AFI Report on Racial Discrimination in Lithuania - UN Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination

Racial Discrimination in Lithuania Through the Eyes of Youth

Vilmantė Žukauskaitė Delianas Palinauskas Inga Milišauskaitė Edited by Vilmantė Žukauskaitė

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Ariel Foundation International © Copyright 2016 ISBN: 978-0-9980092-4-7 2

H.E. Ambassador Rytis Paulauskas

Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Nations – Geneva

I am sincerely glad that Ariel Foundation International organization cooperates with Lithuania's children foster homes, youth and carries out such interesting and useful social projects.

Through the efforts of this organization two young people from Jieznas children foster home and a student of Vytautas Magnus University had the opportunity to participate at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 88th session in Geneva and observe the report of Lithuanian delegation. I congratulate the interest of Delianas, Inga and Vilmante in the racial discrimination problems and the initiative expressing their opinions. I hope that the lessons learned will inspire them to continue deepening their knowledge about the human rights. I wish them to stay active and to be successful in achieving their goals!

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We are grateful to Dr. Ariel R. King and Jieznas Children’s Foster Home, Director Jurate Virginija Zukauskiene, and also to the H.E. Ambassador Rytis Paulauskas for granting us an opportunity to travel and observe the 88th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

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Content table About Authors ............................................................................................................. 6 Introduction................................................................................................................... 7 Ineffective Laws ........................................................................................................... 8 Activities of Neo-Nazi ................................................................................................ 10 Education .................................................................................................................... 12 Situation of Ethnic Minorities in Lithuania ................................................................ 14 Situation of Romani Ethnic Minority ......................................................................... 16 A Visit to the Roma Community Center .................................................................... 19 Racial Discrimination in the Media ............................................................................ 21 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 23 Sources ........................................................................................................................ 24

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About Authors

My name is Delianas Palinauskas, I am attending the 12th grade. I am interested in chemistry and other exact sciences. Therefore, in the future I am planning to study in this field of science.

My name is Inga Milisauskaite. I have been living in Jieznas children foster home for 10 years. I am attenting the 12th grade. I am draming to study a social work. I like interacting with people and helping them. I love animals very much.

My name is Vilmante Zukauskaite. I am studying in Vytautas Magnus University. My major is Informatics and Multimedia. I am interested in arts, literature and the newest technologies.

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Introduction The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination establishes that: Each State Party undertakes not to carry out any racial discrimination laws; each State Party shall prohibit and bring to an end racial discrimination showed by any persons, group or organization, by all appropriate means, including legislation as required by circumstances.

Lithuania has ratified this Convention, has committed to respect the standard of the human rights embedded during the Convention. However, this does not necessarily ensure that human rights standards will actually be recognized, because the state is not always fulfilling its obligations.

Therefore, all States are required to report to the committee overseeing the implementation of the Convention.

During the visit of Dr. Ariel R. King to Jieznas children foster home we were invited to observe the report of Lithuanian delegation at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 88th session in Geneva that was held on November 27, 2015. We would like to submit our opinions on this report and on racial discrimination in Lithuania.

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Ineffective Laws Lithuania is a democratic state with a parliamentary system, and the separation of powers is established by the Constitution. Legislative power is vested in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament), executive power is exercised by the President and the Government, and independent courts have a judicial power. However, not all the laws, created by these three responsible parties are equally enforced. For Lithuania being a permanent UN, EU and NATO member it is necessary to comply with various obligations of these organizations and reform country's laws accordingly.

How does Lithuania comply with these obligations?

All the rights of ethnic minorities in the Republic of Lithuania are guaranteed by the Constitution, various laws and international legislation. The Law on Ethnic Minorities has expired on January 1, 2010. It is very important to have this law in the country, because it would ensure the rights and responsibilities of the minorities. At the present moment, the only national legislation, which refers to the ethnic minority, is the Constitution. In Lithuania minority rights are not protected in any other legislation. The Law on Ethnic Minorities was discussed at the spring plenary session of the Parliament in 2015, but was not accepted. We think such Law must be approved to guarantee the rights and responsibilities of the ethnic minorities.

From the Lithuanian delegation reports, we see that according to the Article 169 of the Criminal Code (CC), which prohibits discrimination, very few persecution cases were opened. The number of cases that have reached the courts in accordance with CC Article 170 (hostility incitement prohibition) and the number of convictions is also very low. The most common penalty for these offenses is a fine. Only in a very few cases the penalty was a prison sentence, which casts a doubt on the effectiveness of such sanctions. It is also often observed that the speeches of politicians lack a clear position or condemnation of discriminatory groups and their activities. Often officers, prosecutors and judges do not pay enough attention to clarify the various acts of discrimination. Most of the racial discrimination cases, as well as those which are in the press or on the Internet remain unidentified and unpunished. We think that the Police Department should strengthen its activities. The authorities should condemn all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti8

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Semitism. We believe that the Equality Act should be reviewed and amended. Lithuania's Constitution, Article 29 lays down the principle of non-discrimination for all people, other applicable legislation guarantees equal rights for all people regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, disability, age, religion or convictions. Although the Lithuanian delegation stated that the ethnic minority integration is successful, however, it is noted that the unemployment rate of ethnic minorities is higher than the national average, despite the fact that in some cases their level of education is higher. We believe that this indicates the high level of discrimination on the grounds of citizenship.

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Activities of Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism in Lithuania emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 20th Century. Neo-Nazis are rarely using this term when talking about themselves. More often they identify themselves as National Socialists, nationalists, patriots, and the like. Some groups and individuals, who support this ideology, are avoiding Nazi term to bypass cultural norms or legal particularities. Most European countries' laws prohibit Nazi, racist or anti-Semitic expression.

Lithuanian nationalist groups are monitored by the law enforcement, because anti-Semitic activities that promote racial discord in the Republic of Lithuania are prohibited.

Neo-Nazi - it is an organization that discriminates people based on their ethnic or racial origin. This organization incites hatred towards foreigners. Since Lithuania is a permanent member of the UN, it is committed to fight this organization and according to the United Nations recommendations should provide information about its activities and the results of the measures taken against it. March 11, 2008, Neo-Nazi march was held to commemorate Lithuania's independence. Apart from the Nazi symbols, there were also threatening racist slogans. July 9, 2009 Lithuania introduced an amendment to the Law of the Criminal Code Article 170-1, declaring that “creating a group of accomplices or organization aiming at discriminating a group of persons or inciting against it” is a punishable crime. Despite this the Neo-Nazi marches continue to happen.

The poll data of 2013 shows that as much as 18 percent of the people of Lithuania supports the nationalist marches. Majority of those in favor of marches is youth under 25, which is a concerning fact. All this shows the lack of education among the young people. There is a lack of detailed information on the activities of Neo-Nazi organizations and their real goals in Lithuanian media. All reports of Neo-Nazi marches are usually brief and laconic. We can state that it is the main reason why a big part of the public expresses an acceptance of Neo-Nazi activities and admire their ideology.

March 11th march was organized by the Lithuanian National Youth Union and Lithuanian national center. Nationalists – members of a national parties and organizations, whose political ideology is nationalism. We believe that the slogan used during the march "Lithuania for 10

Lithuanians" might have been offensive to some Lithuanian citizens. The media should make clear that although it has been more than 20 years of independence, but so far “Lithuanian” is often associated with an ethnic group. Until now the category of “Lithuanian” as a citizen of Lithuania was nonexistent. Yet in 2006 the Constitutional Court explained that the nation mentioned in the Constitution doesn't refer to the ethnic group of Lithuanians, but to the community of citizens of Lithuania. According to the Constitutional Court, the decisions made on nation's behalf include all citizens of the community. The public should be educated that the members of all ethnic groups residing in Lithuania have a right to be called Lithuanian.

The organizers declare that the march has a purpose to commemorate the restoration of independence. Nevertheless, the march despised Lithuanian membership in the European Union, used anti-European slogans. Therefore, it is important to educate young people to help them understand the true values. This should help to protect against new and radical alleged defenders of Lithuania.

Public education would reveal the true purpose of the organization. This is very important, because a large part of the public perceives them as nationalists, patriots who are “fighting for Lithuania”. Marches should be more carefully observed. Trained police officers should be able to recognize the Neo-Nazi symbols and slogans, and trace those who violate the law. Police should also be trained to learn how to identify the violence, which is carried out on the racial basis.

It is necessary to increase the punishment for those who propagates Neo-Nazism and is wearing Nazi symbols. It is important to show to the societies that Neo-Nazi activity is a crime, and by no means it is a “freedom of expression”. As any other offenses it is punishable as well.

Neo-Nazi organizations often employ a negative opinion about Lithuania expressed by representatives of a certain ethnic minorities, and use it for their propaganda predisposed against foreigners and incite hatred in society. It is important to organize events representing the ethnic minority culture to the widest possible public to become aware of Lithuania's national minorities.

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Education Education is the basis for the future of Lithuania as well as each country. It is important that Lithuania in the field of education could prevent racial discrimination and hatred. The country must set a goal to ensure education of tolerance and for every person to have the right to receive an education.

One of the biggest problems that education system is facing at the moment is the final examination. Unified Lithuanian language and literature exam will be taken not the first time already, but still it raises many questions and concerns. Some ethnic minorities argue that a uniform exam abuses their graduates, however, Lithuanian native speakers, who may make fewer mistakes at the examination, feel wronged as well. We believe that it is not right and not useful to have exam privileges; after all, these days 11th-12th grades in minority schools receive more Lithuanian language classes than those who are taught in Lithuanian schools. If the current lessons are not enough, it would be a lot more beneficial to pay more attention to language studies. It would help a lot more than the privileges, as it would facilitate better chances for an employment, and for the further social life. We also believe that the unified examination is beneficial for the children themselves. It is very important for them to be able to communicate in Lithuanian, and have a proper conversation.

The government has approved the National Progress program, which outlines the steps of the country's development for 2014-2020. One of the objectives of this program is promoting the inclusion and integration of ethnic minorities, ensuring ethnic identity, encouraging participation in the public life and coherence of ethnic relations. Non-formal education is a very important in dealing with issue of racism. We believe that there should be state funded public education programs and staff training courses, which would aim to reduce the negative stereotypes, based approach to the ethnic minorities. We believe there is a need for more social advertising on the discrimination issues. It is necessary to add an education about the tolerance to the overall school program. It would be useful to create the integrated classes for children on ethnic minorities, damage of discrimination, promote tolerance among children, because children will change the 12 Â Â

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society and their proper education is very important. It is important that people learn to understand and accept cultural differences. Also, Lithuanian authorities should continue to make efforts to train police officers, lawyers, judges and prosecutors on the attitudes against racism and racial discrimination. When programs are implemented by more than one institution there must be an organization that would ensure coordination and consistency among them.

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Situation of Ethnic Minorities in Lithuania According to the Department of Statistics currently 15.8 percent of the total Lithuania's population consists of ethnical minorities. The largest ethnic minority are the Poles, about 200.000 resides in our country, but also Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian communities are quite big in numbers. In 2015 by re-establishing the Department of Ethnical Minorities, Lithuania has taken an important task - to create a smooth integration of ethnic minorities into the society.

We believe the Department should strive to implement policies to ensure interests of ethnic minorities living in Lithuania. There should be conditions created for them to participate actively in the country's social, political and cultural life. Efforts should be made to establish a fair dialogue with the ethnic minority organizations.

We can say that the situation of ethnic minorities in the past years has changed for the better – young people who graduated from gymnasiums and schools in Lithuania have a good knowledge of the state language, knowledge of the legal and social system. This is a very good thing, because such people tend to find a job easier, and actively participate in the country's social life, contributing to the cultural activities. It is praiseworthy that the state is providing funding for the annual international folk festivals.

We know that the southeastern region of Lithuania stands out from the other areas of the country based on their ethnic composition. Therefore, we believe that it is here that the state should help ethnic minorities to become more integrated into society through non-formal education and cultural life. We think there is a need to finance the events, meetings, discussions and seminars for the non-governmental organizations that represent ethnic minorities.

Lithuania is cohesive and multicultural country, but also in Lithuania there are different problems rooted in culture differences. We can say that disagreements often arise from ignorance or misunderstanding. It is important to the society as a whole to help understand the customs and traditions of different ethnicities residing together.

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Six ethnic minority culture centers are currently operating in Lithuania. We believe that their services should be more used to nurture cultural and ethnic tolerance. A range of activities, such as seminars, discussions and consultations, speeches on traditions and cultural identity, should be supported. This activity could be carried out with a participation of non-governmental organizations, academics, politicians and other well-known people. Particular attention should be given to the non-formal education programs for ethnic minorities.

It is our conviction that division on the ethnic grounds is mostly fueled by lack of information or incorrect presentation of it. Ignorance, unwillingness to understand, prejudice and lies are the greatest enemies. We believe that the greatest efforts should be placed forming an open society. Through co-operation and provision of comprehensive information, people are becoming more forbearing, more tolerant, especially when they get to know the unknown issues more closely.

Information that is being spread should help people to get rid of stereotypes and fears. It can be stated, that it is particularly important to think about the closer cooperation between the state authorities and the ethnic minorities, as well as society as a whole. The government must be ready to encourage and support cooperation with ethnic minorities.

Lithuania should continue along the path of strengthening the solidarity of ethnic minorities, also defending their rights, cultural heritage and language. The Law of Ethnic Minorities that would protect minority rights and freedoms was withdrawn and not re-established in 2010. Also an issue of writing names of the places and people in their native languages remains unresolved.

Opinions on the writing of a double street names and personal names in their mother tongue often differ. Some politicians express fears of separatist processes. There is a risk that if it will be allowed to post double street names, minorities will not stop there requesting for autonomy or even separation. We believe that actually such logic of a conflict is deepening it in the first place. If we do not want separatist processes to take place we should as soon as possible allow the double street names and personal names in the original language.

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Situation of Romani Ethnic Minority Lithuania is a home to about 3,000 Romani people, and sometimes Romani people are visiting from other countries. Temporarily arriving Romani are engaged in trade, fortune-telling, music, money begging. The biggest permanent gypsy community in Lithuania is residing in Vilnius – Kirtimai district.

Integration of Romani people into Lithuanian society for 2008-2010 and previously done programs were little productive and had no tangible results. We believe that there is a lack of coordination between the public authorities, which implement different Roma Integration Programs.

Inter-institutional body on Romani people issues should be established to coordinate the action of the authorities responsible for Romani integration programs. Existing social staff to work with Romani students in schools should be not only preserved, but also strengthened. They should be set in all schools where Romani children are studying.

Bilingualism is a very important issue. Romani children come to school without any Lithuanian language skills. School is often the first environment were Lithuanian is being spoken. If Romani children are able to attend pre-school establishments, and their parents are motivated to let children to attend them, adaptation problems, language comprehension problems in schools would decrease. In addition, teachers are not always aware that most of the children come from families where both parents have only primary education or are illiterate. If a child can not keep up in the classroom with all the tasks teachers hope that he/she will do those tasks at home with their parents, but usually at home the help is not received.

Therefore, we believe that it is essential to work with the family prior to starting the first grade: we need to help parents understand the requirements of the school, explain what school supplies need to be prepared, how does the classroom look like, what the learning process will be, what documents need to be prepared. By solving these issues some of the parents would be more encouraged to allow their children to attend the school.

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We believe that Romani people housing issues need to be tackled as a priority. Most of the Romani settlement buildings are built without permits. At the present moment, the living conditions there are not meeting any hygiene standards: there is no water supply and sewerage. Only very few houses have electricity. Some residents even do not have enough wood in the winter, consequently several families gather in one house and live together to save money. When there is no light in the majority of the houses, there is no possibility for children to do their homework. We believe it is necessary to provide additional aid for learning. For some children this assistance was provided by non-governmental organizations. The results of children who participated in the project improved and certain problems were solved. Such simple things as extra help in learning to read, or solving math problems, even talking about how was the day in the school can help to solve problems. This should not be a one-time assistance through the project, but rather the ongoing systematic work.

Registration at the unemployment agency should be simplified and implications of such procedures explained. For people to qualify to receive benefits they need to be registered with an unemployment agency (Labour Exchange), and only a very small part of the Romani community living in Vilnius is registered there. It is essential thing to find an alternative housing for the Roma community, develop the long-term employment programs, encourage employers to hire Roma workers, because often no one wants to employ them due to the existing stereotypes that Romani people are used to steal or work badly.

According to the Ethnic Research Centre, the Romani people remain one of the most unpopular groups of the society. Many of the Roma living in Lithuania are faced with a negative prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion on the daily bases. The public media is often publishing a number of plans using negative rhetoric - “evict”, “fight” and so on, but they are silent on what will happen after that. Rarely Romani who are working and paying taxes, who want to live differently are mentioned. There is no discussion about Roma children trying to survive in a quite hostile school environment and adults who are willing to get employed but experiencing bullying. There is no questioning why some adults have only permanent residence permits, and do not get a full Lithuanian citizenship.

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Roma exclusion is a consequence of not only long-term ignorance of the Roma community, non-recognition of them as a part our society, but also of the social problems that result from the exclusion. We believe that examination and solution of social issues of the Roma community, as well as other vulnerable groups, is a state responsibility and not a matter of a choice.

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A visit to the Roma Community Center When writing a report we became particularly concerned about the situation of the Roma.

After calling to the Roma community center in Kirtimai, we were invited to visit them and have a discussion. We talked with the Director of the Center, Ms. Svetlana Novopolskaja and Vilnius Roma community President, Mr. Stepas Visockas.

During our conversation with the Roma community center leaders we learned that this center has only five staff, the center is open only on weekdays and only until 6 p.m. We believe that if this center, located next to the Romani settlement, could have a significant increase in the number of employees, the center could operate seven days a week and working hours could be longer, the center staff could expand the activities. It would provide more support for the Roma children to integrate into schools and this would give an opportunity for them to acquire education.

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There are priority areas identified that must be carried out in Roma integration process and where the Roma community is facing the most discrimination. These are: 1. Housing; 2. Education; 3. Employment and economic activity; 4. Health care; 5. Formation of the positive opinion and tolerance in society.

Community chairman emphasized that the biggest problem is the lack of communication and information. People living in the Roma settlement face a language barrier, they can not understand the law and municipal government’s decisions concerning them; therefore they feel fear and uncertainty. Summing up his speech he said that the Roma community is lacking information about government activities that concern them, inclusion into their community problem-solving process, government action in the field of integration, more common summer camps, events and field trips.

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Racial Discrimination in the Media The most important problem faced by Lithuanian media concerning racism issue is that the media is almost silent on racism in general. For example, the Lithuanian delegation report at the 88th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that took place in Geneva, November 27, 2015, was not covered in the main television channels, daily newspapers, or the coverage was so low that it just could not be found. Minimum information was provided at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (just four sentences). The whole delegation's report, committee members’ feedback, public debate on the subject could not be found. It is therefore possible to state that information to the public has not been provided, or it was too few.

UN committee gave their remarks to each Member state commenting what should be improved in the future. We believe that if a working group is organized, it would be capable to discuss these issues in the society. This group would listen to the various public organizations, racial minorities, the academic community, the media, youth organizations' active opinion, which would lead to reaching more and improve the situation overall.

Lithuania could do more if before submitting its report to the appropriate committee, in a good time before delivery, the draft report could we presented to the Lithuanian society and the working group preparing the report could listen to the proposals. Although Lithuanian delegation expressed the view that the public is informed about the work of the government in the field of racial discrimination, we believe, that the information provided to the public is not enough. We conclude that this issue is not considered relevant or timely. The state should pursue discussions with the public before making decisions affecting vulnerable groups.

In our opinion, political opinion that is represented in the media is very important, it could contribute to the formation of the public attitude. Observing the recent statements in the press, we see that prominent politicians in their statements did not express concern about the need to combat racism and intolerance, or such instances were few, because we could not find them. We believe that the power of competent authorities which are responsible for the study of hostility manifestations on the Internet must be strengthened so that they can act if it considers that a crime was committed.

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Media reports on the Roma ethnic citizens which are limited to the criminal offenses, such as drug trafficking and consumption, encourage intolerance among readers. Lithuanian authorities should influence the media without invading its freedom. There must occur a perception that the news should not incite hatred, but rather oppose it.

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Conclusions Lithuanian state faces a variety of problems related to the discrimination. Those are the problems of Romani people, ethnic minorities, lack of tolerance in the education and the media, aggressive Neo-Nazi organizations, and ineffective laws. It is important that these issues would be constantly explored, discussions with the public held to seek a reasonable and effective solutions.

The public should be fully informed, educated and encouraged to be tolerant. We need to communicate and find solutions to existing problems. We must understand that each of us has an obligation to contribute in the fight for a tolerant and civic society. We are all living in one world and we should feel its full-fledged members.

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SOURCES: •

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention

Sixth to eighth periodic reports of States parties due in 2014 Lithuania •

Department of Statistics Lithuania http://www.stat.gov.lt/

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Roma community center http://www.roma.lt/

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania

https://www.urm.lt/index.php •

Lithuanian human rights center http://manoteises.lt

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Institute for ethnic studies http://www.ces.lt/

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Center for Equality Advancement http://gap.lt/

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Human rights review 2013-2014 http://pasidomek.lt/

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National minority concept: the aspects of an international law Aiste Rackauskaite,

Mykolas Romeris University, Faculty of Law, International Law Department, Vilnius in 2010.

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Jociene, D. The adaptation of European Human Rights Convention to foreign

countries and the Republic of Lithuania Law. Vilnius, Eugrimas 2001.

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