HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE STARTS CONSIDERATION OF SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF ESTONIA

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE STARTS CONSIDERATION OF SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF ESTONIA

Delegation Questioned about Legal Chancellor,

Discrimination against Women, Immigration Quotas

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 20 March (UN Information Service) -- The Human Rights Committee this afternoon began its consideration of the second periodic report of Estonia by questioning a Government delegation, among other things, about the position of the Legal Chancellor, efforts to protect women against discrimination, and immigration standards applicable in Estonia.

Introducing her country's report, Marina Kaljurand, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Estonia viewed the freedom of public information, a free media, and developments in information technology as creating additional guarantees for the promotion and protection of human rights in Estonia.  The office of the Legal Chancellor, who was accountable only to the Parliament, had also been created and endowed with the responsibility to protect human rights.

On the subject of political development, Ms. Kaljurand said that Estonia had implemented a policy to facilitate the inclusion of non-Estonians into Estonian society, whose cornerstone was the State programme "Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007".  Furthermore, following the 1999 parliamentary elections, the Parliament had removed Estonia's language proficiency requirement for voter eligibility. 

Also representing Estonia were Mai Hion, Director of the Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ingrid Kressel, Third Secretary of the Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Merike Kokajev, Director of the International Organizations and Regional Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ene Rebane, Deputy Director General of the Estonian Citizenship and Migration Board; Rein Rebane, Adviser to the Division of Enforcement of Penalty in the Department of Prisons of the Ministry of Justice; and Kirke Kraav, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Estonia.

Estonia is among the 150 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and as such it is obligated to submit reports on its performance aimed at implementing the provisions of the treaty.  It is also one of the 103 States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Friday, 21 March to continue it consideration of the report of Estonia.

Report of Estonia

The second periodic report, contained in document CCPR/C/EST/2002/2, contains an article-by-article account of the Government of Estonia's actions to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  Among other issues, the report addresses those areas of concern specifically addressed by the Committee in its concluding observations on the initial report of Estonia, such as the oath of conscience, which, until 31 December 2000, candidates to elected or appointed positions within state or local government bodies were required to take.  The report notes that this condition for appointment to certain positions is no longer applicable.

In reference to the Committee's concern over the imposition of the death penalty for crimes that cannot be qualified as the most serious crimes under Article 6 of the Covenant, the report states that, as a member State of the Council of Europe, Estonia had, in 1998, replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment as the most severe sanction for certain crimes.  Moreover, since 1991, no death penalties have been carried out in Estonia; the sentences of all persons on death row have been commuted to life imprisonment.

The report also says that in recent years, progress has been made in Estonian legislation concerning the compensation of damage to persons, which is regulated, among other legislation, by the Constitution, the General Principles of the Civil Code Act, the State Liability Act and the Surveillance Act.  The Government also passed the Emergency Situation Act and the State of Emergency Act to regulate in more detail the restriction of rights and freedoms during the state of war and state of emergency since the initial report.

Presentation of Report

Presenting her country's second periodic report to the Committee,
MARINA KALJURAND, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, said that with regard to the drafting process, the current report, which had been made public through the Web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had been sent to major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for information and comment.  Cooperation with civil society in the reporting process had developed significantly from previous experience.  As urged by one NGO, Estonia had translated the report, previously available only in English, into Estonian.

Reviewing progress made in building a society based on the rule of law and democratic values since Estonia's initial report, Ms. Kaljurand said that her country had adopted one of the most advanced laws in the world concerning the freedom of public information.  Together with Estonia's free media, this created additional guarantees for the promotion and protection of human rights in Estonia.  Estonia was also interested in the development of information technology, due to the belief that the integration of information technology into government structures constituted one way to better implement human rights for the promotion of democracy.

In the context of building civil society, she said that the Estonian Parliament had recently adopted the Estonian Civil Society Development Concept, which had created a firm basis for the cooperation of the public and non-profit sectors in supporting and promoting non-profit activities, thus increasing the social capital of Estonia and raising the efficiency and legitimacy of public policy. 

The protection of human rights, she said, was the responsibility of an independent official accountable only to the Parliament.  This Legal Chancellor also performed the function of ombudsman.  The competence of this office had been extended to include the right to resolve disputes concerning discrimination between individuals and the obligation to promote equal treatment and gender equality. 

Moreover, Estonia participated in international efforts to fight all forms of organized crime as a State party to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and a signatory of the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
Ms. Kaljurand said that in this context, a joint Nordic-Baltic Information Campaign on trafficking in women had been launched in 2001, based on the
Palermo Protocol.  Concrete steps to promote gender equality had also been taken in recent years including, among others, reconciling family and working life, the promotion of women's entrepreneurship and equal pay for equal work of equal value.

On the subject of political development, she said that Estonia had initiated a policy to facilitate the inclusion of non-Estonians into Estonian society, whose cornerstone was the State programme "Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007".  Furthermore, following the 1999 parliamentary elections, the Parliament had removed the language proficiency requirement. 

Finally, on the subject of prison reform, Ms. Kaljurand said that a new Imprisonment Act had been adopted.  In addition to improving conditions in prisons, the Act removed responsibility for the organization of health care and education from the prisons.

Response to Written Questions

Among others, the delegation responded to a written question addressing the functions of the office of Estonia's Legal Chancellor.  The Chancellor paid particular attention to accusations against the police, prosecutor's office, prisons, customs authorities, Border Guard Board, the Citizenship and Migration Board and other state agencies.  Moreover, the concerns of persons unable to sufficiently stand up for their own rights received special attention.  Irrespective of their nationality or other status, everyone in Estonia had the right to file a petition to the Legal Chancellor or his advisors.  Regional offices had been established in Parnu and Tartu.  The Legal Chancellor had also recently been given more extensive competence in guaranteeing the Constitutional rights and freedoms of persons.

On the subject of Estonian law and remedies available in cases of discrimination against women in employment, the delegation noted that a June 2001 amendment to the Wages Act stipulated the principle of non-discrimination.  Moreover, according to the Employment Contract Act, it was illegal to restrict the rights of employees or employers on the grounds of marital status, family obligations, membership in citizens' associations, or representation of the interests of employees or employers.  However, it was not contrary to the principle of non-discrimination to give preference based on pregnancy or the raising of children; take into account the gender of an employee in hiring or assigning duties if unavoidable due to the nature of the work or working conditions; allow a suitable working and rest time to satisfy the religious requirements of an employee; or require language skills necessary for the work and pay compensation for proficiency in languages.

In response to a question requesting further information on the trafficking in persons, the delegation said that the new Penal Code included –- in addition to traditional crimes such as physical abuse, torture, rape –- the provision of opportunity to engage in unlawful activities, pimping, unlawful deprivation of liberty and compelling a person to engage in sexual intercourse.  The Ministry of Internal Affairs was preparing a draft Witness Protection Act, which implemented a treaty between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on the protection of victims and witnesses.  Additionally, the Estonian Police had participated with Europol on the issue of illegal migration and human trafficking, as well as with the Gulf of Finland project focused on combating smuggling between Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

On the issue of whether the 14-day period of detention in hospitals for reasons of mental health without any necessity of a court authorization was compatible with the Covenant, a member of the delegation explained that according to the Estonian Mental Health Act, doctors should immediately inform persons of a decision to place that person in involuntary emergency psychiatric treatment.  The examination of persons submitted to involuntary treatment was carried out by two psychiatrists who must agree to the treatment.  Additionally, involuntary treatment of a person could continue for more than 14 days only with court authorization.

Discussion of Estonia's Responses

Praising the rapid development of Estonian legislation for the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant, as well as the empirical depth of the present report, members of the Committee posed additional, oral questions and suggestions to the delegation including, among others, that further work was needed on the issue of protection of women from discrimination.  Noting that Estonia's advances had been primarily based on the work of labour inspectors, it was suggested that the role of the courts should be expanded. 

It was also suggested that the question of equal pay for equal work of equal value should be revisited and that additional information on the advancement of women to high-level positions be provided.

In relation to Estonia's policy on the death penalty, the delegation was questioned on whether or not Estonia's policy on extradition took into account the possibility of the death penalty being applied in the receiving State.

Another member of the Committee questioned the motivation for the Estonian Parliament's decision to reject creating a position of Ombudsman separate from that of the Legal Chancellor.  He also requested a further breakdown of empirical data on the number of complaints and their contents submitted to the office of the Chancellor and queried the Committee on other aspects of the office such as the ability of non-Estonians to submit petitions to the office and the limits of the office's jurisdiction outside the government sphere. 

Additional questions about the office of the Legal Chancellor included requests for information on the size of the Chancellor's staff; whether the Chancellor, when reviewing legislation or judicial acts, had the power to take these matters to court if his advice was not accepted; and whether or not the Chancellor made an annual report and if it was public.

On the subject of overcrowding in prisons, a member of the Committee asked whether the State had a breakdown of the difference between the actual number of those held pre-trial and those held on actual convictions.  He also questioned the delegation as to the use of force and proportionality, urging that the use of guns, which was already considered a last resort, should not be used in the case of an escaping pickpocket, for example.

In relation to the declining population of Estonia, as reflected in its report, one member of Committee asked whether this was a function of the exclusion after 1989 of non-Estonians from national population counts.

In reference to the Estonian policy on mental health, members of the Committee questioned the practice of committing patients for 14 days without their consent, and even without their presence at the commitment hearing.  The question of whether or not these patients could request their own release was also posed and a review of the ethnic makeup of those incarcerated in this manner was also requested.

The Estonian delegation said it would respond to the oral questions tomorrow.

Further Response to Written Questions

Referring to a written question on immigration quotas, a member of the Estonian delegation explained that the aim of the quota was to balance demographic and migration processes and to protect the Estonian labour market.  A review of immigration patterns to Estonia from the European Union, the United States, Japan and Canada was not extensive.  Thus, no immigration quota was applied to these areas.  Other cases were reviewable upon an individual basis and the person's ethnic origin did not affect the outcome of the case.  In certain cases, immigration quotas had been found to be unconstitutional in instances of family reunification. 

Explaining Estonia's working definition of terms such as "safe third country", "safe country of origin" and "manifestly unfounded applications", the delegate said that these categories constituted grounds for the rejection of applications for asylum, as the applications falling within these countries did not present examples of genuine need.  In practice, neither "safe third country" nor "safe country of origin" had been used as the main grounds for rejection of an application.

Efforts had been made to reduce the number of stateless children in Estonia, a member of the delegation continued.  However, minors under 15 years of age born in Estonia after 26 February 1992 could acquire citizenship by naturalization only if his or her parents met the terms of and applied for Estonian citizenship as well.

Also addressing the issue of 47 members of the Roma community who were refused entry to Estonia, the delegation stressed that they had not been refused entry on the basis of their origin, but because they had been repeatedly punished for offences related to prohibited forms and locations of trading, for breach of public order and for disturbing the peace.  They had also not paid the fines imposed upon them.

On the question of judicial independence, a member of the delegation explained that the administration, training and supervisory control of courts was regulated by the Courts Act, which entered into effect on 29 July 2002.  The situation of administration of first and second instance courts had been changed dramatically with the adoption of this Act; they were now administered in cooperation between the Council for Administration of Courts and the Ministry of Justice.  The new Courts Act proceeded from the principle that the administration of courts should ensure the possibility for the independent administration of justice, working conditions necessary for the administration of justice, adequate training of court officers and the availability of the administration of justice.

On the issue of the use of the Russian language in areas where more than
50 per cent of the local population were Russian speakers, a delegate explained that at the local public administration level, another language could be used alongside Estonian (as long as the official working language was Estonian), upon approval by the Government of Estonia.  Two such requests had been refused on the grounds that they did not fulfil the requirement that Estonian be the internal working language. 

Estonian language training for non-Estonians had been included in the formal education system; in a school or class where instruction was not given in Estonian, Estonian language instruction was compulsory from the first year of study.  Additional options for Estonian language training outside the formal education system included educational programmes offered by the Integration Foundation and foreign aid programmes, the Phare Estonian Language Training Programme and language immersion programmes. 

In response to allegation of unfairness in the administration of Estonian language proficiency examinations, the delegation said that most complaints were from persons taking the higher-level examination several times and not passing.  The Minister of Education and Research had suggested amending the scoring rules to account for possible errors of assessment within the range of a few percentage points.  However, the Language Inspectorate had been addressed by two universities expressing the opinion that the passing threshold should be higher as many students who had successfully passed the medium-level proficiency exam had difficulties continuing their studies.

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