulness, transparency, social equity, democracy, humanity, and accessibility, in accord with their conscience”.

1. In accordance with art.13 par.(1) of the Law No.1349 of October 17, 1997 “Parliamentary advocates consider the petitions of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, of foreign citizens and of the stateless persons permanently or temporary residing in its territory (hereinafter referred to as complainants), whose rights and lawful interests have been infringed in the Republic of Moldova”.

1. Art.21 par.(1) of the Law on Parliamentary Advocates provides that “Parliamentary advocates are entitled to act on their own initiative and assume the appropriate measures within their competence, when they dispose of reliable information on a widespread or severe infringement of the citizens’ constitutional rights or freedoms, in the event of an infringement of particular social significance, or when necessary to defend the interests of people unable to apply legal remedies on their own”.

1. Institution’s official website (http://www.ombudsman.md) is accessible for a broader audience and reflects a general view on vulnerable areas, which certifies the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, its content is intended as a source of information and also a working tool for public authorities, governmental bodies and institutions, civil society, all those interested in promoting real equality and partnership, in respect of democracy and human rights.

1. II.                INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES  2, 4, 5 & 6

1. CHRM shall focus on the status of implementation of the following articles of ICERD, including new developments since 2008:

Article 2: General measures to eliminate racial discrimination

Article 4: Promotion and incitement to acts of racial discrimination

Article 5: Political, economic, social and cultural rights

Article 6: Effective protection and remedies

1. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter as the Committee) adopted at its 1871^st  and 1872^nd  meetings held on 5 and 6 March 2008, a set of Concluding observations in relation to the combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports on Republic of Moldova. A number of these observations are included in this alternative information.

                                          Article 2 (1) (d)

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party consider adopting comprehensive non-discrimination legislation protecting both citizens and, subject to reasonable differentiations, non-citizens, and that it include a definition of direct and indirect discrimination, as well as provisions on adequate sanctions, compensation and on a shared burden of proof in civil proceedings. Paragraph 10 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 Presently there is no special legislative act in the Republic of Moldova which would regulate the exclusion of any form of discrimination, whilst the national legal framework contains provisions inserted in various legislative acts which prohibit discrimination based on different grounds, however in spite of their existence, there is no national law and the case-law in this field is nonexistent.

1. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Justice elaborated a draft Law on Preventing and Combating discrimination, which had gone though several revision starting with 2008. The purpose of the draft law is to take a decisive step towards harmonization of the legislation with European standards enshrined in the Council Directive 2000/43/CE of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment of persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin and the Council Directive 2000/78/CE of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

11.

1. Current draft includes significant improvements in comparison with the previous one submitted in 2008 so that the scope of the draft law is currently better specified and its provisions focused on prohibiting discrimination in the public realm, such as employment, education, provision of goods and services, and government services such as social security as provided in the European Discrimination Directives.

1. It is also a positive development that  in the new draft law it is better specified that the victim of discrimination has a right to an effective remedy through the judicial  re-establishment of the situation prior to the violation of his/her  right and the  compensation of economic prejudice as well as non-pecuniary losses.

1. Nevertheless, representatives and experts from civil society and international organizations maintain that also in the new draft the legal mechanisms for enforcing rights are still unclear and insufficiently detailed. It appears that it is not clear which courts have jurisdiction, and when a discriminatory act leads to criminal, civil administrative or disciplinary penalties. Moreover, the interaction between the draft law and existing civil procedure is not sufficiently detailed and clarified in order for the provisions to be effectively implemented by the judiciary.

1. Furthermore, the powers of the Council for prevention and fight against discrimination as the envisaged Central Authority against Discriminations appear too weak, since it does not include any direct prerogatives to order the interruption of discrimination or impose sanctions, but only the power to refer to Courts or to competent bodies.

15.

1. However, it should be mentioned that the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation constitutes also important step in implementing recommendations of UN and CoE treaty monitoring bodies such as HRC, CERD, AC, ECRI[1].

1. 17.  The Ombudspersons assert that by non-tergiversation and prior adoption of the draft Law on preventing and combating discrimination, Republic of Moldova shall reconfirm its particular profile aimed to combat any form of discrimination and intolerance[2].

                                                           National minority (art.2 (2))

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party elaborate annual plans for the implementation of the plan of action in support of the Roma population (2007-2010) and that information on any measures taken or envisaged to implement the plan of action be made available to the public in order to ensure that non-governmental organizations, in particular Roma organizations, can participate effectively in the implementation and monitoring of the plan. Paragraph 12 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 The “Action Plan to Support Roma in Moldova for 2007-2010” approved by the Government Decision nr.1453 from 21 December 2006 was implemented in the following areas: Education and science; Culture; Health and social protection; Employment; Public order.

1. The Roma Action plan 2007-2010 includes, inter alia, actions related to motivate enrolment of Roma children in secondary education, motivate parents’ participation in the educational process, development of legal framework to support the organization and activity of Sunday Schools, introduction of “Roma history and culture” courses in schools; actions to to the preservation and development of Roma culture, development of folklore, participation in different cultural events, development of the Moldovan Roma Culture Development Centre, development of Roma dances and music bands; actions related to improvement of Roma access to health services and promotion of healthy living environment, prevention of diseases among Roma population; actions related to support the development of traditional skills and crafts by training of craftsman, monitoring of their employment, as well as the development of traditional crafts enterprises; promotion of active labour market policies by providing information for Roma regarding jobs available, professional education, training and support for individual entrepreneurship activities of Roma; development and organising specialized training courses for law enforcement bodies from Roma populated areas, inclusion of Roma staff in law enforcement structures, etc[3].

1. The profile organizations have welcomed the Government decision on the adoption of the Action Plan on supporting Roma in the Republic of Moldova for 2007-2010. However, some argue that although the Action Plan contains measures to improve the situation of Roma in the fields of employment, health, culture and education, it does not provide specific measures to combat racism and racial discrimination against Roma, even if they seem to play a role in the difficulties faced by the Roma, particularly in access to employment or education. The Action plan provides that for the financial support of actions on their achievement shall be carried out, within the allocated budget resources, as well as from special funds, including funding from international organizations. Roma National Center was informed that during the years 2007 -2009, the State did not allocate any funds to the achievement of the Plan. Therefore, they argue that it is difficult to observe how the Action plan can produce tangible results if the state does not provide adequate financial resources to bodies responsible for its implementing[4].

1. The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities reiterated its concern about the reported lack of effective implementation on many elements of this Action plan. It believes that more resolute efforts and additional resources are needed to ensure that it results in tangible and lasting improvement of the situation of Roma. It is essential to develop further dialogue with Roma organizations and representatives and to involve them in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Roma strategies and actions plans[5]

1. 22.  The Ombudspersons welcome the intention of the Government in ensuring the implementation and integration of Roma in social and cultural life of the country. However, it reiterates the need for concrete measures to be taken to fully support the Action plan on Roma in order to achieve substantial and lasting improvements in the situation of Roma in all spheres, including through the allocation of necessary resources for its execution.

                                       Article 4 & 6

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party ensure that articles 6 and 7 of the Law on Combating Extremist Activity and other relevant criminal law provisions are applied in full conformity with article 4 of the Convention… the Committee recommends that the State party introduce mandatory training for the police, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officers on the application of criminal law provisions sanctioning incitement to racial hatred and discrimination by individuals and organizations, and that it inform the public about all legal remedies in the field of racial discrimination. Paragraph 13 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

 In the last period of time a few cases of antisemitic violence were recorded in Moldova, as following: In 2005 five tombstones in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Soroca were desecrated, including one that was completely shattered; In 2007 the Jewish cemetery in Tiraspol (Transnistria) was vandalized; In 2008 unknown persons attempted to set fire to the Tiraspol synagogue; On December 12^th 2009 some 100 fundamentalist Orthodox Christians took down a public Chanukah Menorah and planted a wooden cross in its place.

1. The act was condemned by Moldovan Orthodox Church and by state officials. Also on January 12, 2010, the Prosecution Office of Buiucani, had initiated the criminal proceedings against the persons vandalysing the Jewish Menorah. The case is under examination at the Police Commissariat of Buiucani district with reference to the Article 288 of the Criminal Code „Vandalism” and Article 346 of the Criminal Code „Intentional actions aimed at stirring strife or national, racial or religious disunity”.

1. The Ombudspersons have qualified these protest actions as intolerable in a democratic state, governed by the rule of law, where human dignity, his rights and freedoms, the free development of the human personality, justice and political pluralism represent supreme values and are guaranteed and vehemently and firmly condemned racial and ethical hatred, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination, any call for xenophobe manifestations, as well as any recourse which incites to breach of human rights, guaranteed both by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and the international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party to[6].

1. 26.   At the same time, the Ombudspersons reiterated on the need of continuous training of subjects involved in granting the freedom of assembly – local public administration authorities, law enforcement agencies; implementation of information campaigns in society to increase de level of awareness of rights and obligations of the „participants”, regulated by the law on assemblies and the amendment of article 40 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova with the aim to adjust it to the provisions of the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms by means of placement of provisions on restrictions to the exercise of freedom of assembly, the obligations and responsibilities which the present freedom entitles[7].

 

1.  In 2008 the Ombudsmen have been notified by the Head of the Roma National Center, seeking intervention in examining the case on statements made by the manager of a company as regards Roma people[8].

1. On November 10, 2008, at the invitation of a TV reporter to take part in a show, the manager concerned has refused to participate in it, using the term “….gypsy television”. According to the Head of the Roma National Center, the use of such expressions by a public person induces an offensive picture, which so offends and insults the Roma National Center, and the entire Roma people.

 

1. Given the democratic aspirations and priorities of the Republic of Moldova for the promotion and observance of human rights and freedoms, the Ombudspersons have reiterated that such an attitude shown by a public figure can be regarded as discriminatory one on grounds of ethnicity.

1. The Ombudspersons have described the incident of November 10, 2008, which used the expression “….gypsy television” as discriminatory against Roma people and which constitutes a flagrant violation of universally recognized international legal principles. In the context of the above-mentioned, the Ombudspersons required the Bureau of Interethnic Relations to undertake urgent measures to counter acts of discrimination based on ethnicity.

1. 31.  The Ombudspersons are pleading further on adoption in tightest possible terms of  the draft Law on the preventing and combating discrimination; ratification by the Republic of Moldova of the Protocol no. 12 to the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; implementation of projects directed to improve the performance of the public servants (delivery of trainings, round tables etc.) while preventing and fighting against the discrimination phenomenon; increase the level of public awareness on the existence of the discrimination phenomenon in society[9].

 

                                        Article 5 (c) and 2 (2)

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party adopt special measures, such as statutory electoral and public service targets and specific training programmes, to ensure an approximately proportionate representation of the Roma and of other underrepresented minorities in Parliament and in the public service, including at senior levels and in the judiciary, in accordance with the Members of Ethnic Minorities (Rights and Legal Status of their Associations) Act of 2001. Paragraph 16 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

 

1. Pursuant to the Periodic Report of the Republic of Moldova on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination for years 2008-2009, “one of the problems of the national minorities is their linguistic integration which limits their representatives to participate in full in the civil service, despite undertaken actions to improve quality and access to study the state language to the adult population in the system of secondary education”[10]

1. The Ombudspersons reiterate the need to take further more resolute to increase the participation of persons belonging to national minorities, including of numerically smaller minorities, in the State administration and in public service.

                                   Article 5 (d) (vii)

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party consider facilitating the registration of Muslim ethnic minorities, such as the Tatars, as religious communities, including the possibility of resubmitting required documents in cases where applications are incomplete. Paragraph 14 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

1. According to the Law No. 125-XVI of 11 May 2007 on religious communities and their components, the Register of Religions and their components is kept by the Ministry of Justice.

1. The Ministry of Justice issued during 2009 only one decision of refusal of the registration of the Religious Community of the Romanian Orthodox Parish of Cojuşna (decision No. 25 of 26 January 2009).  In the first half of 2010, the Ministry of Justice has issued the decision of refusal of the registration No. 1 of 08 February 2010 regarding the refusal of the registration of the „Islam. Sermon and Guidance in Moldova” in compliance with Article 19, paragraph (7) of the Law No. 125-XVI from 11 May 2007 on religious communities and their components.

1. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Justice, the documents submitted by the applicant in order to register the religious community „Islam. Sermon and Guidance in Moldova” did not meet the following legal requirements: organizational structure provisions of the Statute of the religious community were ambiguous and did not respect the legislation in force (mainly the points 4.3, 7.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 of the Statute); the list of founders of the religious community and their signatures contained distorted data (i.e. erasures and pieces of paper with new data posted over the data of some founders); contradictory provisions in the Statute regarding the designation of Board Members in cases of vacant places; non-correspondence of the information on the premises of the religious community presented in the point 1.4 of the statute, and the documents submitted for registration; non-correspondence to the Article 27 of the Law No. 125-XVI from 11 May 2007; the document regarding the basic principles of faith was not clearly indicated in the list of submitted documents; expired identity documents of the founders of the religious community.

1. Following the implementation of a new Law on religious communities and their components, some deficiencies were identified, as following: the short legal term for registration (15 days) due to which the applicant has no possibility to adjust the submitted documents to the legal requirements and recommendations made by the Ministry of Justice; burden of bureaucratic procedures in the registration process. In this context, the Ministry of Justice already created the State Register of Non Commercial Organizations which can be accessed on the Ministry of Justice website.

1. 38.  The Ombudspersons plead for the need to strengthen the dialogue between the authorities and the representatives of the Muslim religion on the issue of registration of Islam in Moldova and the authorities should ensure, in the light of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Masaev v Moldova, that Muslim believers and persons belonging to other minority religious denominations, can effectively enjoy the right to manifest their religion or belief and establish religious institutions, organizations and associations.

 

 

                                     Article 5 (e) (v)

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates recommends that the State party provide financial support to Roma families to cover the cost of school books, transport and other indirect costs of schooling, offer special Moldovan language classes for Roma children, cater for the needs of Roma pupils whose parents work as seasonal workers abroad, include Roma language and culture in school curricula, and continue and intensify its efforts to raise awareness among Roma families about the importance of education starting from preschool. It also recommends that the State party make full use of available scholarship schemes and quotas to increase Roma participation in higher education. Paragraph 19 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

 

1. The principle of non-discrimination means that all children should enjoy their rights without any unjustifiable distinction. When Republic of Moldova ratified the international Convention on the rights of the child, it committed to observe the rights which are proclaimed in the Convention and guarantee all children under its jurisdiction, irrespective of any distinction, race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinion of the child or of parents, or of his legal representatives, the national, ethnic or social origin, financial situation, incapacity, birth or any other criterion. The State must undertake appropriate measures for children to be effectively protected against any form of discrimination or by sanctions motivated by the legal situation, activities, declared opinions or beliefs of their parents, their legal representatives or the members of their families[11].

1. During the analysis of the combined version of the second and third periodic report of the Republic of Moldova the Committee for the Rights of Children, attesting the existence of the phenomenon in the Republic of Moldova, expressed concern on the fact that “despite the legislative guarantees against discrimination, the principle of non-discrimination is not fully observed in practice and that children from socially vulnerable families, children with disabilities, children with HIV/AIDS or children cu are part of various ethnic groups or of various religious beliefs may confront the discrimination phenomenon”. The discrimination of children who are part of various ethnic groups is a phenomenon which the children of Roma ethnicity are facing. From the point of view of the ombudsman, discrimination against these children is mostly felt in field of education – access to education, investments in the field of education etc.[12]

1. The reasons for not attending the educational institutions by Roma children are both of objective and subjective nature. From the objective point of view the Roma invoke the lack of financial capacity to support the studies of their children, problems related to infrastructure of the educational institutions. The subjective part deals with the reduced efforts of parents to encourage their children to get involved in studies since many of them consider that they already have the necessary level of education, early marriages and discrimination perceived by Roma. Another important factor which could influence the educational process is migration abroad, a process in the Roma involve the entire family[13].

1. Ombudspersons are concerned about the guaranteeing of equal opportunities for Roma in access to education and reiterate the need for more effective and long term measures to eliminate the shortcomings in the education of Roma.

1. III.             OTHER ISSUES OF CONCERN:

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates requests the State party to provide detailed information in its next periodic report on the enjoyment by national minorities and non-citizens of the rights protected under the Convention, disaggregated by gender, age, ethnic group and  nationality, and recommends that a coherent system of data collection be developed for that purpose. Paragraph 8 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

 

1. The Ombudsperson ascertained that 2004 census data does not include information on ethnic numerical eastern districts of Moldova and Bender and does include data without a clear indication about ethnicity.

1. According to data presented by the Government, the permanent population of consists of Moldovans (75.8%), Ukrainians (8.4%), Russians (5.9%), Gagauz (4.4%), Romanian (2.2%), Bulgarian (1.9%), other nationalities (1.0%). Representatives of national minorities, who live dispersed throughout the Republic of Moldova are: Armenians, Germans, Estonians, Lithuanians, Azerbaijanis, Greek, Hebrew, Polish, Belarusian, Georgians, Latvians, Tatars.[14]

1. The Ombudspersons reiterate the need for carrying out next census in full compliance with international recommendations.

In the Concluding observations to Moldova’s combined fifth to seventh periodic Reports, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminates notes that the eastern region of Transnistria continues to be outside the effective control of the State party, which is therefore unable to monitor the implementation of the Convention in that part of its territory. Paragraph 3 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee.

 

 

1.  For years the left side of Nistru River remains an area where daily persist the violation of human rights. An unsolved problem is the impossibility of the Ombudspersons to be involved efficiently in the defense of human rights and freedoms of Moldovan citizens who reside in this territory. Transnistria has been a concern of the society and the constitutional authorities, wasting important resources for “negotiations”, exceptions to enforcement, compensations or grants for purposes of the mechanism of “peacekeeping”. Meanwhile, losses and damages related to the lack of control over the eastern border, as well as the industrial potential of the country, have decisively influenced the socio-economic development of Moldova. In these circumstances, human rights in the region have been ignored entirely, and efforts of various constitutional and international institutions, even if they have very decisive aims, are not able to prevent and combat the phenomenon[15].

 

1. The limitation of observance on the rights and democratic processes, based on equality, human values, cultural diversity, and economic policy in the region is outlined in the education system. Although there were declared officially 3 languages: Moldavian (Cyrillic graphics), Ukrainian and Russian, the majority of ethnicities, Moldovans and Ukrainians have access only to preschool, primary and secondary education. The average education, University and Postgraduate ones are available (except the faculty of philology and pedagogy) only in Russian.  Representatives of ethnic minorities, Bulgarians and Poles, also have no access to education in mother tongue[16].

1. An issue that persists for several years is that of grades equivalence. The territorial educational institutions apply the grade-system of 5 points, and those under the jurisdiction of Moldova – one of the 10 points. Thus, the grades of Transnistrian graduates of any level who decide to continue their studies in institutions in the country are “transformed” (up to 9.5 points to grade 5). In these circumstances, the children are disadvantaged and discriminated[17].

1. At the same time it should be mentioned that the issue of free movement substantially affects the right to education. Often, the students in the region are created obstacles for participation in various competitions, Olympiads and educational events organized in the right side of the Nistru River[18].

1. People who live in settlements in the immediate vicinity of villages and towns from the left bank of the Nistru, are often violated the rights to free movement, individual freedom and safety, freedom of assembly, expression, right to information and right to voting[19].

1. Current issues are set out early on the Transnistrian conflict, with different worsening in certain periods (during elections, teaching in schools in Latin script) and the development is unpredictable because it depends on the behavior of the unconstitutional security forces and the degree of involvement of the authorities, especially of the EU stakeholders.[20]

1. Possibly, the state of affairs in the eastern region of Moldova will improve due to the involvement and support given by some nongovernmental organizations. As well, organization of representatives (branch-offices) of the Center for Human Rights in the districts in that area of conflict might actually encourage the objective monitoring on human rights observance and would encourage the people of these localities to protect their legal interests[21].

 

---

[1] Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee adopted during the session 2582 from 29 October 2009 on the second periodic report presented by the Republic of Moldova on the adopted measures by the state party to implement the International Covenant on civil and political rights.

Third Opinion on Moldova, adopted on 27 June 2009, by the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention For the Protection of National Minorities

[2] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2008 , 2009 , www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[3] Government Decision No.1453 of 21.12.2006 on the approval of  the Action Plan to Support Roma in Moldova for 2007-2010.

[4] Report of the National Roma Centre on the Observance of Human Rights for Roma in Moldova  (2009).

[5]Third Opinion on Moldova, adopted on 27 June 2009, by the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention For the Protection of National Minorities

[6] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2009  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[7] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2009  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[8]Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2008  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[9] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2009  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[10] Ibidem

[11] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2009  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[12] Ibidem

[13] Ibidem

[14] Regular Report of the Republic on the state of application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (2008-2009)

[15] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2008  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[16] Ibidem

[17] Ibidem

[18] Report of the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova on the observance of human in the Republic of Moldova in 2008  www.ombudsman.md/en/anuale

[19] Ibidem

[20] Ilascu and Others v.Moldova and Russia (2004)

[21] Ibidem