On the initiative of Belarus and Russia, violations of the rights of national minorities in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine were discussed in the margins of the Human Rights Council session

On 5 October 2021 the Permanent Missions of Belarus and Russia in Geneva organized an online event on the human rights of national minorities in the Baltic States and Ukraine as part of the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The discussion focused on problems related to the discriminatory state policies of these states, especially with regard to the Russian-speaking population.

The invited speakers, representing different research and analysis circles, elaborated on the problems faced by national minorities in their everyday lives. Thus, the participants of the event were presented with the facts that every third permanent resident of Latvia and every fourth permanent resident of Estonia is deprived of basic civil rights. Holders of the legal status of “non-citizen” cannot vote or run for office in municipal and national elections, hold public office, work as public servants, lawyers, notaries and others. Discriminatory approaches persist in pension, visa policy and other areas. The attention of the audience was drawn to the growth of radicalism in Ukraine, which encourages hatred and xenophobia towards national minorities, as well as people who consider Russian their native language. A number of laws recently adopted by the Ukrainian authorities are considered by experts to be discriminatory.

It was noted with regret by the participants that the problems in these countries are not sporadic but systemic in nature. In the Baltic States, they have been occurring for over 30 years and have only worsened over time. The participants also expressed concern that the response of the UN human rights mechanisms, including the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council and OHCHR, was not commensurate with the scale of the problems.

Suggestions were made for visits by the Special Procedures of the HRC to these countries, with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of national minorities as a matter of priority and without delay.

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