Civil rights situation of non-titular communities in Latvia

Written Declaration No. 257

Doc. 7855

26 June 1997

The undersigned, members of the Assembly,

1.Express their concern that despite the assurances of Latvian authorities of their readiness to correct the humanitarian situation and bring it in line with the recommendations of international experts (CE, OSCE) too little progress has been made in the improvement of the human rights situation of non-titular communities in Latvia;

2.Note that respect by the Latvian authorities for the human rights of the non-Latvian population remains unsatisfactory as the Latvian citizenship legislation does not provide for their status. Thus more than 700 000 permanent residents and more than 100 000 persons which were not recognised as residents have their political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights infringed upon. They are deprived of the right to elect and to be elected, they can not expect to have their share in state property, they are not allowed to buy land, they have only limited rights in term of privatisation, setting up joint-stock companies, employment in state bodies. According to Latvian human rights organisations, 68 legal provisions discriminating against non-citizens are still in force in Latvia;

3.Regret that Latvian laws on elections to central and local government bodies, on public service, on election campaigns, on languages, on foreigners' entry and stay, on police are aimed at creating an atmosphere that forces the Russian-speaking population to leave Latvia. More than 100 000 Russians have already left Latvia;

4.Consider as unacceptable the extremely slow progress of the naturalisation process which creates an inadmissible situation where hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of the Latvian Republic will remain apatride at least until the beginning of the XXIst century, which represents a violation of the Council of Europe Convention on Citizenship;

5.Believe that such a situation leads to regional instability and may have explosive consequences;

6.Urge the Latvian authorities to respect their commitments as a Council of Europe member with regard to human and national minorities rights and to fulfil CE and OSCE recommendations to redress the situation with regard to the civil rights of non-titular peoples in the Latvian Republic;

7.Consider it necessary to open a monitoring procedure with regard to fulfilment by Latvia of its commitments and obligations as a member state of the Council of Europe.

Signed: (1)

Glotov, Russia, UEL

Carvalho, Portugal, UEL

Christodoulides, Cyprus, UEL

Chyzh, Ukraine, UEL

Filimonov, Russia, UEL

Jirousova, Czech Republic, UEL

Marmazov, Ukraine, UEL

Melnikov, Russia, UEL

Oleinik, Russia, UEL

Oliynik, Ukraine, UEL

Rakhansky, Ukraine, UEL

Ryabov, Russia, UEL

Savitsky, Russia, UEL

Symonenko, Ukraine, UEL

Ulbashev, Russia, EPP

Vishnyakov, Russia, independent

Zhebrovsky, Russia, independent

__________________

Total = 17

Note: 1SOC : 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