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The topic was discussed in the context of the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Moldova by the Human Rights Council, which will take place in autumn in Geneva. Over 30 civil society organizations produced alternative reports with findings and recommendations regarding the situation with human rights in the country, which they submitted to the Human Rights Council.
“If last time the Human Rights Council issued 122 recommendations for Moldova, I think this time there will be more of them and they will be less repeated. The reason is that the organizations that submitted alternative reports collaborated and tried not to make identical recommendations in their reports. Activities under the UPR are not limited to submission of reports; the organizations that produced them are to promote their recommendations at the level of diplomatic missions and the UN Human Rights Council,” said Olesea Perean, expert at the Human Rights Information Center (HRIC).
In this context, representatives of the People’s Advocate Office told the media that in their alternative report for this year ombudsmen approached new aspects, which had not been covered before. “We referred, for the first time, to issues regarding observance of human rights to a decent life, health, and quality water. We believe that Moldova’s progress in observance of human rights is small. Although authorities adopted some important acts, we still have gaps in implementation and financial support of reforms,” said Dumitru Roman, deputy head of the reforms, policies and reports department at the People’s Advocate Office.
The Council on Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality also produced an alternative report. According to Yan Feldman, the organization’s president, their report included first of all issues for which the Council received the most complaints.
“Although the non-discrimination law was adopted 4 years ago, there still are problems in this regard. We want to ask for improvement of the legislation, as there are gaps that don’t let us be as efficient as we want. For example, there is currently no mechanism for issuing fines in cases of discrimination, and our experts can’t go onsite to investigate cases,” Yan Feldman added.
Veaceslav Balan, National Coordinator at the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, reminded to journalists about the role of the media in covering topics related to human rights. According to him, Moldovan media tend to present the majority of topics, including social, “without approaching them through the perspective of human rights,” even in cases when they are directly related to human rights. In reply, journalist Lilia Zaharia mentioned that “it isn’t true for all media outlets,” saying that some outlets provide an in-depth coverage of such topics.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council, which every four years evaluates the compliance of all 192 UN member states with the obligations and commitments related to human rights. The Government of Moldova is to submit the country report in Geneva on July 25, 2016, while other national and international stakeholders submitted alternative reports before March 24, 2016. After examination of all reports, the Human Rights Council will issue recommendations for Moldova. The first cycle of evaluation took place in 2011.
The Press Club meeting can be seen here: https://www.privesc.eu/Arhiva/66737/Clubul-de-presa-organizat-de-Centrul...
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The event is supported by the United Nations in Moldova.
The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) is the first media organization to provide assistance to journalists and media outlets in Moldova, having the goal of contributing to the consolidation of free and viable press through projects providing training in journalism and public relations, media campaigns, advocacy, research, and media education.
