Human rights in Estonia
Encyclopedia
Human rights in Estonia are generally respected by the government, according to US Department of State. Estonia
is ranked above-average in democracy
, press freedom, privacy
and human development
. Individuals are guaranteed basic rights under the constitution
, legislative acts, and treaties relating to human rights
ratified by the Estonian government.
Several international and human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch
in 1993, the UN Human Rights Council and the OSCE, have found no evidence or pattern of systematic abuse of human rights or discrimination on ethnic grounds, while others, such as Amnesty International
in 2009, have raised concerns regarding Estonia's significant Russophone minority.
Current concerns include police use of force, the conditions in pre-trial detention
and the length of those detentions.
and Baltic German
rule, followed by two centuries of Russian imperial suzerainty and ending with half a century of Soviet occupation. Estonia's first constitution of 1920 included safeguards for civil and political rights that were the standard of the day. The 1925 Law on Cultural Autonomy was an innovative piece of legislation that provided for the protection of the collective rights for citizens of non-Estonian ethnicities.
has delivered 23 judgments in cases brought against Estonia (beginning from 2001); in 19 cases, it found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights or its protocols. In 2001, Estonia has extended a standing invitation to Special Procedures of UN Human Rights Council.
, linguistic minorities face discrimination in a number of areas, especially in employment
and education
. Migrants were exposed to harassment
by state officials and attacks by extremist groups. Criminal investigations into allegations of excessive use of force
by police were dismissed. Also Estonian security police, Kaitsepolitsei, made allegations against the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
(LICHR), which it claims is widely seen as an attempt to misrepresent the organization and to undermine its work.
report, 1993, the organisation did not find systematic, serious abuses of human rights in the area of citizenship. Non-citizens in Estonia were guaranteed basic rights under the Constitution of Estonia
. However there were some problems concerning the successful integration of some who were permanent residents at the time Estonia gained independence.
, Estonia has wide political rights and civil liberties
. Political parties
are allowed to organize freely and election
s have been free and fair. Public access to government information are respected and the country has a freedom of the press
, although a 2007 report discussed Estonia's Kaitsepolitsei security organs as the nation's political police. Also religious freedom is respected in law and in practice. Corruption
is regarded as a relatively minor problem in Estonia. The judiciary
is independent and generally free from government interference.
, Estonia generally respects the human rights of citizens and the large ethnic Russian noncitizen community. However there were problems with police
use of force, conditions in detention
and lengthy of pre-trial detention. Also there were problems in domestic violence
, inequality of women's salaries
, child abuse
, and trafficking
of women and children.
48th Session's Mission on the situation of human rights in Estonia and Latvia found no evidence of discrimination along ethnic or religious grounds. Also, the 2008 report of Special Rapporteur on racism to United Nations Human Rights Council
noted the existence of political will by the Estonian State authorities to fight the expressions of racism and discrimination in Estonia. According to the report, the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia saw the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based (Para. 56). The rapporteur expressed several recommendations including strengthening the Chancellor of Justice, facilitating granting citizenship to persons of undefined nationality and making language policy subject of a debate to elaborate strategies better reflecting the multilingual character of society (paras. 89-92).
. As usual the Committee in its 2010 concluding observations noted some positive aspects, as well as raised concerns and made recommendations with regard to Estonia's compliance with the convention.
, the European Network of Excellence organized by a group of 45 universities publication the alleged violations of human rights of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia has served as a pretext of trying to lock the region within the sphere of influence
of Russia
. Moscow's attempts to take political advantage over the issue of the Russophone minority in Estonia have been successful as Kremlin has used every international forum where the claims of the violations of human rights in Estonia have been presented.
The United Nations Development Programme
's forum Development and Transition has discussed the situation of Estonia and Latvia in 2005. James Hughes wrote an article, where he accused Latvia and Estonia to employ a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective Russophone
populations. Nils Muiznieks responded, "Hughes provides simple conclusions about the complex realities of minority policies and inter-ethnic relations in Estonia and Latvia".
Both the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Estonia and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities declared in 1993 that they could not find a pattern of human rights violations or abuses in Estonia.
Fundamental Rights Agency, 59% of those questioned perceived that ethnic discrimination was very or fairly widespread in the country. 27% believed they had experienced discrimination based on their ethnic origin in the past 5 years, including 17% during the past 12 months (compared to 4–5% in Lithuania and Latvia.) Alleged discrimination at workplace is claimed to be widespread, with 72% of ethnic Russians believing that a different ethnic background would be hindering to advancement. 39% believed they had experienced discrimination during the past 5 years when looking for work, including 16% during the past 12 months—the highest rate in all the countries surveyed. 10% confirmed that they avoid certain places, such as shops or cafés because they believed they would receive bad treatment due to their ethnic background.
Amnesty International has criticized the alleged discrimination and called for the Estonian government to take action.
The European Centre for Minority Issues
has examined Estonia's treatment of its Russophone minority. In its conclusion, the centre stated that all international organisations agree that no forms of systematic discrimination towards the Russian-speaking population can be observed and praises the efforts made thus far in amendments to laws on education, language and the status of non-citizens, there nevertheless remains the issue of the large number of such non-citizens. As of September 2, 2009, 102,466, or 7.5% of Estonia's population remain non-citizens, dropping from 32% in 1992 and 12% in 2003. In November 2005 a survey was conducted among residents with undetermined citizenship. The results show that 61% of those residents wanted Estonian citizenship, 13% Russian citizenship and 6% citizenship of another country. 17% of the respondents were not interested in acquiring any citizenship at all. It was found that the older the respondent, the more likely he or she doesn't want to have any citizenship. The survey also showed that respondents who were born in Estonia were more likely to wish to get Estonian citizenship (73%), than those not born in Estonia (less than 50%).
has claimed that "the Roma community in Estonia is still disproportionately affected by unemployment and discrimination in the field of education." The European Commission had previously conducted close monitoring of Estonia in 2000 and concluded that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
incident. There was a concern expressed about possible human right violations perpetrated by both demonstrators and police. During the April 2007 riots in Tallinn, some police allegedly used excessive force against demonstrators. Eight criminal cases opened against officers, where charges were dropped in six, and two were pending at year’s end. The International Federation of Human Rights
(FIDH)–a coalition of 155 human rights groups– urged the Estonian authorities to investigate all acts of human rights violations during the night. The organisation called upon the Estonian authorities to "put an end to any practice of discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority, which constitutes about 30% of the Estonian population, and to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination." FIDH and LHRC also condemned acts of vandalism perpetrated by demonstrators in Tallinn, as well as the blockade of the Estonian embassy in Moscow.
A 2005 study by European Network Against Racism
found that 17.1% of ethnic non-Estonians claimed that they had experienced limitations to their rights or degrading treatment in the workplace durin the last 3 years because of their ethnic origin.
Amnesty had noted in a 2006 report that members of the Russian-speaking
minority in Estonia enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system. The discriminating policies of Estonia have led to "disproportionately high levels of unemployment among the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. This in turn has further contributed to social exclusion and vulnerability to other human rights abuses. In consequence, many from this group are effectively impeded from the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights)." However, a December 2006 editorial
originally published in The Economist
and reprinted in the European Voice
and else where regards the Amnesty International report as "a bad piece of work" which is both ahistorical and unbalanced, and criticized the organization's use of limited resources as bizarre when there are real human rights abuses in Belarus and Russia.
Charles Kroncke and Kenneth Smith in a 1999 article published in the journal Economics of Transition argue that while there was no ethnicity based discrimination in 1989, the situation in 1994 was completely different. According to the article, there is substantial evidence of discrimination against ethnic Russians in the 1994 Estonian labour market. The evidence examined in the article also suggested that Estonian language ability does not significantly affect wages. Kroncke and Smith also point out the surprising fact, that Estonian-born ethnic Russians appear to fare worse than immigrant ethnic Russians. A later study by Kristian Leping and Ott Toomet published in 2008 in the Journal of Comparative Economics reports that a lack of fluency in the Estonian language and segregated social networks and school system, rather than ethnicity, as the prime reason for the apparent wage gap between Estonian and non-Estonian speakers.
According to schedule, 60% of all subjects of grades 10, 11 and 12 are to be taught in Estonian language
by 2011 in all state-funded schools. All state-funded schools already teach Estonian literature
in Estonian by the 2007/2008 academic year. The government has been reserved authority to grant waivers and extensions to some state-funded schools on a case-by-case basis.
In the 2007/2008 academic year, 49 Russian schools (79%) were teaching Music in Estonian, 30 Russian schools (48%) were teaching Social Studies in Estonian and 17 Russian schools (27%) taught both transition subjects in Estonian.
Amnesty International has recommended that the authorities provide more support for teachers and adequate resources for students who will be required to replace Russian with Estonian as their language of teaching and instruction; replacing Russian with Estonian as their learning language to successfully manage this transition.
has said that Estonia has taken clear steps to protect children from exploitaiton, although the human rights expert has commented that "young people remain at risk and continued vigilance from authorities is needed."
, was legalised in Estonia
in 1992. The age of consent
is 14 years and was equalized for both homosexual and heterosexual sex in 2001. Homosexuals are not banned from military service and there are no laws discriminating homosexuals.
Estonia transposed an EU directive into its own laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment from May 1, 2004. A survey carried out in September 2002 found that there was a high level of discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Estonia.
, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia. She contends that the alleged level of discrimination regarding ethnic Russians in Estonia would have posed a barrier to acceptance into the EU; however, Western media gave the matter very little attention. However the European Commission conducted close monitoring of these countries compliance with the Acquis communautaire in regard to minority rights prior to accession to the EU, the Commission claimed that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad
, Hans Glaubitz, a former ambassador of the Netherlands
to Estonia, mentioned that he resigned due to the homophobia
and racism
once they could not "cope with gay hatred and racism on the Estonian streets."
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
is ranked above-average in democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, press freedom, privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
and human development
Human development (humanity)
Human development in the scope of humanity, specifically international development, is an international and economic development paradigm that is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. People are the real wealth of nations...
. Individuals are guaranteed basic rights under the constitution
Constitution of Estonia
The Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. It was adopted in a freely elected Estonian Constituent Assembly on 15 June 1920 and came into force on...
, legislative acts, and treaties relating to human rights
International human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
ratified by the Estonian government.
Several international and human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
in 1993, the UN Human Rights Council and the OSCE, have found no evidence or pattern of systematic abuse of human rights or discrimination on ethnic grounds, while others, such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
in 2009, have raised concerns regarding Estonia's significant Russophone minority.
Current concerns include police use of force, the conditions in pre-trial detention
Detention (imprisonment)
Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
and the length of those detentions.
History
Estonians' individual human rights and collective rights to exist as an ethnic entity, have been routinely violated for eight centuries since the Northern CrusadesNorthern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were crusades undertaken by the Christian kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian and Teutonic military orders, and their allies against the pagan peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...
and Baltic German
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
rule, followed by two centuries of Russian imperial suzerainty and ending with half a century of Soviet occupation. Estonia's first constitution of 1920 included safeguards for civil and political rights that were the standard of the day. The 1925 Law on Cultural Autonomy was an innovative piece of legislation that provided for the protection of the collective rights for citizens of non-Estonian ethnicities.
Estonia in the international human rights system
As of end of 2010, European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
has delivered 23 judgments in cases brought against Estonia (beginning from 2001); in 19 cases, it found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights or its protocols. In 2001, Estonia has extended a standing invitation to Special Procedures of UN Human Rights Council.
Participation in basic human rights treaties
| UN core treaties | Participation of Estonia | CoE core treaties | Participation of Estonia |
| Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is a United Nations convention. A second-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races... |
Accession in 1991 | European Convention on Human Rights European Convention on Human Rights The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953... |
Ratified in 1996 |
| International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976... |
Accession in 1991 | Protocol 1 (ECHR) | Ratified in 1996 |
| First Optional Protocol First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is an international treaty establishing an individual complaint mechanism for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and entered... (ICCPR) |
Accession in 1991 | Protocol 4 (ECHR) | Ratified in 1996 |
| Second Optional Protocol Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty is a side agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 December 1989, and entered into force on 11 July 1991. As of... (ICCPR) |
Accession in 2004 | Protocol 6 (ECHR) | Ratified in 1998 |
| International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976... |
Accession in 1991 | Protocol 7 (ECHR) | Ratified in 1996 |
| Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women is an international convention adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly.... |
Accession in 1991 | Protocol 12 (ECHR) | Signed in 2000 |
| Optional Protocol Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is an international treaty which establishes complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women... (CEDAW) |
Not signed | Protocol 13 (ECHR) | Ratified in 2004 |
| United Nations Convention Against Torture United Nations Convention Against Torture The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is an international human rights instrument, under the review of the United Nations, that aims to prevent torture around the world.... |
Accession in 1991 | European Social Charter European Social Charter The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty which was adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996. The Revised Charter came into force in 1999 and is gradually replacing the initial 1961 treaty... |
Not signed |
| Optional Protocol (CAT) | Ratified in 2006 | Additional Protocol of 1988 (ESC) | Not signed |
| Convention on the Rights of the Child Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children... |
Accession in 1991 | Additional Protocol of 1995 (ESC) | Not signed |
| Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Annex I of a resolution on 25 May 2000.The protocol came into force on 12 February 2002.... (CRC) |
Signed in 2003 | Revised European Social Charter | Ratified in 2000 |
| Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC-OP-SC) | Ratified in 2004 | European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the member states of the Council of Europe, meeting at Strasbourg on 26 November 1987. It was subsequently amended by two Protocols that entered into force on 1 March 2002... |
Ratified in 1996 |
| Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families | Not signed | European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a European treaty adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe... |
Not signed |
| Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities... |
Signed in 2007 | Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed on February 1995 by 22 member States of the Council of Europe .... |
Ratified in 1997 |
| Optional Protocol Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a side-agreement to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was adopted on 13 December 2006, and entered into force at the same time as its parent Convention on 3 May 2008... (CRPD) |
Not signed | Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings The Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is a regional human rights treaty of the international human rights law by the Council of Europe... |
Not signed |
Latest documents in reporting procedures
| Experts' body | State report | Experts' body's document |
| Human Rights Committee | 2008 | 2010 |
| Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | 20012008 | 2002; pending |
| Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination | 2009 | 2010 |
| Committee Against Torture | 2005 | 2007. |
| Committee on the Rights of the Child | 2001. | 2003 |
| Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women | 2005 | 2007 |
| European Committee on Social Rights | 2010 2011 | 2010; pending |
| Committee for the Prevention of Torture | not foreseen | 2007 |
| FCNM Advisory Committee | 2004, 2010 | 2005; 2011 (restricted, as at November 2011). |
| European Commission against Racism and Intolerance | not foreseen | 2010 |
Amnesty International
According to Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, linguistic minorities face discrimination in a number of areas, especially in employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. Migrants were exposed to harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
by state officials and attacks by extremist groups. Criminal investigations into allegations of excessive use of force
Use of force
The term use of force describes a right of an individual or authority to settle conflicts or prevent certain actions by applying measures to either: a) dissuade another party from a particular course of action, or b) physically intervene to stop them...
by police were dismissed. Also Estonian security police, Kaitsepolitsei, made allegations against the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights is a non-governmental organisation based in Estonia. It participates at the EU FRA's Fundamental Rights Platform and is FRA's RAXEN focus group for Estonia, AEDH and ENAR as well as supports UNITED network....
(LICHR), which it claims is widely seen as an attempt to misrepresent the organization and to undermine its work.
Human Rights Watch
According to Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
report, 1993, the organisation did not find systematic, serious abuses of human rights in the area of citizenship. Non-citizens in Estonia were guaranteed basic rights under the Constitution of Estonia
Constitution of Estonia
The Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. It was adopted in a freely elected Estonian Constituent Assembly on 15 June 1920 and came into force on...
. However there were some problems concerning the successful integration of some who were permanent residents at the time Estonia gained independence.
Freedom House
According to Freedom HouseFreedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
, Estonia has wide political rights and civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
. Political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
are allowed to organize freely and election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s have been free and fair. Public access to government information are respected and the country has a freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
, although a 2007 report discussed Estonia's Kaitsepolitsei security organs as the nation's political police. Also religious freedom is respected in law and in practice. Corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
is regarded as a relatively minor problem in Estonia. The judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
is independent and generally free from government interference.
United States Department of State
According to Human Right Report of United States Department of StateUnited States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Estonia generally respects the human rights of citizens and the large ethnic Russian noncitizen community. However there were problems with police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
use of force, conditions in detention
Detention (imprisonment)
Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
and lengthy of pre-trial detention. Also there were problems in domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, inequality of women's salaries
Women in the workforce
Until modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...
, child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
of women and children.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The 1993 United Nations Human Rights CouncilUnited Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
48th Session's Mission on the situation of human rights in Estonia and Latvia found no evidence of discrimination along ethnic or religious grounds. Also, the 2008 report of Special Rapporteur on racism to United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
noted the existence of political will by the Estonian State authorities to fight the expressions of racism and discrimination in Estonia. According to the report, the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia saw the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based (Para. 56). The rapporteur expressed several recommendations including strengthening the Chancellor of Justice, facilitating granting citizenship to persons of undefined nationality and making language policy subject of a debate to elaborate strategies better reflecting the multilingual character of society (paras. 89-92).
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) examines regular reports of the member States on how the rights are being implemented under Article 9 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial DiscriminationConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is a United Nations convention. A second-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races...
. As usual the Committee in its 2010 concluding observations noted some positive aspects, as well as raised concerns and made recommendations with regard to Estonia's compliance with the convention.
Other institutions
According to CliohresCliohres
The European History Network has run a number of projects under the banner CLIOH since 1988, including CLIOH, CLIOHnet and CLIOHnet2. CLIOHRES and CLIOH-WORLD are currently in operation. It was initially founded as the ECTS History Network, a pilot project of the ECTS.-CLIOH-WORLD: is an...
, the European Network of Excellence organized by a group of 45 universities publication the alleged violations of human rights of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia has served as a pretext of trying to lock the region within the sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Moscow's attempts to take political advantage over the issue of the Russophone minority in Estonia have been successful as Kremlin has used every international forum where the claims of the violations of human rights in Estonia have been presented.
The United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to...
's forum Development and Transition has discussed the situation of Estonia and Latvia in 2005. James Hughes wrote an article, where he accused Latvia and Estonia to employ a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective Russophone
Russophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
populations. Nils Muiznieks responded, "Hughes provides simple conclusions about the complex realities of minority policies and inter-ethnic relations in Estonia and Latvia".
Both the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Estonia and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities declared in 1993 that they could not find a pattern of human rights violations or abuses in Estonia.
Alleged discrimination against ethnic Russians
According to a survey of 500 ethnic Russians conducted by the EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Fundamental Rights Agency, 59% of those questioned perceived that ethnic discrimination was very or fairly widespread in the country. 27% believed they had experienced discrimination based on their ethnic origin in the past 5 years, including 17% during the past 12 months (compared to 4–5% in Lithuania and Latvia.) Alleged discrimination at workplace is claimed to be widespread, with 72% of ethnic Russians believing that a different ethnic background would be hindering to advancement. 39% believed they had experienced discrimination during the past 5 years when looking for work, including 16% during the past 12 months—the highest rate in all the countries surveyed. 10% confirmed that they avoid certain places, such as shops or cafés because they believed they would receive bad treatment due to their ethnic background.
Amnesty International has criticized the alleged discrimination and called for the Estonian government to take action.
The European Centre for Minority Issues
European Centre for Minority Issues
The European Centre for Minority Issues is a research institute based in Flensburg, Germany, that conducts research into minority-majority relations in Europe. ECMI is a non-partisan and interdisciplinary institution...
has examined Estonia's treatment of its Russophone minority. In its conclusion, the centre stated that all international organisations agree that no forms of systematic discrimination towards the Russian-speaking population can be observed and praises the efforts made thus far in amendments to laws on education, language and the status of non-citizens, there nevertheless remains the issue of the large number of such non-citizens. As of September 2, 2009, 102,466, or 7.5% of Estonia's population remain non-citizens, dropping from 32% in 1992 and 12% in 2003. In November 2005 a survey was conducted among residents with undetermined citizenship. The results show that 61% of those residents wanted Estonian citizenship, 13% Russian citizenship and 6% citizenship of another country. 17% of the respondents were not interested in acquiring any citizenship at all. It was found that the older the respondent, the more likely he or she doesn't want to have any citizenship. The survey also showed that respondents who were born in Estonia were more likely to wish to get Estonian citizenship (73%), than those not born in Estonia (less than 50%).
Treatment of Roma
The Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
has claimed that "the Roma community in Estonia is still disproportionately affected by unemployment and discrimination in the field of education." The European Commission had previously conducted close monitoring of Estonia in 2000 and concluded that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
Bronze Night incident
A number of organisations have commented on the events surrounding the Bronze NightBronze Night
The Bronze Night , also known as the April Unrest and April Events refer to the controversy and riots in Estonia surrounding the 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, the Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn....
incident. There was a concern expressed about possible human right violations perpetrated by both demonstrators and police. During the April 2007 riots in Tallinn, some police allegedly used excessive force against demonstrators. Eight criminal cases opened against officers, where charges were dropped in six, and two were pending at year’s end. The International Federation of Human Rights
International Federation of Human Rights
The International Federation for Human Rights is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the oldest international human rights organisation worldwide and today brings together 164 member organisations in over 100 countries.FIDH is nonpartisan,...
(FIDH)–a coalition of 155 human rights groups– urged the Estonian authorities to investigate all acts of human rights violations during the night. The organisation called upon the Estonian authorities to "put an end to any practice of discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority, which constitutes about 30% of the Estonian population, and to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination." FIDH and LHRC also condemned acts of vandalism perpetrated by demonstrators in Tallinn, as well as the blockade of the Estonian embassy in Moscow.
Job discrimination
72% of 500 questioned ethnic Russians believed that different ethnic background is hindering to workplace advancement. Russian government officials and parliamentarians echo these charges in a variety of forums. Such claims have become more frequent during times of political disagreements between Russia and these countries and waned when the disagreements have been resolved.A 2005 study by European Network Against Racism
European Network Against Racism
The European Network Against Racism is a coalition of over 600 EU NGOs working to promote equality of treatment within the member states...
found that 17.1% of ethnic non-Estonians claimed that they had experienced limitations to their rights or degrading treatment in the workplace durin the last 3 years because of their ethnic origin.
Amnesty had noted in a 2006 report that members of the Russian-speaking
Russophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
minority in Estonia enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system. The discriminating policies of Estonia have led to "disproportionately high levels of unemployment among the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. This in turn has further contributed to social exclusion and vulnerability to other human rights abuses. In consequence, many from this group are effectively impeded from the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights)." However, a December 2006 editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
originally published in The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
and reprinted in the European Voice
European Voice
European Voice is an English language newspaper owned by The Economist Group. The newspaper gives an account of the activities of the key European Union institutions – the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers...
and else where regards the Amnesty International report as "a bad piece of work" which is both ahistorical and unbalanced, and criticized the organization's use of limited resources as bizarre when there are real human rights abuses in Belarus and Russia.
Charles Kroncke and Kenneth Smith in a 1999 article published in the journal Economics of Transition argue that while there was no ethnicity based discrimination in 1989, the situation in 1994 was completely different. According to the article, there is substantial evidence of discrimination against ethnic Russians in the 1994 Estonian labour market. The evidence examined in the article also suggested that Estonian language ability does not significantly affect wages. Kroncke and Smith also point out the surprising fact, that Estonian-born ethnic Russians appear to fare worse than immigrant ethnic Russians. A later study by Kristian Leping and Ott Toomet published in 2008 in the Journal of Comparative Economics reports that a lack of fluency in the Estonian language and segregated social networks and school system, rather than ethnicity, as the prime reason for the apparent wage gap between Estonian and non-Estonian speakers.
Education
Since restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia has been funding Russian-language elementary, comprehensive and high schools alongside Estonian-language schools, with future reform planned since late 1990s but repeatedly delayed. The reform plan was commenced in 2007.According to schedule, 60% of all subjects of grades 10, 11 and 12 are to be taught in Estonian language
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
by 2011 in all state-funded schools. All state-funded schools already teach Estonian literature
Estonian literature
Estonian literature refers to literature written in the Estonian language The domination of Estonia after the Northern Crusades, from the 13th century to 1918 by Germany, Sweden, and Russia resulted few early written literary works in Estonian language. The oldest records of written Estonian...
in Estonian by the 2007/2008 academic year. The government has been reserved authority to grant waivers and extensions to some state-funded schools on a case-by-case basis.
In the 2007/2008 academic year, 49 Russian schools (79%) were teaching Music in Estonian, 30 Russian schools (48%) were teaching Social Studies in Estonian and 17 Russian schools (27%) taught both transition subjects in Estonian.
Amnesty International has recommended that the authorities provide more support for teachers and adequate resources for students who will be required to replace Russian with Estonian as their language of teaching and instruction; replacing Russian with Estonian as their learning language to successfully manage this transition.
Exploitation of children
Independent Special Rapporteur Najat M'jid Maala of the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has said that Estonia has taken clear steps to protect children from exploitaiton, although the human rights expert has commented that "young people remain at risk and continued vigilance from authorities is needed."
Sexual orientation
Homosexual sex, which was illegal in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, was legalised in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
in 1992. The age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
is 14 years and was equalized for both homosexual and heterosexual sex in 2001. Homosexuals are not banned from military service and there are no laws discriminating homosexuals.
Estonia transposed an EU directive into its own laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment from May 1, 2004. A survey carried out in September 2002 found that there was a high level of discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Estonia.
Journalists
According to veteran German author, journalist and Russia-correspondent Gabriele Krone-SchmalzGabriele Krone-Schmalz
Gabriele Krone-Schmalz is a German broadcast journalist and author.- Biography :With an academic background in Eastern European history, political science, and Slavic studies, Krone-Schmalz holds a doctorate in history and political science...
, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia. She contends that the alleged level of discrimination regarding ethnic Russians in Estonia would have posed a barrier to acceptance into the EU; however, Western media gave the matter very little attention. However the European Commission conducted close monitoring of these countries compliance with the Acquis communautaire in regard to minority rights prior to accession to the EU, the Commission claimed that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. The newspaper was created on October 1, 1970, from merger of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and Algemeen Handelsblad . In 2006 a morning newspaper, nrc•next, was launched...
, Hans Glaubitz, a former ambassador of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to Estonia, mentioned that he resigned due to the homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
once they could not "cope with gay hatred and racism on the Estonian streets."
International rankings
- Democracy IndexDemocracy IndexThe Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that claims to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states...
, 2008: 37 out of 167 - Worldwide Press Freedom Index, 2008: 4 out of 173.
- Internet freedom, 2011: 1 out of 37
- Worldwide Privacy Index, 2007: 13 out of 37.
- Worldwide Quality-of-life Index, 2005: 68 out of 111.
- Human Development Index, 2010: 34 out of 169.
- Freedom in the World, 2008: Political rights score: 1 and Civil libertiesCivil libertiesCivil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
score: 1 (1 being most free, 7 least free). - Global Corruption ReportGlobal Corruption ReportThe Global Corruption Report is an annual report, covering the period from July to June, which provides analysis on the level of corruption across several nations of the world. The report is produced by Transparency International and in 2007 is in its sixth year of publication. It began in 2001...
, 2007: 24 out of 163.
See also
- Estonian nationality lawEstonian nationality lawEstonian citizenship - based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis - is governed by the 19th January 1995 law promulgated by the Riigikogu which took effect on the 1st April 1995...
- Human trafficking in Estonia
- LGBT rights in Estonia
- History of Russians in EstoniaHistory of Russians in EstoniaThe population of Russians in Estonia is estimated at 345,000. Most Russians live in Estonia's capital city Tallinn and the major northeastern cities of Narva and Kohtla-Järve...
Further reading
- European Commission against Racism and IntoleranceEuropean Commission against Racism and IntoleranceEuropean Commission against Racism and Intolerance is the Council of Europe’s independent human rights monitoring body specialised in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance. It consists of 47 experts, one from every CoE member state. ECRI publishes...
. ECRI Report on Estonia. Fourth monitoring cycle. 2010-03-02.
External links
- Intergovernmental organizations
- Human rights in Estonia on OHCHR portal
- 2004 report and 2007 memorandum by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human RightsCommissioner for Human RightsThe Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, mandated to promote the awareness of and respect for human rights in member states...
- International NGOs
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
2010 report's section on Estonia
- Amnesty International
- Governmental organizations
- Local NGOs