Alegerile parlamentare din 2021 în Republica Moldova - alegeri.md
 Monitoring→Politics→Transnistrian Conflict

Transnistrian Conflict on June 28 – July 11, 2004

|print version|mail| e-journal #34 |

Ilascu Group wins trial at ECHR

On 8 July the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg delivered at a public hearing the judgement of the ECHR Grand Chamber in the case of Ilascu and others versus Moldova and Russia. The Court held in favour of Ilascu and others and obliged Moldova and the Russian Federation to pay the members of the Ilascu group moral and material damages, as well as to cover the costs of the legal assistance granted they have received during the trial.

The ECHR judgement found Moldova guilty for not taking the necessary measures to stop the human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, where the members of the Ilascu group were sentenced by a tribunal of the non-recognised “Transnistrian republic” for alleged acts of terrorism. The Russian Federation was found to share the guilt as it holds de facto control over the Transnistrian region due to the stationing of its troops and weapons in the region as well as the political, economic and military support it has given the break-away authorities.

The ECHR called upon Moldova and Russia to take all measures to liberate two members of the Ilascu group Tudor Petrov-Popa and Andrei Ivantoc, who are still in the Tiraspol prison.

The Moldovan authorities have not had an official reaction to the ECHR decision yet. Several hours after the judgement was published, the Moldovan Minister of Justice Vasile Dolghieru was dismissed via presidential decree. While no reason was invoked for the dismissal, local observers have noted that it might have been related to the ECHR judgement.

The Russian Federation, on the other hand, has formulated its position towards the ECHR judgement in a communique of the Russian Foreign Ministry published on the same day. According to the communique, the Russian Federation showed bewildered by the “inconsistency, contradictory character, subjectivism and political engagement” of the ECHR. According to international law, the communique says, Russia may not be found guilty of the accusations brought against it by the Ilascu Group, because the said event took place before Russia joined the European Convention for Human Rights in 1999. The document also says that “the several hundred Russian military men” deployed in the Transnistrian region are there to participate in the peacekeeping forces and may not serve as an instrument of control over a territory inhabited by almost one million people.

The resolution of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Moldova

The Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the OSCE adopted at its annual session held on 5–9 July in Edinburgh a resolution on Moldova. In the resolution the OCSE deplores the deadlock to which talks on Transnistria have come, but welcomes that fact that, in principle, both parties are ready to resume dialogue to attain a final solution on the basis of the federalisation idea. The OSCE PA calls upon all parties concerned to make the necessary efforts in this sense, urges the Transnistrian authorities to cooperate constructively in the process of Russian weapons withdrawal from the region, and encourages the resumption of the political dialogue between Moldovan Members of Parliament and the members of the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet.

In an interview to Radio Free Europe, Kimmo Kiljunen, deputy chair of the OSCE AP and principal rapporteur on Moldova, said that the OSCE AP supported by unanimity the initiative to hold in September a round table with the participation of political forces from Moldova and Transnistria, which would adopt an official declaration whereby the two parties would commit to some basic principles for solving the Transnistrian conflict. According to Kiljunen, these principles would include the territorial integrity of Moldova, the idea of federalism as a basic principle for a final solution, international guarantees for a final agreement and exclusively non-military solutions.

NATO Summit in Istanbul calls for completion of Russian weapons withdrawal

The final communique of the meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government, held on 28–29 June in Istanbul, noted the progress that was made in 2003 on withdrawal of Russian military forces from the Republic of Moldova, but expressed regret over the fact that progress has not continued in 2004 and that the extended 31 December 2003 completion date was not met. NATO Head of State and Government called for the intensification of this process, but did not fix a new deadline for the completion of the withdrawal.

At the same time, the NATO summit participants reiterated their commitment to the CFE Treaty as a cornerstone of European security, and recalled that fulfilment of the remaining Istanbul commitments on the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova will create the conditions for Allies and other States Parties to move forward on ratification of the Adapted CFE Treaty.

Both on the eve of the summit and during the summit, Russian officials tried to accredit the idea that the link that NATO is trying to make between the ratification of CFE Treaty and the evacuation of troops from Moldova and Georgia is not justified. In an interview to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Serghei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister said that the commitments to withdraw troops from Georgia and Moldova are political ones, unlike the CFE treaty clauses, which are of legal character.

June 14–27, 2004 July 12–25, 2004