"Mare Balticum" - No.3, August 1997

Date: Mon, 15 Sep 97 10:03:09 -0500
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: "Mare Balticum" - No.3, August 1997

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

"Mare Balticum" - No.3, August 1997 

"Mare Balticum" is published by the Commissioner of the Council of the
Baltic Sea States on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, including the
Rights of Persons belonging to Minorities. The content of the issue No.3,
August 1997: 

- Editor's Preface, by Lars P.Poulsen-Hansen, Assistant to the Commissioner 
("...the Ministerial Council at its meeting in Riga in July 1997 agreed that
the work of the Commissioner must be continued, reappointing Professor Ole
Espersen in this position for three years...") 

- The  Commissioner's Column, by Ole Espersen ("At the meeting (i.e. of the
ministerial session in Riga - B.) I presented the annual report of my
activities... Although there are good reason to be content with the results
achieved so far, there is still much work to be done and there are areas
where our efforts must be concentrated in the coming years. 1. ...The 
implementation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child... 2. Rights
and Obligations of Personnel of the Armed Services in CBSS Member States...
3. ...The position and role of the non-citizen population and their rights
and obligations.." 

- Brief News from Member States (Denmark: Anniversary of the Danish Centre
for Human Rights; Visa Requirements lifted for Latvian Aliens' Passports;
Independence of the Courts to be Strengthened; Estonia: Soviet Internal
Passports no Longer Valid; Regularizing the Stay of Illegals; Conversion of
Temporary Residence Permits and more; Finland: New Practice for Periodic
Reporting to UN and more; Germany: Sexual Abuse of Children; New Immigration
Law; New Citizenship Law? and more; Iceland: Changes to the Criminal
Proceeding Act and more; Latvia: Ratification of the European Convention on
Human Rights; Law on Refugees and the UN Convention on Refugees; Opinion on
Discrimination (of non-citizens, prepared by the National HR Office - B.)
and more; Lithuania: Amendment to the Law on Ratification of the Refugee
Convention; New Refugee's Reception Centre and more; Norway: Commission on
Freedom of Expression at Work and more; Poland: New Constitution Adopted;
Soldier's Rights and more; Russia: Problems in the Armed Forces; The
Parliamentary Ombudsman; Freedom of Religion and more; Sweden: Report on
Racism and more)

- The European Commission: Opinions on some CBSS Member States' Applications
for Membership of the European Union (on Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and
Poland) 

- Surveys of the Commissioner. Some of the recently completed and ongoing
surveys (The Rights of the Child; The Parliamentary Ombudsmen; The Working
Conditions of Elected Members of Local Authorities; The Rights of Access to
Information; Freedom of Association)

- Visa Free Status among the Member States, by Audra Plepyte (actually,
Russia has visa free regime only with Poland, Germany has visa regime with
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all other CBSS member states have mutual visa
free status) 

- The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Starts Functioning, by
A.Endzinsh

- Why the Framework Convention Should Be ratified, by Martin Alexanderson

- Ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities, by Audra Plepyte (ratifications and reservations made by state
parties to the Convention) 

- Baltic Russians Take a Look at Themselves, by Ebba Savborg-Romare (based
on materials of several researches, mostly conducted in Estonia) 

-Official visits of the Commissioner (Latvia, Germany)

- Seminar on the Creation of a Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights

- Seminars, Conferences

- Sixth Ministerial Session of the CBSS

- News from other International Organizations (Council of Europe: the
European Convention on Nationality adopted, UN: new High Commissioner for
Human Rights; the OSCE: High Commisioner for National Minorities; new
director of ODIHR)

- The Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies 

- Staff 

----------------
Contact information: Amagertorv 14,2
P.O. Box 1165
DK-1010 Copenhagen K
Denmark 
Telephone: (+45) 33 91 22 88
Telefax:      (+45) 33 91 22 96 
E-mail: [email protected]

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Moderator adds: some materials of the CBSS Commissioner (in particular,
relevant excerpts from the Annual Reports) will be soon available on the
MINELRES website. 
Boris     

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