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Annual Report on Human Rights in Estonia 2008-2009
This report is the second general report issued by the Human Rights
Centre (HRC) on the situation of human rights in Estonia.
The official presentation of the Report was held on Friday, 30 April at
12:00 at the Reval Hotel Olümpia’s conference room “Kapa”.
The purpose of the
report is to provide a general overview of events in protection of human rights
in 2008 and 2009 in various domains. The authors of this research chose some
topics that were afforded greater media attention. In 2008 and 2009 those
topics were post-sentence preventive detention, partnership of same-sex couples
and equal treatment. Some topics were chosen by the authors with the intent of
drawing attention to situations that have not enjoyed wide attention before in
Estonia. Therefore, for example, the alternative service for conscription
service is viewed in depth, as well as a specific case of conflicting human
rights.
Freely available
public information from various sources has been used upon drawing up of this
report, including annual statements of state agencies, reports and opinions of
nongovernmental organisations and international organizations, as well as
materials gathered by HRC. This report was concluded based on principles of
objectivity and independence. The sources have been analyzed independently and
critically; and the report has not been submitted for approval by any of the state
agencies prior to publication. It is a legal research with analyses of
application of acts by state agencies, rather than a sociological one on
societal beliefs and values.
HRC would like to
thank Estonian Institute of Human Rights and Network of Estonian Non-profit
Organizations for their cooperation in putting together this report, as well as
everyone who helped in gathering and forwarding of necessary background
information.
Annual Report on
Human Rights in Estonia 2008-2009 can fully be found here. The Report is
available also both in Russian and in Estonian.
HRC
would greatly appreciate any feedback at the following email address: aastaaruanne@humanrights.ee.
Conclusion of the Report
2008 and 2009
brought about change in several areas connected to human rights, which were
discussed in this report on various levels of specificity.
The positive developments that strengthened the protection
of human rights in Estonia were:
• Considerable simplification
in organising public assemblies in 2008: most public assemblies may be held
upon just two hours’ oral notice. The refusal to register a meeting is no
longer absolute and the emphasis has been placed on negotiations, which would
bring the meeting in line with the law.
• Discussion on
regulation of same-sex couplesʼrelationships has been initiated: The Ministry of Justice concluded an analysis
on non-marital cohabitation, which looked at various methods of regulating such
relationships. It was proposed in the course of discussion that a partnership
act be created; however, work on preparation of a draft has not begun yet.
• A great step
forward in non-discrimination area was made by the adoption of the Equal
Treatment Act, even though the law was passed due to the pressure from the
European Commission. It contains somewhat problematic provisions and the
implementation is not effective enough, it is still a step forward, now that
the principles of equal treatment are stated in detail in Estonian law. This
affords victims of discrimination better legal protection than before.
• Positive changes
in the domain of civil society in 2008 and 2009 came with increased financing
opportunities from the Civil Society Foundation and Norway EEA Nongovernmental
Organizations Fund. These measures are primarily aimed at increasing the
ability of citizens’ associations to function.
There are also
several ongoing shortcomingsand new problem areas:
• The option of
detaining repeat offenders post sentence has been created. Even though work on
the problem of repeat offenders constitutes as progress in ensuring public
order, the specific measures chosen potentially contradict human rights in
several aspects. For example, it may contradict the practice of the European Court
of Human Rights to apply post-sentence preventive detention in a situation,
where specific issues of rehabilitation have not been addressed.
• In the area of
administration of justice there is an ongoing problem concerning legal aid,
which may not provide everyone with an equal opportunity to turn to court and
be represented (especially outside larger towns). The small number of lawyers
in Estonia and corporate nature of the bar mean that possible conflicts of
interests should be closely supervised. Access to justice would also improve if
the limitations on locus standi of third parties were not as restrictive.
• There is room for
improvement in protection of human rights in Defence Forces, which has also
been pointed out by the Chancellor of Justice. The problem is primarily the
length of alternative service in comparison to the standard service in Defence
Forces, which is also indicated by the small number of people who have opted
for the alternative service. There are also other problems with alternative
service: personal moral and religious beliefs must be proved and upon
insufficient proof the state may refuse the option of alternative service.
• There is still no
option available for same-sex couples to regulate their relationship in a
manner that is equal to marriage. A new Family Law Act has been adopted, which
precludes same-sex marriage and thereby contradicts general trends in the
world.
• Despite the
adoption of the Equal Treatment Act there is no general political will to deal
with issues of non-discrimination. This is indicated by the decrease in
resources allocated to the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner. |
