RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

Human rights in Latvia are generally respected by the government, according to the US Department of State and Freedom House.

Latvia is ranked above-average among the world’s sovereign states in democracy, press freedom, privacy and human development. The country has a large ethnic Russian community, which has basic rights guaranteed under the constitution and international human rights laws ratified by the Latvian government.

However, human rights organisations have reported multiple problems. Especially non-citizens – including stateless persons – suffer from limited or no access to a broad range of rights. Also there were problems with police abuse of detainees and arrestees, poor prison conditions and overcrowding, judicial corruption, discrimination against women, incidents of violence against ethnic minorities, and societal violence and incidents of government discrimination against homosexuals.

The Right to Life

Ø  Section 93 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 6 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Article 2 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

European Court of Human Rights has stipulated that Article 2 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms that guarantees the individuals’ right to life and determines the conditions under which deprival of life can be justified constitutes one of the key clauses in the European Convention for Human Rights, and that deviation from that clause is impermissible. In correlation with Article 3 of the Convention it presents an essential fundamental value of a democratic society. On the basis thereof, any grounds justifying deprival of life are subject to possibly narrow interpretation.

Obligation of the State to protect the life of each and every citizen is composed of three parts:

The duty to take the steps required in the given circumstances to prevent unjustified loss of life;

The duty to investigate suspicious death;

The duty of its representatives to abstain from deprival of life incommensurate with the law.

Deprivation of life of a lawfully detained individual can take place in different circumstances, such as deprivation of life during interrogation, suicide by detained person as a result of threat; bodily injuries incommensurate with life.

The Right to Liberty and Security

Section 94 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia
Article 9 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Article 5 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

The right of individual to liberty in the wider sense includes, for example, freedom to select movement of an individual, and security includes freedom from interference with the personal integrity of individual on part of the State or other subjects.

The right to liberty and personal security inviolability is not absolute; it is subject to restriction in the manner and amount prescribed by law. In Latvia, for example, it is regulated by the procedure prescribed in the Administrative Offence Code, Criminal Procedure Law and other regulatory acts.

Guaranty of liberty of an individual as stipulated in Article 5 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights includes the right of individual to physical movement. The above-stated articles, however, guarantee liberty from placement of an individual into detention facilities of different kinds, rather than freedom of movement in general.

Deprival of liberty is only justified in the cases and manner prescribed by law, and deprival of liberty is subject to the statutory procedure and other regulations. It has to be grounded, and it may not be arbitrary. The right to liberty also includes the stipulation that no individual may be kept in prison without judicial sentence, without appropriate substantiation. The State has positive duty to take all efforts to ensure that an individual is subject to trial within reasonable limits of time.

Torture and Cruel Treatment

Section 95 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Articles 7, 10 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsUN Standard Minimum Rules of 1957 for Treatment of Prisoners
Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

International and national regulatory acts prohibit cruel treatment and torture. The said prohibition is absolute, that is, no exceptions and deviations are permissible. In the real life, application of the said norms is the most problematic at closed-type facilities where individuals have limited right to protect themselves.

There are different forms of inhuman treatment, depending on the type and methods of execution; the nature and context of sentence; pre-mediation and systematic organization; age; duration; effect on human health; health condition at the time of execution; social meaning of the sentence; whether or not there have been other options available to public authorities, and the exigence and proportionality of the means applied for sake of security.

European Court of Human Rights has pointed out that cruel treatment, punishment or abasement is related to causing intensive or regular physical or moral sufferings to an individual, even if it does not lead to actual bodily injuries. Such actions make the victims feel fear, humiliation and inferiority that can abase them and break their physical and moral resistance. Similar opinion has been issued by the UN Human Rights Committee: qualification of the prohibited treatment or punishment depends on the nature, purpose and severity of treatment. In addition, each of the above-mentioned forms of treatment includes not only physical but also moral sufferings.

The Right to Legal Status: Matters of Citizenship, Asylum and Migration

Articles 6 and 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 25 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Article 1 of the Seventh Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental FreedomsConvention Relating to the Status of Refugees

The universal principle of international human rights stipulates that each and every individual, regardless of their domicile, has the right to be treated as a subject of law: to have a certain status granted to them in the State and a set of rights and obligations appropriate to such status, as well as corresponding identity documents.

There are certain guarantees of human rights to be provided to each and every individual regardless of their status (such as the right to life, for example); the set of other rights and obligations of an individual may differ, depending on their status – whether the person is a citizen or permanent resident of the country, or a refugee, or short-term visitor. It is essential, however, to ensure that a certain system is put in place in the State for legalization and granting of status to individuals, and to ensure that it operates without any discrimination, in compliance with the national and international legal norms. All institutions are bound to observe the norms of human rights when handling the matters related to the status of individuals: to ensure human treatment, and to take into account the rights of individuals, for example, to family life, liberty and security, to the extent prescribed by law.

 Freedom of Speech and Expression

Section 100 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 19 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights

Freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of views, the right to freely receive and distribute information and ideas without interference on part of public institutions, regardless of the state borders. The right to freedom of expression is the fundament of the right of everyone to express their views without fear from restriction, punishment or prosecution.

Freedom of speech in democratic society is widely construed, and it may only be subject to restriction on extremely exceptional occasions. In addition, freedom of speech includes not only “information” or “ideas” that are perceived as predisposing or neutral but also those that are offensive, shocking or alarming.

At the same time, such human rights are absolute, and they do not mean entitlement to impunity of expression. The State may impose restrictions on such right in certain manner and amount, especially because the exercise of such right involves certain duties and responsibility.