Association Centre for Research and Protection of Fundamental Rights Report on Part V “Essential measures to prevent discrimination against minorities in the administration of justice” Intended for the Eighth session of the Forum on Minority Issues of the United Nations Human Rights Council November 25, 2015, Geneva Dear Chairman, Dear participants of the forum! Lithuania was the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to adopt the Law ‘On National Minorities’ in 1989. The Government established the Department for Migration and National Minorities, whose main task was to take care of the needs of minorities and preservation of the national identity of every ethnic group in Lithuania. In 2010, Lithuania repealed the law “On National Minorities”. In 2009, the Department for Migration and National Minorities was abolished, and its functions were transferred to a Department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. We are grateful to Lithuania for the fact that this year the Department renewed its activities. However, the current situation concerning the rights of national minorities still remains acute and disturbing. We fully support point 43 on Compulsory training and education of law enforcement and judicial officials... Almost all Russian-speaking weekly newspapers (ed. weeklies) in Lithuania are being put under pressure. In the report of the Department of State Security of Lithuania for the past few years, they were identified as an instrument of Russian aggressive policy, which inevitably leads to their elimination. The same pressure is exerted on some Russian-speaking organisations. As well as on cultural projects aimed at support and development of the Russian language in Lithuania. The Russian school of Lithuania (note ed.: here the author uses singular version of the word ‘school’ in order to speak about all Russian schools in Lithuania) and advocacy of national minorities are stigmatised. Any opinion different from the State mainstream belief is announced as defamatory, propagandistic and unlawful. There are cases when Roma representatives leaving Kirtimai district in Vilnius in order to participate in the elections and vote for the leader of their community, who was running for the deputy of the Vilnius local government, were subjected to the repeated document checks and, according to the applicants of the Centre, were put under pressure. Searches in two Russian schools in Vilnius were carried out during the educational process in full view of minors. Students and parents were intimidated at the whole-school assembly, many expressed distrust of law enforcement institutions and the judicial system of Lithuania. According to minors, they were interviewed in absence of their guardians (ed.: original “representatives”)