Amnesty International Annual Report 2011 - Lithuania
| Publisher | Amnesty International |
| Publication Date | 13 May 2011 |
| Cite as | Amnesty International, Amnesty International Annual Report 2011 - Lithuania, 13 May 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4dce15595f.html [accessed 5 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. |
Head of state: Dalia Grybauskaite
Head of government: Andrius Kubilius
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Population: 3.3 million
Life expectancy: 72.1 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f): 14/9 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 99.7 per cent
Legal provisions entered into force that discriminated against gay and lesbian people. A criminal investigation into complicity in the CIA-led rendition and secret detention programme was threatened with closure.
Counter-terror and security
In January, following the recommendation of a 2009 parliamentary inquiry, the Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into abuse of power by intelligence officials over the creation of secret detention sites used in the CIA-led rendition and secret detention programme. The inquiry report concluded that secret prisons had existed on Lithuanian territory.
In February, a UN study on secret detention practices confirmed that flights operating under the rendition programme had landed in Lithuania, some under the cover of CIA "dummy" flight plans.
In June, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture inspected the former CIA detention centres.
In November, concerns arose that the investigation by the Prosecutor's Office into secret detention sites would be closed prematurely.
Discrimination – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
In February, the authorities informed the Council of Europe that Lithuania did not plan to sign Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against discrimination in respect of all rights.
In March, amendments to the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information entered into force. The new law classifies any information which "denigrates family values", or which encourages a concept of marriage other than the union of a man and a woman, as detrimental to children and bans such information from public places accessible to minors.
The first Baltic Pride march to be held in Lithuania took place in Vilnius on 8 May, after attempts by certain authorities to ban it failed. In October, the parliament rejected a request by the Prosecutor's Office to lift the immunity of two of its members who had allegedly behaved violently during the march.
Adoption by the parliament of amendments to the Administrative Code, introducing fines for the "promotion of homosexual relations", was pending at the end of the year.
