Bribery, crime and police abuse in Moldova

1

Bribery, crime and police abuse in Moldova

Findings of the

Soros Foundation - Moldova Victimisation Survey 2010

2

Introduction

• The Soros Foundation - Moldova (FSM) Victimisation Survey 2010 seeks to:– Measure levels of victimisation – Measure perceptions of the criminal justice

system – Measure confidence in police and justice.

3

Survey Methodology

• Representative survey of the population of Moldova carried out over March-April 2010

• Households selected using complex sample design with stratification and clustering, covering 37 urban locations and 134 rural locations, and resulting in 3018 interviews

• Data subsequently weighted by age, sex and rural/urban status according to the population of Republic of Moldova aged 16 – 75 years as published by the National Bureau.

4

Analysis

• Victim numbers estimated with weighted data– Compared with 2008 survey where appropriate– Margin of error on both surveys +/- 1.8%

• Regression analysis and significance testing carried out to identify significant relationships between variables– “Significant” means the relationships identified cannot

be ascribed to chance– All relationships identified are to the 95% probability

i.e. there is only a 5% chance they are random.

5

Interpretation

• Findings discussed with FSM criminal justice think-tank members to interpret meaning in Moldovan context

• Implications and recommendations based on thorough understanding of Moldovan criminal justice context.

6

Crime perceptions

• “Crime has not improved, crime has become more violent”

• Most serious negative perceptions associated with blaming low police qualifications for perceived crime rise

• The perception that personal safety has worsened also associated with blaming lower police qualifications for crime This suggests that addressing the issue of police

qualifications will have a favourable impact on those feeling most personally threatened by crime.

7

Criminal justice perceptions

• Only 6% see an improvement in all parts of the criminal justice system

• The average rating out of five people give for the police is 2.97, for prosecutors 3.01, judges 3.02, and defenders 3.15.

Reforms have not had a favourable impact – or have failed to outweigh other factors which have negatively impacted on public confidence

"The state effectively protects me"

Yes

No

8

Victimisation • Almost half (46%) of Moldovan people have

been a victim of at least one crime in the last five years; a third (33%) were a victim in 2009

• This implies 942 500 people victim to at least one crime in 2009 and 1 313 811 over the last five years

• This compares to the 127 167 crimes recorded by the Ministry of the Interior over the last five years. This result is more than 10 times higher than recorded crime Reporting rate one third does not fully account for

discrepancy

90 5

00

00

10

00

00

15

00

00

20

00

00

25

00

00

30

00

00

35

00

00

Stock theft

Other theft

Housebreaking

Theft out of motor vehicle

Attacks and threats

Trafficking

Attempted housebreaking

Bicycle theft

Robbery

Sexual abuse

Scooter theft

Car theft

10

Victimisation Trends

• Women comprise the majority of victims of crime and are more likely to be victims

• Young people are more likely to be victims• Wealthier, urban educated more likely to

be victims • Minority status not a factor• A small proportion of people being

repeatedly victimised accounts for the majority of crime counts in Moldova

11

54%

0% 0%

29%

62%

40%

17%

38%

60%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Percentage ofpeople

Percentage ofvictims

Percentage ofcrimes

No crimes One crime Two or more crimes

12

Trafficking

• 67000 experienced trafficking during 2009 • 1 in 12 reported the incident to the police

– more than half reported to the police of the country they were in, not Moldova

Police should have agreements in place with trafficking destination countries

• Households who experienced trafficking were more than three times as likely to have been attacked or threatenedWitness protection should be available to trafficked

persons

13

Theft out of motor vehicle

• 14% of households with cars experienced theft out of a motor-vehicle in last 5 years – Most (71%) do not report – People who have experienced theft out of

motor vehicle are less likely (30%) than people who are victims of other crimes (34%) to say that police protect them

Reducing theft out of motor vehicles would have a strongly positive impact on confidence in the police

14

Stock theft

• Stock-theft triples the risk of burglary (from 5% to 15%). In other words households who have experienced stock-theft are three times more likely than other households to also experience a burglary.– This suggests that the crimes happen at the same

time, or that stock-theft is a risk factor for burglary.

• Living in smaller households, being poorer (lower than median income), and being a member of the majority Moldovan/Romanian group all increases the likelihood of stock theft.

15

Burglary

• People who have experienced burglary more than once are less likely to report the incident to the police– Having some form of physical protection such

as burglar bars reduces risk slightly – Having dogs also reduces risk– Vigilant and caring neighbours offer best

protection

16

Sexual abuse

• 35 000 women in Moldova have been sexually abused in the last 5 years– Only 6% reported to the police

• A third said they were afraid and two fifths said they police would do nothing

• 15% involved more than one person and 48% involved a stranger– More than half occurred neither at home nor work

• The risk of women experiencing physical attacks or threats is three times higher among sexual abuse victims

17

Threats and attacks

• Two scenarios of typical incidents – a known, single unarmed perpetrator away

from home • suggestive of domestic or neighbourhood disputes

being aired in public

– unknown perpetrators possibly armed and possibly located closer to home.

• suggestive of territorial gangs located in the victims’ neighbourhood.

• associated with drug prevalence • associated with victims under 30

18

Bribery

• Together almost a third (30%) of people in Moldova were asked for or offered a bribe or did both in 2009

• Half (50%) of people under 30 who live in Chisinau were asked for or offered a bribe or both in 2009

• “Serial bribers” 7% paid 56% of the total bribes paid in 2009

19

Bribery among police

• 8% of people who had contact with police in the last five years were asked for or offered a bribe in 2009

• 19% of people beaten by police in the last five years were asked or offered a bribe in 2009

20

Bribery among judges

• Just under 1% of population = 20 228 people said they were asked for or offered a bribe– There are only 433 judges– Contact with judges rare

• 2008 survey 5% in last 3 years had contact with judges Half the people going to court in Moldova each year

compromise the case in which they are involved by a bribe.

• 41% of people say it is “very likely” that a person could solve a problem by a bribe to a judge

21

Police abuse of suspects

• 15% of men detained in 5 years beaten– 27 000 men were detained and beaten over the last

five years.

• 40% of men detained in last 5 years were either beaten or maltreated & 21% of women detained say they were maltreated by the police– over 71 000 men and close to 16 000 women were

detained and mistreated over the last five years

• Failure to explain rights, call lawyer associated with mistreatment Urgent reform required

22

Summary

• High levels of fear• Much higher levels of actual victimisation

than indicated by official data• Pervasive climate of bribery extending

even to the judiciary • High levels of police abuse, poor police

performance on human rights & protection of the law measuresCriminal justice in crisis?