Implementation of Freedom of Assembly Policies in Moldova, January - December 2008[EN]
Implementation of Freedom of Assembly Policies in Moldova, January - December 2008[EN]
Implementarea Politicilor cu Privire la Libertatea de Întrunire în Republica Moldova, Ianuarie - Decembrie 2008[RO]
Implementarea Politicilor cu Privire la Libertatea de Întrunire în Republica Moldova, Ianuarie - Decembrie 2008[RO]
Внедрение политик в области свободы собраний в Республике Молдова, январь-декабрь 2008 года[RU]
Внедрение политик в области свободы собраний в Республике Молдова, январь-декабрь 2008 года[RU]
Implementation of Freedom of Assembly Policies in Moldova,
January - December 2008
In April 2007 the new law on
public assemblies has entered into force in Moldova. The society and the decision
makers seek evidence on whether and to what degree the new law has managed to
addresses the existing problems with regard to the exercise of the freedom of
assembly rights. Therefore, the report objective is to produce the necessary
evidence that would enable us to judge on how successful the new law on
assemblies has been implemented. We present a systematic account of the
quantitative and qualitative evidence on the positive and successful
implementation of some provisions of the new law and also the evidence on what
norms of the new law are still not implemented adequately. The report contains
information necessary to understand the concerns and problems remaining in the
implementation of the new law.
The report has been elaborated on
the basis of the 7-month long project on monitoring assemblies carried out by
the Resource Center for Human Rights (CReDO) with the support of the OSCE
Mission in Moldova over the period of time July - December 2008. This project
continues the previous 9-month project supported by OSCE/ODIHR, involving the
monitoring of the period January-June 2008[1]. The project has produced
more than 350 individual observations of assemblies covering the entire
territory of Moldova.
The findings firmly establish that
the new law on assemblies has improved the exercise of the freedom of assembly
in Moldova. The law created important benefits to the society: organizers,
citizens, and the society at large. Peaceful exercise of the freedom of
assembly by citizens has increased. Cases of violence remained at the level of
the old law and even relatively decreased. The new law has generally been well
received by organizers, while local authorities, the society at large, and the police
face a few difficulties in its application.
Concerns still remain. The enforcement
of the assembly rights by the police has been identified as presenting
problems. The new tendency of the police to wear civilian clothes while
policing assemblies rather than uniforms, as it was under the old law and in
the first 4 months of the new law, is worrisome. Police presence at assemblies
decreased specifically when needed, in the cases of counterdemonstrations or
violent interventions from the third parties, resulting into police failing to
exercise its positive obligation to protect the assembly. The prosecution of
the freedom of assembly perpetrators still poses problems.
A number of recommendations have
been proposed to further improve the exercise of freedom of assembly. They
include: consolidation of police capacity to manage and facilitate assembles;
reassessment of the practice of police presence in civilian clothes at
assemblies; consolidation of the capacity of local authorities and the police
to deal with the notifications procedure; development of skills among members
of the commission on assemblies to work with organizers; prosecutors to proceed
firmly with prosecution of perpetrators of the freedom of assembly rights;
education of organizers (even in cases of several organizers) to interact with
the police.
We reaffirm the earlier
recommendations that have not been addressed properly: promotion of greater
police awareness on a more coherent application of administrative sanctions according
to the law on assemblies; consolidation of police skills in managing parallel
and at times contradictory behavior of various manifestations; and exploration
of opportunities for institutional improvements. The monitoring of assemblies
needs to continue, especially during the period prior to and during elections.
The project has already generated good evidence on the application of the new
law, which shows that public authorities increase learning in the use and
respect of assembly rights.
