Lithuania: Information on whether a person who refused to serve in the Soviet armed forces in 1990 would be penalized by Lithuania upon return
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1992 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LTU10571 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lithuania: Information on whether a person who refused to serve in the Soviet armed forces in 1990 would be penalized by Lithuania upon return, 1 March 1992, LTU10571, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab9e8.html [accessed 21 May 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. |
Radio Free Europe reported the following in an article in early 1991:
One of the first acts of the Lithuanian Supreme Council [elected in March 1990] was to pass a declaration stating that youths from Lithuania should not be subject to the Soviet draft and need not serve in the armed forces of a foreign country. The parliament issued a decree urging the cessation of the activities of local military commissariats, and the armed forces have been unable to secure the assistance of local governments in rounding up youths refusing to register for the draft (4 Jan. 1991, 53).
On 8 January 1991, a joint statement by the Supreme Councils of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia indicated that the Baltic States "would not help conscript their youths into the Soviet army, because to do so would be to contravene laws their parliaments had adopted" (RFE 18 Jan. 1991).
On 29 August 1991, The New York Times reported that the Soviet government had agreed "to stop conscripting Lithuanian youths and to release those now serving in the Soviet Army." This is corroborated by Radio Free Europe (6 Sept. 1991, 97).
There is no further information currently available to the IRBDC on this topic.
Bibliography
The New York Times. 29 August 1991. Kinzer, Stephen. "Soviet Turmoil: Lithuanians Free of Soviet Draft."
Radio Free Europe (RFE). 6 September 1991. Vol. 3, No. 36. Report on the USSR. "Weekly Record of Events."
. 18 January 1991. Vol. 3, No. 3. Report on the USSR. "Weekly Record of Events."
. 4 January 1991. Vol. 3, No. 1. Report on the USSR. Girnius, Saulius. "Lithuania: Struggle for Independence and Recognition."
