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Human Rights in Estonia Human Rights HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA Foundation Estonian Human Rights Centre 2010 [email protected] HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA www.humanrights.ee Annual Report of the Estonian Human Rights Centre 2010 Annual Report of the Estonian Human Rights Centre HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 Annual Report of the Estonian Human Rights Centre HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 Annual Report of the Estonian Human Rights Centre Edited by: Kari Käsper, Marianne Meiorg Translated by: Grete Anton Thanks to: Kristin Rammus, Egert Rünne Published by: Foundation Estonian Human Rights Centre. Copyright: Authors, Foundation Estonian Human Rights Centre, 2011 Designed by: Mihkel Ronk, koosolek.ee Authors of photos (creative commons license, flickr.com): erix!, mknobil, sandman, daily sunny, M.Markus, Magic Madzik, dandeluca, Elsie esq., russelljsmith, takomabibelot, Yortw, dicktay2000, PinkMoose Printed by: Ecoprint ISSN 2228-1045 ISSN 2228-1053 Compiling and publishing of the report supported by Open Estonia Foundation and Estonian Ministry of Culture. Views expressed in the report may not represent those of the Open Estonia Foundation and the Estonian Ministry of Culture. 2 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 Table of contents Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment ....7 Epp Lumiste Prohibition of slavery and forced labour ............................................................19 Epp Lumiste Right to Personal Liberty ......................................................................................27 Eve Pilt Right to a fair trial .................................................................................................45 Marianne Meiorg, Eve Pilt Right to respect for private and family life .........................................................55 Kari Käsper, Eve Pilt Freedom of expression ..........................................................................................63 Ülle Madise Right to freedom of peaceful assembly ...............................................................71 Marianne Meiorg Prohibition of discrimination ..............................................................................83 Merle Albrant Right to Protection of Property ...........................................................................97 Marianne Meiorg Right to education ...............................................................................................101 Tanel Kerikmäe Right to free elections .........................................................................................113 Kari Käsper Integration and ethnic cohesion of the Estonian society ...............................125 Tatjana Evas LGBT situation in Estonia ..................................................................................139 Lisette Kampus Rights of refugees and asylum seekers ..............................................................151 Kristi Toodo Rights of the child................................................................................................161 Kristel Valk Civil society ..........................................................................................................177 Urmo Kübar Appendix ..............................................................................................................187 3 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 Dear reader It is a pleasure to see that more and more people are interested in human rights. We hope that this report provides help navigating the topic of human rights as well as a good overview of the importance the society has placed on human rights. The 2010 Human Rights report deals with Estonia’s development in nearly all rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. Some areas (such as right to life or right to marriage) didn’t experience mentionable changes or developments in 2010. That is also the reason why there are no chap- ters regarding these rights in this report. Developments that took place in the field of human rights in Estonia in 2010 are described, analysed, illustrated by positive and negative examples as well as crit- icised, but not only that – specific recommendations for eliminating the short- comings are also provided. Although each chapter has an author or authors, the report aims to provide a coherent overview of developments in human rights in Estonia as a whole. Drawing attention to shortcoming is certainly not the sole purpose of the report. Initiating discussions and offering solutions has a positive effect on the welfare of the entire society and helps Estonia become a state where eve- ryone can enjoy a better life. Positive phenomena are also drawn attention to – for instance, devising of development plans essential to stable progress, lively debates on funding of political parties and the topic of tolerance and equal treatment. The field of human rights in Estonia has reached a new stage of development. Government of the Republic of Estonia considers human rights increas- ingly important on an international level. Estonia is running for member- ship of the UN Human Rights Committee for the years 2012–2015 with the purpose of facilitating protection of human rights via international means. 4 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 Estonia has also been active in promoting women’s rights by entering in the UN Commission on the Status of Women and becoming a member of the Executive Board of UN Women’s Rights Agency. These examples of our state’s commendable steps on an international level could set a great exam- ple for improving the situation within the state, as insufficient attention to guaranteeing the protection of human rights could hinder society’s further development. There has been a lot of public discussion on the topic of tolerance and equal treatment recently. Tolerance as a value is acknowledged more and more and the realisation is slowly forming that the desire to preserve ethnic peculiarities does not necessarily preclude acceptance of other minorities. It all depends on how this topic is handled – whether by antagonising the ethnicities or by viewing the minorities as a human resource of equal value to the majority. We would like to thank all the authors and everybody who helped gather and pass on the necessary background information. Anybody can contribute to compiling of the next year’s human rights report – human rights cases or notifications of specific violations are welcome at the email address [email protected] all year round. Feedback and proposals regarding the 2010 Human Rights Report are also welcome at the same email address. Kari Käsper and Marianne Meiorg editors of Human Rights in Estonia 2010 5 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA 2010 6 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading 2010 treatment and punishment Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment 7 Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA treatment and punishment 2010 THE AUTHOR Epp Lumiste Epp Lumiste received her LL.M. in law at the George Washington University in 2010 (on Fulbright scholarship) and her Master’s at the International University Concordia Estonia in 2007. She worked at the legal department of the Ministry of Defence 2005– 2009, which also put her into contact with the human rights field. Epp is currently working as a tax lawyer at the Tallinn Entrepreneurship Office. RIGHTS ECHR Article 3 – Prohibition of torture }} No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 8 HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading 2010 treatment and punishment CHAPTER 1 Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment n 10 December 2009 the non-profit organisation Tallinn Crisis Centre for Women and the non-profit organisation offering support O for crime victims (Kuriteoohvrite Toetamise Ühing Ohvriabi) turned to the Estonian Government, Riigikogu and the general public, expressing the need for an efficient policy and a national plan of action for combating vio- lence against women. The European Union has provided guidelines, where violence against women is defined as: „any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.1 Thereby the definition includes physical abuse (including rape) as well as vio- lence occurring within the family (physical and psychological). The latter is less visible as a rule and also more difficult to detect. 1} Council of the European Union (2009) EU guidelines on violence against women and girls and com- bating all forms of discrimination against them. Available at: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/ cmsUpload/16173cor.en08.pdf 9 Prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading HUMAN RIGHTS IN ESTONIA treatment and punishment 2010 The topic of violence against women did not attract as much attention in 2010 as it should have, nonetheless, a lot of work has been done. At its April 1st, 2010 session the Estonian Government issued the order no 117 that approved the “Development Plan for reducing violence for years 2010–2014”2. The development plan was the basis for forming the analysis of the applica- tion of restraining orders and the analysis of application of the conciliation procedure. In addition to the aforementioned, the members of Riigikogu interpellated the Minister of Justice on June 17th, 2010 about the
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