COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF LITHUANIA

CERD
60th session
5 March 2002
Afternoon







Experts Query the Delegation on Citizenship, Minorities,
Absence of Cases of Racial Discrimination,
and Different Treatment between Lithuanians
and Other Nationals



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of an initial report from Lithuania by hearing a Government delegation say that a programme has been introduced in Lithuania to ensure State support for cultural development of minorities in the country.

Introducing his country's report, Darius Jurgelevicius, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said that the Government has included in its 2001-2004 plan a programme aimed at ensuring the State's support for the cultural development of Lithuania's national communities and guaranteeing the freedom and independence of cultural activities.

Concerning the Roma people, Mr. Jurgelevicius said that the Government of Lithuania has approved a programme for the integration of the Roma in the society and has created conditions for persons belonging to that minority to be integrated into public life. At the same time, it was providing ways and methods to preserve and foster the national character of the Roma people in light of their living habits.

Francois Lonseny Fall, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Lithuania, said that with 109 different nationalities, Lithuania was a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural State. Lithuania was also a democratic State with the three pillars of State power functioning independently without interference from each other.

Mr. Fall further said that the report was drafted in accordance with the directives of the Committee; however there remained some confusion with regard to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention; and he asked if the articles of the Convention were invoked by the courts.

Other Committee members also raised a number of questions on issues such as different treatment between Lithuanian citizens and other nationalities living in the country; criteria on granting of nationality; and the rights of foreigners to inheritance, freedom of association, acquisition of property and consumer rights.

In addition to Mr. Fall, the following Committee Experts also took part in the debate: Luis Velencia Rodriguez, Yuri A. Reshetov, Alexander Sicilinos, Regis de Gouttes, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Patrick Thornberry, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Kurt Herndl, Jose A. Lindgren Alves, Nourredine Amir, Tang Chengyuan and Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill.

The Lithuanian delegation is also made up of Algimantas Rimkunas, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Darius Zilys, Director of the International Law Department at the Ministry of Justice; Danguole Grigoloviciene, Head of the National Minorities Division at the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad; Irina Kudreviciute, Head of the Law Application Division at the Ministry of the Interior; Ilona Petrikiene, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Lithuania in Geneva; Jurgita Satkuniene, Third Secretary of the Law and International Treaties Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Lingaile Biliunaite, Chief Specialist of the Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Division at the Ministry of Social Security and Labour.

Lithuania is among the 161 States parties to the International Convention and as such it is obligated to present periodical reports on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

Before adjourning its afternoon meeting, the Committee briefly discussed a letter sent to it by High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson in which she expressed views on the consequences of measures taken against terrorism for human rights. The Committee also had before it for discussion Security Council Resolution 1373 on the 11 September events; the General Comment No. 29 on states of emergency; and the statement of the Committee against Torture condemning the terrorist attacks of 11 September. The Committee named two of its Experts to draft a response to the letter of the High Commissioner.

The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of Lithuania when it reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 March.


Report of Lithuania

The initial report of Lithuania, which is contained in document CERD/C/369/Add.2, provides a detailed account of the legislative provisions that are applicable to the implementation of the Convention. In its introduction, it gives information on the land, people and political structure of the country. It also indicates the legal framework for the protection of human rights in general and the provisions of the Convention in particular.

The report notes that Lithuania has adopted the Law on Citizenship, which defines the legal status of citizens and foreigners in the country, and the Law on Ethnic Minorities, which regulates the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities. The main principles of the Convention are enshrined in chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic. Article 29 of the Constitution stipulates that "A person may not have his rights restricted in any way, or be granted any privileges, on the basis of his or her sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion or opinions".

It further notes that the rights of ethnic minorities are enshrined in the Law of Ethnic Minorities, which states: "The Republic shall guarantee to all its citizens, regardless of their nationality, equal political, economic and social rights and freedoms, shall recognize its citizens' ethnic identity, the continuity of their culture, and shall promote ethnic consciousness." There are 109 different nationalities residing in Lithuania, of which 8.2 per cent are Russians and 7 per cent are Poles.

The report says that Lithuania has signed or ratified international covenants and conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.


Introduction of the Report

DARIUS JURGELEVICIUS, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and Head of the delegation, said that Lithuania was a country that might be called a national State, as the majority of people living there were Lithuanians; however, it was also home to many other national and ethnic groups.

Mr. Jurgelevicius said that the Government has included in its 2001-2004 plan a programme aimed at ensuring the State's support for the cultural development of Lithuania's national communities and guaranteeing the freedom and independence of cultural activities. By supporting cultural rights of national minorities, the State aimed at implementing these cultural rights, providing conditions for the involvement of these national minorities in the life of the country, and fostering their traditions and heritage.

With regard to the Roma people, the Government of Lithuania has approved a programme for the integration of the Roma in the society, Mr. Jurgelevicius said. The programme has created conditions for persons belonging to that minority to integrate into public life and at the same time provides ways and methods to preserve and foster the national character of the Roma people in light of their living habits. The Roma Community Centre was opened in August 2001 and provides pre-school education, supplementary teaching of children and Lithuanian language courses, among other things.

Mr. Jurgelevicius noted that the Seimas of Lithuania -- the Parliament -- had adopted a new civil code that became effective on 1 July 2001. A new criminal code, adopted in September 2000, would also become effective together with a new code of criminal procedure. The new criminal code had been supplemented with a number of new articles that established the responsibility for crimes based on racial discrimination.


Discussion

FRANCOIS LONSENY FALL, the Committee Expert who served as the country rapporteur to the report to Lithuania, said that with 109 different nationalities, Lithuania was a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural State. It was also a democratic State with the three pillars of State power functioning independently without interference from each other.

Mr. Fall said that the report was drafted in accordance with the directives of the Committee. However there remained some confusion with regard to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. He asked if the articles of the Convention were invoked by the courts.

The delegation had said that a new penal code would be adopted soon, Mr. Fall noted, asking if crimes of racial discrimination were punishable in the new legislation.

With regard to the granting of citizenship, the law required 12 years of permanent residence, in addition to the perfection of the Lithuanian language, he said. He wanted more clarification on the subject. He also said that the right to freedom of movement had been restricted to some persons because of the nature of their employment.

The report indicated that there were 223 schools of secondary education in which the language of instruction was not Lithuanian, however, the number of private schools was not indicated.

The number of Roma people residing in the country was not indicated, Mr. Fall said, asking the delegation about the measures undertaken to improve the conditions of the Roma people.

Mr. Fall said that the law of the country provided for the incarceration of foreigners for 30 days before they were deported, however, there were individuals who were imprisoned for more than two years.

The delegation was also asked about the measures that the Government of Lithuania was intending to implement as a follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

Other Committee members also raised a number of questions. An Expert said that the Government of Lithuania had recognized the competence of the European Court of Human Rights; by the same token it should also recognize the competence of the Committee to receive individual complaints in accordance with article 14 of the Convention. He also asked about the achievements of the various institutions set up for the protection of minorities and nationals of Lithuanian living abroad.

Another Expert said that Lithuania had a good human rights record compared to other neighbouring countries. In the report, there was reference to ethnic or national minorities; were those ethnic groups mentioned in the report considered to be national communities in line with other European international instruments? He asked if the economic freedom mentioned in paragraph 82 of the report was also applicable to stateless or foreign citizens.

Among the criteria for refusing nationality was the commission of genocide, which was not clearly defined, the Expert said. Could the authorities respond to the individual that he had committed genocide and that he could not be considered for naturalization? Did courts decide that the candidate for citizenship had committed genocide or a crime against humanity? Clarification was requested on the issue.

There was no general law with regard to non-discrimination, stressed one Expert. The rights to inheritance, freedom of association, acquisition of property and consumer rights were not clearly defined if they included foreigners residing in the country.

Many Experts also wondered about the affirmation in the report that no cases of racially motivated crimes had been brought before the courts since 1995. Further information was requested on whether complaints of racial discrimination had been lodged; and about the existence of racially biased organizations and the measures taken by the State to ban them.

The issue of citizenship was also raised by other Committee members who wanted to know why persons who were ill with particularly dangerous infectious diseases were denied nationality, in reference to persons infected with HIV/AIDS; and they wanted to know the kind of persons who were denied nationality because of their participation in criminal activities against the State. A question was also raised if Russians or Poles could obtain the Lithuanian nationality. Why was there different treatment between persons of foreign origin who were born and had grown up in the country and Lithuanian citizens?

An Expert wanted to know about the situation of the Holocaust in which the report claimed that 250,000 Jews had been exterminated, while at present there were only 5,200 Jews in Lithuania. He further wanted to know if the figure mentioned in the report included other groups of people such as the Roma or Slavs.

What were the basic provisions according to which 31 Afghan asylum seekers had undergone special security procedures and had been imprisoned, disregarding basic procedural guarantees provided for in the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugee Status, an Expert asked. The incident had taken place after the 11 September attacks, the Expert said.




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