Newsletter of Estonian Human Rights Centre
Dear supporter
July 2020
Summer, crazy summer! When usually July is calm and quiet, then this year it has offered a few anxious moments, when Ministry of Finance stopped the funding to us and a few other NGOs. The money was given, the money was stopped, and the money was still transferred. We thank the Ministry of Social Affairs for the solution and ongoing collaboration. And the Centre will continue to contribute to the promotion of a society, where the importance of human rights is fully understood.
Beside that, there has been a lot of wonderful in July, too. For example, last Saturday, a great team of young activists organised a diversity festival Ühine! (Unite!), to support human rights and donate the profits to the Centre. How awesome! In the newsletter, we take a closer look back to the festival as well as turn our eyes to the future and to the Opinion Festival where we go to in August. We also talk about donations and new merchandise, our great human rights ambassadors and more.
Enjoy the summer and the time with the newsletter!
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Ühine! festival to support human rights and diversity
On Saturday, the 25th July, hundreds of kind people gathered in front of Sveta bar to show their support for human rights and diversity in Estonia as well as be a part of some pleasant festival activities, a charitable art- and flea market and lively music. All this was part of the colorful one-day festival Ühine!
Thanks to the support of our sweet human rights ambassadors Saara and Keio, the Centre could also be represented at the festival with our own info- and merchandise table. Additionally, the Centre’s lawyer Uljana moderated a discussion panel titled “Does nationality have a personality?” and our expert Kelly participated in the discussion “Can a work environment have respect for diversity, when it’s lacking in society?”
The organisers of the festival had done a fantastic job, the audience was plentiful, and artists, who performed on stage, also shared heartfelt messages about human rights along with their music. They guve hope that our future will be bright. Thank you for this feeling of warmth and unity! Continue reading.
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EHRC to coordinate the Equal Treatment Area at the Opinion Festival
This year, the Center will coordinate the Equal Treatment Area and organise two discussions at the Opinion Festival. The discussions will be “International obligations: are those useful for me too?” on Friday and "Who will defend a human rights defender?" on Saturday. In addition to the center, discussions are organised by members of the Equal Treatment Network: Estonian Vegan Society, the Estonian Union for Child Welfare, the Estonian National Youth Council, and the Estonian Chamber of Disabled People. The UN Refugee Agency and the Federation of Estonian Student Unions will be quest organisers at the Equal Treatment Area.
The Opinion Festival takes place in August 14–15 in Paide. Also, check out Arvamusfestival 2020: Võrdse kohtlemise ala on Facebook and the full program in Estonian.
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Are your human rights protected? Share your opinion on human rights situation in Estonia!
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How does your donation help?
The main areas of activity of the EHRC are equal treatment, the fight against hate and the rights of refugees. The aim of the Center is to help as many people as we can. Also, with strategic litigation, we hope that with each court case, in addition to helping one person, we will achieve a wider social impact and protection of rights in our society.
Thanks to our permanent donors and the one-time financial support from many good people, the Estonian Human Rights Center can independently and competently stand up for human rights everywhere in Estonia: in courtrooms, in the press, in schools, on the streets, in the corridors of power. With the help of donors, we have fought for the love of Darja and Jana, assisted Sarah and Kristiina in their residence permit and received confirmation from the court that families raising children must be treated equally, as the family of Marina and Jelena. For several years, we have been helping young man with reduced mobility in litigation with the city of Tallinn. Continue reading.
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Our Ida-Virumaa ambassador Damir met Clare Dowlde and Filipp Mustonen from the US Embassy. Damir is a Russian, who has lived in Estonia for a year. He introduced the EHRC's projects and talked about how better deal with human rights issues in the area. They also spoke about the problems faced by LGBT community and people with special needs in Ida-Virumaa.
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New merch! For a donation of at least 20€, we give as a gift an ethical T-shirt, which carries a simple but important message - I support human rights. By wearing a shirt, you show that you care about human rights, and you share this value with others! Donate now! As donations are anonymous, please contact us at info@humanrights.ee after the transfer. Then we can talk in more detail about which shirt you'd like and how to receive it. PS! Socks coming soon!
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Summer is a great time to relax your body and mind. That's why we offer educational, yet entertaining activities if you want to stay sharp and perk up your brain a little. Put yourself to test on the human rights guide platform, to where we have recently added a new test about refugees.
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FRA reports of the impact of COVID-19
European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has published its last two reports of the impact of coronavirus on the fundamental rights. The third bulletin focused on older people. Although certain measures were important for the health and lives of older people, some of them raised the issue of possible age discrimination, the report showed. In its last bulletin, FRA stresses that COVID-19 ‘new normal’ has to safeguard fundamental rights. Living with COVID-19 continues to constrain our daily lives and while moving forward, governments need to ensure existing fundamental rights challenges do not worsen and vulnerable members of society do not suffer disproportionately.
FRA made four Coronavirus pandemic in the EU: fundamental rights implications reports across the 27 EU Member States. The Estonian Human Rights Centre gave an overview about the situation in Estonia. Take a look of the third and fourth COVID-19 bulletin about Estonia.
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