E/CN.4/2002/24 page 32 Latvian culture”; “The integration of the colonists is an unforgivable naivete”; “The granting of citizenship to aliens is a time-bomb”. The young authors deny that the Russian-speaking population should have the right to acquire Latvian citizenship and integrate into a unified Latvian society, enjoying an equal life. 67. Allegedly the provocative nature of the contest produced the desired result - the essays included the idea of forcibly evicting from Latvia 700,000 inhabitants that do not belong to the nation: “They are residing illegally here, therefore we must repatriate them to their ethnic motherland”. It is worth mentioning that the organizers of this contest characterize it as “positive discrimination”. The anthology also contains language enthusiastic about the activities of volunteers of the SS-Waffen Legion - a criminal organization that was condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal: “The national guerrillas and legionaries are our heroes that fought for such values as freedom and human rights, as well as for not allowing a repetition of the terrible years”. 68. Allegedly, it is a Russophobic campaign against which the authorities did not take adequate measures. The Latvian Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution did not qualify this contest as appealing to inter-ethnic hatred, i.e. a criminally punishable act. Such actions, which are conducted in the absence of adequate opposition on the part of the authorities, can but harm inter-ethnic relations and strengthen the tensions in Latvia. 2. Response by the Government of Latvia 69. The Government of Latvia replied that State officials and international organizations had condemned the contest and the book. The President of Latvia, Mrs. Vaira Vike-Freiberga stated that she had “gained the impression that the competition was imbalanced in its approach … the discourse was too emotional, and in some places the book was certainly prejudiced against other nations”. She emphasized that she, as President, did not support any expressions of extremism and prejudice, and that any sowing of hatred was “most unacceptable to the State”. The Prime Minister of Latvia, Mr. Andris Berzins, declared that such sentiments were not supported by the general public and that they could be interpreted as the desire of insignificant groupings to attract attention to themselves at a time when the country was swiftly integrating into Euro-Atlantic structures. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Latvia stated that the book was a manifestation of bad taste, but could not exactly be considered as propagating ethnic hatred. 70. The Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution was assigned to investigate both the contest and the book. No criminal wrongdoing in the publishing house’s actions was ascertained, and the Bureau decided against opening a criminal case. During the probe, which was ordered by the Prosecutor’s office, both legal experts and Baltic language experts at the University of Latvia’s Modern Languages Department concluded that the contest’s charter did not violate criminal law provisions on kindling ethnic hatred. The Bureau held discussions with the authors of the essays and criticized the book and the contest. On the basis of the investigation and the experts’ conclusions, the Bureau refused to start a criminal investigation on the basis of an absence of sufficient proof that a crime had been committed.