Republic of Moldova – Enhancing diversity and equality
The Council of Europe will carry out from September 2021 to September 2024 a project aiming at developing a system of support among local public and civil society actors to protect the rights of vulnerable groups (LGBTI, women, ethnic and religious minorities, people with physical and mental disabilities, amongst the others) against hatred and hate crimes and reinforcing efforts for the improvement of the legal framework, capacities of law enforcement and awareness raising.
This project will be implemented under the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2021-2024 in which the Council of Europe and the Moldovan authorities have agreed to carry forward jointly, through co-operation projects, reforms in a number of areas, including anti-discrimination and equality. The project will also support the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) 2018-2022 for the Republic of Moldova, particularly in relation to anti-discrimination and the rights of national and ethnic minorities.
The project will have an intersectional approach to hatred and discrimination, taking into account the specific situation of groups targeted given their multiple protected characteristics; for instance, it will take into account that women and girls encounter different and additional forms of hate crime and encounter particular barriers to access redress which need to be addressed to ensure women and girls benefit equally from the project outcomes.
At the moment, the Moldovan legislation has gaps in relation to the qualification, investigation and adjudication of hate crimes. Besides the legislative gaps, at local level, the role and capacities of law enforcement need further clarification and strengthening, from the prevention level to the criminal investigation level. The level of awareness of victims about their rights in cases of alleged hate crimes is also low. Hate crimes create a hostile atmosphere in society in relation to already marginalised groups. The data collected by law enforcement and the judiciary provide an incomplete picture of the issues, while the data collected by civil society organisations confirm the problem of hatred in relation to different groups. According to the latest ECRI monitoring report on the Republic of Moldova (2018), the groups most affected both by hate speech and by hate crimes are LGBTI, women, Roma and other ethnic minorities. The ECRI report focused also on intersectionality of discrimination grounds, in relation to the specific situation of Roma and Muslim women, particularly vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion, on the basis of their gender and ethnicity or religion. Civil society data confirms this trend.
In the 2013 and 2018 ECRI monitoring reports for the Republic of Moldova, ECRI recommended amending the Criminal law and the anti-discrimination legislation in line with ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 7 on National legislation to combat racism and racial discrimination. The draft Law no. 301, not yet adopted, would fill in the identified gaps at legislative level. The draft law no. 301 consists of a set of amendments to the Criminal Code and the Misdemeanour Code, which refers first of all to the definition of the “bias motive”, to the revision of the basic offenses and the aggravating circumstances which concern the crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice. The draft law is still pending with the Parliamentary Commissions, despite advocacy efforts.
This situation testifies of the state of play on hate crime in the Republic of Moldova: on one hand, victims do not report hate crime out of fear of retaliation or not being taken seriously, for some communities this kind of report is done through NGOs (notably, the LGBT community), while law enforcement and the judiciary still does not appropriately qualify, investigate and adjudicate the cases. The need is both for legislation to come into force, as well as for the increasing of capacities of law enforcement and the development of a culture of local support for victims. On the other hand, awareness and understanding of hate crime is low, so there is a need also to inform specifically targeted groups and the general population of this phenomenon.
What we aim to achieve
1. National authorities align legislation on hate crime to European standards, through the approval of amendments in Law 301
a) Prior to adoption of improved legislation, national decision-makers have increased capacities and motivation to advocate for legislative changes to align Moldovan legislation to European standards.
b) Following adoption of legislative changes, national authorities have increased capacities to roll out the implementation of new legislation
The main activities in relation to this outcome and related outputs are:
- Peer to peer activities for members of Parliament on adopting a stronger legislation on hate crimes;
- Multi-stakeholder meetings, including with MPs, on the revised legislation;
- Support to legislative alignment and implementation of new legislation when adopted.
2. Local authorities’ relevant services and Police protect vulnerable groups from hatred and hate-motivated violence and coordinate among themselves in this process and with civil society organisations
a) Police officers at local level in four pilot rayons develop appropriate ways of addressing hate crimes affecting LGBTI people
b) Local services, Police, prosecutors and civil society organisations have increased capacities to tackle hate crimes within their respective work with vulnerable groups
c) Networks of local services and civil society organisations are established in four pilot rayons on combating hate crimes
The main activities in relation to this outcome and related outputs are:
- Training for the Police (training of trainers and cascade trainings) on the Council of Europe toolkit “Policing hate crimes against LGBTI persons: training for a professional police response”;
- Organisation of at least 5 local level community building meetings on tolerance, diversity and inclusion, with the involvement of relevant local actors;
- Piloting a trust police-LGBTI network to improve the follow-up to hate motivated cases;
- Capacity building activities for the identified local actors on diversity and inclusion and combating hatred towards the most vulnerable groups;
- Piloting a network of diversity focal points in regions/municipalities;
- Peer to peer exchanges with other Council of Europe member States engaged in similar processes and adaptation of Council of Europe’s tools for local level integration to the Moldovan context.
3. Vulnerable groups and the general public take action against hatred and hate motivated violence
a) Civil society organisations have increased reach out to vulnerable groups to empower them on combating hatred and hate motivated violence
b) The general population have a better understanding of the risks of hatred and hate motivated violence in a pluralist and diverse society
The main activities in relation to this outcome and related outputs are:
- Grants for civil society organisation’s projects on the project topics;
- Awareness raising activities for the general public by means of grants to local stakeholders;
- Organisation of a media campaign on the benefits of an inclusive society and the contribution to the development of society of different vulnerable groups.