The National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) informed recently that 20 active and 14 recovered cases among the detained people in the Moldovan prisons were reported, as of August 25. Out of active cases, 19 persons have mild symptoms of coronavirus and 1 patient progressed to the medium severity of the disease. Officially, no death due to coronavirus were recorded in the Moldovan prisons.

At the same time, 18 active cases were recorded among prison staff, the total number of prisons’ employees who were infected with COVID-19 reaching 68 cases.

Prisoners who tested positive were transferred to the Infectious Diseases Section of the Penitentiary no. 16 from the capital city. There, they receive treatment in isolation, according to the national clinical protocol, as NAP specified. To date, only 93 tests have been performed in the Moldovan prisons, following a special procedure approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection.

The NAP claimed that, at the moment, the supply of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, as well as protective equipment, disinfectants for staff and detainees is sufficient.

There is no official information regarding the number of confirmed cases or health condition of the detainees who are in custody of Transnistrian prisons. Still, information about COVID-19 contagion of detainees from several Transnistrian prisons appeared on social media, these facts being also reflected in a Promo-LEX report on human rights in the Transnistrian region during the pandemic period. In this regard, Promo-LEX expressed its concern about the lack of reaction and debate on the issue of insurance access to medical care in penitentiary institutions of the Transnistrian region.

At the beginning of 2019, there were 2202 people detained in the prisons of the Transnistrian region, as a Promo-LEX retrospective report presented. The association underlined, back then, the high incarceration rate, as compared to the population of the region – about 550 people per hundred thousand inhabitants. That is while there were 197 detainees per hundred thousand population in the Republic of Moldova and the European average was 106.

Additionally, Promo-LEX drew attention to the problem of overcrowded prisons in Transnistria, due to a large number of prisoners.

Until June 26, the ECtHR issued 17 decisions in 37 cases related to torture and ill-treatment and 20 decisions in 37 cases where the right to liberty and security was violated.

Promo-LEX experts mentioned that the human rights situation in Transnistria is one of the greatest challenges, as the region remains closed and inaccessible to real human rights monitoring institutions or missions.

See also: Human rights violation in the Transnistrian region during the COVID-19 pandemic – new reported cases

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