Freedom in the World 1998 - Transnistria

1998 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 6.0
Civil Liberties: 6
Political Rights: 6

Overview

In 1998, international efforts continued to mediate the status of the self-proclaimed republic of Transdniester, the largely ethnically Slavic sliver of land in Moldova bordering Ukraine. Despite a 1997 socio-economic cooperation agreement signed by Moldova's Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc and Transdniester's President Igor Smirnov, there was little momentum in Chisinau for a political settlement as Moldova's government appeared content to accept the region's de facto independence for the time being.

In 1990, Slavs in the Transdniester, a narrow strip of land that was part of Ukraine until 1940 and joined to Moldova after Soviet annexation, proclaimed the Dniester Moldovan Republic (DMR). Fighting in Transdniester, where local Slavs were supported by Russian mercenaries and elements of Russia's 14th Army, ended with a cease-fire in mid-1992. In 1994, Russia and Moldova agreed to a three-year timetable for withdrawing the 14th Army. In 1996, President Smirnov was re-elected to another five-term.

Throughout 1998, high-level officials from Moldova, Transdniester, and the international community met, but there was little progress. In March, the presidents of Moldova and Transdniester met in Odessa with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin acting as intermediaries. It was agreed to send Ukrainian peacekeepers into a security zone already patrolled by Moldovan, Russian, and Transdniester forces.

In November, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi asked the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to help mediate the Transdniester situation. In December, Transdniester authorities announced that they would not participate in scheduled negotiations in Kiev that month with mediators from Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE.

Transdniester remained a key center of smuggling which cost the Moldovan economy millions in custom's revenues and duties. President Smirnov's son was put in charge of a custom's sector rife with corruption. By year's end, elements of the 14th Army remained in the region despite Moscow's commitment to remove those forces.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Residents of Transdniester can elect their leaders democratically. In the 1996 presidential elections, incumbent Igor Smirnov defeated challenger Vladimir Malakhov, a businessman, 72 percent to 20 percent. Turnout was 57 percent, the lowest for the republic since its proclamation of sovereignty. In 1994, local authorities forbade residents in voting in Moldova's parliamentary election, though a similar stricture was not specified for the 1998 vote.

The print and local electronic media are pro-government, though citizens have access to Moldovan, Ukrainian, and Russian radio as well as television broadcasts and print media. Freedom of religion is generally respected, though there are restrictions on assembly. There are a number of political parties coalesced around the left-wing Bloc of Patriotic Forces as well as the moderate Movement for the Development of Dniester, which has backed the ruling Labor Movement of Dniester. Unions are remnants of Soviet-era labor organizations. The United Council of Labor Collectives works closely with the government.

The local judiciary is based on the Soviet-era model and is not independent. Economic rights have been circumscribed by lack of reform, high-level corruption, and criminal activity.