A MEETING OF THE ANTI-TORTURE NETWORK OF REGIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM THE TWO BANKS OF THE DNIESTER WAS HELD

On 12 March 2020, a meeting of the Anti-Torture Network of Regional Non-Governmental Organizations was held in Chisinau.

The Network meeting was attended by the organizations from both banks of the Dniester, allowing the organizations to share their experiences and talk about their plans, which conforms to the Network’s objectives aimed at sharing experiences among NGOs and increasing their knowledge about torture and ways of combating it, inclusively by influencing the authorities in order to enhance their anti-torture activities.

This Network was founded by the Institute for Democracy (Comrat) in partnership with the National Institute of Women of Moldova (Chisinau) and the Media Center of Transnistria (Tiraspol) with the support of the European Union through the agency of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights within the project titled Let Us All Say NO to Torture in Moldova: Civil Society Against Torture.

The honorary guest was Robert Keane, Senior Human Rights Officer at the US Embassy in Moldova.

During the year, 3 centres of legal, psychological, and rehabilitation assistance to victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment (located in Chisinau, Comrat, and Tiraspol) received numerous complaints from 918 citizens of Moldova (including 284 beneficiaries who were victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment); 546 legal consultations and 764 psychological counselling sessions were offered; the 3 centres received 531 phone calls and 29 letters.

The Network meeting was held in an active and informal atmosphere; the participants listened attentively, asking their additional questions and making suggestions.

This project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union. The coordinator of the project is the Institute for Democracy.