In its report, the CPT notes that a significant proportion of detained persons interviewed by its delegation complained of police ill-treatment during the months preceding the visit. Consequently, the Committee recommends that the Moldovan authorities continue to implement anti-torture measures with determination. The Committee also recommends reinforcing the mechanisms for the investigation of alleged ill-treatment.

The CPT makes a generally positive assessment of the conditions of detention at the temporary placement centre for foreign nationals in Chişinău, but recommends that the Moldovan authorities resolutely pursue the nationwide scheme to renovate police temporary detention facilities.

As regards prisons, in the light of allegations received by its delegation, the CPT recommends that the Moldovan authorities exercise greater vigilance vis-à-vis the behaviour of staff at Penitentiary establishments No. 11 in Bălţi and No. 17 in Rezina towards prisoners who have been segregated for their own safety. Alleged beatings of inmates by other prisoners belonging to an informal hierarchy within the prison population were another subject of concern, and the Committee recommends that efforts to counter inter-prisoner violence and intimidation be stepped up. As for conditions of detention, the CPT notes with satisfaction that, in the light of the delegation’s preliminary observations at the end of the visit, an action plan was immediately drawn up to combat overcrowding and improve material conditions in prisons.

In the fields of psychiatry and social care, the delegation found no evidence of ill-treatment of patients by staff. On the contrary, the patients interviewed spoke positively of the staff at the establishments visited. The report contains recommendations aimed at improving living conditions in Orhei psychiatric hospital and in the secure ward of Chişinău psychiatric hospital. At Orhei Psychoneurological Home for boys, the living conditions were satisfactory. That said, the CPT stresses that, as a rule, children should be accommodated separately from adults.

The CPT's report (French) and the English translation are available on the Committee's website: http://www.cpt.coe.int.

* The Moldovan Government reserved the right, in certain cases, to oppose or delay a publication.