Moldova's civil society asks the international community for help in solving the Transnistria conflict
Chisinau/ Moldova.ORG/ -- A group of 36 non-governmental organizations from the Republic of Moldova, including from its separatist region, has issued an appeal, demanding the urgent replacement of the current peacekeeping mission on the Nistru River.
The NGO representatives address the appeal to all the parties involved in the Transnistria conflict settlement, such as Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and OSCE. It is also addressed to the American President Barack Obama, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Romanian President Traian Basescu and other countries, as well as to some international institutions and organizations such as the European Parliament, the EU Commission, the Council of Europe, the United Nations and others.
The current so-called peacekeeping force deployed in Transnistria “represents a real threat to the peace and security of Moldova as well as to individual security and is an inertial factor and an institutional obstacle to the political process of settling the Transnistrian conflict, this problem being a major impediment in the development of the country and having a negative impact on the population living on both sides of the Nistru,” shows the text of the appeal.
Expressing their concern about the dramatic human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and about the lack of a legal and effective mechanism for defending and protecting all individuals, citizens or stateless persons, the civil society of Moldova appeals the following measures:
(1) to urgently replace the current peacekeeping mission, which exists in a military format and which falls short of the UN peacekeeping standards, with a genuinely civil mission under an international mandate; (2) Russia to withdraw its troops and military stockpiles from this region of Moldova; (3) A strict observance of all the provisions of the 1992 Moldova-Russia Ceasefire Agreement, in particular of Art.5 on the freedom of movement of people, goods and services within the territory of Moldova; and (4) an investigation, which is thorough, transparent and with international involvement, into the circumstances and causes that led to the death of Vadim Pisari, and which should establish to what extent the actions of the peacekeeping officer were appropriate for the situation and consistent with his mission.
The civil society also calls on all media organizations to correctly and impartially report on the developments in the wake of the fatal incident that occurred on January 1, 2012.
The appeal was signed on January 16, 2012 in Moldova’s capital of Chisinau.
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