UN recommendations to Latvia are unacceptable

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while submitting a report to the Cabinet of Ministers “On the Review of the Human Rights Report of the Republic of Latvia in the 3rd Cycle of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review”, has diplomatically kept quiet that Latvia is actually accused of serious human rights violations in the latest UN report.

A country of xenophobia and racism. In which women are discriminated against and subjected to systematic violence, where people with disabilities are denied access to medical care, where children in rural areas do not go to school and adults are held in slavery. Where minorities are deprived of the right to preserve their identity. This country is not Afghanistan, Somalia or North Korea. This country is Latvia.

Summary of the slander

From the compilation of information prepared by UN committees and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, it follows that barbaric savage laws prevail in Latvia, that human rights have zero value in our country. Concerns have been expressed in almost all areas of human life and in all groups of society. A compilation of information from UN institutions, including slander based on rumors and unknown sources, can be read HERE.

Here are some examples:

34. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed concern about the critical unavailability, inadequacy and inaccessibility of general health services for all persons with disabilities throughout the country.

35. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted in particular the limited access of women to basic health services, including sexual and reproductive health services

63. Refugees told UNHCR that they had experienced xenophobia and related intolerance, and that the negative attitude towards foreigners were additional key factors hampering their socioeconomic inclusion.

The document also mentions discrimination against minorities, and paragraph 37 recommends that Latvia remove unjustified restrictions on access to education in minority languages.

Again asking for bilingualism in schools

The UN demand to restore Soviet-era bilingualism in Latvian education caused a scandal in the spring. Such a recommendation was made by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its final conclusions on Latvia's development over a ten-year period. Three organizations had complained to it about alleged discrimination against Russians in Latvia: МФПЧ Латвийский комитет по правам человека, Межрегиональное общественное движение "За демократию и права человека" and Информационная группа по преступлениям против личности. And then, based on the questionable information of such questionable organizations, people from other UN member states who have no idea about Latvia's historical reality give advice that the Latvian state, as a member of the organization, must respect.

When preparing information summaries, UN bodies also use official information of state institutions, but prefer information from various non-governmental organizations, unverified data sources, and also refer to rumors given by persons from Latvia or, for example, a neighboring country hostile to Latvia. And the goal of these people is clearly to slander and discredit Latvia. Why? It might be good for some law enforcement agencies to investigate this.

Latvia is not Afghanistan or Somalia

The collection of UN information on the human rights situation in Latvia in the period from 2016 to 2020 is extremely critical, and Latvia had to present its national review report against this background in May. Which, on the contrary, is objective and optimistic, which more precisely corresponds to Latvia's characteristics and participation in the community of developed European countries.

Latvia cannot be compared to war- and drug-torn Afghanistan, where women are forbidden to take off their headwear and come out in the light of day, Somalia, where the number of people killed is in the millions, or North Korea, where everyone is under total state control.

And they are also members of the UN!

The Latvian report was prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, involving other state institutions and consulting with civil society. It heralds the significant progress that Latvia has made in strengthening civil society and the growing sense of belonging to the state for national minorities. Gender equality, as evidenced, for example, by the highest proportion of women in the army among NATO countries. The report also describes Latvia's progress in combating all forms of discrimination and trafficking of people, including changing the laws. The Latvian report can be read HERE.

258 recommendations received

Of course, critical information raises more questions than positive, and Latvia was thoroughly interrogated on the carpet of UN member states. 87 UN member states participated in the discussion on the Latvian report, and Latvia received a total of 258 recommendations. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls for the recommendations to be looked at from the bright side:

"The member states commended what has been accomplished in the field of gender equality, societal integration and prevention of discrimination. Special mention was made of the adoption of Latvia’s first National Action Plan on the Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Latvia for 2020-2025. The member states also welcomed the adoption in 2019 of the Law on the Discontinuation of Non-Citizen Status for Children stipulating that, as of 1 January 2020, all children born to non-citizen families in Latvia are automatically granted Latvian citizenship." The report to the government summarizes the issues addressed in the recommendations: "The member states recommended that Latvia consider accession to several important international human rights protection instruments, including ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence." It should be recalled that this is the same scandalous Istanbul Convention lobbied by the LGBT community, but rejected by the majority of people in many countries.

Wage gap must be eliminated

It is also recommended that Latvia “go ahead with combating domestic violence, violence against women and children, hate crime and all types of discrimination. In addition, the member states underlined the improvements needed to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities including their access to education, and prevention of trafficking in persons. It is essential to continue promoting gender equality and reducing the gender pay gap." The accusation about wages is true, because, according to the Central Statistical Bureau, women in Latvia earn on average 22.3% less than men. In countless UN member states, this gap is much wider, and in many countries women generally have very limited rights to work. Especially in Muslim countries. However, the 22.3% difference is still an injustice that needs to be addressed. Especially because Latvia is one of the few places in the world where the state does not restrict a woman's choice of profession in any way.

The government took note of all this and asked for its views on the UN recommendations - which ones it strongly supports and which ones not so much - to be translated into English and sent to the UN by Monday.

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