Information on the alternative service in Moldova is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to the Moldovan Prosecutor-General Office, some individuals were admitted to the alternative service on grounds not envisaged by the law (Itar-Tass 28 May 1996). The prosecutor's office added that many young men joined the pacifist party just as they were called up (ibid.). Expressing his opinion on military service in Moldova in February 1996, Head of the Alternative Service Department Iliye Luca stated that a majority of young Moldovans called up for military service prefer alternative service (Itar-Tass 21 Feb. 1996).

Commenting on conscription in Moldova in an undated report prepared after November 1997, the Conflict Studies Research Centre, an institution part of the British Army's Doctrine and Development Directorate, stated that:

The possibility of alternative service for conscientious objectors existed for a while, but has recently been dropped as a good idea, so officers say, that it was not possible to put into practice. However, Moldova has relatively few problems with the draft, and fewer still with desertion. Conscripts turn up for duty, according to Moldovan officers, because a rural youth whose horizons are bounded by village life regards the army as providing an environment in which he can escape from his hamlet, see the world (to some extent at least), and become a man. Most conscript soldiers are country folk who tend to look up to their officers (who typically stem from the urban educated class) and are happy to serve their country: Discipline is seldom a problem. It is, of course, equally true, as Moldovan officers occasionally lament, that a peasant conscript soldiery is far from ideal for manning a modern army which relies on sophisticated technical equipment for its combat effectiveness. "The national armed forces are a purely peasant army, as only village boys serve in it," an officer said recently; "under every possible pretext military service is shunned by the sons of parliamentarians, ministers, directors of industry, and other leaders." However, largely on financial grounds, there are at present no concrete plans for an early shift to an all professional army, although the number of contract servicemen is slowly increasing with time (CSRC n.d..).

Additional corroborating information on the implementation of the Alternative Service Act could not be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC). N.d. The Republic of Moldova. Armed Forces and Military Doctrine. Introduction and Background: Military-political Developments. http://www.ppc.pims.org/.../THEREPUBLICOFMOLDOVAARMEDFORCES.htm [Accessed 7 June 2000]

Itar-Tass. 28 May 1996. Valery Demidetsky. "Alternative Service in Moldavia." (NEXIS)

_____. 21 February 1996. Valery Demidetsky. "Alternative Service Chief Calls to Disband Moldavian Army." (NEXIS)

Attachment

Moldova. 9 June 1991. Alternative Service Act. Translated by the Multilingual Translation Bureau of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada. (13 pages)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Lexis/Nexis

War Resisters International. September 1998. Refusing to Bear Arms: A World Survey of Conscription and Conscientious Objection to Military Service. Londres : War resisters International.

An oral source could not provide information within time constraints.

Unsuccessful attempts to reach an oral source.

Internet sites including:

European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO)

Interlic [Chisinau]

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

Transitions [Prague]

War Resisters' International

World Council of Churches

World News Connection (WNC)