To: Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Attn: Ms. Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights

Letter of Concern on Recent Human Rights Violations
in the Republic of Moldova

Your Excellency,

On the occasion of your visit to Princeton University to deliver the keynote address for the 2009 Princeton Colloquium on Public and International Affairs, we want to forward you the following letter of concern on behalf of the students and faculty from campus with regards to gross on-going human rights violations in the Republic of Moldova, stemming from events that occurred in the aftermath of the Parliamentary Elections. We want to express our deep concern with several abuses exerted by the Moldovan government on its citizens and urge for a prompt and thoughtful response from your organization.

In particular, our concern and solidarity is directed at peer youth and students from Moldova, journalists, activists and academics who have peacefully protested against an authoritarian government and as a result have been subjected to detention, torture, loss of jobs and even murder.

A serious number of human rights have been and continue to be blatantly violated. All are evidenced by international and local observers in the region (Edwin Berry, Human Rights Adviser to the UN, members of the European Parliament Graham Watson, Emma Nicholson, Renate Weber) while a large number of abuses are documented in audio-video format by the Office of the Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca.

In what follows, we limit our analysis to the violation of the following articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a core part of the very UN identity, which Moldova is committed to respecting.

* The right to life, liberty and security of person (Article 3).

* The right not be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 5).

* The right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law (Article 6).

* Equality before the law and the right to equal protection of the law (Article 7).

* The right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law (Article 8).

* The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile (Article 9).

* The right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him (Article 10).

* The right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state (Article 13).

* The right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers (Article 19).

* The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association (Article 20).

We hope that the international community can intervene to stop the violence and protect the citizens of Moldova, in full support of your appeal to “act on our collective responsibility to uphold the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration” (Human Rights Day, December 2008), which we salute.

This letter is supported by several university groups across the United States, who share similar concerns for the safety and well-being of their Moldovan counterparts. Given the full scale of violence and infringement of human rights exhibited by the authoritarian government of Moldova, we believe that an immediate response from the United Nations, in collaboration with the Council of the European Union and other regional agents is needed, as part of a longer-term concerted effort for stability in the region.

We thank you for your continuing work to foster collaboration and peace throughout the world and remind you that the Moldovans’ hope for freedom needs to be included on today’s international agenda.

Sincerely,
The Romanian Students & Scholars of Princeton University