Newsletter of Estonian Human Rights Centre
Dear supporter
June 2020
Understandably, in June, much of the focus was on rights of black people and demonstrations against racism all over the world, including Estonia. Racism is an ideology that aims to divide humanity into different races and to treat different groups of people unequally. Preferring certain "races" is scientifically wrong, dangerous, immoral, socially unjust and theoretically or practically unjustified. Every person is valuable, every person's life counts and every person must be treated equally. 🖤 The Estonian Human Rights Centre fully condemns racism and helps those who have been discriminated against and treated unfairly. We work every day to make it good and safe for everyone to live in Estonia.
On a much brighter note – June was also pride's month. Baltic Pride 2020: The Safe and Special Edition was celebrated for alomost entire week and Global Pride 2020 covered the whole world with joy and colours on Saturday June 27.
In this newsletter, we are extremely happy to share great news about a court victory and new signees of the Estonian Diversity Charter. We also have a new colleague in the EHRC, whom we are very glad to introduce. More of everything, when scrolling down. Happy summer and enjoy the newsletter!
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Court victory: notary will review Darja and Jana’s application
The beginning of June brought good news to the love story of Darja and Jana when the Harju county court ruled in favor of the partnership family. The court regulation obligates the notary, who in the winter refused entry into a registered partnership contract, to review their application.
Estonian citizen Jana and Russian citizen Darja are a family who among many other couples wish to be together and live a happy family life. This winter they set off to the notary to contract a registered partnership contract in order to ensure a united future. Unexpectedly however, the notary they chose refused to go through with the process.
We commend the court for a fair decision and thank the lawyers Tõnis Loortis and Kalle-Kaspar Sepper as well as all the donors with whose help we’ve been able to support Darja and Jana’s court path.
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Already more than 120 employers value diversity
On June 10, 11 Estonian companies and organizations signed the Estonian Diversity Charter. The companies that confirmed their commitment to the values of diversity and inclusion are Wunder, Enics Estonia, SOL Baltics, MoveMyTalent, Creditstar Group, E-government Academy, Vanalinna Ehitus, Grant Thornton Baltic, Via 3L, Playtech and IPF Digital.
The Estonian Diversity Charter is a voluntary agreement, by signing which, the company, NGO, or public sector organisation confirms that they respect human diversity and value the principle of equal treatment among their employees, partners, as well as clients. In Estonia, the Charter now has 124 signees. Continue reading!
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Are your human rights protected? Share your opinion on human rights situation in Estonia!
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Markus Hallang started as the new lawyer of the refugee field
On June 1, Markus Hallang joined the Estonian Center for Human Rights as a new lawyer of the refugee field. Before applying for the vacancy, Markus supported the centre’s work as a volunteer.
According to Markus, human rights, and especially international human rights law, have always been of interest to him. Therefore, he is glad that he can now deal with these issues on a daily basis and thus help people. “I would most like to raise people’s awareness of their rights and perhaps correct existing misconceptions about what human rights are,” Markus explained his goals. In addition, while working at the center, he wants to gain even broader knowledge in the field.
Markus studied law at the University of Glasgow and obtained a master’s degree in international law from the University of Maastricht. He has been an intern at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and at a law firm in Tallinn.
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Let’s save the life of at least one child!
The Estonian Human Rights Centre has been active in the refugee field for almost ten years. Thanks to the work of the center, refugees deserving of asylum have been given the opportunity here in Estonia and the local asylum procedure has become of better quality. We urge the Estonian government that, despite Estonia's conservative immigration policy, we should have enough humanity to help at least one child. Estonia has a well-developed system for receiving and assisting refugees, from support person services to language learning. It's time to help those in need!
Read the full article, that was publish on International Refugee Day on June 20. The article refers to the UNHCR Global Trends 2019.
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In June, the old and new human rights ambassadors came together to meet and get to know each other better. A canoeing trip on the beautiful Pirita river, games, sharing experiences, but also some work really laid good ground for future collaborations. Thank you for a fun weekend, ambassadors Sigrid, Ulvi, Kätlin, Damir, Paavo, Margit, Keio and Saara!
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The EHRC together with the Equal Treatment Network, will coordinate the Equal Treatment discussion area at Arvamusfestival. The centre will organise two discussions: "International obligations: are they useful for me too?" and "Who defends human rights defenders?"
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EU report on fundamental rights: death of migrants, child poverty, and the dangers of artificial intelligence
Growing intolerance and attacks on people’s fundamental rights continue to erode the considerable progress achieved over the years, finds FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2020. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2020 reflects on the developments and shortfalls of human rights protection in the EU over the past year. Its focus section highlights how the EU’s Fundamental Rights Charter has gained visibility and sparked a new fundamental rights culture at EU level. But nationally, awareness and use of the Charter remain limited despite it being legally binding for 10 years. The insights presented will hopefully encourage others, including governments, to take ownership of this great instrument – and give it full force so that it can truly help transform people’s lives.
The EHRC studied developments in the field of human rights in Estonia and provided input to the FRA. This year, for the first time, FRA also published country-specific reports in addition to the general report. The report on Estonia can be found here.
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