Minority issues in Latvia, No. 66
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). 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).
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).
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). 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).
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).
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). 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) 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. 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.
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
and the report itself in Latvian and English are available online.
Compiled by:
Alexei Dimitrov
Tatyana Bogushevitch
Yuri Dubrovsky
===========================================================
Minority issues in Latvia
Newsletter published by the Latvian Human Rights Committee (F.I.D.H.)
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
Back issues:
http://www.minelres.lv/count/latvia.htm#MinIssuesLatvia
===========================================================