During my talks with the Acting President, the Prime Minister and other senior ministers and officials I have discussed a range of problems related to discrimination against certain groups in Moldova, and discussed ways of combating it — most notably by enacting without further delay a truly comprehensive law banning discrimination on all grounds. My message to the Government — and to the public — is that diversity is among our highest values. A democracy is only as strong as its ability to protect its most vulnerable.

Moldova has taken several steps in recent years to become a more democratic nation. This year the country joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] after becoming the 114th signatory to the Rome Statute [JURIST report] in October 2010. In her statement this week Pillay observed that the "country is clearly on the road to strengthening its democracy, and aims at a number of ambitious reforms" despite the current lack of human rights enforcement for certain segments of the population. Recently Pillay made a similar statement stressing the the importance of the rule of law in Tunisia, another country taking recent steps toward democracy, after the nation held its first free elections last month. Also last month Pillay criticized Syria [JURIST report] for its failure to protect its population during the recent protests in that country, citing reports of snipers firing from rooftops at protesters and the use of live ammunition in the shelling of residential neighborhoods.