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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on human rights and the situation of the Russian national minority in Estonia
presented by Mr GLOTOV and others
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This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it |
1. The Assembly notes that the Estonian authorities have recently declared their intention to take a number of steps towards improving the human rights situation in the Republic of Estonia. In particular, a draft law on refugees has been introduced bearing in mind that Estonia will accede later to the conventions on the status of refugees and stateless persons. Since 19 July 1996, so-called "foreigner" passports have been issued, which formally should facilitate the entry/exit procedure for persons who do not have the possibility of acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Estonia and who have the right to this document. By 12 July 1996, most of the applications for residence permits were examined.
2. At the same time, the Assembly states with regret that the human rights in Estonia are far from being respected to the full extent. The legislative acts passed recently directly affect the political, social and economic rights of more than 430 000 Russian residents in the Republic of Estonia.
3. The Assembly recalls that laws providing for the implementation of Articles 3 and 123 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, where the priority of international law over national legislation is declared, still do not exist in the Republic of Estonia.
4. The law of the Republic of Estonia on cultural autonomy of national minorities does not comply with international standards and requires appropriate amendments. In particular, the law exclusively recognises citizens of Estonia as national minorities, which jeopardizes the protection of the language and culture of national minorities whose representatives have been arbitrarily declared "foreigners".
5. Despite the corrections made, the law on elections to local government still contains many discriminatory provisions. It offers wide opportunities for the Estonian authorities to exert pressure (up to criminal prosecution) on those deputies who are not Estonians. Artificial administrative obstacles have been set to the expression of free will of non-citizens residing in Estonia. Only those who apply in person at special stations within an extremely short time are registered as voters. About one third of potential non-citizen voters have been registered to take part in the elections. The citizens of Estonia are not subject to additional registration. The question concerning participation in the 1996 elections of over 300 000 residents of Estonia who have, for the time being, been granted provisional residence permits, remains uncertain.
6. The law of the Republic of Estonia on foreigners and the procedure for issuing "foreigner passports" have made over 200 000 residents of the Republic of Estonia into stateless persons who enjoy far less rights than the citizens of Estonia and the citizens of other states living in that country. Moreover, the law governs the human rights situation of the residents of the Republic of Estonia who are not foreigners from the viewpoint of international legal practice. As a result of the actions taken by the Estonian authorities there are more than 50 000 residents in Estonia who have no valid documents at all and, accordingly, are deprived of fundamental political and social rights.
7. The Assembly notes that the Estonian authorities, particularly, the Citizenship and Migration Department, delay the issuing of the documents mentioned, put forward requirements not provided for in the legislation, and deny the acceptance of documents without reasonable excuse when issuing permits for residence and "foreigner passports". Not only the issuing of "foreigner passports" was not concluded by 12 July 1996 (contrary to Resolution 368 of the Government of the Republic of Estonia of 7 December 1995) but, in fact, it has not even been carried out to the extent required. The "foreigner passport" gives the right to depart only to the few countries that recognise it, and the Estonian state denies any responsibility for the persons who were issued with a "foreigner passport". As a result, hundreds of thousands of citizens have been deprived of the right to free movement.
8. Estonian authorities artificially impede the implementation of several provisions of the Russian-Estonian Agreement of 26 July 1994 concerning social guarantees to persons retired from the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Estonia.
9. Many persons living in the Republic of Estonia for over one decade and deprived arbitrarily of citizenship appear to be denied, to a great extent, their social and economic rights. There are restrictions on them as regards pensions, privatisation of land and housing. Of particular concern is the fate of the retired persons who have provisional residence permits, including those granted for only six months, as well as the subjective interpretation on the part of Estonians of the "threat to the security of Estonia" criterion when considering applications for residence permits. The problem of homelessness has acquired a nationally prejudiced character.
10. The Assembly states that contrary to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights of National Minorities of 1995 and the European Charter on Regional Languages and Linguistic Minorities of 1992, in practice the Estonian authorities pursue the policy of discrimination with respect to the Russian language which is the second language spoken after the Estonian language.
11. The Assembly notes that most of the drawbacks mentioned have been recognised by the Geneva Committee on Human Rights, the High Commissioner of the OSCE for national minorities, the Commissioner of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) for democratic institutions and human rights, including the rights of minorities, and, obviously, by the Council of Europe. However, their recommendations to that effect have not been taken into account by Estonia.
12. Proceeding from the above mentioned, and recalling the main provisions of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Assembly:
i. calls upon the Estonian authorities:
a. to take all necessary measures to bring the national legislation of Estonia into conformity with the principles and standards of the Council of Europe and international rules;
b. to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the Council of Europe, the Geneva Committee on Human Rights, the High Commissioner of the OSCE for national minorities, the Commissioner of the CBSS for democratic institutions and human rights, including the rights of minorities, and other democratic international institutions;
ii. suggests that the Estonian authorities:
a. make amendments to the effective laws and administrative acts with the aim of drastically speeding up the process of naturalisation of people residing in Estonia;
b. introduce changes in the law on elections to local government and the law on language in order to remove discrimination towards non-indigenous people on the basis of language and ethnic origin;
c. adopt the amendments required to the current legislation and administrative acts with a view to eliminating inequality between indigenous and non-indigenous populations in the social and economic field;
iii. instructs the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to prepare a report on Estonia's implementation of its commitments in the field of human rights.
Signed:
(see overleaf)
Signed:
Glotov, Russia, UEL
Averchev, Russia, SOC
Christodoulides, Cyprus, UEL
Filimonov, Russia, UEL
Lukin, Russia, LDR
Melnikov, Russia, UEL
Oleinik, Russia, UEL
Oorzhak, Russia, SOC
Prusak, Russia, EDG
Ryabov, Russia, -
Shishlov, Russi, LDR
Shuba, Russia, EPP
Symonenko, Ukraine, UEL
Ziuganov, Russia, UEL
* SOC : Socialist Group
EPP : Group of the European People's Party
EDG : European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group
UEL : Group of the Unified European Left