Human Rights Embassy in Moldova

I also interviewed the Executive Director of the Human Rights Embassy.
 
For more information about the work of the Human Rights Embassy, see
http://www.humanrightsembassy.org/index.php

HUMAN RIGHTS EMBASSY (Ambasada Drepturilor Omului / Посольство Прав Человека) is an international human rights nongovernmental organization established on the basis of voluntary membership, community of interests and the principles of the international community in preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights worldwide.

Human Rights Embassy was founded on 8 March 2011 in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, and officially registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova on 17 May 2011 (№ 4993), has an active International Executive Committee and an operating executive structure based on the Human Rights Embassy Statute.

Human Rights Embassy operates throughout the Republic of Moldova and abroad, and shall organize on the territory of the former Soviet Union, as well as in other countries, initiative groups, which may become its' structural units (with or without legal entity). Human Rights Embassy is guided by the principles of the international community to protect human rights, the universality and indivisibility of human rights, impartiality and independence, and democracy and mutual respect.

The goal of the Human Rights Embassy is to contribute to the promotion and respect for human rights worldwide. To achieve this goal, the task of the Human Rights Embassy is taking measures to combat and prevent human rights violations through effective action for the individual victim, development of a democratic society and to provide support and promote the rule of law and human rights.

To fully achieve its declared goals, the Human Rights Embassy intends:

-to address governments, intergovernmental organizations, companies and other non-state actors;

-to disseminate results of research related to human rights undertaken by Human Rights Embassy and other local, regional and international organizations;

-to lead strategic litigation on cases of human rights violations on local, regional and international level and to publish the cases' results;

-to sensitize and mobilize society through advocacy activities with governments and other non-state actors, in order to stop human rights violations;

-to contribute to the adoption of legal and normative acts which ensure promotion and protection of human rights; to advocate for the respect of the rule of law, to advocate for the ratification and application of human rights standards;

-to conduct broad public awareness campaigns on promotion and protection of human rights;

 -to build the capacity of professionals on promotion and protection of human rights through seminars, trainings, summer schools, human rights programs, etc.;

-to establish effective partnership with governments, intergovernmental organizations, companies, other non-state actors and international and local human rights and other nongovernmental organizations for knowledge management and joint activities to promote and protect human rights.

Since Human Rights Embassy was founded in 2011, we mention our team's previous experience in human rights protection. At our Embassy work founding members of Amnesty International Moldova (AIM), as well as experts who successfuly implemented the program "Lawyers for Human Rights" and the project "Lawyers v. Torture" for AIM. Since October 2005, "Lawyers for Human Rights" and "Lawyers v. Torture" focused on Moldovan defence lawyers as the main actors providing legal assistance for torture victims. Training courses were provided on national and European legal mechanisms for the protection of torture victims, on gathering and securing of evidence on torture, as well as on interacting with mass media and human rights nongovernmental organizations. The courses which were attended by defence lawyers, human rights NGOs and university law professors significantly improved the state of human rights in Moldova.

However, due to its working mandate Amnesty International's activity is very limited within the respective country. Because of that, authors and experts of AIM's "Lawyers for Human Rights" and "Lawyers v. Torture" decided to found an international human rights nongovernmental organization, Human Rights Embassy, through which they could apply their experience and capacity.