On 21 September 2023, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted, for the first time in three years, an Interim Resolution (the 5th in number) in the Catan et al. group (“schools file”). Previous resolutions were adopted on 25 September 2014, 12 March 2015, 24 September 2015, 3 September 2020 and also presented the Committee of Ministers’ concerns about the Russian Federation’s failure to implement the ECtHR judgments, reports Promo-LEX.

In its interim resolution of 21 September 2023, the Committee of Ministers reiterates and confirms the fundamental findings on the responsibility of the Russian Federation for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, as a result of the “military, economic and political support generously provided to the de facto administration in Tiraspol”.

“The Committee of Ministers stresses that although the Russian Federation has ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights as of 16 September 2022, it remains nevertheless bound by its obligations under the Convention, including to implement the Court’s judgments, in accordance with Article 58 of the Convention.

In addition, delegates stress the fundamental importance of primary and secondary education for the future success of every child and the right of applicants to continue to receive education in their mother tongue, free from obstacles and harassment. Although almost two decades have passed since the first violations of the right to education in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, the victims have still not received any form of redress for the violations found, including financial compensation.

The Committee of Ministers strongly urged the Russian authorities to pay fair compensation and accrued interest for the failure to comply, and to provide an action plan setting out their concrete proposals on the implementation of these judgments without any further delay,” a Promo-LEX statement said.

The Committee also recalls that, in addition to the payment of just satisfaction, measures to enforce these judgments include the revocation of the “regulatory framework” at the origin of the violations, the return of Latin-script schools to their former sites or to alternative premises suitable for the educational process, and the establishment of measures to eliminate harassment and intimidation of pupils, parents and teachers.

According to the Association, the group of cases Catan and Others v. Russia currently includes five cases in which three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights have been handed down, finding violations of the fundamental rights of pupils, parents and teachers in seven Romanian-language educational institutions in the Transnistrian region (out of a total of 8 schools), as a result of pressure and intimidation to which they have been subjected over the years.

Promo-LEX believes that the full implementation of these judgments by the Russian Federation can be a first step towards ending the flagrant violations of the right to education in the Transnistrian region of Moldova. The Association urges the authorities in Chisinau to further insist on the execution of these judgments by the Russian Federation.