“The prosecutor’s office has a sacred mission to perform: it should bring to justice all the felonious policemen, because torture is a felony,” said the executive of Amnesty International în Moldova, Evgheni Golosceapov, on Thursday.
The NGO leader has made this statement at a reunion in Chisinau held by NGOs defending human rights, who have also invited representatives of the law-enforcement bodies and ombudsmen, Info-Prim Neo reports.
NGO activists have tried to assess the turmoil of April 7 in Chisinau. After reconstituting the events, they have reached the conclusion that the police had not intervened to prevent the devastation of the headquarters of the Parliament and Presidency during the daytime. Instead as the darkness fell, policemen, especially without uniforms, arrested people being close to those two buildings. Moreover, the human rights activists found cases when the police later arrested and tortured people who had not been in Chisinau on April 7.
The attendees of the joint sitting stood up in compassion for the people who had died or had been subjected to inhumane treatment they had been subjected to in police departments. The gesture has not been supported by Petru Corduneanu, the head of the Public Order Division of the Interior Ministry, who has been the only to stay sit.
“When one speaks about so many people upon which torture was applied, for instance, we can’t help objectively appreciate those about 200 police who had to suffer because of the illegal actions. The Interior Ministry doesn’t defend at all,” said the police officer.
The organizing NGOs: the Penal Reforms Institute, Amnesty International Moldova, Transparency International Moldova, the Center of Resources for Human Rights (CReDO), the Soros Foundation-Moldova, Promo-Lex association, “Lawyers for Human Rights” etc. have decided to set up an Alliance Against Torture (ACT) in Moldova. This is a non-institutionalized organization pursuing to prevent torture.
Independent barristers and lawyers from the above-mentioned NGOs state they are ready to further provide assistance to the people ill-treated by the police. Amnesty International Moldova announces a phone number to get such complaints: 835808.