The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) communicated the case Zubco v. the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation to the governments of the two countries. The case refers to the banning of Promo-LEX jurists’ access to the Transnistria region. Promo-LEX lawyer Vadim Vieru, director of the Human Rights Program, told a news conference that these bans are still valid. The concerned persons cannot perform their activity of human rights defenders and cannot fully represent the citizens from the left side of the Nistru, IPN reports.
In this particular case, Zubco v. the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation, the de facto administration of the Transnistrian region banned the access of the plaintiff, who was born in the region. The ban was imposed owing to the human rights activities he carries out as part of Promo-LEX Association and to the position taken by him and the association concerning the human rights violations in the region. Another ban was imposed on all he jurists and lawyers of Promo-LEX. Russia also banned access to its territory for some of the lawyers of Promo-LEX.
Vadim Vieru noted one more case was started by the so-called security committee of Transnistria and the state of this has been unclear since 2015.
Alexandru Zubco, head of the Torture Prevention Division of the Ombudsperson’s Office, said there is no mechanism for protecting the human rights defenders. Earlier, since the 2000s, he had been followed by the Transnistrian intelligence services. He took an active part in the documentation of cases that are now strategic problems on the agenda of the talks. In 2014, when he tried to enter the Transnistrian region for business, the local security service informed him that his car was banned access, but the reasons weren’t explained to him. He continued his activities by travelling by public transport. It was later determined that the ban was imposed due to his activity within Promo-LEX.
Promo-LEX Association notes that the Government of the Republic of Moldova is obliged to act, especially because this is a very specific case. The Government didn’t make sufficient efforts for the human rights defenders to work in the Transnistrian region. Promo-LEX calls on the Moldovan authorities and the international organizations authorized to monitor the human rights situation in the region to collect facts and to better monitor the situation in the region, while the Government is requested to make concerted efforts to break the deadlock.
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