Republic of Moldova

Council of Europe Office in Chisinau

Today, on 8 February, 2017, the Council of Europe has provided more than 100 pieces of technical equipment and devices to the Department of Penitentiary Institutions (DPI). The equipment has been purchased with the financial support of the Government of Denmark within the Council of Europe project “Support to criminal justice reforms in the Republic of Moldova”.

The event was attended by: Anatol Munteanu, deputy Minister of Justice, Aureliu Suhan, acting director of DPI, Jose Luis Herrero, head of the Council of Europe office in Chisinau, Margarita Galstyan, project manager of “Support to criminal justice reforms in the Republic of Moldova” project, DPI employees and representatives of other institutions.

The equipment donated will consolidate the capacities of medical services and security missions, surveillance, escort and other services from penitentiaries to identify, document and report cases of ill-treatment, torture and abuses on prisoners, in line with national and international standards and requirements.

,,Equipping specialized services of 17 penitentiaries with necessary equipment will definitely enhance the capacities of these services from penitentiaries to better document injures as well as it will increase the transparency of the process of reporting the interventions of acting services so needed in that specific moment. Along with civil society representatives we stand for zero tolerance towards ill-treatment and torture. To this respect, we make sure that all mechanisms of preventing and combatting of this phenomenon are functioning and we count on further support of the project, within which there are already  foreseen trainings for employees on preventing and registering cases of ill-treatment and torture of prisoners.”, mentioned in his opening speech the acting director of DPI, Aureliu Suhan,

The equipment in amount of 33 000 Euro will be used by specialized services from 17 penitentiaries of the country and will allow to better document the injures received by prisoners as a result of ill-treatment, torture and abuse, as well as report on the interventions of the penitentiary staff while performing their duties, which shall increase the level of transparency and security in penitentiaries. 

“The prohibition and prevention of torture and ill-treatment are in the core of the Council of Europe mandate, which provides assistance to its member states in fighting against this phenomenon. Though a noticeable progress has been achieved in the Republic of Moldova in combating torture and ill-treatment, this issue remains serious in the country. The Department of Penitentiary Institutions has benefited from different activities provided by the project to enhance capacities of the institution in preventing torture and ill-treatment in prisons. The provision of this equipment is yet another step forward, for proper documentation and reporting of ill-treatment and torture cases, in line with international requirements.” stated Jose-Luis Herrero, head of the Council of Europe office in Chisinau.

During the event a demonstration of functionalities of the equipment has taken place as well as how it can be used in practice.

The CoE project “Support to criminal justice reforms in the Republic of Moldova” was launched in January 2015 and is part of the Program “Support to Human Rights and Democracy in Moldova” financed by the Government of Denmark. The overall objective of the project is to support the Republic of Moldova for the purpose of fulfilling its outstanding statutory and accession commitments towards the Council of Europe in the field of criminal justice. One of the specific objectives of the project is developing institutional capacity for adopting regulatory guarantees, implementing strategies and action plans aimed at preventing and ensuring remedial action in cases of ill-treatment.