In a world marked by instability, armed conflicts, democratic regressions, and increasingly frequent attacks on civil society, the role of human rights defenders becomes essential in protecting democracy, promoting social justice, and ensuring the respect of every individual’s fundamental rights. They contribute to creating a fairer society by monitoring human rights violations, providing legal and humanitarian assistance, raising public awareness, and influencing public policies.

In many states, human rights defenders are subjected to reprisals, intimidation, violence, and persecution. Protecting them is crucial for maintaining a free and fair society. International organizations, such as the UN and the Council of Europe, constantly emphasize the need for effective protection mechanisms for these crucial actors of democracy. Many abuses would remain unknown and unpunished without their activity, and democratic progress would be seriously affected.

In the Republic of Moldova, human rights defenders (HRDs) face multiple challenges that affect their activities.

Intimidation and harassment: HRDs and journalists are often victims of smear campaigns and harassment. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders mentioned that they face intimidation and threats, especially when criticizing certain decisions.

Limited access to information: Journalists and other defenders encounter difficulties in obtaining information of public interest, which affects their ability to inform society accurately.

Lack of official status: Currently, HRDs in the Republic of Moldova do not have recognized official status, limiting their legal protection and formal recognition of their activities.

To address these challenges, the People’s Advocate Office (PAO) in the Republic of Moldova has initiated a crucial step to protect human rights defenders. After an extensive public consultation process over the past two years with representatives of authorities, civil society, media, and academia, the People’s Advocates have developed a Concept that aims to improve legislation and practices regarding the recognition and protection of human rights defenders. This document has been recently submitted to the Ministry of Justice, suggesting the establishment of an inter-institutional working group to develop a clear and effective regulatory framework in this area.

Human rights defenders are individuals or organizations that promote and protect fundamental human rights, including journalists, civic activists, lawyers, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, and even national human rights institutions.

The concept submitted by PAO suggests:

• Clearly defining the status of human rights defenders and the criteria for recognition;
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• Establishing a protection mechanism in emergencies, especially when the state itself violates human rights;
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• Ensuring free access to information and transparency for the media and NGOs;
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• Recognizing and protecting child human rights defenders, whose involvement must be guaranteed by the state;
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• Introducing clear sanctions for those who threaten or attack human rights defenders;
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• Establish an inter-institutional cooperation mechanism for PAO, the Ministry of Justice, and civil society to collaborate effectively in implementing these measures.

The People’s Advocate, Ceslav Panico, emphasized:

“Human rights defenders are essential for a healthy democracy. However, in many countries in our region, they are intimidated, harassed, or even persecuted. Or, even more, labeled and assigned the status of “foreign influence agents”. The Republic of Moldova must be a positive example in the region and ensure a solid legislative framework and effective protection mechanisms for protecting them, whether we are talking about civil society organizations, journalists, civic activists, or lawyers”.

The People’s Advocate on the Rights of the Child, Vasile Coroi, added:

“Child human rights defenders are a reality. Recognizing them through the Law on the rights of the child is an important step, but we need additional regulations to empower and protect them”.

The People’s Advocates suggest the creation of a working group under the coordination of the Ministry of Justice, consisting of representatives of authorities, civil society, and international experts, to analyze existing legislation and propose a clear and effective regulatory framework for protecting human rights defenders.

PAO urges all responsible institutions and civil society to support this initiative, considering that human rights defenders are the backbone of democracy and the guarantors of respecting fundamental rights.

For more details, access the Human Rights Defenders Concept (https://ombudsman.md/post-document/concept-privind-aparatorii-drepturilor-omului/) and the proposal for legislation improvement submitted to the Ministry of Justice: (https://ombudsman.md/post-document/propunere-de-perfectionare-a-legislatiei-in-temeiul-art-27-lit-a-din-legea-cu-privire-la-avocatul-poporuluiombudsman-nr-52-2014/)

For more information, feel free to contact Svetlana Rusu (0600 026 44).

La Défenseure des droits publie ce jeudi 6 février une décision-cadre sur le recueil des signalements et l’enquête interne en cas de discrimination, ce qui inclut le harcèlement sexuel, dans l’emploi privé et public. Cette décision-cadre recommande aux employeurs publics et privés une méthodologie pour mener des enquêtes internes respectueuses des principes de confidentialité, d’impartialité, d’objectivité et de rigueur.

Lorsqu’un salarié d’une entreprise privée ou un agent public s’estime victime d’une discrimination,  liée  par exemple à son origine, son handicap, son âge ou en cas d’agissements de nature sexuelle ou sexiste, il peut signaler la situation à son employeur qui doit alors prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour assurer sa sécurité. Lorsque l’employeur reçoit un tel signalement  et si celui-ci nécessite des investigations complémentaires, il est tenu d’ouvrir une enquête interne et de prendre des mesures conservatoires pour protéger la victime présumée.

L’enquête peut être réalisée en interne ou confiée à un prestataire extérieur. Elle a pour objectif d’avoir la connaissance exacte de la réalité, de la nature et de l’ampleur des faits, en recherchant s’il existe un faisceau d’indices convergents laissant présumer une discrimination .  Si l’enquête interne confirme qu’une discrimination a eu lieu, et dans le cas où son auteur est identifié, celui-ci doit être sanctionné par l’employeur. Une méthodologie rigoureuse est donc essentielle.

Pour le Défenseur des droits, une enquête interne sérieuse bénéficie à l’ensemble des parties : elle permet de recueillir de façon sécurisée la parole des victimes et témoins et de les protéger d’éventuelles représailles, de faire la lumière sur les faits signalés, de décourager leur réitération, de justifier la sanction ou l’absence de sanction décidée contre la personne mise en cause et de remplir l’obligation de sécurité qui pèse sur l’employeur. Il est en ce  sens de  l’intérêt de l’employeur de diligenter une enquête sérieuse.

En examinant les réclamations qui lui sont soumises, le Défenseur des droits a néanmoins constaté une forte disparité des pratiques et de nombreux manquements dans l’organisation et la réalisation des enquêtes internes par les employeurs qui conduisent à fragiliser la qualification juridique des faits dénoncés par le salarié ou l’agent et à prendre des mesures de prévention et de protection insuffisantes.

Afin de renforcer la protection des salariés et agents publics, la Défenseure des droits publie ce jeudi 6 février une décision-cadre qui réunit ses recommandations pour accompagner les employeurs privés et publics dans le traitement des signalements de discrimination.

Ces recommandations, illustrées de nombreux exemples concrets, portent sur chaque étape de la procédure d’enquête interne, du recueil du signalement aux éventuelles suites disciplinaires contre la personne mise en cause. Elles proposent aux employeurs une méthodologie respectueuse des principes de confidentialité, d’impartialité, d’objectivité et de rigueur.

Cette décision-cadre s’adresse également à toutes les personnes intéressées par le traitement de situations de discrimination au travail (salariés et agents, organisations syndicales de salariés et d’employeurs   , médecins du travail, référents égalité/diversité…) ainsi qu’aux personnes qui accompagnent et conseillent les victimes de discrimination, associations et professionnels du droit.

El Defensor del Pueblo, Ángel Gabilondo, ha presentado este miércoles en la Universidad CEU San Pablo el libro “Vulnerabilidad y comunicación social. Fragilidad humana en la esfera pública”.

Esta obra sobre ética comunicacional ha reunido a 36 autores de 16 universidades españolas, públicas y privadas y ha sido editada por Rodrigo F. Rodríguez-Borges, doctor en Ciencias de la Información y Filosofía, y por Hugo Aznar, catedrático de la Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera y miembro de la Comisión de Arbitraje, Quejas y Deontología del Periodismo. 

Durante su intervención, el Defensor ha señalado que “las vulnerabilidades no son simplemente incapacidades, incapacidad de resistencia e incapacidad de reponerse, son algo mucho más próximo y más constitutivo, son una herida, que en cierto modo nos constituye, dado que consistimos no solo en sobrellevarla sino en hacer que venga a constituirse en la razón de ser y fuente de cuánto decimos y somos. Hablamos, no a pesar de la herida, sino precisamente desde ella”.

Tras recordar que “todo ser humano es susceptible de ser herido, de ser dañado física o moralmente”, Ángel Gabilondo ha destacado que “hay víctimas, personas enclaustradas no solo en su silencio, sino silenciadas, acalladas, arrinconadas en la soledad sin conversación, sin relación, sin información, sin comunicación, en los márgenes en el sentido menos fecundo de tales palabras, ante un conocimiento del que otros han hecho apropiación”.

En su opinión, este libro no es una historia de los afectados como víctimas sino una historia del pensamiento que se preocupa “de los procedimientos y de los mecanismos que producen esos silencios, que confunden lo aparente con la realidad, o la actualidad con el presente”. Según ha afirmado el Defensor del Pueblo, de lo que se trata es de “atender a cómo funciona la vulnerabilidad, a qué efectos produce en diversos momentos y espacios. Y, más aún, a cómo reaccionar ante ello”.

A hospital’s failure to diagnose a woman’s cancer denied her precious time with her family, England’s Health Ombudsman has found.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is urging hospitals to improve processes to avoid delays in diagnosis.

A woman underwent a CT scan at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust towards the end of November 2017 to investigate a potential liver problem.

While nothing significant was found on her liver, the scan revealed a nodule – a small dense area - and a possible pulmonary embolism on her left lung.

In December, the woman was referred to a clinic to treat the pulmonary embolism. The consultant at the clinic wrote to her GP asking she be referred for another CT scan three months later to investigate the nodule. This was not done and a review in mid-April 2018 revealed the follow-up scan had not been carried out.

An urgent CT scan towards the end of May 2018 revealed the woman had lung cancer, of which she died aged 81 in February 2019.

The woman’s daughter, from Oakham in Rutland, brought her complaint to PHSO.

The Ombudsman found the woman should have been diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2017, around six months earlier.

The Trust should not have passed the matter back to the woman’s GP and did not appropriately follow up the lung nodule’s finding.

Though PHSO cannot say exactly what would have happened, there is evidence the woman may have lived longer if the diagnosis had been made sooner, and this uncertainty about how much longer her mother might have lived has caused her daughter distress.

The Trust had already apologised to the woman, acknowledged its failings and taken action to avoid a reoccurrence for other patients.

However, PHSO recommended the Trust pay the woman £3,300 for the distress it caused. The Trust has complied with this recommendation.

The woman’s daughter, 64, who wishes to remain anonymous, said:

“Right from the diagnosis we were questioning why the scan hadn’t been followed up. It delayed my mum’s treatment for six months, which could have made a difference to how long she lived.

“There were things mum wanted to do that were not ticked off her bucket list because she was too ill or the end came up sooner than we thought. It was so upsetting.

“Time was taken away where we could have spent more quality time together. It wouldn’t have been years I don’t think, but who knows.

“Without the Ombudsman I wouldn’t have got where I am today. The advice I got from the Ombudsman was invaluable.

“I can’t express enough my gratitude to the caseworker and all the team for looking into things, not just my case, anybody’s case, because without their help we wouldn’t get anywhere.

“I promised my mum that I would go through with a complaint to find out what went wrong and in my mind, I’ve fulfilled that now for my mum.”

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rebecca Hilsenrath said:

“Cancer has or will at some stage of our lives affect almost all of us either by being diagnosed with the disease ourselves or knowing somebody who has. This case had a tragic outcome. Even though the mother’s cancer was terminal at the point she sought medical assistance, the delay in her diagnosis meant important time with her family was lost and this can never be restored.”

Earlier this year, the Ombudsman warned cancer patients could be put at risk because of overstretched and exhausted staff working in a system at breaking point and delays in diagnosis and treatment.

And in 2021, PHSO published a report called Unlocking Solutions in Imaging about recurrent failings in the way X-rays and scans are reported on and followed up across the NHS service.

Rebecca Hilsenrath added:

 “We have seen failings in multiple aspects of cancer care in the past. It is important that when mistakes are identified in healthcare, they are acted upon, and improvements made in order to deliver a better service for all. In this case, we welcome an acknowledgement of failings and improvements made by this Trust. A key aspect of our service to the public is about encouraging learning from complaints and we hope this means others will not have to experience the same issues again.”