HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (THIRD CYCLE). Shadow Report of Lithuanian NGOs, 2021

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (THIRD CYCLE) Shadow Report of Lithuanian NGOs Reporting period: 2016-2020 Joint Submission 2021

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WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY

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Summary

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1.1 National initiatives for the protection of human rights and the implementation of international human rights obligations

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1.2 Changes in the legal and institutional framework

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1.3 Implementation of the recommendations from the UPR second cycle

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1.4 Recommendations

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DISABILITY

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RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS AND BENEFICIARIES OF INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

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Summary

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4.1 National initiatives for the protection of human rights and the implementation of international human rights obligations

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4.2 Changes in the legal and institutional framework

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4.3 Implementation of recommendations from the UPR second cycle

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4.4 Recommendations

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RIGHTS OF PERSONS BELONGING TO NATIONAL MINORITIES

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Summary

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Summary

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2.1 National initiatives for the protection of human rights and the implementation of international human rights obligations

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2.2 Changes in the legal and institutional framework

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2.3 Implementation of the recommendations from the UPR second cycle

5.1 National initiatives for the protection of national minority rights

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2.4 Recommendations

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5.2 Implementation of the recommendations from the UPR second cycle including changes in the legal and institutional framework

LGBTI

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5.3 Recommendations

Summary

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RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND YOUTH

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3.1 National initiatives for the protection of human rights and the implementation of international human rights obligations

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Summary

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3.2 Changes in the legal and institutional framework

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6.1 National initiatives for the protection of human rights and the implementation of international human rights obligations

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3.3 Implementation of the recommendations from the UPR second cycle

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6.2 Changes in the legal and institutional framework

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3.4 Recommendations

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6.3 Implementation of the recommendations from the UPR second cycle

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6.4 Recommendations

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ENDNOTES

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SUMMARY Since the establishment of the UPR mechanism in 2006, Lithuania has gone a long way in the direction of improvement of human rights standards and submitted its contributions to the First and Second cycles of UPR in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

During the Third Cycle, the accreditation of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office as a type “A” national human rights institution was a landmark event in the history of the country, yet numerous human rights issues remain unresolved.

This joint submission is grouped into six topics (women’s rights and gender equality, disability, LGBTI, rights of migrants and beneficiaries of international protection, rights of persons belonging to national minorities, rights of the child and youth) and covers implementation of corresponding UPR recommendations from the Second Cycle.

Contributions of various regional and national Lithuanian NGOs are also covered.

The preparation of the report was supported by the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norwegian Financial Mechanism (www.eeagrants.lt/en/home) Open Lithuania Foundation (www.apf.lt/en) during the implementation of the project “Priority in the Welfare State: Human Rights”.

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I WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY

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Summary During the reported period, Lithuania did not make any significant progress in ensuring gender equality. Though certain measures have been undertaken by the Government to reduce domestic violence, the number of reports about it increase every year. To this day Lithuania did not ratify the Istanbul Convention and failed to adopt laws which would better protect victims from domestic violence, stalking and marital rape. The law on reproductive health and rights has not been adopted in Lithuania. Such a situation significantly limits access to and the quality of health care, safe abortions and post-abortion services for women and girls.

1.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS Gender inequality 1. Lithuania has not made any progress in the field of gender equality since 2005

according to the Gender Equality Index. Among 27 EU countries Lithuania ranks 22nd with 56.3 out of 100 points. Its score is 11.6 points below the EU’s average score and ranking has dropped by four places since 2010.1 Gender inequality is most pronounced in the domain of power (34.1 points) and time (50.6 points).

2. Women in Lithuania are represented in the economic decision-making bodies

twice less than in the EU: 12.9% as compared to 26.6% in the EU and almost 3 times less on the Board of the Bank of Lithuania (7.7% as compared to 22.1% in the EU).2 Representation of women in the political decision-making field slightly improved after the 2020 parliamentary election in Lithuania. The composition of the current Government is almost gender equal: 6 women and 8 men. Although women in the Parliament are still underrepresented: 27% women and 73% men.

In the regional councils the proportion is almost the same: 29% women and 71% men. Only 5 women are elected city mayors from 60 municipalities.3

3. To this day Lithuania did not undertake any measures, including special

measures such as gender quotas, to improve women’s representation in decision making. It also failed to eliminate legal barriers by providing for the possible use of these measures by law.4

4. Financial inequality is higher for women with children as compared to the EU

average.5 In Lithuania, twice more women than men spend time on childcare, elderly care or look after people with disabilities daily.6 This has direct negative effects on their careers and wages, which manifests itself in the widening gender pay gap of up to 15% for women in the 40-49 age group when the average pay gap is 12.4%.7

Domestic and Gender-based violence 5. Though the number of cases of domestic violence reported to the police

increased every year from 2015 (38,000) to 2019 (53,075), not all of them were registered as criminal offences. The official statistics show that between 2018 and 2020, the number of registered offences dropped by 25%: from 9529 registered criminal offences related to domestic violence8 to 7133, respectively.9 The dynamics of the victims of intimate partner violence and perpetrators has not changed in the past five years: up to 79% of the victims of intimate partner violence are women, 90% of perpetrators are men.10

6. Nevertheless, the scope of domestic violence has not reduced in Lithuania.

Specialized Assistance Centres (SAC), acting as non-profit public organizations in providing complex support services to victims of domestic violence, notice that the police tend to define many reported cases on domestic violence as “unconfirmed cases”. Usually, this happens because a woman refuses to testify or pursue charges.11 Due to the prevailing view that a victim herself is to blame, women who experience domestic violence do not tend to disclose it. The conducted population poll suggests that up to 60% of the respondents do not call the police even though they suffer domestic violence, and only 16% of them called the police.12

7. There is a lack of intersectional approach to addressing challenges of

protection and safety of women with disability who experience either intimate partner or family violence. Domestic violence against women with disability is

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not included as an important issue in the strategic and operational programs.

The institutions which defend the rights of people with disability, namely, the Department of the Disabled Affairs, the municipal service providers and NGOs, do not deal with the issues of assistance and safety for female with disabilities as victims of domestic violence. SACs provide complex support for victims of domestic violence but have limited capabilities to provide services for women with disability.13 Thus women with disabilities do not receive any specialized services tailored to their needs.

8. Coordinated inter-institutional cooperation on the local level is still very vague and depends on a personal engagement of individual officers. The state does not invest in developing a mechanism for inter-institutional cooperation.

Though cooperation between SACs and the police has improved significantly, other municipal service providers and, particularly, officials responsible for the protection of children’s rights are reluctant to work together.14

9. There is an urgent need for specialized lawyers in order to provide a better

protection to victims of domestic violence. State-guaranteed legal aid is ineffective because lawyers do not have specific knowledge of coercive control in cases of domestic violence and perform their duties very formally. The state should invest in training lawyers to defend victims of domestic violence in courts.15

Reproductive health and rights 10. Availability of contraceptives in Lithuania is limited and there is a lack of

awareness about modern contraceptive methods.16 Up to 44% of young people do not use any protection or contraceptives during their first sexual intercourse because they cannot afford it or lack information.17 The Ministry of Health does not provide any measures to improve awareness and accessibility or get counselling, especially to the vulnerable groups (Roma, women with disabilities) and young people.

11. Intersectional approach is not integrated in the content of any policy

documents on the reproductive health and rights and excludes the needs of the most vulnerable groups. On the whole, the reproductive rights of women with disability are ignored in the policies and practice.

1.2 CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Domestic and Gender-based violence 12. The Government of Lithuania attempted to improve existing legislation

and, in cooperation with the representatives from both governmental and nongovernmental organizations, drafted the new Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and Violence against Women.18 It introduced the protection order against domestic violence, defined violence against women, foresaw access to support for survivors of violence irrespective of where violence occurred (at home, at work, or elsewhere), and contained detailed provisions on the functions of different institutions in the field of prevention.19

13. Attempts to introduce the protection order, which obliges a perpetrator

to move out from the residence where the victim lives and maintain no contact with it, might be perceived as an indirect link to the provisions of the Istanbul Convention. Even though women’s NGOs and the police support the implementation of the protection order, the Ministry of Justice,20 the Office of the Prosecutor General21 and the Judicial Council22 argue that empowering police officers and prosecutors to issue protection orders without court proceedings might be incompatible with the protection of the right to property and the inviolability of one’s home.

14. The Ministry of Justice raised concerns about a supposedly ambiguous and

broad definition of violence against women arguing that the prioritization of the protection of women from violence might violate the constitutional principle of equality because men suffer violence as well.23 As a result, references to violence against women were removed from the new version of the draft law (11 November 2020). Even though it refers to “domestic violence and domestic violence against women”, these types of violence are defined identically without any specifics of intimate partner violence against women.24

15. Modified provisions for the protection order have been retained. However,

human rights experts warned that its application without any further considerations or risk assessment might be problematic because it could be issued to the women who, being victims of systemic violence, resort to violence themselves.25

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16. Lithuania remains one of the countries where stalking has not been

criminalized. On 25 July 2019, amendments to the Criminal Code, aiming to criminalize stalking, were registered with the Parliament and distributed in parliamentary committees for discussions.26 However, these amendments have not been adopted yet.

Reproductive health and rights 17. To this day Lithuania has not adopted any law on reproductive health and

the rights of individuals to regulate matters concerning family planning and reproductive health. The Order of the Minister of Health of 1994 allows abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. However, better access to and the quality of health care, safe abortions and necessary post-abortion services could be provided by law rather than the Minister’s order. Young women and girls in rural areas, particularly due to their ethnic origin, namely, being Roma, have limited access to reproductive health services and modern contraceptives.

18. Women in Lithuania do not have access to drugs that help terminate

unwanted pregnancy. The method of terminating unwanted pregnancy by administering drugs has not been approved by the Government of Lithuania and the drugs have not been registered.

Recommendations 100.48 – 100.49 20. One of the key reasons of gender pay gap is the gender care gap. In Lithuania,

79% of women spend at least one hour every day on cooking and housework as compared to only 29% of men.28 Strong gender stereotypes about gender roles in society have a significant impact on the attitudes and behaviour of women and men who still support the traditional family model of male breadwinner and female caregiver.29 However, the government does not invest in systemic and complex measures to change gender stereotypes and prejudices about social gender roles. Measures that target fathers and their caregiver role are random, fragmented and not sustainable. By providing paternity leave schemes, the state constructs the role of the father as an assistant to mother in childcare and does not contribute to reducing the care gap between women and men in Lithuania.

Recommendations 100.98 – 100.102 and 100.104 – 100.106 21. The Government of Lithuania approved the National Programme for the

Prevention of Domestic Violence and Provisions of Assistance to Victims for 2014-2020 and the National Action Plan for the implementation of this Program for 2017-2020. However, they continue to use gender neutral terms ignoring the fact that women disproportionally suffer domestic violence and fail to tailor the measures to the needs of female survivors of intimate partner violence.30

22. The coordinated inter-institutional cooperation at the local level to better

1.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE

protect survivors of domestic violence is not effective in Lithuania. Women’s NGOs are not treated as equal partners in inter-institutional communication and service provision and this causes mistrust and competition between the state, municipal and non-governmental institutions.

Recommendations 100.15 – 100.20

23. Ad hoc prevention of domestic violence neither provides a sustainable

19. To this day the Lithuanian Parliament has not ratified the Council of Europe

Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). The continued disagreement over the concept of “gender” as a social construct defined in the Convention is the main reason for this deadlock. The Catholic Church and conservative politicians are main opponents of this Convention who argue that the ratification of the Convention would require Lithuania to change the concept of gender as a biological reality and propagate homosexuality.27

change to stop domestic violence nor encourages a zero-tolerance standard towards it. Long-term sustainable prevention programs to cover education and awareness raising are lacking.31 Public funds to ensure the sustainability of these programs are needed.

24. The current practice of state guaranteed aid is not effective because lawyers

do not have specific knowledge of coercive control in cases of domestic violence.

They perform their duties very formally. Hence, women’s NGOs advocate specialized lawyers who could represent victims during criminal proceedings.

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Women’s NGOs are ready to cooperate in training these lawyers if the state provides enough resources.32

Recommendation 100.103 25. To date, Lithuania has not adopted a law or legal amendments to the Criminal

1.4 Recommendations Ratify the Istanbul Convention and, accordingly, harmonise the legislation combating gender-based violence against women, including the civil protection order.

Code to prosecute stalking by an intimate partner as a form of violence.

Adopt legal provisions to criminalize stalking to better ensure safety of female survivors of intimate partner’s stalking.

Recommendations 100.107 – 100.111

Adopt legal provisions to prosecute for marital rape.

26. Lithuania has not yet adopted legal amendments to the Criminal Code to

Integrate an intersectional approach into the protection system to ensure safety and assistance to women with disabilities who suffer domestic violence.

prosecute rape and sexual abuse by intimate partner as a form of violence.

Public polls show a widely spread attitude in society that a wife’s martial duty is to have sex with her husband. Men (47%) more often than women (36%) tend to accept this statement.33

Recommendation 100.141 27. Lithuania has not yet adopted any specific law on reproductive health and rights; abortion is allowable under the Order of the Minister of Health, 1994.

The Government of Lithuania has not undertaken any legal provisions to provide access to necessary drugs allowing the termination of unwanted pregnancies.

The method of the so-called medical abortion has not been approved.

Build the capacities of lawyers under state-guaranteed aid to better defend victims of domestic violence in the courts.

Invest in the development of inter-institutional cooperation to guarantee safety of victims of domestic violence.

Adopt a law on reproductive health and rights and improve access to and the quality of reproductive health care services.

Undertake all legal steps to provide access to medical abortion.

Improve the information and access to contraceptives to all groups of women, including women with disability, Roma and young people.

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Prepared by: the Centre for Equality Advancement (CEA), a non-governmental organization aimed at changing gender stereotypes and mainstreaming women’s rights, equality and inclusion in society, communities and organizations.

Address: Didžioji str. 5-312, LT-01128, Vilnius, Lithuania, +37067980607, www.gap.lt, e-mail: info@gap.lt, Director Virginija Aleksėjūnė, contact person Vilana PilinkaitėSotirovič.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (THIRD CYCLE) | I. WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY

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II DISABILITY

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Summary In the period between 2016 and 2020 there were more possibilities for the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes. The political background was favourable and friendly to NGO participation which influenced some legal and systemic changes. Yet, there is some doubt about the methods of involvement, the purpose of the consultations with NGOs and the effectiveness of the outcomes. Also, many enduring obstacles to the implementation of the rights of people with disability remain and progress is slow.

2.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS Situation analysis 28. In 2019, the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson,34 carried out

41 investigations on possible discrimination based on a disability. This accounted for nearly 17% of all the investigations carried out that year.35

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as UN CRPD) for the first time. The umbrella NGO Lithuanian Disability Forum has submitted its alternative report38 with the views from disability community and NGOs for the review procedure.

31. Mapping and Understanding Exclusion39 is a unique study which is concerned

with the state of mental health services across Europe and provides exclusive data and testimonies about European mental health systems, ongoing human rights violations and changes on the horizon. It was prepared by the pan-European umbrella NGO Mental Health Europe in January 2018. Data on the Lithuanian situation was provided by the Lithuanian NGO Mental Health Perspectives emphasizing the current state of involuntary practices and limited progress on deinstitutionalisation.

COVID-19 32. People living in closed social care institutions and admitted to or involuntarily

hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals were among those seriously affected during the pandemic. After assessing the risks of human rights violations during the quarantine, as well as taking into account the calls of residents and their relatives, the Ombudsman Office has implemented some educational and investigative measures.40 However, there have to be many more actions taken in order to investigate and to prevent all forms of involuntary and coercive practices and the right to live in a community.

29. The statistics suggest that people with disabilities are more likely to be at

risk of poverty. In 2018, the risk level of persons with disabilities was indicated as 35%, as compared with 18% of the general population.36 Some specific groups of persons with disabilities are considered as the most discriminated ones in Lithuania.37

Cooperation with international organizations 30. In 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(hereinafter referred to as the Committee) issued recommendations to Lithuania after assessing the country’s progress in implementing the UN Convention on

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (THIRD CYCLE) | II. DISABILITY

2.2 CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 33. Lithuania is one of the EU countries where there is the greatest difference

between people with and without disabilities participating in employment.

According to the data of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, this difference accounted for 31.9% in 2019. Only 47,206 out of 160,340 people with disabilities of working age are in employment. Hence, the employment rate is 29%, as compared to the average of 40.7% in the EU.

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34. There is still a predominant form of state financial support for the integration of people with disabilities in employment into segregated social enterprises. This is evident from the financial data, since the state aid for the integration of people with disabilities into the labour market in 2018 amounted to 36.47 million Eur. As much as 29.3 million Eur of which was used to support social enterprises, 4.57 million Eur was spent on active policy measures in open labour market, and 2.6 million Eur was allocated to the vocational rehabilitation program.

35. Lithuanian legislation does not explicitly state that “non-provision of

accessible to persons with disabilities in the Presidential elections in October 201945 and 93% of polling stations accessible to persons46 with disabilities in October 2020 elections to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania.47 Yet, according to the 2019 and 2020 election monitoring results48, about 10% of the polling stations declared as accessible, were not practically adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities. Persons living in residential institutions found themselves in the worst situation as to voting possibilities because they were excluded from the national voter registry due to their legal incapacitation.

reasonable accommodation” to people with disabilities in the workplace is considered a discrimination, as it was recommended by the Committee.

Besides, there is a lack of clear and specific definitions on what is considered as “reasonable accommodation”, since in general, the focus is usually only on the adaptation of the physical environment, the premises rather than on a more widely perceived and defined conditions.41

40. Domestic violence experienced by people with disabilities is extremely latent. In particular, this can be accounted for by the victim’s disability, living in self-isolation, physical and social separation from the environment, dependence on the perpetrator, which results in the victim’s passivity, reluctance and/or inability to deal with the current situation.

36. The requirement of full legal capacity enshrined in Article 21 (2) of the Labour

experienced by women and girls with disabilities, including domestic violence.

In Lithuania, in 2019, a total of 285 women with disabilities were affected, including 156 who experienced violence. On average, among all affected women with disabilities 60% of women with disabilities became victims of violence. Yet, statistics do not fully reveal the real situation of victimization, of psychological and sexual violence of people with disabilities, which is common and emphasized in international documents.

Code42 precludes any prospect of participation in the employment relationship, for example, for those people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities who might be declared as legally incapacitated or with restricted legal capacity in particular areas of life.

37. In Lithuania, there are technical regulations for constructing buildings and

other structures ensuring easy access to them for persons with disabilities and special needs. However, those requirements apply to the newly built structures or those which are undergoing renovation only.

38. The overall picture of accessibility of physical environment is far from

satisfactory. According to the Audit report,43 more than half (32) the municipalities failed to ensure that at least 30% of public buildings, which provide important services to individuals (wards, social service centres, educational, health and cultural institutions), should be easily accessible. Accessibility conditions differ depending on the sector of public services, from 15% in the education, justice systems to 60% in the system of social services.

39. Amendments to electoral laws44 which came into force in the middle of 2019 introduced an obligation to adapt all polling stations to people with disabilities.

Nevertheless, there are no absolute accessibility of the polling stations; however, the numbers of accessible polling stations are increasing. According to the data provided by the Central Electoral Commission, there were 67% of polling stations

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41. According to the official data, one of the greatest concerns is the violence

42. According to information provided by the Ministry of Health, funding from

the State Health Insurance Fund (2018) was distributed as following: 47,9 billion Eur to inpatient treatment in hospitals, 12,4 billion Eur to outpatient mental health services and 16,4 billion Eur to primary mental health care services. It demonstrates the imbalance of available services and does not correspond to the human rights-based approach to mental health, which is based on communitybased services.

43. In Lithuania community-based services provided to people with mental

health problems are extremely limited and primarily consist of group home placements that are available to a small part of those using residential care; their exact number is unknown. Short-term respite services are provided in long-stay institutional settings.

44. Aligning the new provisions of the Mental Health Care Law49 with the existing

provisions in the Civil Code,50 involuntary hospitalization and/or involuntary

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treatment without a court decision were made possible for up to 3 working days, while the application to the court must be applied within 48 hours from the start of involuntary hospitalization and involuntary treatment. The envisaged criteria for involuntary hospitalization of a person are determined as a real threat to his or her health or life, or the health or life of other persons, or significant damage to the property. Such an extension of involuntary hospitalization and treatment is at variance with the provisions of the UN CRPD.

45. Deinstitutionalisation has been very slow in Lithuania.51 Nevertheless, there

are some concerns that too little attention and financing are directed towards the creation of actual independent living schemes. A plan is underway to build 50 group living homes around the country (10 people living in one setting with the help of the staff), which is considered a large proportion in comparison with the community-based services promoting independent living, which is promoted and supported by the UN CRPD. Even these structures encountered considerable opposition from the local communities, especially from Žiežmariai community,52 which indicates a lack of systemic preparedness for a deinstitutionalisation process and proper tackling stigma, as well as a discrimination in the society.

46. Human rights monitoring in social care homes and psychiatric hospitals is

performed in the framework of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by the Seimas Ombudsmen Institution.53 But due to a large number of detention places in Lithuania (about 450), attention to psychiatric hospitals and social care homes might be limited, especially during the period of lockdown, when the number of such closed institutions is even greater.

and monitoring processes. In accordance with the recommendations, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania approved a plan of measures for their implementation in 2016–2020.55 Unfortunately, the process of drawing up and adopting the plan did not ensure proper cooperation and involvement of disability NGOs. (100.145)

49. On July 1, 2019, following the entry into force of the amendments to the

Law on Equal Opportunities, the Commission for the Monitoring on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities56 was set up under the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. Its aim is to monitor the implementation of the UN CRPD. (100.148.)

50. In 2020, the Parliament passed amendments to the Law on Education that

eliminated discriminatory provisions for children with disabilities. According to the new provisions, children with disabilities will be able to attend a general education school in their place of residence and schools will no longer be able to refuse admission to them or refer them to special schools. Inclusive education and support for children with disabilities will be provided. The new provisions would be implemented gradually and would enter into force as of September 1, 2024.57 (100.147.)

47. During inspection carried out by the Human Rights Division of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, a man with a disability was discovered to have been unlawfully imprisoned at Skemai Social Care Home in Rokiškis district, where he spent two weeks behind the bars.54

2.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE 48. One of the key recommendations by the Committee to Lithuania is to involve organizations of people with disabilities in all decision-making, implementation

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2.4 Recommendations Tackle poverty and fight against the discrimination of people with disabilities in Lithuania.

Promote the provision of reasonable accommodation and employment in the open labour market.

Abolish forced hospitalization and treatment without the consent of people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.

Increase investigation efforts in the cases of human rights violations in closed institutions, namely, in social care homes and psychiatric wards, and promote systemic changes in the social care and mental healthcare systems.

Adopt measures to prevent violence towards and abuse of residents in closed institutions and to ensure that they have access to complaint mechanisms when their rights are violated.

Apply UN CRPD standards in the ongoing deinstitutionalization process and fight stigma and discrimination in the communities.

Develop support mechanisms such as independent living schemes and community-based services for children and adults with disabilities.

Combat the abuse (sexual or otherwise) of children and adults with disabilities, violence experienced by women and girls with disabilities, both inside and outside institutions.

Prepared by: The Lithuanian disability forum (LDF) is an umbrella association uniting 15 national disability organisations, representing different types of disabilities.

Address: Žemaitės str. 21, LT-03118 Vilnius, Lithuania, +37052691309, info@lnf.lt, www.lnf.lt, President Dovilė Juodkaitė.

Mental Health Perspectives (MHP) – Lithuanian NGO working in the field of mental health and human rights.

Address: Vasaros str. 3, LT-10309 Vilnius, Lithuania, +37069977669, vilnius@perspektyvos.org, www.perspektyvos.org, Director Karilė Levickaitė.

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III LGBTI

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Summary Protection of LGBTI individuals in Lithuania, irrespective of several positive developments, remains highly compromised. No major positive change in the field of LGBTI Human rights was identified in 2020.58 LGBTI individuals are directly affected by a lack of same-sex family rights recognition and administrative procedures regarding legal gender recognition still have to be introduced, which constitutes a blatant discrimination against transgender persons. The LGBTI youth situation in Lithuania remains particularly vulnerable, with no national-level measures to address the specific needs of young LGBTI individuals regarding their emotional well-being in educational institutions.

There were several instances of discriminatory application of the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information with the view of limiting the LGBTI content, including that of educational character.

3.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS Statistics and tendencies

education on LGBTI topics at schools remains critical: the respondents reported that LGBTI topics were discussed either in a negative manner (19%) or were not discussed at all (65%).

52. The results of the nation-wide LGBTQI high school student survey carried

out in 2017 revealed that 82% of the respondents were bullied due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the past year.60 50% of the survey respondents also stated that their teachers did not react appropriately to homophobic bullying, if they reacted at all.

53. LGL recorded at least 10 active legal proceedings regarding legal gender

recognition (LGR) at the beginning of 2021, which is the only option available for transgender individuals due to the lack of administrative LGR procedures.

This, together with the absence of transgender-specific healthcare, constitutes a heavy burden for the Lithuanian transgender community.

3.2 CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 54. On the 11th of January 2019, the Constitutional Court of the Republic

of Lithuania issued a judgment61 ruling that a spouse in a same-sex union concluded abroad is eligible for a residence permit based on the grounds of a family reunification, although a comprehensive legislation concerning the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships is yet to be initiated.

55. The Law on Family Strengthening62 includes a concept of complementarity of

51. The LGBTI Survey (2019) findings released by the European Union (EU)

Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) revealed that Lithuanian respondents admitted always (14 %) or almost always (20 %) feeling downhearted or depressed. Also, 55 % of Lithuanian respondents personally felt discriminated against in 8 areas of life due to their LGBTI identity. Survey results also showed a lack of openness in Lithuania. 51% of Lithuanian respondents confessed to hiding their LGBTI identity at work, while 59% admitted to not being open about it at school. 44% of Lithuanian participants in the survey said that they avoided holding hands with their same-sex partner in public fearing that they might be subject to threats, assault or harassment. The FRA survey also confirms that 59

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (THIRD CYCLE) | III. LGBTI

maternity and paternity which conflicts with LGBTI individuals’ rights to private and family life, equality and non-discrimination (Art.17, Art. 26 of ICCPR) as it is defined as essential need of a child to have two parents of different sexes.

56. Legal categories of “gender identity” and (or) “gender expression” are not recognized in the current Lithuanian legislation. Gender identity is not included as the protected ground under the proposed version of the Law on Equal Treatment.63 In November 2017, a group of 31 MPs in the Lithuanian Parliament registered a legislative proposal64 aiming to ban LGR together with the related medical procedures, which goes directly against recommendation Nos 100.77, 100.86, 100.93.

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57. No legislative procedure was initiated regarding the Law on Protection of

Minors from the Detrimental Effects of Public Information, amending Art. 4.2.16 so it could not be used in case of a discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Amendments65 to this Law were adopted in January 14, 2021, although it did not address the aforementioned Article.

58. Despite the overall vulnerability of LGBTI citizens in Lithuania, the newly

adopted Action Plan for Promoting Non-discrimination 2021-202366 does not expressis verbis include any LGBTI-specific, strategic measures to counter the discrimination of LGBTI individuals.

Legislation and policy measures to counter discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity Recommendations 100.75-100.76, 100.78 62. Transgender individuals remain at significant disadvantage due to a lack of

gender identity and/or gender expression among the protected grounds in the current legislation.

63. The protected ground of sex is not sufficient, since proving discrimination on

3.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE Comprehensive national action plan on human rights Recommendations 100.37-100.39, 100.81 59. Currently the Lithuanian Government has no comprehensive strategy on

eliminating a discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity. The fact that all activities related to LGBTI issues are dependent on external funding reveals a lack of a systematic and strategic approach.

60. Both Action Plan for Promoting Non-discrimination 2017–201967 and the

Action Plan for Promoting Non-discrimination 2021-2023, despite being key policy documents for countering discrimination, do not sufficiently address specific needs of LGBTI individuals.

the grounds of sex in cases where discrimination is related exclusively to gender identity, oftentimes is simply impossible.

Inclusive concept of partnership Recommendation 100.92 64. According to Article 3.229 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, its provisions shall regulate the relations in property of a man and a woman who, after registering their partnership in the procedure laid down by the law, have been cohabiting at least for a year with the aim of creating family relations without having registered their union as a marriage (cohabitees).

65. Lithuania remains the only state of the Council of Europe attributing a

partnership institute specifically to the opposite-sex couples, thus constituting discrimination, as well as legal uncertainty, to people who are in the same-sex relationship.

61. No measurable indicators to monitor the achievements related to the situation

of LGBTI persons are provided in the aforementioned policy documents. E.g., the Action Plan (2017–2019) included the publication of research on the situation of transgender persons in Lithuania as an indicator of the implementation of the measure, instead of the number of the recommendations implemented in the National Report.

Legislative framework to provide recognition and protection for transgender persons Recommendations 100.80, 100.93 66. Article 2.27 of the Civil Code establishes that “[a]n unmarried natural

person of full age enjoys the right to the change of designation of sex in cases when it is feasible from the medical point of view”, the enabling legislation has

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not been adopted, thus leaving transgender individuals with no option of the administrative LGR procedure.

Measures to combat hate crimes and hate speech related to sexual orientation and gender identity Recommendations 100.73-100.74, 100.79 67. The state took several progressive institutional measures after the judgment passed by the European Court of Human Rights in the Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania68 case regarding the institutional failure to investigate homophobic hate-crimes. However, some earlier procedures have not been closed. For example, while the exact motives of the crime are unknown, and the entrance to the premises of LGL was set on fire in 2018, the pre-trial investigation was suspended indefinitely.

Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information Recommendations 100.87-100.91 68. The amendment to the Law on Protection of Minors from the Detrimental

Effects of Public Information modifying Art. 4.2.16 was registered in 2017; consequently, it could not be used to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation; however, no further action was initiated.

2.4 Recommendations Revise Article 4.2.16 of the Law on the Protection of Minors so that it should not be used to censor LGBTI-related public information; any limitations on freedom of expression should satisfy the criteria of lawfulness, necessity and proportionality and should be applied without any discriminatory perception.

Introduce a key policy document which clearly includes specific measurers for countering discrimination of LGBTI individuals, as well as indicators of the achievements related to the LGBTI situation in Lithuania.

Introduce the relevant legislation to fully recognize the equality of samesex couples.

Secure gender identity and (or) gender expression as a legal category and the protected ground in the legislation on hate crimes, hate speech and anti-discrimination.

Initiate a legislative process with the aim of adopting efficient and accessible administrative procedures for obtaining legal gender recognition.

69. Amendments to the aforementioned Law were adopted on January 14,

2021, although they did not include any revision of Art. 4.2.16.

70. The Law continues to be applied in a discriminatory way with the view of

limiting LGBTI content: in 2019, the National Broadcaster’s documentary on same-sex parenthood was suspended, in 2021, LGL received a report from a student whose graduation thesis was rejected due its topic being related to LGBTI education.

3.4

Recommendations

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Prepared by: National LGBT Rights organization LGL, the only non-governmental organization in Lithuania exclusively representing the interests of the LGBTQI+ community since 1993.

Address: V.Šopeno St. 1-1, Vilnius, 3211, Lithuania. Director Vladimir Simonko, vladimir@gay.lt, contact person Monika Antanaitytė, monika@gay.lt.

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IV RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS AND BENEFICIARIES OF INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

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Summary The reported period marks a reversal of migration tendencies in Lithuania: 2019 was the first year since the 1990s when immigration outpaced emigration.

The changing patterns of migration highlight the relevance of comprehensive actions to ensure full-fledged integration. During the reported period, the relevant policy and legal developments have been adopted improving nonEU nationals’ integration in Lithuania. However, there are still gaps in the implementation of the foreseen measures in practice in addition to the lack of strategic approach of the Government ensuring long-term integration measures for both the beneficiaries of international protection and migrants.

4.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS Statistics and tendencies 71. The recent years mark a reversal of migration tendencies in Lithuania. While

emigration has been the dominant pattern since the 1990s, 2019 was the first year when immigration outpaced emigration.69 As of the 1st of January 2021, a total of 87 269 foreign citizens resided in Lithuania, which constitutes 3.12% of the country’s population.70 Both the number and its share in the population have more than doubled since 2016.71 The majority of foreigners who immigrate to Lithuania are non-EU citizens arriving from Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian Federation, and employment has been the main reason for issuing and extending temporary residence permits between 2016 and 2019.

72. Despite growing labour immigration, the number of asylum seekers has

remained rather low. From 2016 to 2019, the number of applications for asylum submitted ranged from 423 to 646 per year; in 2020, this number dropped to

321. The majority of asylum seekers were citizens of Russia (in 2019 and 2020), Tajikistan (in 2018) and Syria (in 2016 and 2017). In 2020, there was also a considerable increase in the number of asylum seekers from Belarus.72

73. The results of an annual public opinion poll show a pattern in preferences towards ethnic and migrant groups perceived as culturally similar, while groups perceived as culturally distant are viewed rather negatively. During the reported period, social distance regarding the Muslims and refugees remains significant: in 2020, about 41% of Lithuanian residents said they would not like to have Muslims as their neighbours, and almost 27% stated they would not like to have neighbours who are refugees. However, 68% were in favour of accepting citizens of Belarus arriving for humanitarian reasons.73 74. In the spring of 2020, national borders were closed to keep foreign nationals from entering Lithuania, with limited exceptions, unless they had a valid long-term residence permit. The deportations were suspended, and those whose period of legal residence in Lithuania expired during the first quarantine and who were unable to leave Lithuania were not subject to return decisions or administrative liability. When the lockdown came to an end, a tolerance period of 2 months was granted to the aforementioned foreign nationals allowing them to leave without legal or administrative consequences. Key information on coronavirus and related restrictions were made available in English through the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the government-launched website for official information on COVID-19 and the 24/7 hotline, as well as NGO-led initiatives such as Human Aid and SocialTalk in Arabic, Dari, English and Russian.

4.2 CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 75. During the reported period, relevant changes in the legal and institutional framework of migrant integration were implemented in Lithuania.

76. On 20 September 2018, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania endorsed

“The Strategy for the Demographic, Migration, and Integration Policy for 2018– 2030” (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy), 74 and the inter-institutional action plan for this Strategy was approved by the Government on 5 December 2018.75

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The Strategy sets out the main goals, directions and targets for the development of the country’s demographic, migration and integration policy. One of the goals of the Strategy is related to the management of migration flows that would meet the needs of the country, and one of the set objectives is to promote the proportionate entry of foreigners that meets the interests of the state through the implementation of the attraction, admission, integration and liaison policy (Objective 2.1). However, it should be noted that the Strategy mainly focuses on return migration of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and persons of Lithuanian origin, and only partially mentions certain groups of foreign citizens (foreign citizens studying in Lithuania, highly qualified workers, and foreigners who are family members of Lithuanian citizens). The Strategy lacks specific measures of a long-term integration of non-EU nationals, which partly reflects the migration policy preferences in Lithuania.

77. On 21 December 2018 “The Action Plan 2018–2020 on the Integration

of Foreigners into Society”76 (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan 20182020) was adopted.77 This Action Plan is subsequent to the previous “Action Plan 2015-2017 on the Implementation of Foreigners Integration Policy”.78 It is important to note that unlike in the previous Action Plan, the target group of the Action Plan 2018-2020 covers both non-EU national migrants and beneficiaries of international protection. This Action Plan seeks to further improve the implementation of integration measures for the foreign citizens in Lithuania and to ensure their successful integration into society. It includes measures to foster inter-institutional cooperation and to improve access to the labour market, education, as well as social and health services. It is also aimed at promoting cooperation between foreigners and local communities in reducing discrimination against foreign nationals. Another aim of the Action Plan 2018-2020 is to improve integration of female migrants and to establish the system that monitors migrants’ integration processes and the implementation of migration-related policies.

78. During the reported period, Lithuania continued to fulfil its obligations as an

EU Member State and implemented the programme for relocating foreigners in need of asylum to the Republic of Lithuania. On 23 October 2019, a resolution was adopted by the Government to extend the deadline for the relocation of asylum seekers to the Republic of Lithuania until 30 June 2021.79 Lithuania undertook to relocate 1077 persons by then.

79. Integration of persons who are granted asylum in Lithuania is implemented in

accordance with the “Resolution on Approval of the Description of the Procedure of State Support for the Integration of Persons Who have been Granted Asylum” (hereinafter referred to as the Resolution) of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as RL),80 which was adopted on 5 October 2016. Relevant amendments to the Resolution were endorsed on 15 October 2020.

80. Regarding the developments in the legal framework of integration of

beneficiaries of international protection, key changes are related to a legal harmonisation of the rights of persons who were granted a refugee status and subsidiary protection in the RL. Until 2017, foreign nationals under subsidiary protection were in a much more vulnerable position because due to a temporary permit for residence in the RL they would be denied certain social guarantees. On 1 October 2017, new provisions were included in the Law on Benefits to Children of the RL and the Law on the Social Integration of the Disabled of the RL and, on 1 January 2018, in the Law on Relief Pensions of the RL, stipulating that the provisions of the laws would also extend to the aliens who have been granted asylum in Lithuania. Before these amendments had been made, individuals under subsidiary protection were exempt from the provisions of the above laws.

81. Finally, on 1 January 2020, amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of

Aliens81 entered into force granting asylum seekers the right to work if within 6 months from the date of submitting the application for asylum, the Migration Department failed, through no fault of the asylum seeker, to make a decision to grant him/her asylum in the Republic of Lithuania (Art. 71).

82. Despite relevant legal and policy developments in migrant integration, the Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020 (MIPEX 2020) concluded that Lithuania’s integration policies posed more obstacles than opportunities for integration.82 The country’s approach to integration is classified by MIPEX 2020 as “Equality on Paper”. While immigrants enjoy basic rights and protection in Lithuania, they do not enjoy equal opportunities to participate in society. Lithuania’s approach to migrant integration is similar to the approaches of most Central and Eastern European countries. Limited opportunities in political participation leave migrants in Lithuania marginalised, underrepresented and hardly visible.

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83. The migrant integration policy in Lithuania remains highly selective as it continues to favour immigration of certain groups of migrants, for example, foreign nationals from particular professional backgrounds or particular countries (especially from high-income countries such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Canada, and South Korea).83 Meanwhile, quotas for non-EU migrant workers were introduced on 1 January 2021 in order to regulate the flow of foreigners who come to Lithuania to work.84

Recommendation 100.164

4.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE

88. Even though attitudes towards Muslims and refugees have somewhat

Recommendation 100.159 84. “The Action Plan 2018–2020 on the Integration of Foreigners into Society”85

provides for measures on improving integration of foreigners into the education system (Task 7) including: a) learning support for students from foreign countries (7.1); b) development and approval of methodology on the quality assessment of a school abroad where knowledge was acquired (7.2); c) learning support to foreign-born children by assigning an accompanying mentor (7.3); d) the promotion of cultural cooperation by involving parents in the development processes of foreign-born children; e) involvement of intercultural basic learning modules in the pedagogical study programmes.

85. “The Strategy for the Demographic, Migration, and Integration Policy for

2018–2030”86 provides for measures to support children who return to Lithuania (Lithuanian citizens) and foreign nationals arriving in the country to integrate into the school community (2.1.10).

86. Despite relevant policy developments, professionals working with migrant integration noticed that systematic problems on integrating migrant children into the education system, such as gaps in competencies of teachers and preparedness of some school communities, practically remain.

87. The aforementioned Action Plan 2018–202087 aims to implement measures

that will reduce discrimination against foreigners (Task 10), including the implementation of information campaigns aimed at promoting social tolerance, understanding of diversity and an intercultural dialogue (10.2) and maintenance of an information platform which publishes and regularly updates information about the issues of foreigners’ integration relevant for specialists, society and foreigners (10.3).

improved since the refugee crisis of 2015-2016, social distance remains to be significant: in a public opinion poll carried out in 2020, about 41% of the respondents said they would not like to have Muslims as their neighbours, and almost 27% stated that they would not like to have neighbours who are refugees.

Almost one in 5 (18%) of the respondents did not want to have black people as their neighbours, and 12% of the respondents said the same about the persons who do not speak Lithuanian. 88

Recommendation 100.165 89. The implementation of the Action Plan of Foreigners’ Integration continues.

However, it is important to note that while the implementation of the Action Plan 2018-2020 was extended for one year, there is a lack of monitoring of how successfully its activities were implemented in practice. In addition, the main financial resource of this Plan remains the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). Consequently, the implementation of migrants’ integration practically remains fragmented and project-based, hence obstructing the continuity of the activities.

Recommendation 100.166 90. Lithuania has not adopted an integration strategy for refugees; however, a welcome development is that beneficiaries of international protection are included into the target group of the Action Plan 2018-2020. Yet, both MIPEX 202089 and NIEM90 reports reveal the Government’s lack of a strategic approach in ensuring long-term integration measures both for beneficiaries of international protection and non-EU migrants.

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Recommendation 100.167 91. An investigation conducted in 2019 by the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office

revealed that the rights of foreigners living in the Foreigners’ Registration Centre are not properly ensured, and the language barrier prevents the staff working in the Centre from meeting special needs of detained foreigners. After considering the problems identified during the mentioned investigation, the Seimas Ombudsman put forward appropriate recommendations to ensure that a sufficient quantity of hygiene products should be provided to those residing in the Centre; to ensure that foreigners should receive food that conforms to their religious beliefs; and to provide sufficient funding for improving the foreign language skills of the employees working in the Centre, as well as improving the living conditions and meeting the special needs of the foreigners detained in the Centre.91

Recommendation 100.168 92. On 1 January 2020, amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens92

entered into force granting asylum seekers the right to work if within 6 months from the date of submitting the application for asylum, the Migration Department failed, through no fault of the asylum seeker, to make a decision to grant asylum in the Republic of Lithuania (Art. 71).

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2.4 Recommendations Ensure the continuity of the implementation of the Action Plan 2018–2020 on the Integration of Foreigners into Society and monitoring of how its activities were implemented in practice. There is still a lack of a strategic approach of the Government of RL ensuring long-term integration measures both for beneficiaries of international protection and non-EU migrants.

Improve migrant civic and political participation by implementing regular and formal consultations with migrants at the local and national level. Take into account their needs and interests and to support the establishment and advocacy activities of migrant communities and NGOs. Consider the eligibility of non-EU nationals to become members of political parties.

Improve migrants’ access to healthcare by providing information about their entitlement in different languages and by adapting healthcare services to the needs of migrants (e.g., regularly inform healthcare providers about their entitlement; to apply various interpretation methods, etc.); Improve the provision of culturally sensitive mental health care services to migrants by increasing availability in different languages and/or offering a professional interpretation.

Improve basic infrastructure to welcome newcomer pupils in schools across the country by providing resources to address their specific needs beyond basic language learning and by improving competencies of their teachers, as well as school communities in facilitating a smooth interpretation.

Take steps to eliminate prejudice towards migrants and refugees: organise state-funded awareness campaigns, provide educational programs, invoke mass media projects, allocate sufficient funding, etc.

Provide comprehensive and up-to-date evidence-based research regarding labour exploitation/THB for forced labour in Lithuania. Consider initiating evidence-based prevention of exploitation responding to the changing migration patterns oriented towards non-EU labour migrants (both migrant men and women).

Prepared by: Diversity Development Group (DDG). Founded in 2012, DDG is a non-profit organisation with the objective to carry out social (scientific, applied, and infrastructural) projects and research in the field of human rights, education, equal opportunities, diversity, migration and integration. The strategic aim of DDG is to improve and manage diversity towards a sustainable, tolerant and socially responsible society.

Address: Lukiškių str. 5-527, LT-01108, Vilnius, Lithuania, www.diversitygroup.lt.

Research director Giedre Blazyte, giedre@diversitygroup.lt, contact person Akvile Krisciunaite, akvile@diversitygroup.lt.

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V RIGHTS OF PERSONS BELONGING TO NATIONAL MINORITIES

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Summary Overall, governmental institutions and public authorities of Lithuania become increasingly aware of and put effort into improving the rights of people belonging to national minorities. The state recognises that discrimination is one of the main elements preventing integration of different national minorities into the society, and that hate-led crimes towards national minorities need more institutional attention as the official crime rates do not reflect the actual situation.

While attempts are being made to improve the rights of people belonging to national minorities, a lack of systemic approach regarding integration, access to and the quality of education, as well as the level of hate crimes and the public intolerance, remain key concerns for national minorities in Lithuania. Such major issues as a lack of laws on national minorities and a lack of progress in ensuring the use of the original language in name-spelling and the public domain are still unresolved. This provides information about the recommendations accepted by the Lithuanian institutions in the previous UPR cycle.

5.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITY RIGHTS Relevant national legal and institutional framework Law on Equal Opportunities.

Law on Good Will Compensation for the Real Estate of Jewish Religious Communities.

Roma Integration Action Plan for 2015-2020.

Vilnius Roma Integration into Society Programme for 2020-2023.

The National Education Strategy 2013-2022.

Order of the Minister of Culture on the conception of the representation of histories of national minorities in Lithuania.

Prosecutor General’s Office Methodological recommendations for hate crimes and hate speech pre-investigation trial execution, organisation and management.

Overview 93. National minorities in Lithuania account for about 14.1% (393,600) of the

estimated 2,792 million residents of Lithuania.93 The biggest minority groups are Poles (5,7%) and Russians (4,5%), while Belarusian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Latvian, Tatar, German, Roma and other nationalities constitute about 3.9%.

94. The year 2020 marked a 10-year anniversary of the absence of National Minority Law in Lithuania. The Council of Europe has consistently reminded Lithuania that there is no sufficient national legislative regulation on the matter,94 and it is evident that the absence of a basic law for protection of national minorities’ rights impedes a full realisation of ethnic-religious needs of minority communities. Another important lack of legislation concerns name-spelling in official documents in the authentic language, and the use of authentic languages in the public domain is not adequately addressed either.

95. The year 2020 also marked the final year of the Roma Integration into the Lithuanian Society Action Plan for 2015-2020.95 However, the data of public opinion surveys show that Roma (together with Muslims and Chechens) remain the least tolerated minority group. The study conducted by the Institute of Ethnic Studies in 2020 shows that more than half of the respondents would not want to live near Roma, 41% of the respondents would not like to live in the vicinity of Muslims and 36% of the respondents would not live near Chechens.96 Qualitative studies also reveal that Roma people remain one of the most vulnerable minority groups and experience high levels of daily discrimination.97 Moreover, in 2020, the Vilnius Municipality disassembled the previously segregated Kirtimai settlement without fully ensuring sufficient alternative housing.

96. Hate crimes and hate speech continue to pose a challenge as most official hate crimes are ethnicity-oriented; yet for various reasons the victims hesitate to report their experiences and there are institutional obstacles regarding the identification and investigation of hate crimes.

97. In general, access to education in national minority languages is relatively wellassured in Lithuania. However, issues regarding differences in the performance

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results of the pupils whose language of instruction is a national minority language and of the pupils who are taught in Lithuanian remain unresolved, thus affecting the quality of education in national minority languages. Another major complex issue id related to pupils’ adequate integration into the education process; this particularly concerns Roma children. The Government representatives do not acknowledge the need to introduce separate integration measures for Roma children who suffer from intersectional disadvantages in relation to their ethnic identity, language, social status and public attitudes towards them.

98. Education regarding different Lithuanian ethnic minorities (including the

history of Lithuanian Jews) is not properly integrated into the formal Lithuanian education system. This paves the way for the spread of dangerous latent forms of anti-Semitism, Romaphobia, Xenophobia, which in many cases is the result of insufficient education.98 On the positive note, in 2019, the Minister of Culture confirmed the conception of the representation of histories of national minorities in Lithuania99 which aims to represent the history of Lithuanian national minorities as a culturally, confessionally and language-wise important part of the dynamic Lithuanian identity.100 This is going to be used as a basis for the Action Plan for National Minority history representation in Lithuania.

The impact of COVID-19 on national minorities 99. In the survey conducted among the Lithuanian NGO representatives in

April 2020, national minority groups were singled out as those that potentially experienced more severe consequences and difficulties from the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.101 Although the follow-up data are lacking, previous research on economic crises in Lithuania shows a high impact on the situation of ethnic minorities in the labour market,102 and the pandemic is expected to be of no exception.

100. According to the information received by the organisation, the lockdown

severely affected the involvement of Roma children in education since most of them did not have technical means for online learning, especially at the beginning of the lockdown, and access to the Internet. The lockdown also affected their emotional wellbeing: issues of integration had even more severe effect on Roma children due to ineffective organisation of assistance to them as their families were not able to provide it. Social services were quite unavailable

to Roma families during the period of disassembling housing in the previously known Roma settlement in Kirtimai. People were not given sufficient alternative housing facilities or assistance in finding them or ensuring social assistance during the pandemic.103

101. Inventing conspiracy theories that associated Jews with the COVID-19 virus

are also worth mentioning. The use of several anti-Semitic tropes has widely circulated through the social media networks and has reached the Lithuanian public as well. Although much less frequent than in Western Europe, conspiracy theories might have an effect on furthering anti-Semitic beliefs in Lithuania.

5.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE INCLUDING CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 5.2.1 Lithuanian Jewry Related recommendations: 100.56; 100.71; 100.72 Holocaust education

102. Regarding formal historical/ Holocaust education in Lithuania, the National

Education Strategy 2013-2022104 does not outline any concrete efforts towards the prevention of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust education. Although the Holocaust studies are part of the national curriculum, in practice teaching is not uniform: it often depends entirely on how a specific teacher understands the importance of the Holocaust context.105 Therefore, the knowledge of educators with fact-based and educational techniques for teaching a complex history of the Holocaust should be developed by means of effective educational programmes (for example, with reference to IHRA Recommendations for Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust, 2019).106

103. The emerging issue of the Holocaust distortion in the media and other

social networking platforms is currently taking place. Impunity for the denial or

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denigration of severe features of the Holocaust occurs even at the institutional and political level. Since the denial of the Holocaust is considered as a form of anti-Semitism, more attention is to be paid to the Holocaust education in the formal curriculum to prepare pupils for recognising and curbing the distortion of the Holocaust (in relation to rec. 100.71; 100.72).

104. The informal Holocaust education sector, which includes monuments and

museums, is not entirely accomplished. In Lithuania, there is neither a national monument to the victims of the Holocaust nor a monument to the rescuers of Jews. In addition, the project of the Holocaust in Lithuania and the Vilnius Ghetto Museum has not been implemented. The Holocaust museum/ educational institution of a national level should be established to provide people with a better understanding of history (in relation to rec. 100.56).

Restitution of property

105. Lithuania undertook positive obligations to give compensation for the

real estate of the Jewish religious communities and enacted Law on Good Will compensation for the immovable property of Jewish religious community in 2011.107 However, the issue of private property remains complex: those who have the right to immovable property can only recover it through court.

Others cannot recover it at all after the expiry of the restitution period in 2001.

Moreover, Lithuania has no Law on the restitution of heirless Jewish property.

Hate crimes and discrimination

due to the lack of training and negative attitudes among public officials – a wrong recording of the offence motive on the information form and the classification of criminal offence cases by investigation officers.110 Also, victims of hate crimes often decide not to report the hate-led incidents they experience.111 Nevertheless, the most common official hate crime statistics remain to be ethnicity-based, amounting to 410 cases registered in 2012-2020.112 Hence, it is important both to improve the identification of hate crimes and to curb the current rates of discrimination on the whole ensuring continuous strategic efforts in combatting hate crimes and reaching out to communities (in relation to rec. 100.50; 100.61; 100.62; 100.63; 100.64; 100.69; 100.74).

Anti-Semitism

107. Anti-Semitism is widely evidenced on social media platforms and through

vandalism/ hooliganism on buildings/memorial sites/monuments that relate to the Jewish ethnic minority. These kinds of anti-Semitic attacks are mostly encountered in cities, whereas in regions the issue is comparatively minor. Yet, there is a lack of official data about concrete anti-Semitic incidents towards members of the Lithuanian Jewry. Therefore, prosecutors and officials of law enforcement institutions should be efficiently trained to handle and identify such crimes, as well as to have an action plan to combat hate crimes in general (in relation to rec. 100.56; 100. 67; 100.72).

108. The Lithuanian Penal Code Laws regarding manifestations of anti-Semitism

Related recommendations: 100.50; 100.52; 100.61; 100.62; 100.63; 100.64; 100.67; 100.69; 100.72; 100.74; 100.85

are quite abstract. Therefore, the legal base should be revised and extended to include a criminal liability for anti-Semitic crimes and to ensure more effective sanctions and procedures for dealing with anti-Semitism (in relation to rec.

100.66; 100.72).

Hate crimes

Romaphobia

106. Governmental authorities are becoming increasingly aware that the official numbers of hate-led criminal offense cases do not represent the actual rate of hate crimes and discrimination, and thus put effort into combating the issue.108 It is worth acknowledging that in 2020, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Lithuania renewed methodological recommendations regarding a pre-trial investigation of hate crimes109 and confirmed a list of specialised prosecutors. This is particularly important because a large part of hate crimes are not represented by statistics

109. According to a qualitative study on communities affected by hate crimes, Roma people are the most vulnerable minority group (among the five groups studied: Jewish, Roma, Muslim, LGBT, as well as black and minority ethnic communities). Roma people, as the study shows, experience discriminative speech and behaviour in all forms and in many areas of life, most commonly insults are hurled in public spaces (i.e., on the street), hate speech or physical violence come from neighbours or locals, as well as ignorance of the representatives of

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public authorities. The incidents of hate speech have an impact on many aspects of Roma life, e.g., they can result in a decreased motivation of pupils at school; discomfort in the labour market, in official institutions and medical facilities (in relation to rec. 100.85).

Lithuanian Roma Related recommendations: 100.152; 100.55; 100.57; 100.159; 100.162; 100.163 110. Overall, the Roma Integration into the Lithuanian Society 2015-2020 Action

Plan is assessed in the positive, mainly because it helped the interim education network to be established.113 The latter connected schools attended by Roma children, organised seminars about gender education and the prevention of an early marriage, as well as assigned social workers to help Roma pupils integrate into education institutions. While these steps are worth acknowledging, many issues regarding integration remain unsolved.

111. In addition, a draft of the National Action Plan of Roma Integration into

the Lithuanian Society has been prepared for 2021-2023 by the Department of National Minorities. However, the draft does not provide for any measures in the field of education and housing, and for very limited measures concerning housing and employment (in relation to rec. 100.152; 100.162; 100.163).

Roma housing

112. Out of a small population of about 2100 people, 96% of the Lithuanian Roma live below the risk-of-poverty threshold and 61% live in households experiencing severe material deprivation.114 In 2020, the Vilnius City Municipality adopted the Vilnius Roma Integration into Society Programme for 2020-2023.115 The Programme provides for the measures aimed at integration into education, health, culture, housing, safety and the monitoring of implemented activities (in relation to rec. 100.152; 100.163).

of actions, which reduced the ability of the affected persons to integrate into society and ensure the continuation of education of their children or access to the labour market, health services and other services provided by the nongovernmental organisations.

Education and integration of Roma pupils

114. Considering the issues of Roma education, it is important to note that children and youth under 20 years of age account for 49% of the total Roma population. Although according to the 2020 survey, general education indicators are slightly lower as compared to those of the year 2015, education indicators have actually increased among the youngest age groups of 10-19 and 20-29 years.116 Despite positive developments, acquiring primary and secondary education remains a challenge for most Roma pupils. People working with Roma pupils emphasise the need to ensure that continuous after school activities should be carried out by social pedagogues (in relation to rec. 100.159).

115. As is provided for in the 2015-2020 Action Plan, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport organised training for teachers, headmasters of schools, education support specialists, as well as long-term activities oriented towards improving competencies and skills necessary to understand and meet the needs of Roma children. A new draft plan for 2021-2023 does not provide for any measures targeting the integration into the field of education. In 2020, the National Minorities’ Department and NGOs representing the Roma community requested the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport to foresee specific measures for the integration of Roma pupils when developing measures in National Development programmes. However, the Ministry did not see any need for introducing specific measures addressing the intersectional issues faced by Roma pupils (in relation to rec. 100.162; 100.163).

113. A lack of sufficient attention to ensure the right to housing was observed during the disassembling of the Roma settlement in Kirtimai (Vilnius Municipality) which was finalised in 2020. Some families were not able to get access to adequate social services, the authorities did not ensure sufficient coordination

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Adoption of the Law on National Minorities and language-related legislation Related recommendations: 100.151; 100.153; 100.154; 100.155; 100.156; 100.157; 100.158; 100.161 The Law on National Minorities

116. To this date, Lithuania has no Law on National Minorities, as the previous

Law on National Minorities ceased to exist in 2010. Lithuania has ratified the framework convention for national minorities, thereby expressing consent to the rights listed in the document. Unfortunately, some provisions have not yet been transposed into national law (in relation to rec. 100.151; 100.153; 100.154; 100.155; 100.156; 100.157; 100.158).

117. To fill this legislative void, a working group under the Department of National Minorities was set up in 2019, tasked with developing a new draft law on national minorities.117 After the renewed meetings of the working group118 and the first meeting of the Governmental committee for national minority issues in September 2020,119 the current Government put this item on the Parliament’s agenda for the spring session of 2021,120 which suggests that the law should soon be finalised (in relation to rec. 100.153; 100.157).

The use of minority languages in official documents and the public domain

118. Another important lack of legislation is related to the need to prove one’s identity, spousal or other connection with a person, as the name-spelling in official documents in their authentic language remains dependent on the court’s decision in each individual case121. Continuous attempts are being made to legalise this right to private and family life by drafting a law on the writing names and surnames in identity documents (for instance, a new draft law was registered in December 2020122), yet unsuccessfully, as it was rejected by the Parliament.123 While there are several successful cases in courts when the use of the original names in official documents was allowed, the practice remains dependent on the court’s decision in each individual case124 instead of being

regulated by law. The use of the minorities’ language in the public domain and topographical indications within minorities’ own areas remains unaddressed either (in relation to rec. 100.154; 100.161).125

National minority rights to (language) education Related recommendations: 100.159; 100.161 119. In 2019-2020, the number of pupils belonging to national minorities

amounted to 31 306 (15 489 pupils whose language of instruction was Russian, 11 870 pupils whose language of instruction was Polish and 225 pupils whose language of instruction was Belarusian).126 According to the 2018 report on the situation of national minority education in Lithuania, Lithuania fails fulfil its international and national commitments in the sphere of protecting national minority rights by creating conditions for the pupils of nationality minorities to learn their mother tongue, to get education in their mother tongue and to learn Lithuanian language well enough to be able to successfully participate in the country’s life.127 In 2018, there were 20 multilingual informal education schools in Lithuania attended by 5 320 pupils. Thus, pupils belonging to national minorities have access to informal education in national minority languages, which broadens their possibilities of integration into the country’s cultural life (in relation to rec. 100.159; 100.161).

120. Although schools, where national minority languages are languages of

instruction, receive more funding than the country’s average (as is provided for in the official regulation), there is a significant lack of textbooks in the national minority languages, as well as a lack of qualified educators (a comparatively significant lack of qualified pre-school educators in Polish as a language of instruction, and a profound lack of qualified educators for lower secondary education in schools with Russian as the language of instruction). Access to a speech therapist, psychological and other support is generally limited in Lithuanian schools, but the situation is gradually improving128 (in relation to rec.

100.161).

121. Moreover, there are significant differences in pupils’ performance results

in relation to their language of instruction. The National Agency for School Evaluation carried out an assessment of the quality of the general activity of a

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school. At schools where the language of instruction was Polish, all components of a lesson were assessed above the average, whereas at schools where Russian was the language of instruction all the equivalent components were assessed below the average. PISA 2015 report revealed, however, that students learning in the Polish language showed significantly lower than average results in many areas, which might be due to the fact that 41% of them attended schools in rural areas where the level and quality of education was much lower.129 National examination results show that the number of Lithuanians who pass the exam in the Lithuanian language is much larger than that of the pupils who receive education in the national minority languages.130 According to the European Foundation on Human Rights (EFHR), this indicates that pupils belonging to national minorities still encounter difficulties in adapting to the uniform examination system, and that the transitional period is too short.131 Filling this gap is one of the major tasks for Lithuania132 (in relation to rec. 100.161).

122. However, public authorities make every effort to address and resolve the situation related to education of national minorities. In December 2020, the former Minister of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania approved the establishment of the Education Committee on National Minorities.133 The main task of the Committee is to put forward policy proposals as to shaping and implementing the policies of education of national minorities, as well as following the implementation of the declaration signed in Warsaw on education of the Polish national minority in Lithuania and the Lithuanian national minority in Poland (in relation to rec. 100.159).

2.4 Recommendations Adopt measures to eliminate hate crimes towards national minorities: organise state-funded awareness campaigns and initiate educational programmes, invoke mass media projects, allocate sufficient funding, ensure national legislation and practice to guarantee proper handling and identification of hate crimes.

Strengthen formal and informal Holocaust education.

Initiate the amendments to the restitution law or a new restitution law that will allow Lithuanian-born Jewish citizens to apply for the compensation for unlawfully expropriated private immovable property during WWII. Adopt a new Act on National Minorities in accordance with International obligations.

Adopt a law on the writing of names and surnames in identity documents (or otherwise assure the right to private and family life by having the names and surnames in the original national minority languages).

Strengthen the quality of education in national minority languages and address the effect on pupils’ performance results regarding the uniform exam in the Lithuanian language.

Adequately address interconnections of housing, education and employment in Roma integration strategies.

Prepared by: Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community, an umbrella organization representing rights and interests of Lithuanian Jewry.

Address: Pylimo Str. 4, LT-01117, Vilnius, Lithuania, +37052613003, www.lzb.lt, e-mail: info@lzb.lt, contact person Rūta Ribinskaitė, Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.

Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights (LCHR), NGO, focused on HR education, research and advocacy in the implementation of EU’s and international HR standards, respect for diversity, principles of equality and non-discrimination.

Address: Smetonos Str. 5-­311, LT-­01105, Vilnius, Lithuania, +37052628858, www.lchr.lt. Director Birutė Sabatauskaitė, birute@lchr.lt, contact-person: Kristina Rūkaitė, kristina@lchr.lt.

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VI RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND YOUTH

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Summary Since the establishment of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism in 2006, Lithuania has gone a long way in the direction of the improvement of human rights standards and submitted its contributions to the First and Second cycles of UPR in 2011 and 2016, respectively. During the Third Cycle, the accreditation of the Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsmen Office as a type “A” national human rights institution was a significant landmark event in the history of the country, yet, numerous human rights issues, in particular in the field of the rights of children and youth, remain unresolved. The issues are grouped into topics, and the implementation of corresponding UPR recommendations from the Second Cycle is analysed in those topics. Contributions of various regional and national Lithuanian NGOs are also reflected in the analysis.

124. However, OPCP is not the only international instrument which is avoided

by the Lithuanian policy makers. Much of the controversy and debates were also caused by the adoption of other important international documents, which are of key importance for the improvement of the rights of children, youth and human rights in general, such as Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,136 which establishes a general prohibition of discrimination, and the so-called Istanbul Convention,137 which improves the protection of women and girls against violence.

125. The Law on the Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child of the

Republic of Lithuania establishes the basic national provisions in the field. During the Second Cycle of UPR Georgia suggested that this law should be revised (see Recommendation 100.42138), and the version of the law was adopted in 2017 by the Lithuanian Parliament,139 and later several additional amendments were adopted. Hence, this recommendation was duly implemented, however, the national regulatory system also includes other more specific laws which, in some cases, are out of date or contain provisions detrimental to the rights of children.

126. For example, the infamous Law on the Protection of Minors from the

6.1 NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS 123. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a

Communications Procedure (OPCP) recognizes children’s right to appeal to an international mechanism specific to them when national mechanisms fail to address violations effectively. During the Second Cycle of UPR, it was suggested that Lithuania should ratify the OPCP (see Recommendations Nos. 100.9 and 100.10 by Albania, Andorra and Spain134), however, currently the OPCP is not ratified by Lithuania, even though it was signed on the 30th of September 2015.135 Hences, the protocol has not become a fully integral and enforceable part of national law.

Negative Public Information contains the provision laid down in Article 4-2-12 which limits the dissemination of information among minors if that information “defiles” some indefinite “family values” or promotes a “different model of a family or marriage” other than the one established in the Constitution or the Civil Code of the republic of Lithuania. This provision was extensively used for censorship and the limitation of the right to free speech, freedom of expression and the dissemination of information about LGBT+ people and especially LGBT+ children, thus discriminating this vulnerable social group. The discriminatory application of this provision led to a major strategic case in Lithuania, the socalled “Neringa Dangvyde” case,140 where a famous author of children’s books had to remove her book and make it non-accessible to the public, mark it as “inappropriate for minors” solely for the simple reason that in some of its tales a love story between two male characters was told. The legal battle lasted from 2014 until 2019, and eventually the Lithuanian courts rejected the claim of the author and upheld the discriminatory practice, based on the abovementioned provision of the law.141 The author passed away in 2020.

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6.2 CHANGES IN THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Participation in decision making 127. Lithuania was recommended to ensure greater participation of youth in decision making (see Recommendation 100.43142). Currently there are three bodies to promote the inclusion of youth into decision making: the Council of Youth Affairs (Jaunimo Reikalų Taryba),143 local Municipal Councils of Youth Affairs (Savivaldybių jaunimo reikalų tarybos)144 and the National Work Group for the Structured Dialogue with Youth (Nacionalinė darbo grupė jaunimo struktūriniam dialogui plėtoti), the latter of which does not seem to be active and does not have its website. These structures, as it follows from their articles, are nominal and only perform informational functions without having actual rights to influence decision making.

128. A scientific article published in 2017 by the scientists of Vilnius University concluded145 that the institutional structure provides only limited possibilities for youth to participate in decision making. The role of youth is restricted to the provision of information, and even though youth may express political opinions directly (through polls, elections) or indirectly (through NGOs), their participation in policy making is related to huge expenses and brings little benefit.

129. Regional NGOs indicated that there was a lack of information, especially on

a regional level, regarding the possibilities of participation in decision making, the opportunities offered informal groups of youth are limited, and in many cases opinions of young people are not considered.146

Institutional changes 130. The Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office was accredited as a type “A” national human rights institution in 2017,147 however, the key institution dealing with the rights of the child is the Children’s Rights Ombudsman Institution of the Republic of Lithuania. During the Second Cycle of UPR Lithuania was recommended to strengthen its support to the Children’s Rights Ombudsman Institution (see Recommendations 100.34 and 100.35148). However, from the

Republic of Lithuania Law on the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights it follows (see Article 12 of the Law149) that the competence of the Ombudsman is limited to providing recommendations and to having the right to apply to other institutions and request further proceedings. Hence, the institution does not have enough instruments and competencies to issue and make obligatory decisions to ensure effective functioning of the child’s rights protection system.

131. As regards the effectiveness of protection of children’s rights in Lithuania (see Recommendation 100.41150) it should be noted that the National Audit Office of Lithuania concluded151 in 2017 that the child/s rights protection system was ineffective, and therefore problems in families were identified too late, necessary help was not provided in time, and it was a common issue that on a regional level of municipalities, local governments failed to devote necessary attention and provide adequate funding. In 2020, the National Audit Office of Lithuania pointed out152 that after the reform of child’ rights protection system had been carried out in 2018, many changes took place and are still being made, however, only 14 out of 93 childcare institutions have been duly reformed, the proportion of children raised in foster families is not increasing, families lack services to deal with critical situations and other issues related to children.

In addition to that, the national healthcare crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic may increase the risk of violence against children at home and in the family environment and might cause other adverse effects; however, currently the data are insufficient and the child’s rights protection institutions are being constantly monitored by the National Audit Office.

6.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE UPR SECOND CYCLE Healthcare 132. Lithuania was recommended to strengthen the prevention of child abuse and suicides, to ensure access to professional help for young people with mental health problems, as well as to deal with the cases of unwanted pregnancy among young people (see Recommendations 100.119, 100.140153). Lithuania made some amendments to the Law on the Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child,154 which formally establishes the requirement for protection

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of children from a negative social environment (see Art. 23 of the Law). Also, in 2020, Lithuania adopted a national plan for prevention of suicides.155

133. However, data provided by the World Health Organization156 and Eurostat157

indicate that Lithuania remains among the leaders in the world by general suicide rates, and in 2017, Lithuania became an absolute leader in the European Union (EU-28) by suicide rates of young people aged between 15 and 19. The impact of COVID-19 related restrictions on mental health has not been evaluated yet. Regional NGOs indicate158 that there is a lack of access to psychological help, especially in the regions, schools do not have their own highly qualified psychologists who would earn trust of the children.

134. The poll conducted in 2017 by the National Lithuanian LGBT+ organisation

LGL (NGO) revealed that only about 5% of high school students (who are children belonging to LGBT+ group), had never been affected by a homophobic, biphobic or transphobic hate speech, and it is a usual thing that even teachers in stateowned schools often treat non-heterosexual orientation as “sickness”.159

135. As to unwanted pregnancies and reproductive health in general, it should

be noted that these issues still cause huge political controversies, which lead to a dangerous and critical situation in which children and young people, especially girls find themselves. The draft law on reproductive health160 was prepared in 2014 and has not been adopted until now due to political opposition and controversies related to sexual life and abortions. Thus, currently the entire field is not properly regulated and therefore young people, especially girls, cannot expect adequate health services. NGOs and the media often report that girls and young women are often pressurised, treated improperly, intimidated even by healthcare professionals if they choose to terminate unwanted pregnancy.161 All the more so, many political initiatives emerge from time to time to limit or prohibit the right to abortion in Lithuania.162 The COVID-19 related restrictions made access to healthcare institutions (including the abortion procedure) very limited or impossible, and instead of seeking for solutions of how to ensure the right of women to terminate unwanted pregnancy effectively and within the legally allowed period of time, the Minister of Health advised publicly all women to simply reconsider their decision on abortion.163

136. In terms general health of children and young people, it should be noted that

the situation is worsening. The National Audit Office of Lithuania concluded that public authorities fail to monitor properly the situation regarding the condition of health, diet, activities and rest regimes of children and young people.164 In 2016,

research carried out by the of Institute of Hygiene demonstrated that only 9.7% of Lithuanian schoolchildren engage in a physical activity lasting longer than 60 minutes after school daily.165 Research conducted by the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences in 2019 revealed the “alarmingly low level” of health literacy among Lithuanian adolescents.166

Violence, trafficking and sexual abuse 137. Many countries recommended Lithuania to strengthen the fight against abuse and violence, including sexual one, directed at children and youth (see Recommendations Nos. 100.40, 100.97, 100.113, 100.120167). According to the National Institution of Protection of the Rights of the Child, the statistical data on violence against children were as follows,168 and the institution admits that actual numbers may be greater than statistical ones: Year

Physical Number of Psychological Sexual Total Number of Number of violence neglection violence number of violence violence violence cases (number of cases cases (number of (number violence cases) of cases) cases per cases) year

2018

1290

847

303

153

2593

1393

1200

2019

1870

1342

408

223

3843

2192

1651

Jan-Sep 2020

1104

732

140

132

2108

1169

1169

138. Reports from NGOs and the media also indicate that during COVID-19 related restrictions in Lithuania, the number of violence cases against children has significantly increased,169 some NGOs indicate, that during the first stage of quarantine (spring 2020) the number of complaints regarding domestic violence increased by 28%.170 139. LGBT+ children and young people are especially vulnerable. NGOs report that quite often LGBT+ children and young people have to undergo traumatizing experiences even within their own families, when they are forced to participate in the rituals of exorcism, or to have intercourse with the illegal providers of sexual services, or to receive psychiatric “treatment”, etc., all to “cure” them from their sexual orientation or identity and to convert them to an allegedly “normal” state of heterosexuality.171 There are also cases of physical violence,

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for example, a same-sex male couple was attacked for displaying affection in public.172 Lithuanian law enforcement institutions often fail or refuse to investigate cases of hate crimes or hate speech leaving victims unprotected, consequently, Lithuania lost the case before the European Court of Human Rights in 2020 for refusing to investigate public hate speech and threats against a same-sex couple of youngsters.173

140. In general, any cases of domestic violence fail to receive adequate response

from law enforcement institutions in Lithuania, and victims are often left helpless and without adequate support or help, as it is noted in recent research conducted by the Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office.174 Said research suggests that this issue is really critical in the regions, where help is even less accessible, and the reasons include, among others, a lack of safe residential facilities for victims, a lack of transportation services, a lack of qualified and trained specialists who are willing and are able to help.

141. There is also a group of recommendations concerning corporal punishment

inflicted on children (see Recommendations 100.114, 100.115, 100.116, 100.117, 100.118175). In 2017, an amendment to the law was adopted which prohibited any kind of physical punishment imposed on children,176 and the Criminal Code also contains respective provisions. However, there are still many cases of latent violence against children because society is divided over the issue of corporal punishment, thus, general education and awareness raising is needed to handle such practices.

142. Speaking about human trafficking, especially that of children (see

Recommendations 100.21, 100.22 and 100.23177), it should be noted that Lithuania adopted the Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 20172019178 and later the Action Plan for 2020-2022 was adopted.179 Both plans include special provisions and actions directed towards children and young people. According to the official report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,180 in 2019 there were 39 people who received the status of victims of human trafficking in Lithuania (18 men, 17 women and 4 children). According to the Report of the Committee on Coordinating the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings,181 in 2019 more than 200 persons who were or could have been victims of human trafficking, received different help, and over 500 officials and employees of public institutions participated in different kinds of training aimed at dealing with victims of human trafficking. A judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania (criminal division) evaluated the ability of Lithuanian law enforcement

institutions to recognize cases of human trafficking as “sufficiently good” and noted that national courts did pass judgements against perpetrators, whereas a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office indicated that there was a clear tendency towards a decreasing number of pre-trial investigations related to human trafficking: as many as 35 investigations in 2017, a total of 14 in 2018, 13 investigations in 2019 and only three in 2020.182 No research was carried out to explain this decrease, however, according to the representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, this might be explained partly by preventive work done by law enforcement, though high latency of such crimes (and avoidance of victims to seek help) plays a significant role too.

143. Even though the importance of NGOs for effective counter trafficking is acknowledged on the governmental level,183 the number of the involved NGOs is insufficient, and the Government puts a strong emphasis on organisations of religious type (related to the Roman Catholic Church), thus, secular civil society organisations should be more involved. Another problem is that no system of stable and consistent financing has been developed for NGOs, either in the field of human trafficking or human rights in general. At the present time NGOs are forced to compete with each other in various project competitions even for basic financing, in order to cover essential (minimal) administrative expenses, and do not have access to assets to substantially improve or expand their contribution to the situation formed in the field of human rights in the country.

Education and integration 144. Lithuania was recommended to strengthen education of migrants, ethnic

minorities, women, children, and especially that of Roma people in Lithuania (see Recommendation 100.159184). There are several legal acts devoted to this purpose in Lithuania: the Action Plan for Education of Children,185 the Action Plan on Non-discrimination,186 the Action Plan on Integration of Roma.187 These documents refer to vulnerable groups (including children and young people), such as Roma, people with disabilities, LBGT+ people, migrants, and various measures to solve education and integration issues related to these groups are proposed.

145. However, as noted by many NGOs, actually there is a lack of general political will to effectively address issues of stigmatised and vulnerable groups and to

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ensure the actual implementation of the goals set in the field of education and integration.

146. For example, as regards Roma children, there is an unexpected discrepancy

between the welfare of Roma children and young people in the region and in the largest (capital) city Vilnius: in regions Roma children are better integrated into a community, attend schools more regularly, whereas in Vilnius Roma people have lived in some kind of a large “ghetto” (lt. taboras) for many years and therefore they suffer from exclusion and stereotyping more severely.188 Such data are also confirmed by NGOs.189 Following the Vilnius Roma integration plan,190 this “ghetto” in Vilnius was liquidated in 2020, its residents received various compensations and alternative municipal housing, however, as it is reported in the media,191 physical relocation of Roma people did not automatically resolve all the social and economic problems related to them, and therefore integration efforts should be strengthened.

147. Another major flaw in the educational system is a lack of a progressive and inclusive national education programme, which would properly implement the Requirements laid down in Art. 29 of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (to prepare the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin).

The Programme on health, sexual education and preparation for family life was adopted in 2016 in Lithuania.192 Though it prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, it does not obligate the educational system to actually educate children about the variety of sexual orientations, sexual identities and expressions, about diversity of cultures, ethnicities and worldviews. In 2017, there was a scandalous case in a regional Lithuanian school (in Telšiai), where a teacher of catholic faith in a state-owned school showed slides and made different groundless statements to schoolchildren accusing homosexual people of cannibalism, molestation of children, immoral and harmful sexual behaviour and other alleged abnormalities.193 However, law enforcement institutions refused to investigate the alleged case of hate speech and incitement of discrimination upon the complaint from an NGO,194 and the school administration simply instructed the teacher not to talk about the LGBT+ topic anymore.195 Regional NGOs report that there has been no adequate reaction from state institutions or any improvement in the quality of education since that incident.196

148. NGOs working with children with disabilities indicate that there are more than 40 thousand families which raise children with disabilities. According to the NGOs,197 such families suffer from the inappropriate attitude of the State and a lack of attention and social services, especially in the regions. Such families and children do not receive enough support, social services, quite often they cannot afford expensive equipment which is necessary for them. Young adults with disabilities find themselves in the same underprivileged situation. Young people with disabilities suffer from social exclusion due to a lack of possibilities to engage in normal life because public conditions and the system of education are inaccessible to them. The problem of public environments and educational facilities not being adapted for the needs of people with disabilities was recognised even in the national programme on integration of people with disabilities.198 Around half of people with disabilities face the risk of poverty, and only about a quarter of them are employed.199

Juvenile justice 149. In 1999–2002, the first Lithuanian Juvenile Justice Programme was launched

with the support and financing of the United Nations Development Programme.

Later the second Programme was implemented for the period of 2004-2008 and the third Programme for the period of 2009-2013.200 Even though significant progress has been made over the years in terms of reforming the legal system of juvenile justice (with the aim to make it more efficient and humane), no national level strategic document (juvenile justice programme) has been adopted since 2013, which has negative implications for the welfare of Lithuanian children.

150. Over the period between 2016 and 2020 the number of criminal offences

committed in Lithuania by minors has been decreasing,201 which corresponds to a long-term decreasing tendency, which seems to coincide with the same tendency in the regions.202 The impact of COVID-19 pandemic is currently not measured. However, from the criminological point of view, the analysis of judgements of Lithuanian courts shows that specific aspects of juvenile justice are not fully or duly taken into account, and punishments are imposed without properly taking into consideration the conditions for upbringing the minors, as well as their health, their mental health conditions and social maturity.203

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151. Currently there are only 3 resocialisation facilities for delinquent minors in

Lithuania, which all together have the capacity to accept 80 individuals in total (two are for boys only, one for 24 girls). The majority of children supervised in those facilities suffer from addiction and/or have other special needs due to various emotional and behavioural disorders. The Ministry of Education and Sports, which provided the abovementioned data, also suggests that traumatic experiences of teenagers who are involved in the system of juvenile justice, are often not considered at all, and that there is a lack of psychological help, and services offered to delinquent teenagers do not meet their actual needs.204

152. On the other hand, there is a strong dominating belief in society that delinquent minors are out of control and punishments imposed on them are not strict enough. A judge from a smaller region (Vilkaviškis) indicated that teenagers were unwilling to adopt the correctional measures imposed on them by courts.205 Thus, it is clear that the juvenile justice system lacks effectiveness: the correctional measures do not achieve the expected correctional effect, resocialization facilities lack resources and competences to meet the actual needs of the troubled teenagers, whereas society insists that institutions should administer harsher punishments in dealing with them.

2.4 Recommendations To ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure.

To ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

To ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the “Istanbul Convention”).

To repeal the discriminatory provision of Article 4-2-12 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information, which limits the dissemination of information about the diversity of family and personal relations and models.

To strengthen the participation of informal youth groups and individuals, as well as of NGOs working with youth issues, in decision making, by establishing mechanisms of obligatory consultations with civil society agents and obligatory consideration of presented opinions of civil society agents.

To significantly increase the funding for NGOs working in the field of human rights and children’s rights and to establish a new noncompetitive mechanism of additional stable and consistent minimal (guaranteed) funding for the organisations which meet certain reasonable and justified criteria.

To strengthen the institution of the Children’s Rights Ombudsman of Lithuania by expanding its competence and granting it the rights to issue obligatory decisions and orders and to file claims and initiate litigation for the protection of public interest, as long as it relates to the rights of children.

To increase the funding and capacities of the national system for the protection of children’s rights, as well as its facilities, and expand the scope of services provided to foster families or families that face troubles related to children.

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To strengthen the system of prevention of youth suicides by ensuring better access to professional psychological services round the clock, especially in regions.

To adopt a progressive Law on reproductive health, which would especially consider the rights and needs of girls and young women.

To improve health literacy of children and young people and promote their physical activity by adopting a national action plan.

To ensure an effective application of legislation against domestic violence, especially against children, and for that purpose to increase the capacities and competences of law enforcement institutions, as well as to increase funding allocated to the facilities of social services and temporary housing for victims of domestic violence.

To strengthen the fight against hate speech and bullying against children and young people belonging to vulnerable groups, such as Roma, LGBT+, ethnic and cultural minorities, etc. by training law enforcement institutions and by launching an awareness raising campaign in society.

To launch an awareness raising campaign in society against corporal punishment of children.

To strengthen the fight against trafficking and exploitation of children and young people by training officers and dealing with the latency of this field of criminal activity.

To improve national education programmes, especially as regards sexual education, sexual orientation, sexual identity and expression, and by making topics of the rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups (such as Roma, people with disability, LGBT+, ethnic and cultural minorities, etc.) an integral and obligatory part of all educational subjects and activities.

To continue making efforts on a national and regional level to ensure effective integration of Roma children into society and their proper participation in formal and informal education.

To improve the integration of children and young people with disabilities into society by increasing funding for the institutions that provide social services for people with disabilities, as well as by increasing compensations for children who are in need of obtaining specific gear and equipment enabling them to lead a normal life.

To continue increasing the accessibility of public spaces and facilities for people with disabilities.

To adopt a renewed national juvenile justice programme and strengthen preventive measures to ensure that children and young people should receive proper social and specific services and care before they commit any offense or become delinquent.

To strengthen the national system of juvenile justice system by increasing funding, capacities and effectiveness of resocialisation centres.

Prepared by: Tolerant Youth Association (TJA or TYA), NGO, the first and yet the only Youth organization in Lithuania, which first and foremost seeks to promote Human Rights and Inclusion. TYA operates on national level addressing various Human Rights issues. The organization focuses on advocacy of the rights of migrants, non-EU / non-EEA countries citizens (TCN), refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable groups.

Address: Lukiškių st. 5-536, LT-01108, Vilnius, Lithuania, +37061201192, www.tja.lt, e-mail: info@tja.lt, Chairperson Artūras Rudomanskis.

Ante Litteram (AL), an NGO based in Lithuania which focuses on education and research in the fields of human rights, innovations and progressive social, economic and cultural initiatives, as well as the promotion of equality, inclusion, diversity and ideas which help to cause shifts in institutional, societal and communal mindsets, in order to deal with global, national and regional challenges.

Address: J. Galvydžio st. 11A-42, LT-08236 Vilnius, Lithuania, +37067693825, e-mail: litteramante@gmail.com, founder Aivaras Žilvinskas.

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ENDNOTES 1 European Gender Equality Institute (EIGE). Gender Equality Index: Lithuania, 2020, https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-equality-index-2020-lithuania 2 Ibid.

3 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, “Representation of women and men in decision-making”, 2021, https://www.lygybe.lt/lt/lyciu-lygybes-statistika 4 Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), Human Rights in Lithuania 2018-2019, 2020, http://hrmi. lt/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ZmogausTeisesLietuvoje_galutinis.pdf, p. 55 5 Ibid, p. 56 6 EIGE, Gender Equality Index: Lithuania.

7 Reingardė, J., “The Beijing Platform for Action: What did Lithuania achieve?”, a presentation delivered during the National Forum on Human Rights, 10 December 2020.

8 Statistics Lithuania, “Domestic violence”, 30 January 2019, https://osp.stat.gov.lt/informaciniai-pranesimai?articleId=6104470 9 Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior, Data on registered criminal offenses related to domestic violence from January to December 2020, https://ird. lt/lt/reports/view_item_datasource?id=8918&datasource=55210 10 Statistics Lithuania, “Domestic violence”, 30 January 2020, https://osp.stat.gov.lt/informaciniai-pranesimai?articleId=7155309 11 HRMI, Human Rights in Lithuania 2018-2019, p. 110 12 Women’s Issues Information Centre (WIIC), “Intolerance of violence is increasing in Lithuania”, 7 December 2020, http://www.lygus.lt/lietuvoje-dideja-nepakantumas-smurtui/ 13 Interview with Jurgita Cinskienė, Head of the National Association of Women Rights, 22 January 2021.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Lithuania, CEDAW/LTU/CO/6, 12 November 2019, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW/C/ LTU/CO/6%20&Lang=En 17 HRMI, Human Rights in Lithuania 2018-2019, p. 41 18 Order of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Establishment of the Working Group”, No. 78, 15 April 2019, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/8836cef05f4b11e98b599e654d7d03a0 19 Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, “On the Amendment of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence”, 28 April 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/ TAK/114dfcc1896411eaa51db668f0092944?jfwid=zjgvrwc4c 20 Conclusions by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, “On the Draft Law on Protection against Domestic Violence and Violence against Women”, 19 May 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/ legalAct/lt/TAK/f6ff255099b811eaa51db668f0092944?jfwid=zjgvrwc4c 21 Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania, “On the Draft Law No. 20-6276”, 12 May 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAN/386a3010944c11eaa51db668f0092944?jfwid=zjgvrwc4c 22 The Judicial Council of the Republic of Lithuania, “On remarks regarding the Draft Law No. 20-6276”, 27 May 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAK/0ea084009fe111eaa51db668f0092944?jfwid=zjgvrwc4c 23 Conclusions by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, “On the Draft Law on Protection against Domestic Violence and Violence against Women”, 19 May 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/ legalAct/lt/TAK/f6ff255099b811eaa51db668f0092944?jfwid=zjgvrwc4c

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24 Draft Law on Amendment of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, Registration No. 2015061, 11 November 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAP/d04a887123f411eb8c97e01ffe050e1c 25 HRMI, “Comments on the Draft Law on Protection against Domestic Violence were submitted”, 11 November 2020, http://hrmi.lt/pateikeme-pastabas-apsaugos-nuo-smurto-artimoje-aplinkoje-istatymo-projektui/ 26 Draft Law on Supplementing the Criminal Code by Article 167(1), registration No. XIIIP-3746, 25 July 2019, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAP/e3556130aec311e9b43db72f2154cfa0?

27 Andrukaitytė, M., “Despite criticism of the Church, a group of parliamentarians will seek to return the Istanbul Convention to the agenda of the Seimas”, Lrt.lt, 29 December 2019, https://www.lrt.lt/ naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1128862/nepaisant-baznycios-kritikos-grupe-parlamentariu-i-seimo-darbotvarke-sieks-grazinti-stambulo-konvencija 28 EIGE, Gender Equality Index 2019: Work-life balance. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-equality-index-2019-work-life-balance, p. 93 29 Pilinkaite Sotirovič, V., Kontvainė V., Contemporary men and gender equality: incentives and obstacles for men to get involvbed in child care activities, Šiuolaikiniai vyrai ir lyčių lygybė: paskatos ir kliūtys vyrams įsitraukti į vaiko priežiūrą. Vilnius, 2020, http://gap.lt/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/%C5%A0iuolaikiniai-vyrai-ir-ly%C4%8Di%C5%B3-lygyb%C4%97.pdf 30 Order of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the National Programme for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Provision of Assistance to Victims for 2014-2020”, No. 485, 28 May 2014, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/b2368b30ea2711e3abf5c17841df37a3 31 Interview with Jurgita Cinskienė, Head of the National Association of Women Rights, 22 January 2021.

32 Ibid.

33 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, “Representative public opinion poll on gender stereotypes and violence”, 2018, https://www.lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/2019/09/visuomenes_nuomones_apklausa_vilmorus.pdf 34 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, 2019 Annual Report, 13 March 2020, https:// www.lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/2020/03/lr_lygiu_galimybiu_kontrolieriaus_2019_m._veiklos_ ataskaita.pdf 35 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, Infographics of the 2019 Annual Report, March 2020, https://www.lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/2020/05/veiklos_ataskaita_2019_infografikas.pdf 36 Statistics Lithuania, Database of Indicators, https://osp.stat.gov.lt/statistiniu-rodikliu-analize#/ 37 Department for the Affairs of Disabled under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, Survey of public attitudes, November 2020, http://www.ndt.lt/wp-content/uploads/Ataskaita-Neigalieji-202011. pptx 38 The Lithuanian Disability Forum, Alternative Report prepared for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the discussion of the Initial Report of the Republic of Lithuania on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,Vilnius, 2015, https:// www.lnf.lt/leidiniai/ 39 Mental Health Europe (MHE), Mapping & Understanding Exclusion in Europe, Brussels, December 2017, https://www.mhe-sme.org/mapping-exclusion/ 40 The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania, “Human rights violations in social care homes were discussed at the Seimas Committee on Human Rights”, 5 October 2020, https://www.lrski. lt/en/naujienos/human-rights-violations-in-social-care-homes-were-discussed-at-the-seimas-committee-on-human-rights/ 41 The Lithuanian Disability Forum and Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, Analysis of Potential Discrimination regarding the Adaptation of Conditions, commissioned by the Department for the Affairs of Disabled, Vilnius, 2019, http://www.ndt.lt/wp-content/uploads/2019_Diskriminacijos_del_salygu_ nepritaikymo_analize_visas-galutinis.pdf

39

42 Law on the Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, No. XII-2603, 14 September 2016, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/da9eea30a61211e8aa33fe8f0fea665f?jfwid=-k3id7tf7e 43 Supreme Audit Institution, Report on Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities, No. VAE-9, 7 September 2020, file:///C:/Users/Akvile/Downloads/Santrauka_Asmenu_su_negalia_socialine_integracija.pdf 44 Law on the Amendments of the Electoral Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, No. XIII-1777, 13 December 2018, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/0d3534b0047b11e9a5eaf2cd290f1944 (Came into force on 1 January 2019, some parts of the Law came into force on 1 July 2019).

45 The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Lithuania, “In 2019 elections, more constituencies are accessible to voters with disabilities”, 1 March 2019, https://www.vrk.lt/naujienos/-/content/10180/1/2019-m-rinkimuose-daugiau-apylinkiu-prieinama-rinkejams-su-negalia 46 Giedrius Gaidamavicius, “Some people with disabilities will still not be able to access some of the polling stations”, Lrt.lt, 27 September 2020, https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1240008/dalis-neigaliuju-vis-dar-negales-patekti-i-kai-kurias-balsavimo-apylinkes 47 The Central Electoral Commission, “67 per cent of polling stations are accessible for people with disabilities”, 29 March 2019, https://www.vrk.lt/naujienos/-/content/10180/1/67-proc-rinkimu-apylinkiu-yra-pritaikytos-asmenims-su-negalia 48 The Lithuanian Disability Forum, “The LNF continues to monitor the accessibility during elections”, 9 October 2020, https://www.lnf.lt/lnf-tesia-rinkimu-prieinamumo-stebesena/ 49 Law on the Amendment of the Law on Mental Health Care No. 1-924, No. XIII-1906, 11 January 2019, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/47c6e7321a3411e9bd28d9a28a9e9ad9 50 Law on the Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, No. VIII-1864, 18 July 2000, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.107687/asr 51 HRMI, Human Rights in Lithuania 2018-2019.

52 Lrytas.lt, “Residents of Žiežmariai are dissatisfied with the home for the disabled: they are not like us”, 21 August 2019, https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2019/08/21/news/ziezmariu-gyventojai-ir-toliau-lieja-nepasitenkinima-del-namu-neigaliesiems-jie-ne-tokie-kaip-mes-11539049/ 53 The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, “National Preventive Mechanism”, 2020, https://www.lrski.lt/ veiklos-sritys/nacionaline-kankinimu-prevencija-nkp/ 54 The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, “After the inspection of the Seimas Ombudsmen, a pre-trial investigation was launched in Skemai Social Care Home and the director of the institution was removed from office”, 4 September 2020, https://www.lrski.lt/en/naujienos/after-the-inspection-of-the-seimasombudsmen-a-pre-trial-investigation-was-launched-in-skemai-social-care-home-and-the-director-ofthe-institution-was-removed-from-office/ 55 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour On Approval of the Action Plan for Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for 2016-2020, No. A1-596, 9 November 2016, https://socmin.lrv.lt/uploads/socmin/documents/ files/veiklos-sritys/socialine-integracija/neigalieji/12068_jt-rekomendaciju-igyvendinimo-planas-po-suinteresuotu-galutinis.pdf 56 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, “The Ombudsperson launched the first committee to monitor the rights of persons with disabilities”, 11 July 2019, https://lygybe.lt/lt/naujienos/kontroliere-subure-pirmaja-zmoniu-su-negalia-teisiu-stebesenos-komisija/1127 57 List of reviews regarding changes in the Law on Education of the Republic of Lithuania, No. I-1489, 25 June 1991, based on time periods, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalActEditions/lt/TAD/ TAIS.1480?faces-redirect=true 58 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour On Approval of the Action Plan for Implementation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for 2016-2020, No. A1-596, 9 November 2016, https://socmin.lrv.lt/uploads/socmin/documents/

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files/veiklos-sritys/socialine-integracija/neigalieji/12068_jt-rekomendaciju-igyvendinimo-planas-po-suinteresuotu-galutinis.pdf 59 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), LGBTI Survey Data Explorer, https://fra.europa.eu/en/data-and-maps/2020/lgbti-survey-data-explorer.

60 The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO), Inclusive Education Report 2018 (preview), January 2018, https://www.iglyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LGBTQI-Inclusive-Education-Report-Preview.pdf, p. 98-101.

61 Judgment by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania No. KT3-N1/2019, Case No. 16/2016, 11 January 2019, https://www.lrkt.lt/lt/teismo-aktai/paieska/135/ta1898/content.

62 Law on Strengthening of the Family of the Republic of Lithuania, No. XIII-700, 19 October 2017, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/71039aa2b98511e7967a9645b537eb05/rXeNRjpsGl?jfwid=3d176b1gm 63 Draft Law on Amendment of the Law on Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Lithuania, registration No. XIIIP-3512, 30 May 2019, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAP/96f31cf082b411e98a8298567570d639?jfwid=zll0xxhe6.

64 Draft Law on the Amendment of Article 2.27 of the Civil Code, registration No. XIIIP-1327, 10 November 2017, https://eseimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAP/66fe0380c61711e782d4fd2c44cc67af?positionInSearchResults=5&searchModelUUID=ac517de8-5f90-4d64-ac78-8c34bafc8ebb.

65 Monika Antanaitytė, “Lithuanian Anti-Gay Propaganda Provision Remains Intact”, LGL, 25 January 2021, https://www.lgl.lt/en/?p=23863.

66 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the Inter-institutional Action Plan for the Promotion of Non-discrimination for 2021–2023, No. A1-1256, 10 December 2020, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/b1c5e3b03ae511eb8d9fe110e148c770.

67 The Order of Minister of Social Security and Labour, “On Approval of the Action Plan for the Promotion of non-Discrimination for 2017-2019”, No. A1-250, 15 May 2017, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/ legalAct/fa5d2b103a3f11e7b66ae890e1368363.

68 Judgment on the merits delivered by a Chamber Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania, No. 41288/15, ECHR 2020, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22appno%22:[%2241288/15%22]} 69 Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior, “Migration Yearbook 2019”, May 2020, https://migracija.lrv.lt/uploads/migracija/documents/files/Migracijos%20metra%C5%A1%C4%8Diai/ MIGRACIJOS%20METRA%C5%A0TIS_2019%20(1).pdf.

70 Migration Department, “In 2020, the number of foreigners settling in Lithuania increased by 18 per cent”, 19 January 2021, https://www.migracija.lt/-/2020-aisiais-lietuvoje-apsigyvenusi%C5%B3-u%C5%BEsienie%C4%8Di%C5%B3-skai%C4%8Dius-padid%C4%97jo-23-proc.

71 Migration Department, Key indicators of migration in the Republic of Lithuania, https://migracija.lrv. lt/lt/statistika/pagrindiniai-migracijos-rodikliai-lietuvos-respublikoje 72 Migration Department, Statistics of the Department of Asylum, https://migracija.lrv.lt/lt/statistika/ prieglobscio-skyriaus-statistika/statistika-1.

73 The Institute for Ethnic Studies of the Lithuanian Social Research Centre (LSRC), the results of public opinion polls carried out between 2016 and 2020, http://www.ces.lt/veikla-2/ziniasklaidos-stebesena/ visuomenes-nuomones-apklausos/.

74 Resolution of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the Strategy for Demography, Migration and Integration Policy for 2018-2030”, No. XIII-1484, 20 September 2018, https://e-seimas. lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/fbb35e02c21811e883c7a8f929bfc500?jfwid=-35aaxldoi.

75 Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the 2019-2021 Inter-Institutional Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Demography, Migration and Integration Policy for 2018-2030”, No. 1216, 5 December 2018, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/ lt/TAD/2a093814fc8411e89b04a534c5aaf5ce?jfwid=-rwipzde7s.

40

76 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour, “On Approval of the Action Plan for 2018–2020 on the Integration of Foreigners Into Society”, No. A1-755, 21 December 2018, last amendment, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/31d148100a1911e98a758703636ea610?positionInSearchResults=6&searchModelUUID=e27a4cd7-4ffa-4784-ba08-210980bd79ec&fbclid=IwAR1NSNs7gcW7ecN2juis0SaYJhRKQIDcpdIIRCs-dBa6lfjPUbcFyjqCcn0.

77 The Action Plan has been extended for one year, the last amendment has been approved on 19 February 2021.

78 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour, “On Approval of the Action Plan for 2015-2017 on the Implementation of the Policy for the Integration of Foreigners”, No. A1-683, 31 December 2014, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/b002bb90913911e48028e9b85331c55d?jfwid=-.

79 Resolution of the Government of Lithuania on Amendment to the Resolution No. 628, 22 June 2015, “On Relocation of Aliens to the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania”, No. 1058, 23 October 2019, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/86b27840f6fe11e99681cd81dcdca52c.

80 Resolution of the Government of Lithuania, “On Approval of the Description of the Procedure of State Support for the Integration of Persons Who have been Granted Asylum”, No. 998, 5 October 2016, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/34e8bf81913d11e68adcda1bb2f432d1?jfwid=-cxrhu6mka.

81 Law on the Amendments of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens of the Republic of Lithuania, No. XIII-2582, 3 December 2019, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/legalAct.html?documentId=c726c1a01cac11eabe008ea93139d588&fbclid=IwAR2N7MxqfrPL8C9EJXXHeLk-b5b9h1I-Z5M-yZVLs2UGsiHj00faWbl6Re8.

82 Solano, Giacomo and Huddleston, Thomas, Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020, 2020, see Lithuania, https://www.mipex.eu/lithuania.

83 Migration Department, “Facilitating the issuing process of temporary residence permits for nationals of Australia, Japan, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea”, 21 August 2019, http:// migracija.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/lengvinamos-leidimu-laikinai-gyventi-isdavimo-salygos-australijos-japonijos-jav-kanados-naujosios-zelandijos-ir-pietu-korejos-pilieciams?fbclid=IwAR1dEdVHrosWzOhIjOtBBO7ZrwVhRiCT0u308wDsGtV4nys2S3IzW3UD2zk.

84 Ministry of the Interior, “ The government agreed to the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior to set quotas for foreigners coming to work”, 10 April 2019, https://vrm.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/vyriausybe-pritare-vrm-siulymui-del-kvotu-nustatymo-dirbti-atvykstantiems-uzsienieciams.

85 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour, “On Approval of the Action Plan for 2018–2020 on the Integration of Foreigners Into Society”.

86 Resolution of the Seimas, “On Approval of the Strategy for Demography, Migration and Integration Policy for 2018-2030”.

87 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour, “On Approval of the Action Plan for 2018–2020 on the Integration of Foreigners Into Society”.

88 The Institute for Ethnic Studies of the Lithuanian Social Research Centre (LSRC), the results of public opinion polls carried out between 2016 and 2020, http://www.ces.lt/veikla-2/ziniasklaidos-stebesena/ visuomenes-nuomones-apklausos/.

89 Solano, Giacomo and Huddleston, Thomas, Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020, 2020, see Lithuania, https://www.mipex.eu/lithuania.

90 For more information, see: http://www.forintegration.eu/.

91 The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, “The rights of foreign nationals are not ensured in the Foreigners’ Registration Centre”, 19 September 2019, http://www.lrski.lt/naujienos/729-uzsienieci-registracijos-centre-darbuotojai-nemoka-uzsienio-kalb-o-sulaikytos-uzsienieci-seimos-su-mazameciais-vaikais-talpinamos-uz-grot.html.

92 Law on the Amendments of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens of the Republic of Lithuania, No. XIII-2582.

93 Statistics Lithuania, Database of Indicators for 2020, https://osp.stat.gov.lt/statistiniu-rodikliu-analize#/.

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94 Council of Europe, ”National minorities: Lithuania should improve legislation, prevent discrimination at school and promote the social inclusion of Roma”, 8 January 2019, https://www.coe. int/en/web/portal/-/national-minorities-lithuania-should-improve-legislation-prevent-discrimination-at-school-and-promote-the-social-inclusion-of-roma.

95 Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, „Action plan for Roma integration into the Lithuanian society for 2015-2020“, No ĮV-48, 29 January 2015, https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/ LITHUANIA_Action%20Plan%20for%20Roma%20Integration%20into%20the%20Lithuanian%20Society%20for%202015-2020.pdf.

96 The results of the survey of public attitudes in 2020, commissioned by the Institute of Ethnic Studies of the Lithuanian Center for Social Research, 13-23 October 2020, http://www.ces.lt/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Visuomen%C4%97s-nuostatos-apklausos-rezultatai-20201.pdf.

97 Liutauras Labanauskas, Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, „Qualitative Research Report on Communities Affected by Hate Crimes“, 2019, https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/ files/LT_versija/Viesasis_saugumas/Pa%C5%BEeid%C5%BEiam%C5%B3%20bendruomeni%C5%B3%20 kokybinio%20tyrimo%20ataskaita.pdf.

98 Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community, “Recommendations for Action to Combat Anti-Semitism and Romaphobia in Lithuania”, 2018, https://www.lzb.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rekomendacijos-2018.pdf.

99 Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, „National minority history – an integral part of a Lithuanian identity“, 2 October 2019, https://lrkm.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/tautiniu-mazumu-istorija-neatsiejama-lietuvos-tapatybes-dalis.

100 Order of Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania on the conception of the representation of histories of national minorities in Lithuania, ĮV-610, 26 September 2019, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/ legalAct/lt/TAD/e23beaf2e09411e9a85be81119c7a8fa?jfwid=-17n9x5ak73.

101 Open Lithuania Foundation, „Non-governmental organizations in Lithuania during the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges, consequences and opportunities. A review“, 23 April 2020, https://olf.lt/ wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Apklausos-apzvalga_siulymai_institucijoms-red.pdf.

102 Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, et. al. „Ethnic minority groups in Lithuania: Demographic change and aspects of the social situation”. The Social Change of Residential Groups of Lithuania, Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Vilnius, 2016, https://lstc.lt/download/Socialine_kaita_visas.pdf, p. 85-109.

103 Information received from Roma Community Centre and Lithuanian Young Falcon Union branch “Padek pritapti” on 23 February 2021.

104 Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, “The National Education Strategy for 2013-2022”, 2014, https://www.sac.smm.lt/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Valstybine-svietimo-strategija-2013-2020_svietstrat.pdf.

105 Violeta Davoliūtė and Dovilė Budrytė, “Entangled History, History Education, and Affective Communities in Lithuania”. Transitional Justice and the Former Soviet Union: Reviewing the Past, Looking toward the Future, edited by Cynthia M. Horne and Lavinia Stan. Cambridge University Press, 2018, p.

323-344, https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/79652.

106 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, “Recommendations for teaching and learning about the Holocaust”, 2019, https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/ IHRA-Recommendations-Teaching-and-Learning-about-Holocaust.pdf.

107 Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Good Will Compensation for the Real Estate of Jewish Religious Communities, No. XI-1470 , 21 June 2011, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.402515/ asr.

108 Working group’s Action Plan on the Promotion of Effective Response to Hate Crime and Hate Speech in Lithuania for 2020-2022, 23 April 2020, https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/files/ LT_versija/Viesasis_saugumas/Darbo%20grup%C4%97s%20veiklos%20planas.pdf 109 Prosecutor General‘s Office, „Methodological Recommendations for Hate Crimes and Hate Speech pre-Investigation Trial Execution, Organization and Management“ , 31 March 2020, https://www. prokuraturos.lt/data/public/uploads/2020/04/neapykantos_nusikaltimu_tyrimo_metodines_rekomendacijos.pdf

41

Human Rights Monitoring Institute, „Response to Hate Crimes: Review of the Situation in Lithuania“, 15 December 2017, https://hrmi.lt/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Atsakas-%C4%AF-neapykantos-nusikaltimus-2017-1.pdf 111 Ministry of the Interior, „Qualitative Research Report on Communities Affected by Hate Crimes“, 2019, https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/files/LT_versija/Viesasis_saugumas/Pa%C5%BEeid%C5%BEiam%C5%B3%20bendruomeni%C5%B3%20kokybinio%20tyrimo%20ataskaita.pdf 112 Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior, Data on criminal offenses committed to discriminate or express hate to a group of persons or a person belonging to a group in the Republic of Lithuania, 2019-2020, https://www.ird.lt/lt/reports/view_item_ datasource?id=8928&datasource=55343.

113 HRMI, Human Rights in Lithuania 2018-2019.

114 Vita Kontvaitė, Diversity Development Group, „The State of Roma Persons 2020“, 2020, http://www. romuplatforma.lt/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Rom%C5%B3-pad%C4%97tis-2020_TYRIMO-ATASKAITA_galutin%C4%97.pdf 115 Vilnius City Council, Vilnius Roma Integration into Society Programme for 2020-2023, Decision No. 1-609, 28 August 2020, https://aktai.vilnius.lt/document/30344383.

116 Vita Kontvaitė, Diversity Development Group, „The State of Roma Persons 2020“.

117 The European Foundation of Human Rights, „Draft legislation on national minorities is complete“, efhr.eu, 16 July 2020, https://en.efhr.eu/2020/07/16/draft-legislation-on-national-minorities-is-complete/ 118 Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, „Working group continues the work on the national minority law“, 12 June 2020, https://tmde.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/darbo-grupe-tesia-tautiniu-mazumu-istatymo-projekto-kurimo-darba 119 Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, „Governmental committee for national minority issues had a sitting”, 4 September 2020, https://lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/posedziavo-vyriausybes-komisija-tautiniu-mazumu-klausimams.

120 Baltic News Service, “The government presents the spring session agenda to the parliament”,bns.lt, 24 February 2021, https://www.bns.lt/topic/1912/news/63257093/.

121 The European Foundation of Human Rights, „Vilnius City District Court Allows for Original Spelling of Malgorzata“, 20 November 2019, https://en.efhr.eu/2019/11/20/vilnius-city-district-court-allowsfor-original-spelling-of-malgorzata/.

122 Draft Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Writing of Names and Surnames in Official Documents, No. XIVP-86, 4 December 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/ TAP/36f86140361611eb8c97e01ffe050e1c?positionInSearchResults=3&searchModelUUID=66d3fc98-c3e4-4bd4-9755-ead9dc052f8a.

123 The Department of Law of the Office of the Government, “Conclusion on the Draft Law on the Writing of Names and Surnames in Official Documents”, No. XIVP-86, 10 December, 2020, https://eseimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAK/8b10eae03ab711eb8c97e01ffe050e1c?jfwid=-lrzsfix2c.

124 The European Foundation of Human Rights, „Vilnius City District Court Allows for Original Spelling of Malgorzata“, 20 November 2019, https://en.efhr.eu/2019/11/20/vilnius-city-district-court-allows-for-original-spelling-of-malgorzata/.

125 Baltic News Service, “The European Foundation of Human Rights commemorated a 10-year anniversary”, bns.lt, 4 December 2020, https://sc.bns.lt/view/item/364451.

126 Office of the Government, „Governmental committee for national minority issues had a sitting”.

127 National School Assessment Agency, Report on the State of National Minority Education in Lithuania, 2018, http://www.nmva.smm.lt/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Lietuvos-tautini%C5%B3-ma%C5% BEum%C5%B3-%C5%A1vietimo-b%C5%ABkl%C4%97s-analiz%C4%97-2018-m.1.pdf.

128 Ibid.

129 Ibid.

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Aida Murauskaitė, “Gymnasium teaching students of different nationalities: parents and children understood that it is necessary to know the Lithuanian language well“, Lrt.lt, 6 January 2021, https:// www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1310136/skirtingu-tautybiu-vaikus-mokanti-gimnazija-tevai-ir-vaikaisuprato-kad-reikia-gerai-moketi-lietuviu-kalba.

131 The European Foundation of Human Rights, „Minority school students found the unified Lithuanian language exam difficult“, efhr.eu, 30 August 2018, https://en.efhr.eu/2018/08/30/minority-school-students-found-the-unified-lithuanian-language-exam-difficult/.

132 National Agency for Education, „Attention to national minority education“, svietimonaujienos.lt, 11 February 2019, https://www.svietimonaujienos.lt/demesys-tautiniu-mazumu-svietimui/.

133 Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, „The Committee for Education of National minorities confirmed“, 8 December 2020: https://www.smm.lt/web/lt/pranesimai_spaudai/naujienos_1/patvirtinta-tautiniu-mazumu-svietimo-komisija.

134 100.9 Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Andorra) (Spain); 100.10 Consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Albania).

135 United Nations, Treaty Collection, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=treaty&mtdsg_no=IV-11-d&chapter=4&lang=en.

136 Council of Europe, Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 4 November 2000, https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/rms/0900001680080622.

137 Council of Europe, Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, 11 May 2011, https://rm.coe.int/168008482e.

138 100.42 Reinforce the measures to protect the rights of child, inter alia by expediting the adoption of the revised draft law on the fundamentals of protection of the rights of the child (Georgia).

139 Law on the amendment of the Law on the fundamentals of protection of the rights of the child, No. XIII-643, 28 September 2017, https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/legalAct.html?documentId=5a6c9100adc011e79d87b6f526384a70.

140 Human Rights Monitoring Institute, “Fairy tale author scores first victory against Lithuania’s LGBT* censorship law”, 7 December 2016, https://hrmi.lt/en/kuo-svarbus-lat-sprendimas-gintarines-sirdies-byloje/ 141 See, for example, the final judgement of the appellate instance court in 2019: https://eteismai.lt/ byla/40069603134317/e2A-221-803/2019.

142 100.43 Continue to pay particular attention to the issue of youth participation in the public decision-making process (Romania).

143 The Council of Youth Affairs, https://jrd.lt/jrt.

144 Municipal Youth Councils, https://jrd.lt/jaunimo-politika/savivaldybese/jaunimo-reikalu-tarybos 145 Dilytė, Asta and Lazutka, Romas, Youth Political Participation: the Case of Lithuania. Socialinė teorija, empirija, politika ir praktika, 14, 2017, p. 89-101, https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/STEPP/article/ view/10418 https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/STEPP/article/view/10418/8372.

146 The authors of the report conducted interviews on 11-13 February 2021 with representatives from the Panevėžys branch of the Family Planning and Sexual Health Association and the western branch of the Tolerant Youth Association.

147 Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Chart of the status of national institutions, 20 January 2021, https://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/GANHRIAccreditation/Documents/Status%20 Accreditation%20Chart%20as%20of%2020%2001%202021.pdf 148 100.34 Continue its support to the Office of the Children’s Rights Ombudsman (Georgia); 100.35 Strengthen its support to the Office of the Children’s Rights Ombudsman (Timor-Leste).

149 Law on the Ombudsman for Children of the Republic of Lithuania, No. VIII-1708, 25 May 2000, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/rs/legalact/TAD/TAIS.436567/format/ISO_PDF/ 130

42

100.41 Make every effort to increase the effectiveness of the protection of the rights of the child (Tajikistan).

151 Supreme Audit Institution of Lithuania, Notification, 20 February 2017, https://www.vkontrole.lt/ aktualiju_failai/files/Del_vaiko_teisiu_apsaugos_sistemos.pdf.

152 Supreme Audit Institution, Work Plan for 2020, 23 December 2020, https://www.vkontrole.lt/ dokumentai/2020_veiklos_planas/VK_2020_veiklos_planas.pdf 153 100.119 Establish and implement integrated strategies for the prevention of child abuse, suicide among young people and unwanted pregnancies among girls and young people (Costa Rica); 100.140 Ensure that young people with mental health problems have access to the highest professional consultancies and treatment methods, and promote an enabling environment for non-profit organizations working with mental health issues in relation to young people and children (Portugal).

154 Law on Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child, No. I-1234, 14 March 1996, https://eseimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.26397/asr 155 Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the National plan for prevention of suicide for 2020-2024”, No. V-2008, 9 September 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/ legalAct/lt/TAD/25d91842f28811eab72ddb4a109da1b5.

156 World Health Organisation, Global Health Observatory data repository, Suicide rate estimates, age-standardized estimates by country, 17 July 2018, https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.

MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en.

157 EUROSTAT, the crude death rate from suicide and intentional self-harm per 100 000 people, by age group, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00202/default/table?lang=en.

158 The authors of the report conducted interviews on 11-13 February 2021 with representatives from the western branch of the Tolerant Youth Association.

159 Eglė Kuktoraitė, “90% of LGBT * students in the LGL survey intend to emigrate after graduation”, LGL, 16 May 2020, https://www.lgl.lt/naujienos/90-proc-lgl-apklausoje-dalyvavusiu-lgbt-moksleiviu-baige-mokykla-ketina-emigruoti/.

160 The draft Law on reproductive health, No. XIIP-1591, 13 March 2014, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/ legalAct/lt/TAP/769d2a52aab911e3840c893be7eb3526?positionInSearchResults=3&searchModelUUI D=f6814dd6-e08d-4825-a2ed-ffe4e3ef2447.

161 Laima Vaigė, “The right not to abortion, but to respect for private and family life”, lrt.lt, 20 November 2020, https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/nuomones/3/1280324/laima-vaige-teise-ne-i-aborta-o-i-pagarba-privaciam-ir-seimos-gyvenimui.

162 Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, “Abortion insurance - again on the Seimas agenda”, manoteises.lt, 5 April 2017, https://manoteises.lt/straipsnis/abortu-draudimas-ir-vel-seimo-darbotvarkeje/ 163 Jurgita Lieponė, “Quarantine restrictions have raised questions about abortion opportunities: what to do for women in cases of unplanned pregnancy?”, 15min.lt, 15 April 2020, https://www.15min.lt/ gyvenimas/naujiena/seima/karantino-apribojimai-sukele-klausimu-del-aborto-galimybiu-ka-daryti-neplanuotai-pastojusioms-moterims-1026-1304178.

164 Audit Office, State Audit Report “Is the Strengthening of Children’s Health Ensured”, No. VA-8, 2 December 2019, https://www.vkontrole.lt/failas.aspx?id=4039 p.9.

165 Institute of Hygiene, Public Health Technology Center, Research Division, Survey of School Children ‘s Lifestyle: 2016 Summary-Report of Indicators, Vilnius, 2016, https://www.hi.lt/uploads/pdf/ padaliniai/GYVENSENA/2016%20m.%20Mokyklinio%20amziaus%20vaiku%20gyvensenos%20suvestine-ataskaita.pdf.

166 Sukys, Saulius, et al., “Subjective Health Literacy among School-Aged Children: First Evidence from Lithuania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), p. 3397, https:// www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/18/3397 167 100.40 Further pursue its commitment to guaranteeing full respect for the rights of the child, in particular, children with disabilities, and guarantee that all violations of these rights, in particular allegations of abuse and ill-treatment, are brought to justice (Portugal); 100.97 Protect persons, particu150

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larly women and children, against violence, exploitation and abuse (Islamic Republic of Iran); 100.113 Ensure that all allegations of abuse and violence against children are investigated, and that alleged perpetrators are effectively prosecuted (Turkey); 100.120 Intensify efforts to implement all measures for preventing and addressing all forms of violence against children, particularly in institutions (Montenegro).

168 State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, “Defenders of children’s rights: Violence against children is more widespread in Lithuania than official figures show”, 19 October 2020, https://vaikoteises.lt/naujienos/naujienos/vaiko-teisiu-gynejai-lietuvoje-smurtas-pries-vaikus-paplites-labiau-nei-rodo-oficialus-skaiciai.html.

169 Delfi.lt, “Pandemic results: more anxious personalities and victims of domestic violence”, 16 October 2020, https://www.delfi.lt/projektai/ko-ismokome-is-covid-19/pandemijos-rezultatai-daugiau-nerimastingu-asmenybiu-ir-smurto-artimoje-aplinkoje-auku.d?id=85501177.

170 Diena.lt, “COVID-19 has gained momentum: is Lithuania ready for a new wave of violence?”, 12 November 2020, https://www.diena.lt/naujienos/sveikata/psichologija/covid-19-isibegejo-ar-lietuva-pasiruosusi-naujai-smurto-bangai-995869.

171 Jolanta Vaitiekūnienė, “Time to Prevent Medieval “Treatment” of Homosexual Children”, LGL, 23 October 2018, https://www.lgl.lt/naujienos/jolanta-vaitiekuniene-laikas-uzkirsti-kelia-viduramzius-primenanciam-homoseksualiu-vaiku-gydymui/.

172 Saulius Chadasevičius, “Homophobic punch to a couple of gay foreigners holding hands on the street in Vilnius”, 15min.lt, 9 October 2018, https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/nusikaltimaiirnelaimes/vilniuje-uz-ranku-gatveje-susikibusiu-geju-uzsienieciu-porai-homofobo-smugis-59-1042016.

173 Judgment on the merits delivered by a Chamber Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania, No. 41288/15, ECHR 2020, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22appno%22:[%2241288/15%22]}.

174 The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, “Seimas Ombudsman calls for ratification of Istanbul Convention after conducting investigation into assistance to persons who have experienced domestic violence”, 21 January 2021, https://www.lrski.lt/naujienos/atlikes-tyrima-del-pagalbos-uztikrinimo-smurta-artimoje-aplinkoje-patyrusiems-asmenims-seimo-kontrolierius-ragina-ratifikuoti-stambulo-konvencija/.

175 100.114 Adopt legislation explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment of children, including in the home, and consider awareness-raising activities to increase public knowledge about the issue (Estonia); 100.115 Take additional measures to protect children from corporal punishment and sexual crimes (Kyrgyzstan); 100.116 Develop measures to prevent child abuse and corporal punishment, to include passing the draft legislation on children’s rights (United States of America); 100.117 Prohibit all forms of violence against children in all settings, including corporal punishment, and provide for measures to enforce its prohibition (Sweden); 100.118 Strengthen the legislation in order to criminalize all forms of corporal punishment of children in all circumstances (Chile).

176 Law on Amendment of the Law on the fundamentals of protection of the rights of the child, No. XIII-204, 14 February 2017, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/7d592952f37411e6be918a531b2126ab 177 100.121 Continue its work in preventing all cases of human trafficking (Maldives); 100.122 Continue to improve the training and specialization of investigators, prosecutors and judges to tackle crimes of trafficking in persons, including with a focus on women and children (Estonia); 100.123 Increase funding for NGOs to provide sustainable care to trafficking victims (United States of America).

178 Order of the Minister of the Interior, “On Approval of the Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings for 2017-2019”, No. 1V-598, 29 August 2016, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/ f485a9d06e2311e6a421ea2bde782b94?jfwid=gvy9zj3we.

179 Order of the Minister of the Interior, “On Approval of the Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings for 2020-2022”, No. 1V-577, 12 June 2020, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/ TAD/66466882ace511ea8aadde924aa85003?jfwid=mmceoqyd9 180 Ministry of the Interior, “Review of the Situation in the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings in Lithuania in 2019”, Vilnius, 2020, https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/files/LT_versija/Viesasis_saugumas/Prekyba_zmonemis/2019%20m_%20apzvalga.pdf.

43

Committee for Coordination against Trafficking in Human Beings, 2019 Activity report, 2020, https://vrm.lrv.lt/uploads/vrm/documents/files/LT_versija/Viesasis_saugumas/Prekyba_ zmonemis/2020%2003%2024_koordinavimo%20komisijos%202019%20m_%20ataskaita_Sonata%20 Mickute_LP%2B.pdf.

182 Lithuanian Courts, “Human trafficking: changing goals and methods of traffickers”, 16 October 2020, https://www.teismai.lt/lt/naujienos/teismu-sistemos-naujienos/prekyba-zmonemis-keiciasi-prekiautoju-zmonemis-tikslai-ir-metodai/8065.

183 Create Lithuania and the Ministry of the Interior, “Fight Against Human Trafficking: The Strengthening of the System”, 2017, http://kurklt.lt/projektai/kovos-su-prekyba-zmonemis-sistemos-stiprinimas/.

184 100.159 Continue strengthening the comprehensive initiatives on education in favour of migrants, ethnic minorities, women and children, in particular those from Roma communities (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).

185 Order of the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, “On Approval of the Action plan on encouraging children to learn and on multifaceted education for 2017-2022”, No. V-527, 27 June 2017, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/aad10e305c3c11e7a53b83ca0142260e/asr 186 Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the Inter-institutional Action Plan for the Promotion of Non-discrimination for 2017-2020, No. A1-250, 15 April 2017, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/0e515fe03b3c11e79f4996496b137f39/asr 187 Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, „Action plan for Roma integration into the Lithuanian society for 2015-2020“, No ĮV-48, 29 January 2015, https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/ LITHUANIA_Action%20Plan%20for%20Roma%20Integration%20into%20the%20Lithuanian%20Society%20for%202015-2020.pdf.

188 Petrušauskaitė, Vita, Participation of Roma children in the education system: a comparison between the city of Vilnius and Ukmergė district municipalities, Lithuanian Social Research Centre, 2012, https://lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/2016/02/romu-vaikai-svietimo-sistemoje_vilniaus-ir-ukmerges-savivaldybiu-atvejai.pdf, p. 35.

189 The authors of the report conducted interviews on 11-13 February 2021 with representatives from the Lithuanian Young Falcon Union, Working on the program – “Help to adapt”.

190 Vilnius City Council, Vilnius Roma Integration into Society Programme for 2016-2019, No. 1-410, 19 April 2016, http://www.romuplatforma.lt/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2016%E2%80%932019-METU -PROGRAMA.pdf.

191 Giedrius Vitkauskas, “Vilnius camp is being demolished, but problems are not disappearing: Lithuanians do not want a Roma neighborhood, and the drug business is expanding”, Lrt.lt, 9 May 2020, https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1176779/vilniaus-taboras-griaunamas-taciau-problemos-nedingsta-lietuviai-nenori-romu-kaimynystes-o-narkotiku-verslas-pleciasi 192 Order of the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, “On Approval of Programme on health, sexual education and preparation for family life”, No. V-941, 25 October 2016, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/ portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/285853b09aee11e68adcda1bb2f432d1?jfwid=-l5uh8vn42 193 Mindaugas Jackevičius “Teacher talks about gay cannibalism and sex during lessons in Telšiai”, Delfi. lt, 27 April 2017, https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/telsiuose-mokytoja-per-pamokas-pasakoja-apie-geju-kanibalizma-ir-seksa.d?id=74479638.

194 Artūras Rudomanskis, “Lithuania - a landfill of discredited ideas? It’s not a motto for the prosecutor’s office”, 15min.lt, 2 June 2017, https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/nuomones/arturas-rudomanskis-lietuva-diskredituotu-ideju-savartynas-prokuraturai-tai-ne-motais-18-806564?fbclid=IwAR3-hRTyCfVp34KzXKHIQI2t5g_8KZBSqn4vl4MfKPGQkJ29q73drHXVzDw. 195 Alfa.lt, “Telšiai religion teacher who caused the scandal remains at work, but homosexual topics are no longer considered”, 16 June 2017, https://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/50185354/skandala-sukelusi-telsiu-tikybos-mokytoja-lieka-dirbti-bet-homoseksualu-temos-svarsto-nebeliesti.

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The authors of the report conducted interviews on 11-13 February 2021 with representatives Telšiai parents ‘organization “Telšiai mothers’ club” and from the member of the Tolerant Youth Association living in Telšiai.

197 Giedrė Čiužaitė, “Described the experience of parents raising disabled children: they suffer not because of disability, but because of the attitude of the state”, Lrt.lt, 8 March 2019, https:// www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/704867/nupasakojo-neigalius-vaikus-auginanciu-tevu-patirti-kencia-ne-del-negalios-o-del-valstybes-poziurio 198 Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, “On Approval of the National programme on social integration of disabled persons for 2013-2020”, No. 1408, 21 November 2012, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.437985/asr.

199 Aurelija Babinskienė, “100 thousand disabled people are not working. How to solve this problem?”, Biciulyste.lt, 4 April 2019, https://www.biciulyste.lt/lt/integracijos-keliu/1718-100-tukstanciu-neigaliuju-nedirba-kaip-spresti-sia-problema.

200 Decision of the Lithuanian Government, “On Approval of the Juvenile Justice Programme for 20092013”, No. 1070, 2 September 2009, https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.352381?jfwid=q86m1vpwm 201 Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior, Data on criminal offenses committed in municipalities of the Republic of Lithuania from January to December 2020, https://www.ird.lt/lt/reports/view_item_datasource?id=8997&datasource=56625.

202 Acus, Arūnas, Kraniauskas, Liutauras, “Juvenile justice reforms in Lithuania and the dynamics of juvenile delinquency in Klaipeda between 1995 and 2000”, TILTAI, 2019, 2, p. 123-146. http://journals. ku.lt/index.php/tiltai/article/download/2070/pdf (see p. 134-136).

203 Ibid., p. 129.

204 Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, Presentation on Socialization Centers, 8 June 2020, https://socmin.lrv.lt/uploads/socmin/documents/files/Socializacijos%20centras_2020-06-08.pdf.

205 Eglė Kviesulaitienė, “Laws punish teenagers more leniently”, Vilkaviškis region newspaper “Santaka”, 10 April 2017, https://www.santaka.info/?sidx=43638.

196

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