Thursday 9 April 2009

Human rights and the rule of law in Moldova under attack after the protests

Without quoting particular sources, Nicu Popescu writes about the situation in Chisinau today:
An update on today from Chisinau: “No protests today. However, there have been lots arrests, principally of young people. Police are going to homes, asking for student lists at university. Procedures are apparently not respected – no arrest warrants, no special treatment for juveniles, not clear if distinctions are made between protestors and spectators. Families and lawyers do not have access to people who’ve been arrested. They are told by the police that no such person is in custody. Even the ombudsman has been denied access.

Many of the principal members of civil society have drafted a declaration, to be published today. It contains the following elements: Information on the situation on the ground; Asks authorities to keep within the law, to respect freedom of movement and others rights, and refrain from inflammatory acts; Makes public a partial list of people who’ve been arrested.

Moldovan Ombudsman suspects police is torturing arrested children.
This doesn't sound like a state that respects human rights and the rule of law. This doesn't sound like a democratic society where European values are respected. This sounds like the hard reaction of a state that is not interested in the respect for its citizens, no matter how negative the events of the last days have been.

(In between, the official final results have been announced: Communists 49.48%, Liberal Democrats 12.43%, Liberals 13.14% and Alliance "Our Moldova" 9.77% have made it into parliament; with these figures the Communists won't have the 61 seats they need to elect the president on their own, but will need one or two opposition votes. If they don't manage to do so, there will have to be new elections.)

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