Last issue of Mare Balticum and a comment

Date: Sat, 03 Jan 98 14:50:30 -0500
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject:  Last issue of Mare Balticum and a comment

From: MINELRES moderator       \ Internet:    ([email protected])

Last issue of Mare Balticum and a comment

Mare Balticum is published by the Commissioner of Council of the Baltic Sea
States on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, including the Rights of
Persons belonging to Minorities. Its last issue (No.4, December 1997)
contains the following materials: 

- Editor's preface, by Audra Plepyte (information on WWW sites containing
information on the CBSS and the Commissioner, in particular, the CBSS
website at www.CBSS.org - BTW, available also via MINELRES WWW site, as well
as the Commissioner's WWW page coming soon at www.cbss-commissioner.org)

- The Commissioner's column: Democracy, human rights and the fight against
organised crime, by Ole Espersen

- Brief news from member states (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland
, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, as well as European
Union

- Surveys of the Commissioner (In November-December 1997, the Commissioner
completed four surveys: on the right of access to information; on the right
to freedom of association, on the working conditions of elected members of
local authorities; on rights of non-citizens, part II)

- Reform of the Finnish Constitution, by Matti Niemovuo

- Situation of children in teh Baltic states and Northwest Russia, report of
the Working group under the Nordic Council 

- New Polish Criminal Codes, prepared by the Polish Ministry of Justice 

- Abolition of the Death Penalty, by Ole Espersen 

- A new Plenipotentiary for Children in Poland, prepared by the Bureau of
the Plenipotentiary for Children

- The CBSS Commissioner's visits, conferences, exhibitions, workshops

- The CBSS Working Group on Assistance to Democratic Institutions (WGDI), by
Ilgvars Klava

- BSSSC - the 162 sub-regions, by Inge Hyldebrandt (about the 5th Annual
Conference of the Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Cooperation in Gdansk,
October 27-28)

- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

- Management Board of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and
Xenophobia 

- News from the Council of Europe (On 24 September 1997 the Parliamentary
Assembly adopted Recommendation 1345 on the protection of national
minorities; as of November 14, 1997 the number of ratifications of the
Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities reached 14 -
the Convention has been ratified also by Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany
and Italy. Thus, the Convention will enter into force on 1 February 1998)

- The Danish Center for Human Rights, by Morten Kjerum

- Minority course 1998, by John Petersen (on the training course at teh
Hojskolen Ostersoen, Aabenraa, Denmark)

- The Human Rights Centre at the University of Potsdam
----------------------------------------------------

Addition from the moderator: 

Among other news from member states, the following information from Latvia
is mentioned: 

=============
Draft Amendments to Laws 

In November 1997, the Saeima Human Rights Committee suggested to amend
several acts restricting the rights of non-citizens for employment. The
Saeima supported two of the amendments allowing non-citizens to run
pharmaceutical businesses and to work as lawyers. The draft amendments are
to be reviewed by the Saeima Committees. Still, the Saeima voted against the
amendment allowing non-citizens to work as private detectives. 
============

In fact, the Saeima (Parliament) rejected also the amedment which envisaged
suspension of the prohibition for non-citizens to work as lawyers, thus,
only one amendment was accepted for consideration in the commissions. Antons
Seiksts, chairman of the Saeima Commission on human rights, told to the
Latvian media that the commission "is not going to submit more drafts to
reduce the number of employment restrictions for non-citizens".  Mr Seiksts
believes that the Commission "lacks arguments to decide on abolition on
employment restrictions, and the Latvian National Human Rights Office also
doesn't have such arguments" (daily "SM", 29 December 1997). 

In the end of 1996, the National Human Rights Office published the
conclusion that eleven of the existing restrictions of the non-citizens'
rights did not comply with Latvia's obligations under international human
rights treaties. Since then, only one restriction has been abolished (non-
citizens are allowed now to work as firemen - except for higher-ranking
positions). 

Boris
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