Newsletter Promo-LEX. 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Nr. 64/XII. December In this edition:

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1 Nr. 64/XII December 2012 In this edition: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Starting on Human Rights Day, Promo- LEX presented three reports Know You Rights Quiz Game for students in the Transnistrian region It's time for the minorities to be heard out! by Victoria Apostol European Election Observers Launch Platform in Warsaw Promo-LEX Association received the Ombudsman's Award Human Rights are your rights: Know them and fight for them! by Jitariuc Svetlana 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence The Promo-LEX Association participated in the global campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, which was held from November 25 to December 10. In this period, multiple events were organized to raise awareness of gender-based violence and to mobilize civil society, the Government and the entire Moldovan society to actively participate to preventing and combating gender-based violence, including domestic violence. As part of this campaign, Promo-LEX together with the NGO Refugiul Casa Marioarei presented a video material on domestic violence. Also, informational leaflets were handed out, containing useful pieces of advice for victims of domestic violence as well as contacts for organizations in Moldova which are able to provide help. A number of activities were also held for different groups of people to inform them on the negative consequences of this phenomenon. Further, Promo-LEX Association together with Refugiul Casa Marioarei and the International Center La Strada organized on November 29 a Press Club session on the theme The level of protection of domestic violence victims. The meeting was an occasion to present a number of cases of domestic violence, with several victims of domestic violence that benefited from Promo-LEX's assistance participating personally in the event. Participants also discussed the degree of protection of victims and the extent to which the provisions of Law no.45 on preventing and combating domestic violence were being implemented into practice by the relevant authorities. The La Strada Center offered statistical data on the calls to its helpline, as well as pieces of analysis on domestic violence. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign was initiated in 1991 by the Women's Global Leadership Institute. Since then, well over 2000 organizations in more than 160 countries have participated in the Campaign.

2 Pag. 2 Starting on Human Rights Day, Promo-LEX presented three reports legitimate authorities. The Report includes, among other, particular cases of human rights violations with which the authors dealt as part of their efforts to offer pro bono legal assistance in the Transnistrian region. The electronic version of the Report is available in Romanian and English at the following link. 1. On Human Rights Day, on 10 December 2012, the Promo-LEX Association in partnership with the Human Rights Resource Center (CReDO) presented at a roundtable the Report on the Human Rights Situation in Moldova's Transnistrian Region / 2012 Retrospective and a survey on the tendencies of the perceptions of the population in the Transnistrian region on the economic, social political situation, a retrospective of the years The Report on the Human Rights Situation in Moldova's Transnistrian Region focuses on major problems as well as on some progresses seen in The Report, which comprises 15 chapters, describes and analyzes the situation of fundamental human rights and freedoms in the Transnistrian region. The Report contains conclusions on the human rights situation in the region and includes recommendations to relevant actors, whose efforts could influence the situation and mitigate the intensity of human rights violations in the region. 2. On 12 December 2012, Promo-LEX presented the Study on the Freedom of Assembly in Moldova's Transnistrian Region. The survey aimed to present to the conflict settlement stakeholders arguments to avoid the involvement of external factors in the conduct norms in the region and demonstrate the necessity of aligning all the conduct norms in the region with the constitutional norms of the Republic of Moldova. The study intended to highlight the problems related to the exercise of the right to assembly in the region and consequently help create mechanisms and solutions so that these rights are guaranteed. Also, the study aimed to help researchers, civil society members and local and central authorities form certain conclusions and opinions. In developing the Report, its authors used information available to the general public from media sources in the Transnistrian region and official information obtained from the Moldovan

3 Pag. 3 continued from page On 17 December 2012, Promo-LEX launched at a roundtable the Assessment Report on the implementation of the provisions of Law no.45 on the protection order during The Report concerns and analyzes the legal and institutional framework of issuing and enforcing protection orders for victims of domestic violence; the level of awareness among the relevant authorities and the victims of domestic violence of the provisions of Law 45 concerning the protection order; the functions of the relevant authorities in this area; the extent to which the relevant authorities are implementing into practice the provisions of Law 45 and the challenges in enforcing them, in particular of the provisions concerning the protection order. The information for the Report was collected from social assistance divisions, police commissariats, courts and prosecutor's offices across Moldova (in total, 153 institutions from 32 districts). The report's methodology also included 91 in-depth interviews with victims of domestic violence, judges, social assistants and police officers from two municipalities (Chișinău and Bălți) and six districts from three regions of Moldova: Orhei, Fălești, Edineț Cahul, Căușeni, and Anenii Noi. The Report reveals a growing number of domestic violence complaints in the period At the same time, statistics indicate a significant disparity between the great number of complaints lodged with police commissariats, prosecutor's offices and social assistance divisions and the small number of formal requests asking courts for protection orders. An explanation could be the inadequate knowledge of the legislation concerning the issuance of protection orders among the authorities. Participants in the roundtable that was held to launch the Report also discussed aspects related to the quality of Law 45 and cooperation between the institutions responsible for enforcing the Law. Today there are models of cooperation, but they are sporadic and not always efficient, said lawyer Alexandru Postica. In this respect, one of the recommendations included in the Report is to create a unified database of complaints and protection orders to enable the supervision of how they are enforced. The electronic version of the Report is available in Romanian and English at the following link.

4 Pag. 4 Know You Rights Quiz Game for students in the Transnistrian region A fixed-time team-played quiz game (JIETF) is a mind sport where teams try to identify the correct answer to trivia or general knowledge questions in a fixed period of time. The team's goal in the game is to answer to a greater number of questions than their rivals. The event brought together three teams: Phoenix (Lucian Blaga Lyceum, Tiraspol); ProVeritas (Evrika Lyceum, Rîbnița); and Intelect ("Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt" Lyceum, Grigoriopol). The event was organized together with the Moldovan Mind Game Club and aimed to promote the culture of human rights through knowledge and information multiplication. Octavian Sirețeanu, the host of the game, stated: At this session of mind games, the three teams had the opportunity to give a try at three different games. All the rounds included both questions pertaining to human rights, the event's theme, and general knowledge questions. As concerns the teams' performance, I should remark that it had been a tight race before one team eventually managed to obtain a comfortable lead just in the final round. The players prepared well for the thematic questions on human rights, and seldom had troubles answering such. In the general knowledge questions department, answers wouldn't come that easy, but most of the time, with a little tip, they would eventually crack them. The final results were fair, considering that that was their first experience of the kind. I wish the players to keep playing mind games, and with a bit of experience I think that this group can produce some valuable players.

5 Pag. 5 continued from page 4. Through this activity, we planned to involve the youth in the region into promoting human rights culture in a new, more interactive fashion. The three teams showed great interest and motivation throughout the game. The competition spirit added dynamism to the game and created a friendly environment for all the participants in the event. We plan to support the organization of quiz games during the Human Rights Decade in a number of education institutions in the region, said Olga Gordila, Civil Society Program coordinator at Promo-LEX. I took part for the first time in such an activity and we were a little bit nervous in the beginning. But we managed to overcome our emotions as the game advanced. It was extremely interesting, because it tried our knowledge, our speed of thinking, and teamwork skills. Together with our teachers, we will try to hold such quizzes in our school, too, said one member of the team ProVeritas. The activity was part of the Promoting Human Rights and Strengthening Civil Society in Moldova's Transnistrian Region Program, which is implemented thanks to the financial support offered by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). It's time for the minorities to be heard out! by Victoria Apostol During November 2012, Promo-LEX participated in the international training UN Mechanisms and in the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, in Geneva, Switzerland. For four days, the participants attended courses and seminars that gave them theoretical and practical knowledge about the UN mechanisms for protecting minority rights and ways to organize and conduct an advocacy campaign for minority communities. In the following two days, on November 27 and 28, participants from Moldova, the Russian Federation, Croatia, Montenegro, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Morocco participated in the Fifth United Nations Forum on Minority Issues. The Forum also brought together official representatives of UN member countries, delegates of regional and international organizations, minority rights NGO members, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues Rita Izsak, and representatives of minority communities from UN member countries. This year, the Forum's theme was Implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities: Identifying Positive Practices and New Opportunities. Promo-LEX took part in the UN Forum on Minority Issues by delivering a speech addressed to the Moldovan government and focused on the linguistic minorities in our country. The Republic of Moldova

6 Pag. 6 continued from page 5. is one of the countries that provides a favorable legal framework for the national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, but its implementation into practice remains a problem for the government. Through its intervention, Promo-LEX highlighted that the Republic of Moldova should ensure the minorities' right to study in their mother's language as enshrined in the international conventions and treaties that the Moldovan government signed and ratified. Further, the Moldovan authorities should create conditions that the minorities learn to speak the official language. The Moldovan government should also create an equal public space for all the minority groups by improving the national legislation in the spirit of the Declaration. Further, the authorities should institutionalize the application of these principles by creating relevant agencies, and this treatment should be applied with respect to all linguistic minorities, including those in the Transnistrian region. Following this intervention, Vlad Chirinciuc, the assistant representative of Moldova's permanent mission to Geneva showed interest in those stated, in a dialogue with the representative of Promo-LEX, and said that he would announce the Moldovan government about Promo- LEX's activity at the forum and about its recommendations to improve the situation of the linguistic minorities in our country. Promo-LEX's participation in this Forum was made possible with the financial and logistical support of the Minority Rights Group International. The Forum on Minority Issues is an international mechanism within the United Nations system that provides a platform for the member countries and NGOs to engage in a constructive dialogue on the Declaration. It is intended to monitor the implementation of the Declaration since its adoption to the present time, highlighting both positive practices and challenges, as well as to identify examples worthy of being followed and formulate recommendations to improve the situation of minority groups around the globe and achieve a complete implementation of the Declaration. Each year, the Forum has a different theme, but which concerns the rights enshrined in the Declaration. The UN Forum on Minority Issues was established by the Human Rights Council in 2007.

7 Pag. 7 European Election Observers Launch Platform in Warsaw Warsaw - On 12th December 2012, twelve civil society organisations supporting or conducting citizens election observation in the states of the Eastern Partnership, the Russian Federation and the European Union have launched the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) in Warsaw. The support of citizens standing for democratic elections wherever they are at risk in Europe is our common aim and responsibility said Stefanie Schiffer, chair of European Exchange (Berlin) and newlyelected coordinator of the Platform. Whereas all six countries of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) and the Russian Federation have committed themselves to the principles of electoral democracies through their constitutions and international obligations, today none of these states fully meets the standards of democratic elections. Election fraud has become a common tool for some of the post-soviet countries to preserve power. The poorest records belong to the European Union s immediate neighbour states, Belarus and the Russian Federation, as well as Azerbaijan. The aim of the European Platform for Democratic Elections is to assist citizens election observation in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and in the Russian Federation, and to contribute to democratic election processes throughout Europe. The Platform will develop innovative methodologies to detect election fraud through citizens observation, it will train citizens observation networks in Eastern Europe and it will contribute to raising awareness for the findings of citizens election observation in European political structures. The first activities of the European Platform for Democratic Elections are directed towards supporting citizens observation during the upcoming presidential elections in 2013 in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as towards the regional elections in the Russian Federation and in Ukraine. The founding members of the European Platform for Democratic Elections are the Association GOLOS (Russia), Belarusian Helsinki Committee BHC (Belarus), Committee of Voters of Ukraine CVU, Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center EMDSC (Azerbaijan), European Exchange (Germany), Helsinki Citizens Assembly VANADZOR (Armenia), Human Rights Center Viasna (Belarus), International Society for Free Elections and Democracy ISFED (Georgia), Norwegian Helsinki Committee NHC, Civil Network OPORA (Ukraine), Association Promo-Lex (Moldova) and Swedish International Liberal Centre SILC (Sweden).

8 Pag. 8 On the Human Rights Day, which is celebrated annually on December 10, the Promo-LEX Association received the Ombudsman's Award in recognition of its essential contribution to advancing and defending human rights in the Republic of Moldova. Promo-LEX feels all the more honored since this year the Ombudsman's Award is offered for the first time. Promo-LEX would like to thank the Human Rights Center for the offered award. We promise to do our best to further advance and defend human rights in Moldova, in particular in the Transnistrian region. We will also relentlessly continue our activity in the interest of society and democracy in Moldova.

9 Pag. 9 Human Rights are your rights: Know them and fight for them! by Jitariuc Svetlana The Grigoriopol-based Theoretical Lyceum Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt is one of the schools in the Transnistrian region that is working in conditions which are inconceivable for a modern society: in the last 11 years we've been forced to hold our classes outside our native town, in the second shift, traveling daily to the village of Doroțcaia in Dubăsari district, across a checkpoint run by paramilitary forces of the so-called Moldavian Transnistrian Republic. Every day for us is a struggle to defend our identity, our fundamental human rights and freedoms, and to promote children's rights. It is tremendously hard to reach out to each of our students who come from different families, with different levels of intellectual refinement, families where prejudice and stereotypes are still prevailing, or even students dealing with the absence of their parents on the importance of gaining knowledge of human rights. Through a number of activities held as part of civic education and homeroom classes as well as through different events conducted by Promo LEX Association and with its support (in the form of leaflets, posters, legal assistance, etc.), we aimed to promote awareness of human rights, freedoms and responsibilities and develop habits to respect and claim them.. Debates, creativity competitions on the theme of Human Rights, advertisement boards, roundtable events, awareness raising activities on human rights violations, seminars to promote human rights history, discussions on national human rights acts (including the Moldovan Constitution) and international conventions (such as the UDHR and the Convention on the Rights of the Child) have contributed to the legal literacy of the young generation. This year, the Lyceum hosted events dedicated to the Human Rights Decade, on December 1-10, under the theme Human Rights are Your Rights: Know Them and Fight for Them! The following activities were held as part of the Decade: - homeroom session Say Yes to Children ; - wall newspaper Family Rights ; - Thematic drawings' competition among elementary school pupils; - Rights and responsibilities are taught in the family - session for tenth graders' parents;

10 Pag. 10 continued from page 9. - Social theater The Trial ; - The role of the family and school in cultivating rights and responsibilities among children - Poster on December 10, the World Human Rights Day; - My Rights Are Also My Responsibilities - roundtable for secondary school students, - The Brain Ring - a quiz game for high school students that was held in three rounds: I Round - What?Where?When? II Round - Mind Duel III Round - Erudit Café - Honoring the Romanian Language, Mother, Motherland - Requiem in memoriam Ion and Doina Aldea TEODOROVICI eternal values of our nation that fought for Identity, Truth and the most sacred of all human rights Freedom. Activities will be continued on and on: this is the only way we can defend ourselves from ignorance and lies; only through information and awarenessraising efforts can we become stronger and bring values back to our country.

11 Pag. 11 Promo-LEX team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a new year full of accomplishments! Edition coordinated by: Iulia Munteanu crdt@promolex.md Web: Tel/Fax: +(373 22) GSM: The Promo-LEX Association is a Non- Governmental Organisation focused on promoting democratic values, whose purpose is to advance democracy in the Republic of Moldova, including the Transnistrian region through promoting and defending human rights, monitoring democratic processes and strengthening the civil society. Promo-LEX Association provides free legal aid assistance on issues of human rights violations for the inhabitants from the Transnistrian region of Moldova. For consultations please contact: Tel: