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Tiraspol, 2007: Children growing up in a country which the rest of Europe says doesn't exist.

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - A group of European delegates want to pressure the European Union, Ukraine and Moldova into observing the human rights of the 555,000 inhabitants of the nearly seventeen year old Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR).

During an international conference in the unrecognized country's capital, Tiraspol, a British delegation met with other European human rights activists and parliamentarians from Ukraine, Russia, and Moldova.

The conference, entitled “The state’s image and human right protection: reality, challenges, prospects”, brought together a total of 302 participants, consisting of international human rights activists, parliamentarians, diplomats, and academics. Over the period of two days, from 2 February to 3 February 2007, the mostly European participants debated ways to improve the human rights situation of the citizens of Pridnestrovie.

" - The lack of settlement in the conflict between Moldova and Pridnestrovie affects the image of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and results in systematic human rights violations as economic and political sanctions are imposed on Pridnestrovie," said the text of the conference's final resolution, approved unanimously by all participants.

The conference was held under the aegis of PMR's Parliament, but was shunned by the government of neighboring Moldova. Although a small group of nongovernmental Moldovan human rights activists crossed the Dniester and took part in the conference, the parliamentary delegation from Moldova did not show up. The boycott by Moldova took place despite an specific invitation to Moldova's parliament and a desire by the PMR Parliament to improve the often strained bilateral relations.

Although official Moldovan representatives refused to show, a delegation from Japan was present, along with representatives from South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, a mostly Armenian-populated country whose independence, like that of Pridnestrovie, is also not yet recognized.

Equality is for everyone

The basic, underlying principle which guarantees all other human rights is equal treatment for everyone. But politics and a manipulation of international law has created a reservation for unrecognized countries. Like fenced-off territories, they refusal to face up to reality is resulting in grave human rights violations. Michael Garner, a researcher and columnist who has previously contributed [1] to The Tiraspol Times, explains the dire situation of the 555,000 inhabitants of unrecognized Pridnestrovie:
" - Imagine living in a country which is not on the map: You can't travel, because officially, you are stateless. Your country is not recognized and your vote, if you want to cast it, is called illegal by some of your closest neighbors."

What Garner describes is life for the inhabitants of Pridnestrovie (also known as Transnistria). Although meeting the requirements for statehood under international law, its nearly 17 year old claim to independence is not recognized by its neigbors and its borders are subject to what is a thinly disguised economic blockade aimed at forcing them to their knees and to shatter their dreams of statehood.

For two days in Tiraspol in early February, the main focus of 300 international participants was on self-determination as a basic human right, recalling the words of former US president Woodrow Wilson who declared that "no people must be forced under a sovereignty under which it does not wish to live."

" - The way to ensure human rights protection is to threat Pridnestrovie and its inhabitants like everyone else in Europe: Recognize their status, and their achievements in nation building. Bring them into the international framework of NGO participation, membership of international bodies, and hold it to the highest possible standards for human rights and minority protection," explains Garner.

" - Of course, we need to make sure that Ukraine, Moldova, and the rest of the world are held to the same high standards. Right now, this is not the case. They are treating their neighbors in Pridnestrovie like second class citizens, shutting the door in their face and not allowing them a real voice in affairs that concern them."

Time for change and real action

Now, says the statement of the conference, this must change. In Pridnestrovie, both the Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers are ready to engage in serious dialogue with parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations from neigboring states. The talks will be action oriented, with an emphasis on tackling economic, social and humanitarian problems and ensure stable development of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

The participants of the conference decided to jointly 1. promote interparliamentary cooperation to draft a conception on human rights and freedoms protection;
2. promote cooperation with international human rights organizations; 3. encourage efforts of legislative and executive authorities, political parties, non-governmental organizations to create a positive image of PMR; 4. back the initiative to establish an international experts’ forum for Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict settlement; 5. encourage reporting of human rights and freedoms protection in Pridnestrovie.

As the world is watching, fresh light is now on Pridnestrovie, and human rights protection is the responsibility of everyone: Both local authorities, and the two countries next door - Moldova and Ukraine.

See also:
» Opposition-controlled parliament appoints new ombudsman for human rights [2]
» As democracy spreads, new countries will be born [3]