Author name: Martynas

United Nations Urges Lithuania to Address Human Rights Concerns

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has released its concluding observations on Lithuania’s efforts to protect economic, social, and cultural rights. While the committee welcomes positive developments such as the Constitutional Court’s ruling recognizing gender identity and sexual orientation among the prohibited grounds for discrimination and the adoption of action …

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The European Court of Human Rights rules against Lithuania in a freedom of speech case

The European Court of Human Rights has handed down a significant ruling in the case of Macatė v. Lithuania, which concerns the distribution of a children’s book of fairy tales featuring same-sex relationships.  The book’s distribution was halted soon after its publication in 2013 and resumed a year later only after being labelled as potentially …

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Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2021 visit to Lithuania

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published a report on its December 2021 periodic visit to Lithuania, together with the response of the Lithuanian authorities. During the visit, the Committee visited local police headquarters; arrest houses in Vilnius and Kaunas; prisons in Marijampolė, Pravieniškės, …

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Governments continue weakening democracy in 2022, EU-wide annual rule of law report by 45 civil liberties groups finds

Berlin-Brussels-Vilnius Most EU countries made little effort to resolve documented rule of law issues, allowed existing shortcomings to go unaddressed, or even made things worse in all areas assessed, ‘Liberties Rule of Law Report 2023’ finds. Exceeding the scope of the European Commission’s annual rule of law audit, Liberties’ (a watchdog CSO that safeguards the …

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Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office is asked to investigate the circumstances of the deportation of Nigerian asylum seekers who filed subsequent asylum requests

The Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania has received a complaint from Nigerian citizens regarding the actions of state authorities that may have violated the applicants’ for international protection right to an effective examination of their application for international protection, the right not to be returned to their country of origin, the right …

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Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office Issues Report on Implementation of the Rights and Liberties of Foreigners in the Medininkai Foreigner Registration Center

On 7 July 2022, the Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office released a report on implementation of the rights and liberties of people held in the Medininkai Foreigners’ Registration Center (Medininkai FRC). Medininkai FRC houses some of the irregular migrants and asylum seekers who crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian border in 2021 and were de facto detained.    Prolonged …

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