• Latvijas Vestnesis features an article about legal aspects on the procedure of asylum seeking in Latvia
• Newspapers report on the tour for minority students Riga of Russians

Latvijas Vestnesis features an article about legal aspects concerning the asylum seeking and granting procedure in Latvia in the light of the case of seven refugees who arrived in Latvia at the beginning of August. According to the Law on Asylum Seekers and Refugees, the refugee status may be granted to an asylum seeker who has arrive or reside in the territory of Latvia because s/he has justified fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, affiliation to a particular social group or political group in the country of their citizenship. In regard to recently arrived unofficial immigrants from Somalia, the newspaper notes that they refuse deny that they left Somalia for Europe because of economic reasons. Besides, they have confirmed the newspaper that they want to stay in Latvia despite that it was not the planned destination country. The immigrants also state that their lives would be under threats if they return to Somalia. According to the newspaper, the immigrants from Somalia are informed about their rights to seek an asylum in Latvia, but the State Border Guards have not informed on the application procedure. Representative of the State Border Guards V.Bredikis comments that Latvian legislation does not obligate boarder guards to do this.

Newspapers report on the tour for minority students “Riga of Russians,” organised by the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools yesterday. According to the organisers, the goal of the tour was to introduce minority students with important historical objects in Riga that are important for Russians.

Newspapers report on the tour for minority students Riga of Russians, organised by the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools yesterday. According to the organisers, the goal of the tour was to introduce minority students with important historical objects in Riga that are important for Russians. Latvijas Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

• President of the PA of the OSCE Alcee L. Hastings visits Latvia
• Diena criticises tolerance of state institutions towards manifestations of extreme views
• State Security Police refuse to initiate a criminal case against Nikolajs Kabanovs, journalist and MP

Telegraf reports on the visit of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE Alcee L. Hastings to Latvia. Although ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was not included in the Hastings agenda with Latvian state officials, in the response to Telegrafs question the PA president stated that Latvia should have ratified the Convention without any reservations. At the same time the PA president believes that Latvia shows progress in the area of ethnic integration.

Dienas columnist Aivars Ozolins sharply criticises ‘tolerance of state institutions towards expressions of extreme views and outspoken calls to violence against minorities. According to the columnist, politicians must change their attitude to prevent formation of society divided by hatred and intolerance.

The State Security Police have refused to initiate a criminal case against Nikolajs Kabanovs, journalist and MP. The chair of the Union of the Latvian National Partisans Ojars Stefans applied the police asking to evaluate Nikolajs Kabanov’s articles, where he called Latvian national partisans bandits, murderers and terrorists.  According to Ojars Stefans’ application such articles incite to ethnic hatred. The State Security Police, however, concluded that these statements may be qualified as defamation of national partisans and not incitement to ethnic hatred.

The State Security Police have refused to initiate a criminal case against Nikolajs Kabanovs, journalist and MP. The chair of the Union of the Latvian National Partisans Ojars Stefans applied the police asking to evaluate Nikolajs Kabanovs articles, where he called Latvian national partisans bandits, murderers and terrorists. According to Ojars Stefans application such articles incite to ethnic hatred. The State Security Police, however, concluded that these statements may be qualified as defamation of national partisans and not incitement to ethnic hatred. Latvijas Avize

• Today the Constitutional Court will review the application challenging a provision of the Law on Education
• Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry concerned about the foreseen adoption of the ‘loyalty concept to the Citizenship Law
• Russian language newspapers report on actions planned by the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools

Today the Constitutional Court in a closed hearing will launch the revision of the application submitted by left-wing politicians challenging the provision of the Law on Education. The challenged provision stipulates that the state may provide financial support only to those private minority schools, which ensure education in the Latvian language. 

Today the Constitutional Court in a closed hearing will launch the revision of the application submitted by left-wing politicians challenging the provision of the Law on Education. The challenged provision stipulates that the state may provide financial support only to those private minority schools, which ensure education in the Latvian language. Chas, Vesti Segodnya

The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry is concerned about the ‘loyalty’ concept in the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law prepared by the Latvian Ministry of Justice. The Russian Ministry argues that the ‘loyalty’ concept is not clearly defined in the amendments thus it would provide rather unlimited possibilities for the Latvian authorities to take unjustified decisions. ‘It is regrettable that […] official Riga not only ignores the voice of authoritative international organisations, but also plans to make naturalisation more difficult,’ states the Russian Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry is concerned about the ‘loyalty concept in the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law prepared by the Latvian Ministry of Justice. The Russian Ministry argues that the ‘loyalty concept is not clearly defined in the amendments thus it would provide rather unlimited possibilities for the Latvian authorities to take unjustified decisions. ‘It is regrettable that […] official Riga not only ignores the voice of authoritative international organisations, but also plans to make naturalisation more difficult, states the Russian Ministry. Chas, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf

Russian language newspapers report on actions planned by the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools in Brussels, Strasbourg, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, Kiev, Simpheropol and Moscow. According to the representative of the Headquarters Genadijs Kotovs, young members of the Headquarters will tell about the difficulties to acquire education in a mother tongue in Latvia and the lack of political rights for a large number of people. They will also call for granting Russian the status of the official language. The newspapers also report about another youth initiative regarding the rights of Russians. Yesterday participants of the Russian youth organisations’ summer meeting called the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, asking to solve the problem of mass non-citizenship immediately. According to the call, the first step would be granting of citizenship for all persons who were born in these states.

Russian language newspapers report on actions planned by the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools in Brussels, Strasbourg, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, Kiev, Simpheropol and Moscow. According to the representative of the Headquarters Genadijs Kotovs, young members of the Headquarters will tell about the difficulties to acquire education in a mother tongue in Latvia and the lack of political rights for a large number of people. They will also call for granting Russian the status of the official language. The newspapers also report about another youth initiative regarding the rights of Russians. Yesterday participants of the Russian youth organisations summer meeting called the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, asking to solve the problem of mass non-citizenship immediately. According to the call, the first step would be granting of citizenship for all persons who were born in these states. Chas, Vesti Segodnya

• Experts: state is too passive in condemning manifestations of intolerance in society
• Interview with the editor-in-chief of the national radical newspaper DDD Liga Muzikante and the secretary of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Liene Apine

‘The state is too passive in condemning manifestations of intolerance in society, which is interpreted as positive signals by extremists,’ believe a number of human rights experts interviewed by

‘The state is too passive in condemning manifestations of intolerance in society, which is interpreted as positive signals by extremists, believe a number of human rights experts interviewed by Diena. The candidate for the post of the director of the Latvian National Human Rights Office Nils Muiznieks believes that the situation would be improved if the following 3 measures are adopted 1) training of police prosecutors and court staff; 2) adoption of provisions which provide that manifestations of racism are subject of the Administrative Violation Code; and 3) racial or ethnic motivation of a crime should be treated as aggravating circumstances. The director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies Ilze Brands Kehris in general agrees with Nils Muiznieks, however, argues that additional provisions should be introduced in the Criminal Law rather than Administrative Violation Law. The newspaper reports that the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies plans to develop the necessary amendments, while responsible state institutions – the Ministry of Interior and the Saeima Legal Committee – have not considered the development of such amendments. Diena

Latvijas Avize prints a long interview with Liga Muzikante, editor-in-chief of the national radical newspaper DDD, and Liene Apine, the secretary of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee and the member of the national radical organisation Latvian National Front, who both are accused in incitement to ethnic hatred in their articles. Both interviewees believe that ethnic integration is ‘an extreme experiment and crime against the Latvian nation. They are convinced that decolonisation is the only possible solution. When asked to comment on criminal charges brought against them, Liene Apine notes that the word ‘occupant may not be regarded as incitement to ethnic hatred as ‘the occupant is not a nationality.

• More news regarding the allegedly racially motivated assault on the US embassy staff member
• Comments on the Latvian policy towards asylum seekers and refugees in Diena
• Article about the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law
• Latvijas Avize prints an article about ethnicity and crime
• Chas concerned about the threats of closure of the Cesis Secondary School No 2
• Russian youth: Russian speaking youth in Latvia should be more involved in significant public affairs
• Informal insight into the Muslim community in Latvia

The representatives of the Main Police Department of Riga announced that they have identified and detained persons who committed an assault on the dark skin staff member of the US embassy to Latvia. As reported, the victim claimed that the assault was racially motivated, however, the police initiated a case on the grounds of hooliganism. It has been revealed that detained persons claimed to follow the skinhead movement. They also claim that the assault was not planned in advance. Two of the detainees wanted to become full-fledged members of the group and therefore they attacked the dark skin person.

The representatives of the Main Police Department of Riga announced that they have identified and detained persons who committed an assault on the dark skin staff member of the US embassy to Latvia. As reported, the victim claimed that the assault was racially motivated, however, the police initiated a case on the grounds of hooliganism. It has been revealed that detained persons claimed to follow the skinhead movement. They also claim that the assault was not planned in advance. Two of the detainees wanted to become full-fledged members of the group and therefore they attacked the dark skin person. Diena, Latvijas Avize

Diena prints a comprehensive article on the Latvias policy towards asylum seekers and refugees by mgs.sc.dev. Ieva Valaine. She discusses the Latvian policy on asylum seekers and refugees in the light of the case of recently detained refugees from Somalia. Ieva Valaine stresses that Latvia has adopted a brutal policy towards asylum seekers. She believes that the policy is ‘more and more alienated from those very few international moral norms which were incorporated in Latvian legislation with such difficulties. She notes that policy on refugees and asylum seekers is a new practice for Latvia and further points out a number of flaws in the law. For instance, the author notes that according to Latvian legislation ‘an asylum seeker is a person who has filed a written application of a request, while many people who arrive from the development countries cannot write and read. The author of the article believes that the way Latvia treats refugees shows to what extent Latvia respects human rights in general. According to Ieva Valaine the national policy towards refugees has developed on the basis of fears that a mass influx of Russian speakers would occur. In the conclusion the author calls human right organisations and the political elite to take more active measures to fight xenophobia in society.

Vesti Segodnya features an article about the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law. The newspaper criticises an amendment developed by the union For Fatherland and Freedom/LNIM, which stipulates the suspension of naturalisation till revision of all legal norms concerning naturalisation is completed. The MP Boris Cilevics sharply criticises the draft amendments prepared by the Ministry of Justice, stating that Latvia is the only state in Europe where loyalty to the state is interpreted as loyalty to the ruling elite. The MP also stresses that a person may be banned to acquire Latvian citizenship only if the court has adopted a ruling which confirms persons involvement in anti-state activities. The MP notes that neither politicians nor state officials may adopt such decisions.

Latvijas Avize prints an article by Visvaldis Lacis about the relations between ethnicity and crime in Latvia. He claims to refer to the report of the Vidzeme Regional Courts (Vidzemes apgabaltiesa) prosecutor Krisjanis Rudzitis, who, in his turn, has claimed that the number of Russians who have committed various types of crime is much higher than the number of any other ethnicity.

Chas expresses its concern about the threats of the closure of the Cesis Secondary School No 2, which is the only Russian-language secondary school in this town. According to the newspaper, this year there will be four 10-grade classes for Latvians, while only one for Russians. The school will not have any 1 grade class with Russian as the language of instruction this year. The newspaper points to the fact that there is no Russian kindergarten in the town and that has resulted in the decision of many Russian speaking parents to send their children to Latvian-language schools.

‘Russian-speaking youth in Latvia should be more involved in significant state affairs,’ stated representatives of youth from Russia during the seminar organised by the European Students Forum. The seminar was financially supported by the Latvian Embassy to Russia. The main topics of the seminar were the minority education in Latvia and milestones in the Russian and Latvian history.

‘Russian-speaking youth in Latvia should be more involved in significant state affairs, stated representatives of youth from Russia during the seminar organised by the European Students Forum. The seminar was financially supported by the Latvian Embassy to Russia. The main topics of the seminar were the minority education in Latvia and milestones in the Russian and Latvian history. Neatkariga Rita Avize

Dienas supplement Sestdiena prints a comprehensive article on the Muslim community in Latvia. Although there is no mosque in Latvia, a number of Muslims come together to hold their prayers. On particular days there are about 700 people. The author of the article attends Muslims prayer place in Riga and talks to a number of Muslims (both men and women), among them those who have converted to the Islamic faith.