Chisinau, September 27 (Infotag). Over 1.3 thousand peasants from the Dorotcaia [Moldova-controlled village situated on the left, ‘Transnistrian’ bank of the Dniester River] have filed a collective claim with the European Court of Human Rights against the Government of the Russian Federation which they believe is responsible for the arbitrariness practiced in the village by the separatist Transnistrian authorities that do not let the peasants work on their land. The applicants’ interests in the ECHR are represented by lawyers Ion Manole and Alexandru Postica of the Promo-Lex non-governmental association.

Ion Manole told a news conference in Infotag today that starting from 1998 the Transnistrian administration has been forcing the villagers to pay all kinds of taxes and duties on their own lands.

“And from 2004, these fields have been guarded by Transnistrian armed formations which would not let the peasants use their lands on grounds that this land wealth, allegedly, belongs to the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, whereas the Dorotcaia village proper, which is on the other side of a strategic highway, is under Chisinau’s jurisdiction”, he said.

Ion Manole claimed that the peasants’ right of property – guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights – has thus been breached. The claim has been filed against the Government of the Russian Federation because the peasants think that exactly Russia bears responsibility for human right violations in the territory controlled by the separatist Tiraspol regime.

The Promo-Lex lawyers reminded that some time before, the European Court of Human Rights made a judgment into the Ilascu group case and recognized Russia as responsible for violation of human rights in Transnistria.

Although the Dorotcaia peasants have not lodged complaint against the Moldovan Government, they presume Chisinau must also take measures to safeguard their property rights. The applicants asked the ECHR to examine their complaint urgently, because for many households these fields are the only source of subsistence.