“Stop Torture in Moldova” project is a part of the National Plan of Implementation of Human Rights Embassy, developed for the Human Rights House Network project “International Law in Advocacy – Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers”. The issue of torture in Moldova is recognized by civil society and at the government level, and the project “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers” aims to increase awareness of human rights and the application of international standards in the field of human rights at the national level. After the training under the project “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers”, the representatives of Moldova were able to obtain and improve knowledge in the field of international human rights standards, which positively affected the development of regional projects.
Also, the project “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers” provided Human Rights Embassy the access to information and training materials developed by the experts of the Program with the goal to help the participants and graduates in the interpretation of national law and application of international standards for more effective protection at the national level.
At this stage the project “Stop Torture in Moldova” involves active participants of the “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers” project at different stages which promotes the implementation of the acquired knowledge and skills into real life in the process of their active professional work. Participants of the distance learning course are involved in the collection and processing of all information necessary for meaningful content of the site, and also are involved in the provision of legal assistance to victims. In the process of this work, there is an accumulation of experience taking place both while preventing cases of torture and during their investigation. These materials will be used in a distance learning course of Human Rights House Network Program (http://newlibrary.humanrightshouse.org) for further training and specialization of lawyers-graduates of “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers” project in the area of legal protection for victims of torture and inhuman treatment
“The problem of torture is common to all countries without exception. Some states refuse to recognize the problem and like in Belarus for instance qualify torture as abuse of power. Thus, the use of illegal actions, which could be described as torture – the deliberate infliction of suffering to a person to get necessary testimony – qualifies as an abuse of office. At the same time the brutal torture can even reach the character of an international crime. In this regard, it is important to disseminate information among officials and victims of torture. Experience of the representatives of Moldova, which they translate through our distance learning platform enriches the practice of other countries. Thus, the inclusion of Moldova, which is not yet a member of the Human Rights House Network, is a good potential both for development of the network and attraction of new organizations as well as for those members that at this stage already belong to the Human Rights House Network ” – said the manager of Human Rights House Network program “International Law in Advocacy” Lyudmila Ulyashyna (right).
The Human Rights Embassy team developed a narrowly specific website within the “Stop Torture in Moldova” project with the support of the “Atlas of Torture” projects’ small grants program, funded by the European Commission. Website of “Stop Torture in Moldova” project is designed to be an effective information resource, both for the victims and potential victims of human rights violations, as well as for professional groups working on cases involving torture, ill-treatment and unlawful imprisonment. To cover the whole of Moldova, the site is working in Romanian and Russian languages, and thus can be a useful information resource for all post-Soviet countries, for whom Russian is the common working language.
“We hope that “Stop Torture in Moldova” web-site will become a comprehensive information resource for the general public of Moldova, the victims of human rights violations, as well as resource regarding the rights and effective remedies for the victims of torture and other ill-treatment or punishment on the national, regional and international levels” – notes Lela Metreveli, Executive Director of Human Rights Embassy (left).
The site includes not only the description and statement of the existence of the problem of the use of torture or other ill-treatment in Moldova, but also solutions to this systemic problem. The site also contains materials that contribute to the identification of broad public phenomenon of torture, the delimitation of torture and other ill-treatment or punishment, as well as practical recommendations for victims or potential victims of torture, ill-treatment and unlawful imprisonment on the protection of their rights.
“During the implementation of the “Stop Torture in Moldova” project, the experts-lawyers and attorneys will work to provide free consultation, the primary legal aid to the victims of torture, ill-treatment and unlawful imprisonment. All the work on providing primary legal aid in specific cases of human rights violations will be added together and accumulate on the site (without disclosure of confidential/personal information of the beneficiaries of the project).For this, the site provides interactive banner “Get a free consultation” which directs user to a short on-line application form that must be filled for a free consultation. The deadline for providing free counseling is limited, so we ask all interested people to contact us timely, ” – said Lela Metreveli.
The site also provides users with information about which national, regional and international mechanisms provide for protection of rights of victims of torture and ill-treatment, in which instances to protect the rights of victims of torture, how to protect their rights in Moldova, how to file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights or to the UN Committee on Human Rights. Information on how to document cases of torture, how to make a proper use of medical examinations, reports and other medical documents to the national and international authorities is also present on the site.
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