The people submitted 663 complaints concerning use of torture to the Prosecutor’s Office last year, as opposed to 719 complaints a year before. According to a study made by prosecutors, the level of torture last year was the lowest in the last five years, IPN reports.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said that based on the complaints, the prosecutors started legal proceedings in 118 cases. In most of the cases, ill-treatment was applied against persons suspected, accused or convicted of offenses (383 complaints). The authors of 85 applications complained about use of torture against offenders, while of 29 applications – against other participants in trials, such as victims, the injured party or witnesses. In 166 applications, the authors complained about cases of violence against other persons who weren’t accused of offenses and didn’t have a certain status in a trial.

Thirty-two of the complaints submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office in 2014 referred to ill-treatment of minors. The prosecutors established that in 412 complaints of the total 663, the victims suffered physical or mental pain without having visible bodily injuries. They were subject to abuse by methods that do not leave signs. Most of the complaints referred to use of torture by the police.

Last year the prosecutors submitted to court 46 criminal cases, as against 49 cases in 2013. In them, the courts passed 43 conviction sentences against 62 persons. Fourteen of all the persons found guilty of use or torture or other inhuman treatment were jailed, compared to two persons in 2013.

Starting with 2010, Moldova has been convicted by the ECHR for violating Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture) in 49 cases.