Abstract
This paper examines the overall situation of the evolution of human rights and freedom of religion in Moldova since becoming an independent state. It emphasizes the fact that freedom of religion is still an urgent issue in Moldova, taking into account that the Moldovan state itself protects and enforces the rights and freedoms of Moldovan citizens in a rather arbitrary and selective way.
Religious tolerance and acceptance of religious diversity is another issue Moldovan society faces. The new religious movements are frequently restricted in their rights by the tacit alliance between the State and the Orthodox Church. Although different religions are free to organize their own education, the Orthodox Church monopolizes religious education in secondary schools. The religious lobby also opposed the initiative to introduce Life Skills-Based Education (LSBE), since it would destroy the traditional family by promoting “abnormal concepts” such as gender and sexual orientation, drugs, etc.
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Notes
- 1.
Moldova has a population of 4 million; 522,500 live in the secessionist-controlled region of Transnistria.
- 2.
The rapporteur refers here to the police mistreatment of young people during the April 6–7 2009 youth demonstrations held in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, that protested against the electoral fraud committed by the Communists Party that ruled for two consecutives mandates, from 2001 to 2009 (see the UNHCR Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2011).
- 3.
According to the Freedom House (2012) report the press in Moldova is partially free. The freedom score was 54.
- 4.
The LGBT Pride march on May 19 2013 was attended, among others, by the US and the Swedish Ambassadors to Moldova, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule. No Moldovan politician or official was present.
- 5.
In Transnistria the largest religious organization is the MOC. The Tiraspol-Dubasari diocese is part of the MOC and the Russian Orthodox Church, and an estimated 80 % of the Transnistrian population belongs to that church. Other groups include Roman Catholics, followers of Old Rite Orthodoxy, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, evangelical and charismatic Protestants, Jews, and Lutherans (U.S. Department of State 2011).
- 6.
BOC existed during 1918–1944, when Bessarabia was part of the Romanian State. It was liquidated when, after the occupation of Bessarabia, the USSR created the Moldovan SSR. All BOC properties were automatically granted to the newly created MOC under the subordination of Russian Orthodox Church.
- 7.
There is an inherited ignorant attitude toward religious groups in Moldovan society from the Soviet times or possibly earlier. During the Soviet regime, all religious groups were persecuted, including the religious minority groups that opposed to serving in the army. In 1951 a group of about 700 persons, the great majority of whom were Jehova’s Witnesses, were deported to Siberia.
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Suveica, ., Spranceana, V. (2015). Perspectives on Human Rights and Religion in Moldova. In: Ziebertz, HG., Črpić, G. (eds) Religion and Human Rights. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09731-2_8
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