The Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting of the PMR Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst. From the Pridnestrovian side the meeting was also attended by the Minister of Interior of the PMR Ruslan Mova, the First Deputy Minister of Justice of the PMR Vladislav Zhuk and representative of the Prosecutor’s Office of the PMR Natalia Vasilieva.
Welcoming the guests, Vitaly Ignatiev stressed that Pridnestrovie is committed to all the basic principles and standards in the field of human rights protection. “Even without a broad international recognition, Pridnestrovie has implemented basic concepts in the field of human rights in its legislation,” the diplomat said.
“A special legal mechanism has been created in the country, which allows to recognise international concepts as framework legal standard for the purposes of domestic legislation. In particular, this year, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted as a framework legal standard,” the Foreign Minister said.
In the course of the dialogue, Vitaly Ignatiev expressed gratitude to the representatives of the United Nations for their constant attention to the sphere of human rights protection in Pridnestrovie. “Recently, the UN Senior Expert on Human Rights in Pridnestrovie, Thomas Hammarberg, has paid a visit in Pridnestrovie and analyzed progress in implementation of his recommendations of 2012-2013. We intend to continue this interaction with the UN and fill it with practical content,” the Minister stressed.
In turn, Michel Forst expressed satisfaction with the preliminary report of Thomas Hammarberg on the results of the recent mission in the republic. “There is a number of positive steps forward made by Pridnestrovie on the basis of the recommendations made earlier. This can be the ground for expanding work in the field of human rights, including through the protection of human rights defenders,” the Special Rapporteur noted.
The parties discussed current areas of cooperation in the field of human rights activities on the territory of Pridnestrovie, having in detail exchanged views on the current situation in this area. In the end of the meeting, the interlocutors agreed to continue supporting bilateral communication in mutual interests.
