It includes reforming justice, fighting corruption, protecting human rights, developing democratic institutions and improving public administration. And human dignity is considered a fundamental concept underlying all rights and freedoms.
According to Deputy People’s Advocate (Ombudsman) Valentin Roshka, statistics show that the criteria of discrimination are not limited to an exhaustive list – their number is growing: “The most alarming thing is that this phenomenon continues to expand. It is necessary to take measures to reduce it in society”.
The implementation of the recommendations of the Equality Council is an important indicator that the European Commission uses to assess Moldova’s progress on the path to EU accession.
The report of the Equality Council for 2025, presented on Wednesday, May 6, in the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights and Interethnic Relations, became a kind of “mirror” that many people were uncomfortable to look into. Because it reveals deep systemic problems in ensuring the basic rights of citizens.
The labor sector leads in cases of discrimination
In 2025, the Council handled 328 cases, of which 300 resulted in decisions. Discrimination was found in 24% of cases. The highest number of cases was in the labor sector (54%).
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection believes that the root of the problem lies not in the imperfection of the legislation, but in the plane of its practical application. According to the ministry, the main barriers arise at the level of employers, and it is in this area that the work on errors should be carried out.
Analysis shows that the most common grounds for discrimination are sex/gender, age and disability. At the same time, direct discrimination remains the dominant form.
The report highlights persistent problems: publication of discriminatory job advertisements, denial of employment on the grounds of health, limited access of people with disabilities to services and infrastructure, as well as administrative barriers in obtaining public services.
During the presentation of the report, the Parliamentary Commission was also informed about the degree of implementation of the Council’s recommendations: 36% have been implemented, 23% remain unimplemented, and the rest are being challenged.
The Council encourages state bodies, civil society and all stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the findings and recommendations and to take measures to eliminate discrimination in all spheres of public life.
Internet for prisoners
From year to year Moldova tries to reduce the distance to the European standards when it comes to the protection of prisoners’ rights. This is a topic to which the European structures have traditionally paid more attention. Moldova lags behind on a number of criteria, including access to the Internet. At the legislative level, it is still a restricted area.
“As for the creation of mechanisms for controlled access of prisoners to the Internet using web filters and technical isolation, the situation remains difficult. On the other hand, our resources are limited: we face an acute shortage of personnel, especially technical specialists capable of implementing modern solutions. Nevertheless, we are working in this direction,” Miroslav Shendrya, Deputy Director of the National Administration of Penitentiary Institutions, said at the hearing.
But the problem of informal hierarchy among prisoners remains the most acute. In the face of this subculture, formed over decades, official regulations are still powerless.
“As for the so-called ‘humiliated’ category, I admit that we have serious difficulties in fighting informal hierarchy. But a concrete plan of measures has been developed. We need to realize that the criminal subculture has existed in the penitentiary system for almost a century, and its overcoming requires time and thoughtful decisions,” Shendrya added.
Among the positive changes is the abolition of the norm that obliged to keep those sentenced to life imprisonment exclusively in the penitentiary institution No. 17 in Rezina. In addition, last week the draft law on promotion of employment of prisoners was approved in the first reading.
“Language issue”
The problem of language discrimination is one of the most sensitive points of contact between the interests of society and the state. Despite the readiness of the Ministry of Justice to dialog, the real practice on the ground demonstrates the inertia of the system.
One of the “linguistic” cases mentioned in the report concerns the National Center for Personal Data Protection. The Council previously recognized the existence of discrimination on the grounds of language, but this decision was challenged in the Court of Appeal. There is no final verdict yet. And, judging by the position of the Center’s representatives, the desire to find a solution is limited.
“Given the organizational structure and limited staff, the Center has no possibility to hire a translator. Under these circumstances, translation of acts for national minorities is provided within the limits of available resources, as well as unofficial translation within the framework of administrative procedures. Further steps will depend on financial possibilities and the final court decision,” explained Livia Matei, Chief State Controller of the Center’s Legal Department.
In Moldova, the issue is often perceived through the prism of politics. However, the Equality Council and its head, Jan Feldman, translate the discussion into fundamental human rights and global trends of which Moldova has become a part.
“Regarding linguistic adaptation – I want to say two things: we are aiming for the European Union and we will need to answer not only in Russian, which people sometimes know, but also in English and probably in other EU languages. We have to take into account that we will have people from many countries working for us who will be contacting us. Not to mention our diaspora: if now we are discussing Russian, soon we will be talking about answers in Italian,” Feldman said.
The head of the Equality Council shared practical ways of solving this problem based on the organization’s internal experience. He recognized that the services of professional translation agencies are a serious burden on the budget, which state structures cannot always afford.
Nevertheless, a way out was found in digitalization: with the support of donors, the Council implemented specialized software based on artificial intelligence. According to Feldman, the quality of machine translation is already impressive today, and in the near future, language adaptation may no longer be a financial issue, becoming a simple “copy-paste” technical procedure.
