Council of Europe assesses prisons in the Republic of Moldova

The Republic of Moldova has achieved progress in addressing several challenges in its prison system. However, the Moldovan authorities still need to take resolute action to tackle the phenomenon of informal prisoner hierarchy and to prevent inter-prisoner violence and intimidation, concludes the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) in a newly published report.

Prisoner conditions improving

The report contains the findings of a CPT visit to the country in June 2025 to re-examine the treatment and conditions of detention of individuals held in prison. To this end, the CPT returned to visit Prison no. 6 in Soroca and Prison no. 15 in Cricova and visited for the first time Prison no. 2 in Lipcani.

The CPT notes positively that it received no allegations of physical ill-treatment of prisoners by staff in any of the three establishments visited in 2025. The quality of food provided in prisons has improved following the approval of a new norm, as well as the recording and reporting of injuries.

The committee also welcomes the agreement that the Moldovan authorities have concluded with the United Nations Office for Project Services to build a new prison in Chișinău, with part of the funding secured in a loan from the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Serious concern about "untouchables" in Moldovan prisons

However, the report highlights that long-standing CPT recommendations concerning the informal prisoner hierarchy and the resulting inter-prisoner violence and intimidation remain largely unimplemented. Many prisoners in all three establishments visited once again described an overall atmosphere of intimidation and violence used by the informal prisoner hierarchy to impose their rules on other individuals held in prison.

The situation of people considered to be "humiliated" or "untouchable", that is, those in the lowest caste of the informal prisoner hierarchy, remains a matter of serious concern to the CPT. The CPT delegation once again received many complaints of frequent verbal abuse, systematically demeaning and dehumanising behaviour of other prisoners, threats of physical violence if they failed to follow the informal "code of conduct", and even actual physical violence. The CPT considers that the situation of those individuals in the lowest caste of the informal prisoner hierarchy could be considered to constitute a continuing violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the CPT's view, this unsatisfactory situation in prisons is directly linked to several factors; most notably, the chronic shortage of custodial staff, the de facto relinquishment of authority and control over the prison population to informal prison leaders, and the existence of large capacity dormitories and freely accessible unlocked rooms in interconnected sectors.

Variance in conditions within the prison system

At the same time, the Moldovan authorities' plan to introduce a new, progressive system for the enforcement of prison sentences remains unimplemented. Moreover, there is still no proper risk and needs assessment of individuals upon their admission to prison.

While the CPT notes positively that the authorities adopted a SAFE Roadmap for the Europeanisation of Moldovan Prisons, it underlines that concrete steps are now required to implement it effectively.

The committee once again observed striking differences in material conditions and an unequal distribution of prisoners, a situation closely linked with the phenomenon of informal prisoner hierarchy. While material conditions in the three establishments visited remained very poor for most prisoners, including a poor state of repair and severe overcrowding, informal prison leaders and their close circles were residing in spacious, well-equipped rooms or even apartments consisting of several rooms.

The CPT calls on the Moldovan authorities to ensure that individuals held in prison are evenly distributed across available accommodation, and that they are all treated equally and benefit from similar living conditions. Every person held in a multiple-occupancy cell or dormitory should be provided with at least 4 square metres of living space, in line with CPT standards.

The CPT has published the report under the automatic publication procedure introduced by the Moldovan authorities.

Read the report in full

The European Committee for the prevention of torture

Moldova and the Council of Europe