LATVIA1 195

IHF FOCUS: Judicial system and domestic safeguards; ill-treatment and misconduct by law enforcement officials; conditions in prisons and detention facilities; consci- entious objection; protection of ethnic minorities; citizenship, intolerance, xenopho- bia, racial discrimination and hate speech; protection of asylum seekers; interna- tional humanitarian law; women’s rights; rights of the child; rights of the mentally ill; patient’s rights.

The primary human rights problems in The delays were caused partly by in 2000 were closely related to se- chronic under-funding, leading to a short- vere backlogs in the court system and long age of personnel and lack of premises. The pre-trial detention periods, especially for District Court employs 36 percent of minors. In 2000 Latvia also witnessed the all district judges who have to review 56.8 mobilisation of small groups of Latvian and percent of all cases submitted to district Russian racist extremists, but law enforce- courts. Towards the end of the year, the ment agencies responded vigorously. Ministry of Justice increased the number of The core positive developments in judges by eight, including three for the Riga 2000 were in the legislative arena. Parlia- District Court. Another reason for the delays ment liberalised the Law on the Constitu- was the absence of legal norms in criminal tional Court to allow individuals to com- procedures setting time limits for the re- plain to Latvia’s most progressive but un- view of cases. In 2000, the authorities once der-utilised judicial body. After considerable again failed to adopt a new Criminal controversy, the Cabinet also adopted im- Procedure Code, the drafting of which had plementing regulations to the 1999 Law on begun in late 1990. the State Language, which are essentially in In a positive development in 2000, for conformity with Latvia’s international obli- the first time since the restoration of inde- gations. pendence, the Ministry of Justice budgeted significant funds (Lats 40,000 or U.S.$ Judicial System and Domestic 67,000) for the training of judges. Previous- Safeguards ly, international donors had funded almost all judicial training. Severe backlogs in the court system On 30 November, the Saeima (Parlia- threatened the right to fair and speedy trial ment) adopted progressive amendments in Latvia. For example, in February, the to the Law on the Constitutional Court to Prison Administration sent a letter inform- broaden the scope of those eligible to sub- ing the Department of Courts of the mit applications. Until the changes, eligible Ministry of Justice that there were 607 per- applicants included the President, no less sons in prison who have been awaiting a than 20 parliamentary deputies, the Cabi- court sentence since 1997. By early March net of Ministers, the plenum of the High the Department of Courts of the Ministry of Court, the Council of the State Control, the Justice had received 174 complaints con- National Human Rights Office and city cerning the work of judges, half of which councils. From its creation in mid-1997 to involved lengthy delays in reviewing cases mid-2000, the Constitutional Court recei- in the Riga District Court. By the autumn, ved only 44 applications. The new amend- judges in this court had been forced to ments permit private individuals to submit schedule hearings for 2002 and even complaints in cases of violations of their ba- 2003. 1,371 civil cases submitted in 2000 sic rights. However, private individuals will were not reviewed during the year because only be able to complain about a legal of the backlog, of which 1,270 were in the norm, and not about the unconstitutionali- Riga District Court. ty of a court verdict or act of public author- 196 LATVIA ities. The Constitutional Court will have the Police violence and misconduct contin- power to determine the constitutionality of ued to evoke concern in 2000, as did the the norm in question or to recognise it as punishments levied on errant officers, not being in force, but the plaintiff will have which were often mild, if they were levied to turn to a regular court again to seek re- at all. dress when an unconstitutional norm has On 2 February a youth turned to the been applied. Lower courts will also be 21st Riga police office with a request for as- able to submit applications in cases where sistance in retrieving two stolen Lats. His they believe that the legal provision to be claims of police abuse were corroborated applied in the case pending does not com- by physicians, who found physical signs of ply with a legal norm of higher force. ill-treatment. A criminal investigation ended inconclusively, though the victim expressed Torture, Ill-Treatment and Misconduct an intent to appeal. by Law Enforcement Officials At the beginning of the year, the On 8 November, the Kurzeme Interior Ministry released data on discipli- Regional Court found two former Liepaja nary measures taken against Ministry staff Municipal police inspectors, Aigars Prusis in 1999. The total figure of those punished and Janis Fugalis, guilty of beating and hu- was close to 4000 - a 5 percent increase miliating three minors. However, the Court from 1998. In 1999, 60 Interior Ministry handed down very mild punishments: two- personnel were detained or imprisoned for year suspended sentences. committing criminal acts, of which 28 cas- A number of instances of misconduct es involved accepting bribes. Interior were reported in the Ogre Municipal Police, Minister Mareks Seglins urged harsher suggesting a pattern of problems. penalties for errant police officers, noting that “there were 102 cases in which police In January, three police officers were staff were driving an automobile under the arrested by the Office for Combatting influence of alcohol, but only 40 lost their Organised Crime and Corruption (ONKAB) jobs: this situation undermines the prestige after they were found to have attempted to of the police.” illegally fine an inhabitant, to have issued At the beginning of the year, the invalid receipts for fines and to have been General Prosecutor’s Office conducted a “careless” about disposing confiscated con- review of criminal cases completed in the traband liquor. final quarter of 1999. A review of registered In the summer, ONKAB submitted evi- criminal acts in 11 Latvian districts found dence to the Ogre Prosecutor’s Office 32 cases in which the local prosecutor or about three other Ogre Municipal Police of- police official had unjustifiably refused to ficers. ONKAB charged them with arresting initiate criminal proceedings. For the period two persons in February, driving them sev- in question, a total of 9,845 criminal acts en kilometres from Ogre into the woods, were registered, but authorities decided not partially stripping them, and leaving them to initiate criminal proceedings in 44 per- in -5 degrees temperature. However, the cent of all cases. The Riga court district Court returned the case to the prosecutor discovered several cases involv- Prosecutor’s Office for additional investiga- ing the sexual exploitation of children that police had unjustifiably failed to pursue. tion and, by year’s end, the case had not While declining to specify the number of yet been reviewed. such cases, Chief Prosecutor for the district, In a number of cases, police officers Janis Drobisevskis, noted that the cases in were found to have driven into and seri- question were being investigated. ously injured civilians. LATVIA 197

On 30 October, a Cesis Traffic police regime for those who had already been officer was found to have driven into and sentenced by the courts but were appeal- seriously injured a 50-year-old man and left ing the decision. These prisoners continued the scene of the accident. While the officer to remain in cells for 23 hours a day and in question lost his job, the Cesis region most were denied contact with the outside Traffic Police Chief acknowledged that four world, despite the fact that many of them of 12 inspectors in his region had commit- remained in remand prisons for up to two ted serious crimes in 2000. years. In early October, ten prisoners in In early autumn the leadership of the Matisa Prison went on a hunger strike de- Latvian Prison Administration fired four manding a more rapid review of their cas- prison guards who had beaten up prisoners es in courts. in the Central Prison. The guards appealed The widespread incidence of tubercu- losis and HIV among prison inmates re- the decision in court and a hearing was mained a cause for concern. Throughout scheduled for early spring 2001. 2000, a total of 474 persons in prison were On 13 December, the Cabinet of found to have active tuberculosis, a 60 per- Ministers adopted a decision to make pub- son increase compared with 1999. lic the report by the European Committee However, a total of 187 first-time patients for the Prevention of Torture on Latvia’s were diagnosed, 51 percent of whom be- closed institutions. On 20 December, the came ill in prison. At the end of the year, Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers 197 inmates had HIV, though the tally for also approved Latvia’s nominee to the the year as a whole was 290. Committee – Angelita Kamenska of the Conditions in Latvia’s 28 short-term Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic police detention centres (izolators) also Studies (IHF member). gave cause for concern. In a meeting with National Human Rights Office Director Conditions in Prisons and Detention Olafs Bruvers on 1 November, State Police Facilities Chief Juris Reksna acknowledged that sev- The large number of prisoners, the eral of the detention centres would have to high-percentage of remand prisoners and be closed because there was no funding their conditions, and the incidence of dis- for repairs. The Prosecutor’s Office has al- ease in prisons remained serious prob- ready warned the Dobele police that their lems, as did the fact that seven of Latvia’s detention centre would have to be shut 15 prisons continued to be guarded by down unless it were to be repaired. The army conscripts at year’s end. At the end of State Police acknowledged that detention 2000, the total number of prisoners was centres in Ventspils, Balvi, Daugavpils, 8,831, an increase of only 16 persons Liepaja and Jelgava were in critical condi- compared to 1999. However, the overall tion as well. As of the end of 2000, the po- incarceration rate rose from 354 to 373 per lice had not received 1.2 million Lats (U.S.$ 100,000. The growing number of persons 1,967,000) requested for repairs over the in pre-trial detention continued to evoke previous two years. concern. Of the total prison population, 43.7 percent were awaiting trial. Of partic- Conscientious Objection ular concern was the large number of mi- Throughout 2000 several cases of con- nors in pre-trial detention.2 Of the total 327 scientious objection, involving Jehovah’s minors in prison at the end of the year, 59 Witnesses, continued against the State percent were in pre-trial detention. Military Conscription Centre. Three cases Latvia’s legislation on remand prison- were resolved, as the plaintiffs became or- ers did not envisage any easing of the dained clergymen (who are exempt from 198 LATVIA military service) and the Conscription taries and sworn advocates. One profes- Centre freed them. Three other cases were sion on the list is difficult to justify as falling pending at the end of the year, including within a legitimate public interest though: the appeal of Robert Nemiro, which was taxi drivers. How the regulations are imple- scheduled for February 2001. After a suc- mented will be critical from a human rights cessful lobbying effort on the part of the perspective. Legal challenges to the justifia- NGO Centre, the Defence Ministry created bility of various provisions are likely and an inter-ministerial working group in should pose an important test for the State September 2000 to draft a law on alterna- Language Centre, which has previously tive service by summer 2001. demonstrated considerable vigour in pun- ishing violators of language legislation in Protection of Ethnic Minorities the private sector. On 22 August, the Cabinet of Ministers In the state sector, numerous problems adopted a packet of eleven implementing were made apparent in the implementa- regulations under the State Language Law tion of the provision that state and munici- passed in December 1999. The regulations pal institutions may receive documents are critical as they elaborate in detail the cir- only in Latvian or with a notarised transla- cumstances under which the Government tion. For example, the courts, the can regulate language use in society, there- Department of Citizenship and Migration by infringing the rights of persons belonging Affairs and other official bodies systemati- to minorities to use their own languages, the cally returned correspondence to prisoners right to private life and freedom of expres- who had written letters in Russian. Around sion. The regulations cover issues such as 2/3 of Latvia’s prison population is the circumstances under which translation Russian-speaking and the State does not into Latvian must be provided at confer- provide free language training or translation ences and demonstrations, when private or- services. Thus, in the Central Prison, prison- ganisations are required to provide informa- ers sent around 12,000 petitions, com- tion in Latvian alongside other languages on plaints and requests in 2000 - only 1/3 of publicly displayed signs, and the Latvian lan- which were in Latvian. The Riga City au- guage requirements for various posts in the thorities warned the Riga Children’s Rights public sector. In a press statement issued on Protection Centre about accepting docu- 31 August, OSCE High Commissioner on ments in Russian. By refusing to accept National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, stat- such communications, the authorities may ed that the regulations were “essentially in violate Article 104 of the Constitution, conformity with both the law and Latvia’s in- which guarantees the right of each individ- ternational obligations” and that “virtually all ual to address state and municipal institu- of my recommendations were accepted by tions and receive a reply. A solution has the Government.” been found in Daugavpils, where the City In amendments to the regulations Council hired a full-time translator to assist passed by the Cabinet of Ministers on 21 members of the public in preparing docu- November, the Government listed those ments in Latvian. professions in the private sector subject to The year 2000 saw little progress to- regulation. The list is brief wards the implementation of the social in- and contains 34 categories, almost all of tegration policy framework, which lays out which can be termed as falling within a le- the goals and means for minority policy in gitimate public interest (public health, pub- realms such as civic participation, educa- lic safety, public order). The list includes tion and culture. By the year’s end, the various health care professions, guards and Government had not yet adopted the security-related professions, as well as no- National Programme for the Integration of LATVIA 199

Society. After numerous delays caused by as an NGO in late October and works pri- political infighting at the highest levels, on marily with youth on integration projects. 29 December the inter-sectoral manage- On 11 May, the Saeima rejected a ment group submitted the final draft pro- draft bill to ratify the Council of Europe’s gramme to the Ministry of Justice, which Framework Convention for the Protection will be responsible for presenting it to the of National Minorities, which Latvia signed Cabinet for approval in early 2001. in 1995. Only 15 deputies voted for ratifi- There was some progress towards cre- cation, 21 were against and 52 abstained. ating implementing institutions and allocat- While deputies mentioned a number of ing funding. On 14 November, the Cabinet technical obstacles, the real obstacle was decided to allocate 16,239 lats (U.S.$ the incompatibility of a number of legisla- 26,500) from the 2001 budget to create a tive norms, particularly in the realm of lan- three-person Integration Department with- guage policy.3 in the Ministry of Justice to oversee imple- mentation of the programme. On 14 Citizenship November, the Cabinet also referred a draft On 1 July, there were 568,195 state- law to Parliament on the creation of a less “non-citizens” in Latvia, or 23.9 percent Social Integration Fund through which gov- of the total registered population. Despite ernment and donor money is to be chan- liberal amendments to the Law on Citizen- nelled to support integration-related proj- ship passed after a referendum in October ects. At the year’s end, the draft law was 1998, the naturalisation rate for non-citi- being debated in parliamentary commis- zens remained quite low in 2000. While sions, where it was criticised for being in- the number of persons granted citizenship compatible with the forthcoming law on through naturalisation increased from state agencies. Despite the uncertain fate 12,427 in 1999 to 14,900 in 2000, the of the draft law, on 14 November the higher figure merely reflected the time lag Cabinet also decided to reserve 200,000 from the point of application to being grant- lats (U.S.$ 325,000) from the 2001 discre- ed citizenship. The total number of appli- tionary budget of the Ministry of Finance for cants actually fell from 15,183 in 1999 to the Fund. It is unlikely that this sum will ac- 10,692 in 2000. Experts attributed the leap tually be allocated from this budget line in in 1999 to the backlog of ready applicants 2001, as it represents the lion’s share of who had previously been kept from natu- the discretionary budget. In November, the ralisation by the age brackets or “window Minister of Justice also created an advisory system” abolished in late 1998. council on social integration issues which The abolition of the visa-free regime met several times to discuss the draft pro- for travel to Russia by Latvia’s “non-citizens” gramme, the draft law on the Integration as of 1 January 2001 will remove one of Fund, and the work of the new Integration Department. the few advantages enjoyed by non-citi- In April, the city of Ventspils adopted its zens and will probably facilitate the adop- own integration programme and created a tion of Russian Federation or Latvian citi- non-citizen’s advisory council, whose mem- zenship. bers actively participated in the work of the city council during the remainder of the Intolerance, Xenophobia, Racial year. The Liepaja city government estab- Discrimination and Hate Speech lished an “integration promotion working Throughout 2000 Latvia witnessed in- group” in 1999, which prepared a draft city creased activity by both Latvian and Rus- integration programme. The Aizkraukle sian racist extremists and a more energetic Social Integration Council registered itself response by law enforcement agencies. 200 LATVIA

On 29 May, the Riga District Court lation of an American anti-Semitic satirical handed down a verdict in the trial of nine cartoon book called Tales of the Holohoax. members of a neo-Nazi group called The newsletters are filled with adulation of Perkonkrusts (Thundercross). They were the inter-war Latvian Thundercross organi- found guilty of attempting to blow up the sation and Nazi Germany, as well as vio- Victory Monument on three occasions, lently racist and anti-Semitic articles com- blowing up a hot water main, assault, incit- menting on “Jew imperialism,” the “Holo- ing national hatred and other crimes. Two caust myth,” the anti-Semitic staple the members of the group received three-year “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and so prison sentences and three others were re- forth. On 28 September, Liepaja authorities leased in the courtroom, as they had al- filed criminal charges against the publisher ready served the 1 to 2.5 years to which of Patriots Guntars Landmanis for inciting the court sentenced them. Four other national hatred. members, including the group’s elderly ide- In January the Latvian Regional ologue Vilis Linins and two minors, were Organisation of Russian National Unity, a given suspended sentences. The founder neo-Nazi group modelled on a similar and head of the group, Juris Recs, faced a group in Russia, published the first issue of separate trial, as he had successfully evad- an underground newsletter entitled Za ed the authorities until early May, when he Russky Poryadok (For a Russian Order). In was detained. In late December, the Riga an article entitled “To Whom Do the Baltics Zemgale District Court found Recs guilty on Belong” the author asserts that in 1940 six counts (including inciting national ha- “our fathers once again returned here and tred) and convicted him to three years in only took back what has always belonged prison. The Court also imposed a consider- to Russia by right”. Other articles refer to able civil penalty, requiring the defendants the influence of “Zionist capital” on the to pay the Riga City Council large sums for Latvian media. On 12 May, Evgeny Osipov, the cost of repairing the monument and to the leader of the organisation, was fined the company Riga Heat for the damaged 100 lats (U.S.$ 166) by the Liepaja Court hot water main. At the end of the year, the for breaking regulations governing the reg- first nine Perkonkrusts members had sub- istration of social organisations. mitted an appeal to the High Court and a On 14 April, the authorities permitted decision was expected in early 2001. official registration of the social organisation Throughout the investigation and trials, the Victory Society (in Russian: Obshchestvo right-wing weekly Latvietis Latvija published pobedy, in Latvian Sabiedriba uzvara), a appeals to donate money to help Perkon- front for the National Bolshevik Party krusts members, whom the paper called (NBP), a self-styled “revolutionary Russian “patriots of the Latvian people” and “politi- nationalistic party” modelled on a similar cal dissidents.” The fringe paper, which is party in Russia. After registration, the group sold freely in kiosks throughout the capital, began to issue a newspaper Tribunal, regularly features racist and anti-Semitic ar- which has printed a number of articles glo- ticles. The publishers also have a home rifying violence. It has stated, for example, page4, which has a link to the Holocaust that the telecommunications monopoly denial site created by Ernst Zundel in the should be bombed, and derided the so- United States. called “Holocaust business.” In August, the The existence of a Latvian neo-Nazi authorities launched criminal proceedings youth group in Liepaja came to light in against Tribunal editor Vladimir Linderman 2000. In late 1999 and early 2000 the and publisher Olga Morozova for propa- group published three issues of a newslet- gandising violence and inciting national ha- ter called Patriot as well as a Latvian trans- tred. In early September the Riga Centre LATVIA 201

District Court gave NBP activist Aijo Benes bling a Nazi-era caricature: a bearded, a two-year suspended sentence for hooli- hook-nosed figure embracing a globe. ganism after he was caught writing “Kill While the article ostensibly sought to de- [former Prime Minister Andris] Skele! NBP” scribe the contribution of Jews to econom- on a wall in Riga. ic and cultural life, it also contained “histor- On 14 November, four NBP activists ical material,” including a rendering of the from Russia entered Latvia illegally by Holocaust in which much of the blame is jumping off the St. Petersburg-Kaliningrad attributed to Jews themselves. The article train. Though they were apprehended with- evoked strong condemnation by the Latvi- in 24 hours, on 17 November another an authorities and the mainstream media, three NBP activists from Russia barricaded prompting the publishers to fire the maga- themselves in St. Peter’s Church in Old Riga zine’s editor. The Prosecutor’s Office began and threatened to blow themselves up with an investigation into whether the article vi- a hand grenade unless their political de- olated Latvian legislation prohibiting incite- mands were met. After several hours, they ment, but no conclusion had been reached gave themselves up to the Latvian authori- by the year’s end. ties. They faced criminal charges of terror- A sociological survey commissioned by ism. A local NBP activist, Vladimir Moskov- the National Human Rights Office in tsev, was also detained and charged with January sheds interesting light on public abetting illegal border crossing. perceptions of human rights violations and On 4 June, the main television news discrimination. A total of 24 percent of all programme “Panorama” aired a news story respondents (18 percent of all Latvians, 31 about a woman who had swindled jewels percent of all non-Latvians) claimed to and a substantial sum of money from a have experienced discrimination in the last young girl, who then attempted to commit three years. The two most commonly men- suicide. The perpetrator was alleged to have tioned realms were labour relations and so- been of Roma origin. The journalist con- cial services (47 percent and 24 percent of cluded the piece by drawing the “lesson” all who claimed discrimination respective- that “it is best not to look in the eyes of ly). When asked why their rights had been Roma” as they have hypnotic powers. Fur- violated, respondents noted ethnicity and ther, a police officer appealed to all Roma in language most frequently. Such was the Latvia to assist in recovering the jewels. The case for most non-citizens and non- Roma National Cultural Society and Parlia- Latvians. mentary Commission on Human Rights and Social Affairs protested against the program- Protection of Asylum Seekers me as contributing to negative stereotypes For the first time, a resident of Latvia against Roma. The head of the news division who had received refugee status in a State at Latvian TV apologised to Roma for the party to the 1951 UN Convention attempt- broadcast and expressed the intention of de- ed to return to Latvia to resume his resi- voting some special programmes reflecting dence. Andrejs Vesnins, a former resident Roma culture and traditions. of Latvia, had received refugee status in In August, the mainstream financial Russia on 4 January 1995. In July 1999, magazine Kapitals featured an anti-Semitic Vesnins returned to Latvia with a visa and in cover story entitled “Jews Rule the World.” August attempted to obtain a residency The term used throughout the article for permit. The Citizenship and Migration Jew was “Zhids,” which was the Jewish self- Affairs Board refused his request, requiring designation before World War II, but is now that Vesnins appear in its office to annul his considered insulting by the Jewish commu- Population Register stamp in his passport nity. The cover featured a drawing resem- (the basis for annulment: “emigrated”). In 202 LATVIA

September, Vesnins received a departure Partisan leader accused of war crimes dur- order. On 4 October, he submitted a re- ing World War II, and referred the case quest to the Refugee Affairs Centre but was back to prosecutors for supplementary in- rejected as “manifestly unfounded,” declar- vestigation. Kononov had been accused of ing that the decision was final and not sub- participating in an attack on Mazie Bati vil- ject to appeal. Between 13 October 1999 lage in which nine people, including a and mid-2000, Vesnins was detained and pregnant woman, were killed in 1944. In placed in the Gaizina St. Illegal Immigrant January, a lower court found Kononov Temporary Detention Centre. guilty and sentenced him to six years in On 18 April, a first instance court re- prison. Soviet authorities had decorated viewed and rejected Vesnins’ complaint, Kononov for his actions and Russia cham- noting that the plaintiff’s return to Latvia is pioned his cause throughout the legal pro- regulated by Latvian legislation, not the UN ceedings, accusing Latvian authorities of conventions and international law invoked punishing him for being an anti-fascist. The by the plaintiff. It should be recalled, how- testimony of both Kononov and witnesses ever, that Latvia ratified the 1951 UN was full of contradictions, and questions Convention and the 1967 Protocol on arose about whether all the victims could refugee status on 19 June 1997. The plain- be considered non-combatants. In justify- tiff’s appeal to the Riga District Court was ing its decision, the High Court pointed to scheduled to be reviewed in December a number of procedural violations in the 2001, but he was deported back to Russia pre-trial phase and in the first instance tri- in late 2000. al. After his release Kononov adopted On 15 December, the Immigration Russian citizenship. The case is likely to re- Police deported two persons to Russia who turn to court in 2001. had deserted the Russian Army, requested Throughout 2000, the Government asylum in Latvia and were awaiting the out- took a number of steps to bring alleged come of an appeal. The deportation was World War II Nazi war criminals to justice as unlawful, as Article 20 of the Law “On well. In February and September, the Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Latvian Government hosted meetings of Republic of Latvia” states that a person war crimes investigators from Australia, shall be considered an asylum seeker dur- Canada, Britain, Germany, Israel and the ing the review of an appeal. United States. At the meetings, participants In July, a new NGO called “the Latvian compared evidence against Konrads Kalejs, Association of Foreigners” was created with an 87-year-old Australian citizen who had the goal of assisting and advising foreign- been a commanding officer with the noto- ers, refugees and asylum seekers in Latvia. rious Arajs Kommando in Nazi-occupied One of the founders was Haisam Abu Latvia, and other possible targets of investi- Abda, one of only seven persons to have gation. In March, the General Prosecutor’s received refugee status in Latvia. The or- Office initiated criminal investigations ganisation seeks to assist in family reunifi- against both Kalejs and Karlis Ozols, anoth- cation, promote integration into society and er member of the Arajs Kommando now facilitate the movement of refugees be- residing in Australia. In December, the tween the three Baltic States. Latvian General Prosecutor requested that Australia extradite Kalejs to Latvia to stand International Humanitarian Law trial on war crimes charges. In late Past Abuses December, the Australian media reported In a controversial case, the Latvian that Kalejs intended to fight the extradition High Court decided in late April to release order in court and that the appeals process from custody Vasily Kononov, a former Red could last up to two years. LATVIA 203

Women’s Rights According to data from the Immigra- In the realm of women’s rights, the tion Police, over the year a total of 273 wo- most important developments were the men were deported to Latvia, including drafting of new policy documents and leg- 118 from Germany, 53 from Great Britain, islation and the initiation of anti-discrimina- 22 from Denmark, and 21 from Switzer- tion litigation. At the end of 2000 the land. The real number of women going ab- Ministry of Welfare commissioned the road each month for illicit purposes was es- drafting of a Framework Document for the timated to be in the hundreds. Promotion of Gender Equality, which Latvia lacked legislation on reproduc- should be submitted to the Cabinet in ear- tive and sexual health. For example, the le- ly 2001. The document analyses the cur- gal basis for abortion was governed not by rent situation, the costs of inaction, and law, but merely by a Welfare Ministry Order suggests policy measures and institutional No. 77 of 1993. On 19 October 2000, the innovations. Parliament reviewed the first reading of a On 19 May 2000, the Parliament new draft law on sexual and reproductive adopted several amendments to the health. The draft law delineates two types Criminal Code that criminalise trafficking in of abortions: a “medical abortion,” per- human beings in connection with sexual formed for medical and social indications, exploitation. Article 165(2) defines traffick- and an abortion performed upon a wo- ing/sending to a different country as any man’s request. The draft law also includes activity that facilitates legal or illegal depar- regulations for artificial fertilisation and the ture from the country or entry into the legal status of the child. The current version country, transit or stay in a foreign country. of the draft law defines a heterosexual cou- The amendments came into force on 1 ple or woman as the subject being the po- June. Article 165(1) foresees the depriva- tential subject of artificial fertilisation, al- tion of liberty for up to four years in cases though another article says that “potential of sending a person with his/her consent parents are a heterosexual couple.” Thus, it to a foreign country for the purpose of sex- remained unclear whether the rights of les- ual exploitation. If the same activities are bians and single women will be respected. committed for the purpose of commercial A questionable provision holds that if a pa- sexual exploitation, the punishment may be tient who has not yet reached the age of up to ten years imprisonment, with possi- 18 wishes to terminate a pregnancy and ble confiscation of property. If these activi- there is parental disagreement, the Custo- ties are committed by an organised group dy Court has the final word. or against a minor, the punishment may be In February, for the first time in Latvian eight to fifteen years imprisonment, with legal history, a female employee won a the confiscation of property. Subsequently, court case against an employer for gender the first criminal case of trafficking was ini- discrimination. However, on 19 May, the tiated. employer successfully appealed the deci- In March 2000, the Parliament decided sion of the Rezekne Court in the Latgale to renew the Vice Squad, which is respon- Regional Court. sible for investigating crimes linked to in- Dagmara Abramova, an employee of a volving people in involuntary prostitution, printing company called Latgales Druka, trafficking in human beings, pandering and had her labour contract amended in 1999. child pornography. While the Parliament ini- As a result, she was prohibited from fulfill- tially planned to allocate funding for 21 po- ing seven duties that she had been able to lice officers as of July, a budget shortfall fulfil previously and her wage was five postponed implementation until January times less than that of her male colleagues. 2001. The first instance court in Rezekne recog- 204 LATVIA nised the labour contract as invalid and re- letter noted that “the date of the appeal quired the employer to pay 2,791 lats hearing will be announced to you in a time- (U.S.$ 4,715) compensation for wages not ly manner.” received for 12 months. In its verdict, the According to data from the Prison Ad- court referred to the Convention on the ministration, six minors in Brasas attempted Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination suicide in 2000, two of which resulted in Against Women, which Latvia has ratified. death. Prison officials pointed to long pre- After the Latgale District Court overruled trial detention periods as the main cause of the initial decision, the plaintiff expressed suicide. Two-thirds of all minors on remand the intention of appealing to the High Court were prohibited from writing to or meeting and, if necessary, to the European Court of with their relatives. Moreover, overcrowding Human Rights. was a serious problem. In late autumn, 170 adult prisoners on remand were transferred Rights of the Child to Brasa Prison from Central Prison. As a Long pre-trial detention of minors re- result, juvenile remand prisoners who were mained a serious human rights concern in previously placed in 32 cells were now 2000. At the end of the year, 327 minors placed in 21 cells. In several cells the num- were in Latvia’s prisons, 53 percent of ber of juvenile prisoners has increased to whom were in pre-trial detention. 12, thereby leading to more frequent con- flicts among prisoners. At the end of the year, Brasas Remand A regulation from 1994 “On the Proce- Prison had 182 minors, 67 of whom had dure for Keeping Suspected, Imprisoned been in detention for up to six months, 44 and Convicted Persons in Interior Ministry for six months to a year, 45 from 1-2 years, Remand Prisons” remained in force, and and 26 for more than two years. This was did not envisage any state-funded educa- in stark violation of Article 37, Paragraph (b) tional activities or social rehabilitation pro- of the Convention on the Rights of the grammes for minors on remand. However, Child, which states that “the arrest, deten- Article 3 of the Law on Education guaran- tion or imprisonment of a child […] shall teed every resident of Latvia “equal oppor- be used only as a measure of last resort tunities to acquire education” and Article 4 and for the shortest appropriate period of stated that “the acquisition of primary edu- time”. cation […] until the attainment of 18 years On 9 March, the Parliament amended of age is obligatory.” There were only two the Children’s Rights Protection Law to re- prison officials working gainfully with the quire the Justice Ministry to “ensure that 180 minors on remand. The lack of con- the work of the courts is organised such structive activity and the harsh restrictions that cases linked to the defence of chil- on contacts with the outside world cannot dren’s rights or interests are reviewed on a be justified for minors and those on re- priority basis.” However, the amendments mand for lengthy periods. do not set a time limit by which cases in- An amendment to the Children’s Rights volving minors must come to trial or ap- Protection Law adopted on 9 March pro- peals must be reviewed, which is one of vides that, until new adoption regulations the main reasons for lengthy periods in re- enter into force, “a child may be adopted mand prisons. abroad if that country is bound by an inter- In a letter to a minor “X” on remand national convention envisaging the protec- whose case was first tried in December tion of children’s rights and co-operation in 1998 and who inquired about the date of inter-state adoption, or if Latvia has signed a his appeal, the Riga District Court wrote in bilateral treaty with the country on legal co- May 2000 that no date had been set. The operation in the field of adoption.” On 16 LATVIA 205

March, the Saeima ratified the European ence to lay out guidelines and priorities in Convention on the Adoption of Children, al- mental health care. It is included in the though by the year’s end the Parliament National Programme for Integration into had yet to amend the Civil Law to bring it the European Union, as the European into conformity with the Convention. Commission’s Progress Report on Latvia In April, with the entry into force of had indicated problems in Latvia’s mental amendments to the Children’s Rights Pro- health care system. tection Law, a new procedure governing The strategy calls for supporting the in- children’s travel across national borders was tegration into society of mental patients as introduced. In order to leave the country, close to their place of residence as possi- children were required to possess a no- ble, a reduction in the number of beds in tarised authorisation from their parents or mental hospitals, and the creation of multi- guardians. If one parent was not reachable, disciplinary teams to develop rehabilitation the authorisation had to be obtained from services, such as supported employment an Orphan’s Court. However, at the border, centres and halfway houses. It also lists a authorisations were also demanded from large number of priority target groups: pa- children whose parents had divorced or one tients with severe mental disabilities, crimi- of whose parents was either dead or un- nals with mental disabilities, children and known. These demands restricted children’s juveniles, young patients with schizophre- freedom of movement and created severe nia, patients who are both mentally ill and problems at border crossings until the new drug dependent, and geriatric patients with procedure was suspended in mid-May. mental illnesses. By the end of the year, a wide public The first litigation concerning patients’ debate on conditions in Latvia’s child-care rights in psychiatry was initiated at the be- homes erupted after the NGO “Save the ginning of the year. The complaint involved Children” publicised allegations of abuse in a patient’s access to his medical records several homes. and the right to information about diagno- After a review and investigation, the sis and treatment, which the plaintiff had Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges of tried to obtain for 20 years with the aim of violence and cruelty against three employ- submitting it to an independent review ees (including the director) of the body. In 1967, Alberts Sirmulis was diag- Aleksandrova special school in the Kraslava nosed with schizophrenia and attempted to district. Another case involved a home in appeal this decision several times. Liepaja, where “Save the Children” alleged However, all the mental health institutions that the elder children sexually abused involved – the Strencu, Jelgava, and Riga younger ones and violence was common. mental hospitals, as well as the State However, local education authorities clai- Psychiatric Centre, refused to grant the for- med that the démarche by “Save the Chil- mer patient a copy of his medical records. dren” had disturbed the children and har- With the assistance of the Legal Clinic med an ongoing criminal investigation. at the University of Latvia, a complaint was filed in March against the Ministry of Rights of the Mentally Ill Welfare, which oversees mental hospitals. On 21 July 2000, the Welfare Ministry The plaintiff invoked the law “On Medical approved a Psychiatric Assistance Strategy Treatment,” the law “On Access to Infor- for the period 2000-2003, although no mation,” and provisions guaranteeing the funding has been allocated to implement right to private life in the Constitution and the strategy. This is the first policy docu- the European Convention on Human ment since the restoration of independ- Rights. On 28 September, the 206 LATVIA

District Court reviewed the case and found had had a back operation in 1997, was ren- no wrongdoing on the part of the Ministry. dered disabled. In 1999, MADEKKI asked Sirmulis filed an appeal to the Riga Regio- that the surgeon in question, Egils Strauss, nal Court on 31 October. be stripped of his license, but the Physicians Society refused. Filipsons sued Patients’ Rights the surgeon, but on 17 January 2000, the The funding crisis in health care, as Riga Regional Court denied his request for well as the deaths of a number of patients compensation. This was the first case in due to error on the part of medical person- which the compensation demanded was nel, drew attention to serious problems in sizeable (45,983 ls or U.S.$75,000), a fac- the area of patients’ rights in Latvia. Patients tor that evoked considerable debate about may turn to the Welfare Ministry’s Medical the need for reforming health insurance Care and Work Ability Expertise Quality and introducing malpractice insurance. At Control Inspection (MADEKKI), which can the end of the year, Filipsons appealed his levy fines on medical staff of up to 150 lats case to the High Court, which is set to re- (U.S.$245) or request the Latvian Physici- view the case in early 2001. ans Society to annul a license. In 2000, In 2000, the health care system was MADEKKI received 256 complaints, 25 of hit with a serious funding crisis. The which were linked to the death of patients. Oncology Centre appealed to the public for Patients may also defend their rights in assistance in June, as the State had not al- court, but trials tend to be lengthy and ex- located the necessary funding to replace pensive. In a case that continued through- essential equipment. In the autumn, a lack out 2000 and prompted widespread pub- of funding also led several hospitals to re- lic debate, a patient named Filipsons, who fuse admittance to patients.

Endnotes 1 As reported in Human Rights in Latvia in 2000, by Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies (Nils Muiznieks, Angelita Kamenska, Ieva Leimane, Sandra Garsvane). 2 See also the Rights of the Child. 3 Turkey and Latvia are the last remaining EU-candidate countries that have not ratified the Framework Convention.. 4 www.home.parks.lv/latvietis