Human Rights in Transnistria - Profanation of Military Cemetery

Profanation of Military Cemetery

According to the Moldavian and Romanian press, in February 2007, Transnistrian authorities "destroyed and profaned" the Drăgalina cemetery in Tighina (also known as the Romanian cemetery, which contains/contained the tombs of many World War II soldiers), thus violating Articles 34 and 130 of the 4th Geneva Convention. The Transnistrian authorities did not exhume the bodies but removed the crosses and leveled the terrain with bulldozers.

According to the Romanian edition of Deutsche Welle, the Transnistrian authorities announced that the crosses would be blown up and mixed with asphalt to repair the roads of the city. According to PMR News, the authorities in Transnistria are to rebury the exhumed soldiers outside of the city and authorities have taken steps so that the identities of these exhumed soldiers are not lost. No such steps have been taken to date and locals have reported bones being moved with bulldozers. A monument to Soviet soldiers is proposed to be built over the leveled graves. According to the official Transnistrian press, "Memorials dedicated to glory and monuments play an important role in the education of the young generation."

The cemetery was founded in 1812, when the graves of Swedish and Russian soldiers that died near the Tighina Fortress in 1709 were relocated. In the 19th century, several leaders of Don cossacks, local boyars and city councilmen were buried in the cemetery. During World War II, Romanian (the majority of the graves), German and Soviet soldiers, and Soviet POWs were buried there. Soviet graves are located in one part of the cemetery, called Borisovskoe, while the 333 Romanian graves were located in the now destroyed part, called Dragalina. 319 identified Romanian and 14 unidentified soldiers, as well as 13 Soviet prisoners were buried at this cemetery.