News

 

30 December 2010

The Legal Information Centre for Human Rights has published the book “Russian Schools of Estonia. Compendium of Materials”. The book is available in both English and Russian.

The book is published in the frames of the project “Creation of conditions for preserving of education in Russian in Estonia, through implementation and application of European anti-discriminatory principles.” During the progress of the project, the experts and partners of LICHR carried out monitoring of the legislation and law-enforcement practice, some results of which are incorporated in Chapter I of this book. At the time of meetings of representatives of the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights with teachers and parents, as well as at the time of special events of training, seminars and conferences, organised by us and other organisations, there was held a group survey-questionnaire. Chapter II of this compendium is devoted to the results obtained, which are to be defined as opinions of the most active teachers and those of activists from among members of boards of guardians and student self-governments.
 

 

18 October 2010

Statement to the press by Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
Regarding the complaints of victims of the violent acts by police filed with the European Court of Human Rights

Out of tune with the facts are the recently disseminated allegations by the Estonian mass media to the effect that the European Court of Human Rights did not support the complaint of seven residents of Estonia, who claimed that during the events of April 27 – 28, 2007 in Tallinn the police unlawfully apprehended them and exercised violence with their regard.

On 14 September 2010 the European Court of Human Rights adopted a partial decision on admissibility of complaints in the case Korobov et al vs Estonia. The said case consolidated the complaints of seven victims, having suffered police violence in the course of events of April 2007.
In pursuance of its rules, the European Court of Human Rights first adopts the decision on admissibility of the complaint and only thereafter the decision on the substance of the case.
With regard to four applicants the Court did not pass the conclusive decision on admissibility. Further, the Government of the Republic of Estonia must present its observations on complaint of these victims of police violence prior to 27 January 2011. In particular, the Government must comment on accusations of the complainants on having been handled in violation of article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, specifying that no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Government has also been given a deadline to supply an answer to the accusations that the complainants were deprived of their liberty in violation of the guarantees, specified in article 5 § 1 of the Convention. The Government is to answer to the question whether the complainants had the right to compensation for unlawful detention.
European Court of Human Rights also decided that it would not consider the complaints of three victims out of seven, mainly because they could not present independent proofs on having suffered harsh treatment (for several reasons they did not refer to the physicians at due time for getting medical certificates to the effect).
The leading lawyer in this case is Dr. Bill Bowring, Professor of London University. Professor Bowring is a well-known specialist in human rights, in a number of cases having won the lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In Estonia the legal aid to victims of police violence, as well as collection of documents and materials for the ECHR has been the concern of jurists of Legal Information Centre for Human Rights.
Says Director of Legal Information Centre for Human Rights Aleksei Semjonov: In the partial decision on admissibility of the European Court of Human Rights the facts have been presented, in general, adequately. Therefore one can anticipate prompt consideration of the complaint of four applicants. Our organisation has no doubts that in the process of April 2007 events the Estonian authorities violated the human rights. The precedents in similar cases provide ample bases to hope that the Court in Strasbourg will adopt a positive decision on complaint of the victims of police violence.

 

5 August 2010

On 30 July 2010 five pensioners sent a common complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. The legal aid to them in all stages was provided by jurists of the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights. All of those five pensioners prevailed earlier in Estonian courts over the Tallinn Pension Board in cases on calculation of length of service in former union republics and in the Soviet Army. Tallinn District Court obliged the Pension Board to reconsider its decisions on assigning (recalculation of) pensions subject to interpretation delivered by court on Pension Security Agreement made between Estonia and Russia. Tallinn Pension Board refused to obligingly fulfil the court decision and fully dismissed the interpretation delivered by the court, handing down new decisions on refusal to assign (recalculate) the pensions. The appeals submitted to the courts of all three instances to obligate the pension boards to fulfil the court decisions on the substance of the case and not formally, were dismissed.   

Says Jelena Ježova, Legal Advisor of the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights: „Failure to fulfil the court decision or its merely formal fulfilment is in gross violation of the European Convention of Human Rights. Conduct of the Pension Board renders the court system of the whole state inefficient and sham, with the citizens losing any trust with regard to decisions of the state bodies“.

 

13 April 2010

In media with reference to certain State authorities there were issued misleading statements concerning the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights and its director Aleksei Semjonov. Allegations concerning the possible involvement of Aleksei Semjonov in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament – we believe them to be a moral problem of their "source". With regard to funding of the organisation, we can state the following:
 
According to the annual balance sheet provided to the Tax and Customs Board, in 2008 from international organisations and foundations the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights has received 1,746 million kroons, or 69.5% of the total annual income (including from the European Commission’s bodies – 1,135 million kroons or 45%). As for the Embassy of Russia their support amounted to only 234,000 Estonian kroons, or 9.3% of all revenues of the organization. The Legal Information Centre for Human Rights has regularly ordered an independent audit.

 

10 March 2010

Estonian national coordination of the European Network Against Racism is searching for potential authors of the shadow report “Racism and ethnic discrimination in Estonia in 2009”. The report should be drafted in high quality English. In order to apply you should send us the following:

1.    Letter of intend identifying your previous experience of writing such reports as well as your understanding of the issue and its applicability for Estonia and description of the sources of information you are going to use.
2.    Example of an abstract written by the candidate (in English), preferably on the issue of the report
3.    CV 

Potential authors will be invited to the second part of the competition during which they will be offered to write an essay on the given issue (related to the topic of the report) during the certain time and according to the given instructions.

The successful candidate will sign a contract according to which he or she will receive an honorarium after the report is written and approved.

Attention! All the documents requested should be sent in English to julia@lichr.ee by March 23, 2010.

In case of questions please address: vadim@lichr.ee (re: ENAR)
 

16 December 2009

Publication of the book “Chance to Survive: Minority Rights in Estonia and Latvia” (ed. Vadim Poleshchuk, LICHR)
The study has been ordered by the Foundation for Historical Outlook to the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (Estonia) and the Latvian Human Rights Committee. The objective of the book is to give the broadest possible description of the situations in Estonia and Latvia from the standpoint of the protection of minority rights and the prevention of discrimination. It provides basic statistical data on the living conditions of the non-Estonian and non-Latvian populations, and surveys briefly the policies of Estonia and Latvia in the sphere of ethnic relations, migration, and the prevention of discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, and religion.
The authors also presented information on the realisation of the civil and political rights of minorities (special attention is paid to their participation in political and public activities, their access to the judicial system and to certain basic civil freedoms). The positions of minorities on the labour market and in the educational systems are examined in more detail, and several other aspects of the economic, cultural, and social rights situation are also explored.  
The book reflects the situation as of the early 2008 and supplies more recent data as far as possible.
The study is available online in English and Russian.



3 December 2009

European Network against Racism (ENAR) Shadow Report 2008
Ethnic and religious minorities in Europe continue to suffer from discrimination, prejudice anddisadvantage on a daily basis in most if not all walks of life, from employment to education, from housing to policing. This is the worrying conclusion of ENAR’s 2008 Shadow Report on racism in Europe.
ENAR’s Shadow Report draws on 22 national reports prepared by ENAR members across the European Union. It identifies communities vulnerable to racism and presents an overview of manifestations of racism in a range of areas, as well as an assessment of the legal and political context. The European report and national reports are available here.