Amnesty International Report 2008 - Estonia

Publisher	Amnesty International
Publication Date	28 May 2008
Cite as	Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2008 - Estonia, 28 May 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/483e278ac.html [accessed 7 June 2023]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA

Head of State: Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Head of government: Andrus Ansip
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Population: 1.3 million
Life expectancy: 71.2 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f): 13/9 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 99.8 per cent

Linguistic minorities continued to experience discrimination, particularly in employment, despite improved access to free Estonian language classes and the government's prioritization of socio-economic integration. Estonia's human rights record came under criticism from both the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Committee against Torture (CAT).

Minority rights

The country's linguistic minorities continued to experience discrimination, particularly in employment, affecting some 420,000 people or approximately 30 per cent of the population. In February, the legal status of the Language Inspectorate, a state agency charged with overseeing the implementation of the Language Law, was enhanced. As a result, people fined or reprimanded by the Language Inspectorate found it harder to challenge its practices in court. During the year the government presented its plans for an "Integration in Estonian Society 2008-2013" programme, charged with improving socio-economic integration through enhancing competitiveness and social mobility regardless of ethnicity or language. In June, the government adopted a decree stipulating that prisoners who participated in Estonian language training were to be paid EEK 1,080 (€69) per month.

In his Memorandum to the Estonian government on 11 July, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights recommended that "increased importance should be given to awareness-raising measures targeting non-citizens about the possibilities of learning the Estonian language and the benefits associated with it". The Commissioner highlighted that the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention on National Minorities and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance had expressed concern regarding discriminatory Estonian language proficiency requirements in employment. In several cases the Language Inspectorate imposed disproportionately heavy sanctions on people found not to have sufficient Estonian language skills.

Policing

In April, large-scale demonstrations were held against the removal of a Soviet-era World War II monument from central Tallinn. Most protesters were members of the Russian linguistic minority. There were several reports of peaceful protesters being beaten by police at various locations in Tallinn. There were also reports that peaceful demonstrators were ill-treated and insulted when arrested during the demonstrations.

Commenting on these disturbances, the CAT recommended that Estonia should promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all allegations of brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement personnel and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Detention conditions

In July, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe stated that the deplorable living conditions in prisons amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. These conditions included detainees being confined to cells 24 hours a day and being allowed to leave the cell only once a week to take a shower, sleeping on a thin mattress on a wooden platform on the floor and having limited access to fresh air and daylight. The Commissioner raised concerns that detainees at Tallinn prison complained that they did not have access to hot water and had to pay for their own toiletries.

The CAT expressed concern in its Concluding Observations on 22 November about prison conditions in Estonia, especially regarding access to adequate HIV medical care for detainees, and recommended that the Estonian authorities improve medical and health services in detention facilities.

Racism

In June, the European Union (EU) sent a formal request to Estonia to implement the EU Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC), which Estonia had still failed to do by the end of the year.