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Template:Rescue Template:POV-title Discrimination against ethnic minorities in Estonia is a source of international controversy. Generally human rights in Estonia are respected by the government. Ethnic Russians have guaranteed a basic rights under the constitution and international human rights laws ratified by the Estonian government. Estonia has been ranked positively in country reports by Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and the Human Right Report of United States Department of State.

However, some human rights organisations have reported discrimination against ethnic minorities – most notably Amnesty International and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. These organisations have reported discrimination in the right to education, right to take part in the government, the right to free movement, the right to employment and others, are limited. Estonia has the least favourable anti-discrimination legislation among the EU states.

According to European Network of Excellence organized by a group of 45 universities publication the alleged discrimination of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia has served as a pretext of trying to lock the region within the sphere of influence of Russia. Moscow's attempts to take political advantage over the issue of the Russophone minority in Estonia have been successful as Kremlin has used every international forum where the claims of the violations of human rights in Estonia have been presented.

The 1993 United Nations Human Rights Council 48th Session's Mission on the situation of human rights in Estonia and Latvia found no evidence of discrimination along ethnic or religious grounds. Also, the 2008 United Nations Human Rights Council report noted the existence of political will by the Estonian State authorities to fight the expressions of racism and discrimination in Estonia.

According to the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based.

Amnesty's report

According to a report by Amnesty International, members of the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system. The discriminating policies of Estonia have led to "disproportionately high levels of unemployment among the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. This in turn has further contributed to social exclusion and vulnerability to other human rights abuses. In consequence, many from this group are effectively impeded from the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights)."

Russian point of view

A poll conducted in April 2007, has found that 59% of Russia's residents agree with the statement "Estonian authorities discriminate against Russophones in Estonia and deliberately provoke conflicts with Russia". The Russian government has also accused Estonia of discrimination of the country's Russian-speaking minority.

Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post has reported that Estonia outlawed strikes in order to combat walkouts by ethnic Russian workers complaining about alleged discrimination as early as 1989.

Estonian point of view

The Estonian government has denied all charges of discrimination. "There has been no discrimination or human rights violations in Estonia," Estonian Prime Minister Ansip said in 2007. "Those who believe their rights were abused can go to a court of law. Our judicial system works efficiently, and violations, if any, will be addressed."

The local Russophone communities in Estonia have long complained about job, salary, and housing discrimination because of Estonian language requirements.

A 2005 study by European Network Against Racism found that 17.1% of ethnic non-Estonians alleged that they had experienced limitations to their rights or degrading treatment in the workplace durin the last 3 years because of their ethnic origin.

Other institutions

The think-tank Development and Transition, sponsored by the United Nations, published an article in 2005 where James Hughes alleged Latvia and Estonia employing a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective Russophone populations; however, Development and Transition also published a responding article by Nils Muiznieks disputing those allegations as simplistic, particularly the conclusion that "in the absence of an end to discrimination and a state commitment to integration," Russophones will "seek justice through violence, or will exit by out-migration", given that the majority of Russophones were already citizens.

The European Commission has noted that Estonia offers no protection against discrimination on the grounds of ethnic or racial origin, while the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)–a coalition of 155 human rights groups–has called upon the Estonian authorities to "put an end to any practice of discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority, which constitutes about 30% of the Estonian population, and to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination."

The Council of Europe has noted that "the Roma community in Estonia is still disproportionately affected by unemployment and discrimination in the field of education." The European Commission had previously conducted close monitoring of Estonia in 2000 and concluded that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.

The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Latvian Human Rights Committee expressed concerns about human rights violations committed in April 2007 during riots and protests in Tallin that left 150 people injured and in which one ethnic Russian was murdered. FIDH highlighted the use of disproportionate force by the Estonian police against peaceful demonstrators and passers-by. It reported that Russophone protestors were beaten and mistreated after being taken into custody. One human rights activist, Mark Sirõk was arrested despite the fact that he did not even participate in the protests owing to the fact he was ill and at home preparing for his school exams.

FIDH also condemned acts of vandalism perpetrated by demonstrators in Tallinn, as well as the blockage of the Estonian embassy by United Russia activists in Moscow. They have said that Estonia carries out discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority of Estonia.

Though not, on the whole, considering anti-Semitism to be a major problem in Estonia, the United States-based Jewish activist group NCSJ purports that Estonia's Jewish community "is concerned by the government’s silence on blatant expressions of anti-Semitism by public officials, in the media and elsewhere."

There are around 2,000 ethnic Armenians living in Estonia, mainly in Tallinn. With the affirmation of Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, they were not granted citizenship automatically. Several bomb attacks on Armenian-owned kiosks occured during 1995–their perpetrators were not identified.

Scholars

Finnish legal sociologist and criminologist Johan Bäckman has said that there is "criminal discrimination" of Russians in Estonia, and has likened the situation to the former Apartheid regime of South Africa.. He has also claimed that Estonia was not occupied by the Soviet Union – instead, Estonia and the Soviet Union made a mutual agreement about military bases in 1935-1940. "After that, Estonia joined the Soviet Union. And after that the Estonian republic ceased to exist. And if something ceased to exist, it of course cannot be occupied by any forces," Bäckman said in May, 2009. "The myth of occupation is a form of hate speech against the Russian population in Estonia. The only purpose of this myth is to accuse Russians of being criminals and murderers. This is racist propaganda against the Russian minority."

A recent paper presented to the Journal of Common Market Studies by James R. Hughes of the London School of Economics predicts "a significant out-migration by Russophones to other EU Member States" as an effect of the "regimes of discrimination" and the minority's "poor prospects for integration or assimilation" in Estonia and Latvia.

Zvi Gitelman, political scientist at Michigan University and consultant to the instiution's Yivo Institute for Jewish Studies, points out that

"In the decade after the fall of the USSR, the successor states divided themselves into those seeking to construct themselves as 'civic' states–where the nexus that ties citizens to each other and to the state is political and not based on race, ethnicity, religion, or culture–and those that prefer to be "ethnic" states, based on one nation and serving it primarily."

Characterizing the situation in Estonia as "close to the 'ethnic' model," Gitelman points towards the Baltic states' decision of stripping citizenship from "non-Latvians and non-Estonians who immigrated in the Soviet period as well as their descendants born in the two Baltic republics"–a category pertinent to most of Estonia's Jews. The Jerusalem-based Hebrew University historian Robert S. Wistrich writes that the "primary objective" of the post-Soviet-era governments of the Baltic states is "to further the interests and well-being of the majority ethnic groups in these republics." Regarding this post-Soviet period of independence for the country's Jewish community, Wistrich observes that "many Jews in these republics sensed that they had become second-rate citizens," with those who had "fought against Soviet rule... had been directly or indirectly involved in the murder of Jews during the Nazi period of occupation" now lionized as "symbols of Soviet occupation." Similarly, Jerome A. Chanes writes that Estonia's "annual commemmorations of World War II events continue to have antisemitic overtones."
Concerning the present-day population of Estonian Roma, Bristol University sociologist Will Guy writes that

" Latvia and Estonia were notable for their vigorous attempts at ethnic cleansing by legalistic methods. Although the strategy of refusing citizenship on the grounds of poor knowledge of the local language was directed mainly against Russian inhabitants, Roma too were victims. Only genuine Latvian and Estonian Roma were granted citizenship and many Roma in Estonia were relative newcomers since most indigenous Estonian Roma (Laiusy and Laloritka) had been exterminated by joint German-Estonian punishment squads during the war."

Journalists

According to veteran German author, journalist and Russia-correspondent Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia. She contends that the alleged level of discrimination regarding ethnic Russians in Estonia would have posed a barrier to acceptance into the EU; however, Western media gave the matter very little attention. In an interview with the Netherlands-based NRC Hanselsblad, Hans Glaubitz, a Dutch ambassador to Estonia, mentioned that he resigned due to the homophobia and racism once they could not "cope with gay hatred and racism on the Estonian streets."

External links

• "Baltic Russians Call for Equality"–August 2007 article in The Baltic Times.
• "Estland ist Judenfrei" Template:Et icon–a 2004 article by Andres Maimik discussing thinly veiled attitudes of antisemitism and xenophobia in Estonia.

References

1. ^ "2008 Human Rights Report: Estonia". United States Department of State. 2009-25-02. Retrieved 2009-06-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "Integrating Estonia's Non-Citizen Minority". Human rights watch. 1993. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
3. ^ "Country Report 2008 Edition". Freedom House. 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
4. "Map of Freedom 2008". Freedom House. 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
5. ^ "Estonia: Linguistic minorities in Estonia: Discrimination must end". Amnesty International. 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-01. Cite error: The named reference "amnesty" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. ^ "Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination : Estonia. 19/10/2006". UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
7. . International Studies Association. 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-02. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
8. (PDF). European Centre for Minority Issues. 2004. Retrieved 2009-06-02. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
9. "Migrant Integration Index: Estonia Overview". MIPEX. 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
10. Isaacs, Ann Katherine (2007). Immigration and emigration in historical perspective. Edizioni Plus. p. 183. ISBN 9788884924988. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
11. ^ "Documents on Estonia". United Nations Human Rights Council. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
12. Левада-Центр April 26, 2007: Российско-эстонский конфликт...?
13. "Russian – Estonian Crisis Escalates". Moscow News. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
14. Dobbs, Michael. "Estonia Outlaws Strikes to Combat Walkout by Ethnic Russian Workers". The Washington Post. 11 August 1989. HighBeam Research. 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
15. "Russian MPs to take up Estonian "police brutality" at PACE". RIA Novosti. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
16. "Estonia Human Rights Report". US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
17. "Responding to Racism in Estonia" (PDF). European Network Against Racism. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
18. Discrimination against the Russophone Minority in Estonia and Latvia
19. Rejoinder to James Hughes
20. "Equality, Diversity and Enlargement: Report on Measures to Combat Discrimination in Acceding and Candidate Countries". The European Commission. Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs — Unit D.4. September 2003. P. 20. Retrieved 1 June 2009. http://www.ozida.gov.tr/raporlar/uluslararasi/ab/ABdokumanlar/equalitydiversityandenlargement.pdf
21. "Estonia must investigate human rights violations committed during riots in Tallinn". International Federation for Human Rights. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
22. "Council of Europe: Reports on racism in Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Spain". Press Release. Council of Europe Press Division. 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2009. https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=968931&Site=COE
23. Agenda 2000. For a stronger and wider Union (Vol. I). The Challenge of Enlargement (Part. II), COM (97) 2000 final, p45
24. ""Estonia must investigate human rights violations committed during riots in Tallinn"". FIDH. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
25. "NCSJ - Estonia Page". NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
26. "Estonia: Information on the situation of ethnic Armenians, on whether they have any ethnically based problems, and on whether protection is accessible and available". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 1 May 1995. United Nations Human Rights Council. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
27. ^ ""Estonia has an apartheid regime"". Russia Today. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
28. Hughes, James R.,'Exit' in Deeply Divided Societies: Regimes of Discrimination in Estonia and Latvia and the Potential for Russophone Migration. Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 739-762, November 2005. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=857624 or DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2005.00594.x
29. ^ Gitelman, Zvi Y. A Century of Ambivalence: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0253214181, ISBN 9780253214188. P. 215.
30. ^ Wistrich, Robert S. Terms of Survival. London: Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0203204832, ISBN 9780203204832. P. 209.
31. Chanes, Jerome A. Antisemitism: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. ISBN 1576072096, ISBN 9781576072097. P. 181.
32. Guy, Will. Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe. University of Hertfordshire Press, 2001. ISBN 1902806077, 9781902806075. P. 247.
33. Krone-Schmalz, Gabriele (2008). "Zweierlei Maß". Was passiert in Russland? (in German) (4 ed.). München: F.A. Herbig. pp. 45–48. ISBN 9783776625257.
34. "Gay Dutch Ambassador Leaves Estonia". 6 July 2007. NIS News Bulletin. Retrieved 1 June 2009.

• Discrimination
• Ethnic minorities
• Linguistic discrimination