2014
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. I am representative of Russian-speaking minority in Estonia and speak on behalf of NGO
Russian School of Estonia. Russians and other peoples who had been living for centuries
in Estonia and other Baltic countries woke up as foreigners in their homes after the
dissolution of Soviet Union. 32% of Estonian population became stateless in 1992.
2. Estonia ratified many international treaties on human rights. However, some important
treaties are still not ratified. Therefore, I consider it necessary to strengthen those items
of the draft Recommendations which are under-implemented in Estonia and other states
that also did not ratify certain treaties on human rights.
3. Contrary to the concluding remarks on Estonia delivered by Human Rights Committee,
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination, UN Committee against Torture, and other UN treaty-based bodies,
Estonia still abstains from the ratification of Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons and Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, we ask for Estonia
to reconsider this. As the result, children are still born stateless in our country.
4. Item 16 of the draft Recommendations mentions statelessness. However, this issue is
dealt with from the point of view of obtaining citizenship by immigrants, not native
persons. Citizenship should be granted automatically to native persons, i.e.
Russian-speaking population living in Estonia before 1992. This issue should be resolved
by legislation in accordance with the international norms.
5. Estonia also abstains from the ratification of the UNESCO Convention against
Discrimination in Education. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and other UN bodies regularly
recommended to improve Estonian education policy. Nevertheless, the governmental
actions in this regard are not fully compliant with the needs of the Estonian society and
recommendations of the above-mentioned bodies.
5.1. Item 16 of the draft Recommendations deals with the system of education. However,
given the importance of intercultural education, teaching of history, culture and
traditions of minorities, this item needs to be supplemented
2.1. By the right of national minorities to conduct their own educational activity, including
managing schools or usage of their own languages in accordance with the educational
policies of each state pursuant to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in
Education, Art. 5.
2.2. By the right of national minorities to enjoy their culture, to profess religion and worship,
and use the native language, inter alia, for the purposes of getting education (International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Art. 27; Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 30;