MINELRES: Minority issues in Latvia, No. 66
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Fri Apr 18 11:44:17 2003
Original sender: Alexei Dimitrov <[email protected]>
Minority issues in Latvia, No. 66
Prepared by the Latvian Human Rights Committee (F.I.D.H.)
April 15, 2003
Content
- Minority cultural organizations fight for the state financial support
- The Latvian democracy pattern: everything permitted but protests
- Consultative council on ethnic affairs established
- Education reform: a democracy test - News of legislation: more rights
for the EU citizens, not Latvian non-citizens
- Broadcasting in minority languages still quoted in Latvia
- Union of Citizens and Non-citizens asks for visa-free regime for
non-citizens
- Language violation in the field of humour
- The Supreme Court makes the Freedom Party excuse
- The first national conference on racial discrimination held
- Framework Convention: dividing Latvians and Russians?
- Minority Convention: reservations are to be duly considered
- Annual LCHRES report presented
Minority cultural organizations fight for the state financial support
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Association of Ethnic Cultural Associations (AECA) has declared its
wish that the state financial support allocated for minority NGOs should
be administered by the Ministry of Culture, instead of the Secretariat
of the Minister for Special Task in the Field of Integration Affairs.
This wish was reflected in a letter of the Association's chairman Raffi
Haradzhanyan addressed to the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights
and Public Affairs.
Traditionally, the government of Latvia allocated financial support for
minority NGOs annually: LVL 14,500 (approx. EUR 23,390) for activities
of minority cultural NGOs and LVL 10,000 (approx. EUR 16,130) for
activities of the Association of Ethnic Cultural Associations. The first
allocation is distributed on the case-by-case basis for minority
cultural NGOs; the latter is guaranteed only for one NGO - AECA, which
unites 21 cultural associations of different ethnic minorities. The
reason of such traditionally privileged status of the Association is its
support for restoration of Latvias independence in late 1980s early
1990s. In 1998 the Saeima (Parliament) of Latvia donated the Association
a house not far from the centre of Riga, as well as supported it
financially from the state budget.
The state agency responsible for allocation of financial support was, up
to recently, the Minority Affairs Unit of the Naturalisation Board.
Since April 1, the Minority Affairs Department in the Secretariat of the
Minister for Special Task in the Field of Integration Affairs is
established on the basis of the Unit. The Department will take over all
functions of the Unit, including administration of financial support.
However, the Department will allocate the money from its own budget,
therefore it is not guaranteed that the principles will remain the same.
As the Minister for Special Task in the Field of Integration Affairs
Nils Muiznieks points out, in previous years either AECA itself or its
member organisations received approximately 2/3 of the total state
support (LVL 24,500). Although AECA is the oldest and the strongest
coalition of minority cultural NGOs, there are other such coalitions in
Latvia, and it is not fair that 1/10 of minority NGOs receive 2/3 of the
money ("Neatkariga Rita Avize" ("The Independent Morning Newspaper"),
April 7). The Association can use the state support as the core funding
for administrative purposes, while other NGOs in fact can raise funding
only for project activities, applying e.g. to the Society Integration
Foundation or Cultural Capital Foundation.
Chairman of the Association Raffi Haradzhanyan is sure that the
principles should remain the same, because the Association promoted
restoration of Latvia's independence, besides, it is the only minority
cultural NGO to own a big house. He believes that the Ministry of
Culture can guarantee it. The issue of allocation of budget money for
minority NGOs was the main one during the first meeting of the
Consultative Council set up by the Minister for Special Task in the
Field of Integration Affairs.
Our commentary
We fully agree with Mr Muiznieks that the principles of supporting
minority NGOs are to be revised. In fact, it is very hard to receive
administrative grants for NGOs in Latvia, therefore almost all minority
cultural NGOs were forced to find private donors or submit project
applications to local and foreign foundations. Only the Association
received guaranteed administrative grants for the support of the state
independence (although now composition of the Association is not the
same as in late 1980s) and the state ethnic policy (the Association
never criticise it, unlike almost all other minority NGOs). At the same
time, it was a very convenient partner for the dialogue with minorities,
as it did not argue a lot.
In our view, the biggest part of the state financial support for
minority cultural NGOs could be distributed as support for different
projects by the Society Integration Foundation. Another part could be
allocated as administrative grants for the biggest NGOs proportionally
to the number of members and cultural events held by the organisation.
The Latvian democracy pattern: everything permitted but protests
----------------------------------------------------------------
The last two weeks were marked by intensifying protests of the
Russian-speaking parents against the envisaged elimination of the
state-supported secondary education in minority languages. The parents
of the pupils from the Riga secondary school No. 34 have organised a
meeting devoted to the issue, and invited Jakov Pliner, Dr. Paed. and MP
from the pro-minority People's Harmony Party.
Mr Pliner said that parents must be more active, writing letters to the
President, Minister for Education, Prime Minister and other persons, who
make the decisions. He also invited to start the discussion about the
launching of non-violent civil disobedience actions, as all other
attempts to make their voices heard seem to have failed.
The interpretation provided by the Latvian-language media was perverse.
"Do not seek to learn the Latvian language, we will get the Education
law amended , thus the public TV news program "Panorama" retold Mr
Pliner's words (see the spot of April 4,
http://159.148.191.150/panorama_www/news_html_arhivs/_003/03.apr.html).
The MP from the nationalistic party "For Fatherland and Freedom" Juris
Dobelis said that one must be put in jail for propagating such views.
Mr Pliner sent letters to the media, which twisted his words, demanding
disclaiming of the untruthful information.
In the meantime, the People's Harmony Party has submitted amendments to
the Education Law in order to abolish transition to Latvian as the sole
language of instruction in the state-supported secondary schools and
allowing the school itself to choose the language of instruction.
Our commentary
We regret that the twisting of words instead of open discussion has
become habitual way of informing the society about the education reform.
It is especially regrettable, that the public television is one of the
sources of untruthful and biased information, declaring any arguments
against the reform to be "provocative" and labelling them "a sign of
disloyalty".
Consultative council on ethnic affairs established
--------------------------------------------------
The Consultative Council on Ethnic Affairs and Society Integration has
been established by the Minister for Special Task in the Field of
Integration Affairs. It is the second attempt to establish a
consultative body on ethnic affairs in Latvia. The first Council was set
up by the President Guntis Ulmanis in 1996; after Vaira Vike-Freiberga
became the President in 1999, its activities were terminated.
The main aim of the Council is to formulate opinion on different
legislative initiatives and inform the Minister about it for further
distribution in the government. Besides, the Council can suggest its own
ideas in the field of ethnic policy and society integration, as well as
inform the Minister about topical issues in this field in Latvia's
regions.
The Council is composed on the basis of various principles:
representatives from the country's regions, members of major minority
NGOs, and experts in this field are among its 12 members ("Lauku Avize"
("The Rural Newspaper"), April 8).
Our commentary
We regret that due to financial reasons the Minister could not establish
two different councils: one based on the principle of representation and
another, consisting of experts in the field of ethnic affairs and
society integration. In our view, current composition of the council
will not make it a body to be considered by minorities as their trustee
in relations with the state.
Education reform: a democracy test
----------------------------------
Discussions in the Latvian-language media devoted to the issue of
envisaged elimination of the state-supported secondary education in
minority languages, seem to become more intensive.
The leading Latvian-language newspaper "Diena" published a comment by
sociolinguist Gatis Dilans named "The language policy: are the reform's
deepest roots analyzed without fear or favor?" ("Diena" ("The Day"),
March 31). Mr Dilans analyzes the "one nation state" concept and its
adequacy in the Latvian circumstances.
The author points out that the states where this concept is accepted,
used to discriminate against minorities, as it is the case in France.
Besides, he stresses, "if anyone [in Latvia] doubts the "one nation
state" ideology, where language is regarded as a mean of people
consolidation, he/she gets marked as a Moscow's ally, disloyal towards
the Latvian state, who wishes to extinguish the Latvian nation".
Mr Dilans argues that situation, when 40% of residents belong to ethnic
minorities, in the Western countries would bring about official
institution of bilingualism. He underlines, that such decision in Latvia
was unacceptable for political and not for scientific reasons, as it is
often argued. Thus, "science is used in order to legitimize the
political course chosen by the nationalistically oriented political
elite. The fact that instead of better teaching the Latvian language,
Russian-speakers are obliged to stop teaching in their mother tongue
shows the hidden desire to "Latvianize" them".
The reaction followed soon. "It is a pity that opponents of the Latvian
language strengthening are found also outside the People's Harmony
Party, "For Human Rights in United Latvia" and their permanent
electorate", Aigars Kimenis commented on the article ("Diena" ("The
Day"), April 8). "The most mistakable and politically dangerous is the
attempt to compare the Latvian situation to that of Canada or Belgium.
The Latvian situation is the result of the long-term occupation,
genocide towards the Latvian people and russification".
News of legislation: more rights for the EU citizens, not Latvian non-
----------------------------------------------------------------------
citizens
--------
The Saeima (Parliament) has rejected a few proposals aimed at granting
non-citizens of Latvia (citizens of the former USSR, who came to Latvia
during the Soviet period, and their descendants, who have not
naturalised) equal rights with the citizens.
On April 10, the Saeima rejected proposals for amendments to the
Constitution and legislation on holding referendums submitted by the
coalition "For Human Rights in United Latvia" and People's Harmony
Party. The amendments were elaborated in order to grant non-citizens
voting rights at the referendum on EU accession to be hold in Latvia on
September 20 ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), April 11,
http://rus.delfi.lv/archive/article.php?id=5192815&ndate=1050008400&categoryID=3513828).
On April 3, the Saeima considered amendments to the Law "On Land
Privatisation in Rural Areas". The main aim of the amendments was to
introduce 7-year transitional period for the EU citizens' right to own
land in Latvia. As now non-citizens of Latvia also can own land in rural
areas, only if permitted by local government's officials, excluding land
used in agriculture or forests, or land in border areas, it was proposed
to abolish restrictions for non-citizens or at least grant them the same
rights as foreseen for the EU citizens, and abolish restrictions after
the transitional period. Unfortunately, the Saeima supported only the
proposal by Andris Tolmachov ("For Human Rights in United Latvia") to
abolish restrictions in respect of heritable land. All other proposals
were rejected, therefore now restrictions are the same for the EU
citizen, who just came to the country, and a non-citizen who was born
here. In seven years all restrictions will be abolished for the EU
citizens, but not for Latvian non-citizens. The irony is that a week
later the Saeima rejected amendments to the Law "On Land Reform in Towns
of Latvia" submitted by the People's Harmony Party. The aim was to
abolish restrictions for non-citizens in respect of land in towns,
including the restriction to inherit land without permit of local
government's officials ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), April 4,
http://rus.delfi.lv/archive/article.php?id=5142000&ndate=1049403600&categoryID=3513828).
The Ministry of Interior has elaborated amendments to the Security
Operation Law abolishing the citizenship requirement for the heads of a
security company. The amendments also are caused by the EU accession
process ("Chas" ("The Hour"), April 4). Once again, after the
restriction is abolished, only the EU citizens will have the same rights
as the citizens of Latvia.
Broadcasting in minority languages still "quoted" in Latvia
-----------------------------------------------------------
Leonid Raihman, member of the Latvian Human Rights Committee, has
presented his brochure "Media Legislation, Minority Issues and
Implications for Latvia". Brochure is written in Latvian to be a
handbook for Latvian parliamentarians during the process of amending
Latvian media legislation.
We informed our readers repeatedly that with the highest minority
percent in Central and Eastern Europe, Latvia still retains 25% language
quota for broadcasting in minority languages at private channels. In the
meantime, only up to 20% of broadcasting in minority languages is
allowed in the second public channel, while the first public channel can
broadcast only in Latvian.
The Constitutional Court will pass its judgment on compliance of these
legislative provisions with the Constitution and international human
rights treaties (see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 60,
http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2002-December/002471.html). The
author describes the trend of liberalisation of media legislation in
Europe. Electronic media of France are available in any language, even
Turkey, notwithstanding its attitude towards Kurds, had unwillingly
amended its media law last year, permitting "use of languages, spoken
widely in the country, in broadcasting in specific cases" ("Chas" ("The
Hour"), March 29), see the full text of Mr Raihman's report in English
at www.policy.hu/raihman/PolicyPaper.htm.
Meanwhile, the First Baltic Channel (received broadcasting licence for
seven years last year), retranslating programs of the biggest Russian TV
channel ORT, is to be investigated by National Council on Radio and
Television on the question of language violations. According to lawyer
of the Council Alens Ancans, on one hand, the channel is not under the
language quota obligation, as it is broadcasting via cable, yet, on the
other one, even cable channels have to provide not less than 51% of
airtime for European audiovisual programs, not less than 40% of this
time should be provided for programs in Latvian. The Council urged the
channel to send its materials for investigation. Decision will be
adopted in mid-April ("Chas" ("The Hour"), April 1).
"Union of Citizens and Non-citizens" asks for visa-free regime for
------------------------------------------------------------------
non-citizens
------------
The NGO "Union of Citizens and Non-citizens" has received answer of
Minister for Foreign Affairs Sandra Kalniete about visa-free regime for
Latvian non-citizens. Latvia has mutual visa-free agreements with 43
countries, but only Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Dominica, Saint-Lucia
and Samoa allow also non-citizens of Latvia to enter without visa.
According to the organisation, it is logical to extend the provisions of
visa-free agreements between EU states to non-citizens, as no border
control will exist after Latvia's accession. As Mrs Kalniete noted,
Latvia will join the Schengen zone only in 2007-2008, and no changes for
non-citizens are to be expected until then. Mrs Kalniete denoted
Denmark's action as "exclusive and rare", highly evaluated by Latvia.
She noted, that Dominica, St. Lucia and Samoa rarely ask for visas from
foreigners, and Latvia has no visa-free agreements with them. According
to her, Latvia cannot ask visa-free regime for Latvian non-citizens from
other countries, as Latvia "cannot provide the same status for their
non-citizens" ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), April 3, download
from http://rus.delfi.lv/temp/vesti/vs_03_1123.pdf).
Language violation in the field of humour
-----------------------------------------
Director of international humour festival "More Smeha" ("Sea of Laugh")
Mark Dubovsky has violated the State Language Law by not translating
name of the KVN (Club of Merry and Inventive, old tradition of amateur
student team merrymaking, still popular in the former USSR) team
"Uezdniy gorod" ("District Town") from Russia. Posters of the team,
which will perform in Riga on April 23, were arrested after 3 days of
their appearance, and Mark Dubovsky was asked to reprint posters with
Latvian translation of the team's original Russian name. According to Mr
Dubovsky, name of this team is its brand, which is not to be translated
("Chas" ("The Hour"), April 1). Some years ago Mr Dubovsky was punished
for placing posters of popular Russian humour TV-show "Anshlag" written
in Latin characters on the basis of non-existence of such word in
Latvian.
The Supreme Court makes the Freedom Party excuse
------------------------------------------------
The Supreme Court of Latvia has decided that the Freedom Party should
excuse to heroes of its racist pre-election advertising, group of black
musicians "Los Amigos" (for details see Minority issues in Latvia, No.
53, http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2002-August/002234.html).
Party is to excuse publicly in TV-show "Panorama" till June 2003, to pay
LVL 3000 (approx. EUR 4840) to every musician, and compensate court
expenses. Court declined "Los Amigos"' claim to circulate excuses by
post, the same way as the racist advertising was distributed.
The first national conference on racial discrimination held
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Secretariat of the Minister for Special Task in the Field of
Integration Affairs and Information Office of the Council of Europe held
the conference "Integration of Society Promoting Tolerance" on April
4. The conference was the starting point for elaboration of the national
action plan for elimination of discrimination. During the conference the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) second report
on Latvia (see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 53,
http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2002-August/002234.html) was
presented; lawyers informed about Latvian anti-discrimination
legislation in the light of international standards; working groups
discussed preventing discrimination in the field of education, mass
media and social policy; persons belonging to different racial and
ethnic groups expressed their opinion about Latvia as a multicultural
society. During the conference the Secretariat presented its brochure in
Latvian "Variety of Cultures and Tolerance in Latvia", where a lot of
information about discrimination issues in Latvia is collected.
We welcome the initiative of the Secretariat, as we believe that the
issue of discrimination is explored deficiently in Latvia. In the
meantime, we believe that more attention should be paid to research in
the field of social consequences of ethnic policy in Latvia.
Unfortunately, this topic remained unexplored during the conference.
Framework Convention: dividing Latvians and Russians?
-----------------------------------------------------
The public policy portal politika.lv published the results of the
research made by Dr Aivars Tabuns (download from
http://www.politika.lv/index.php?id=105883&lang=lv). The research was
aimed at exploring public attitudes towards ratification of the
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and was
financed by the Information Office of the Council of Europe.
The author analyzed opinions of experts, documents and Internet
discussions. 8 experts represented the views of ethnic Latvians. The
majority of them are known for their radical nationalistic views (with
two persons representing the radical nationalistic party "For Fatherland
and Freedom", one from the youth organization "Klubs 415", and one from
the State Language Centre). 4 experts represented the Russian-speaking
minority, with the leader of national-bolshevik organization "Pobeda"
being one of them.
As the result, Dr Tabuns comes to the conclusion that the ratification
of the Framework Convention divides the society. He also gives his own
interpretation of reasons of the negative attitudes towards the parties,
which "propagate the necessity to ratify the Convention". As Dr Tabuns
points out, "ideology of these parties is very leftist, and their
leaders have been the Latvian Communist Party's activists in the past.
That is why the society of ethnic Latvians does not perceive them as
those who defend the human rights but rather as those who strive for the
Soviet privileges for certain groups, returning the Soviet regime".
Besides, he stresses, "The society of ethnic Latvians regard the
opposition parties as those, whose aim is to institute the Russian
language as the state language and to create a two-community society in
Latvia".
The author also attaches to the research article by Anita Kalnina "Too
much to ask from Latvians?", where Ms Kalnina asks whether the
ratification of the Convention is a too high price for "receiving the
desired support from the West for the Latvian position in its
'discussions' with Russia and with the Latvian Russians". Therefore,
ratification of the Convention is necessary for Western allies, not
Latvia itself.
Minority Convention: reservations are to be duly considered
-----------------------------------------------------------
Arturs Kucs, researcher of the Institute of Human Rights at the
University of Latvia writes about reservations and declarations to the
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to be
adopted by Latvia during the ratification process. Mr Kucs analyses
experience of other countries and opinions of the Advisory Committee on
them. He believes that in respect of some provisions Latvia should
legalise existing practice instead of adoption of reservations. Mr Kucs
thinks that discussions with representatives of minorities are necessary
such discussions will diminish possibilities to misinterpret
provisions of the Convention (see at
http://www.politika.lv/index.php?id=105840&lang=lv)
Annual LCHRES report presented
------------------------------
Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies presented its annual
report on April 2. This year the Centre paid more attention to the
issues of xenophobia and racism, as well as traditionally wrote a lot on
minority issues.
We congratulate our colleagues and inform our readers that the
information about the report is available at
http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2003-April/002651.html, the
report itself is available in Latvian and English at
http://www.politika.lv/index.php?id=105875&lang=lv.
Compiled by:
Alexei Dimitrov
Tatyana Bogushevitch
Yuri Dubrovsky
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