Human rights in Estonia are acknowledgedas being generally respected by the government.
Nevertheless, there are concerns in some areas, such as detention conditions,
excessive police use of force, and
child abuse.
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
has been classified as a
flawed democracy
Defective democracies is a concept that was proposed by the political scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Hans-Jürgen Puhle and Aurel S. Croissant at the beginning of the 21st century to subtilize the distinctions between totalitarian, authoritarian, a ...
,
with moderate
privacy and
human development Human development may refer to:
* Development of the human body
* Developmental psychology
* Human development (economics)
* Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development
* Human evolution
Human evoluti ...
in Europe.
Individuals are guaranteed on paper the basic rights under the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
, legislative acts, and
treaties relating to human rights ratified by the Estonian government.
As of 2023, Estonia was ranked 8th in the world by
press freedoms.
Several international and human rights organisations, such as
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
,
the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
in 1993 and the
UN Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis ...
in 2008 have found little major apparent issues or patterns of systematic abuse of human rights or discrimination on ethnic grounds, while others, such as
Amnesty International in 2009, have raised concerns regarding immigrants, and regarding the
Russophone minority, who "suffer unemployment rates almost twice as high as among ethnic Estonians".
History
Estonians' individual human rights and collective rights to exist as an ethnic entity, have been routinely violated for eight centuries since the
Northern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around th ...
and
Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
rule, followed by two centuries of Russian imperial suzerainty and ending with half a century of
Soviet occupation
During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...
. Estonia's first constitution of 1920 included safeguards for
civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
that were the standard of the day.
The 1925 Law on Cultural Autonomy was an innovative piece of legislation that provided for the protection of the collective rights for citizens of non-Estonian ethnicities.
[Toivo Miljan, ''Historical dictionary of Estonia'', Scarecrow Press, 2004, p253]
Estonia in the international human rights system
As of end of 2010,
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
has delivered 23 judgments in cases brought against Estonia (beginning from 2001); in 19 cases, it found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights or its protocols. In 2001, Estonia has extended a standing invitation to
Special Procedures
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Speci ...
of UN Human Rights Council.
Participation in basic human rights treaties
Latest documents in reporting procedures
Overviews by human rights organisations
Amnesty International
According to
Amnesty International,
linguistic minorities
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
face discrimination in a number of areas, especially in
employment and
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
. Migrants were exposed to
harassment by state officials and attacks by
extremist groups.
Criminal investigation
Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservat ...
s into allegations of excessive
use of force by police were dismissed. Also Estonian security police,
Kaitsepolitsei, made allegations against the
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights is a non-governmental organisation based in Estonia, according to Hanne-Margret Birckenbach, is "particularly involved in promoting the concerns of Russian-speaking inhabitants and with outstanding conta ...
(LICHR), which it claims is widely seen as an attempt to misrepresent the organization and to undermine its work.
Human Rights Watch
According to
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
report, 1993, the organisation did not find systematic, serious abuses of human rights in the area of citizenship. Non-citizens in Estonia were guaranteed basic rights under the
Constitution of Estonia
Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...
. However, there were some problems concerning the successful integration of some who were
permanent resident
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...
s at the time Estonia gained independence.
Freedom House
According to
Freedom House, Estonia has wide
political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
and
civil liberties.
Political parties are allowed to organize freely and
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s have been free and fair. Public access to government information are respected and the country has a
freedom of the press, although a 2007 report discussed Estonia's
Kaitsepolitsei security organs as the nation's political police. Also
religious freedom
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
is respected in law and in practice.
Corruption is regarded as a relatively minor problem in Estonia. The
judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
is independent and generally free from government interference.
As of 2023, Freedom House lists Estonia as 94 out of 100 in Freedom in the World.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The 2008 report of Special Rapporteur on racism to
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
noted the existence of political will by the Estonian State authorities to fight the expressions of racism and discrimination in Estonia.
According to the report, the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia saw the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based (Para. 56). The rapporteur expressed several recommendations including strengthening the Chancellor of Justice, facilitating granting citizenship to persons of undefined nationality and making language policy subject of a debate to elaborate strategies better reflecting the multilingual character of society (paras. 89-92).
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention. A third -generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discri ...
(CERD) examines regular reports of the member States on how the rights are being implemented under Article 9 of the International
. In its 2010 concluding observations the Committee noted some positive aspects, and raised concerns and made recommendations with regard to Estonia's compliance with the convention. Concerns named in the report included: lack of protection of minorities from
hate speech; racial motivation of crimes not being an
aggravating circumstance
Aggravation, in law, is "any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself. ...
; strong emphasis on Estonian language in the state
Integration strategy; usage of
punitive approach for promoting Estonian language; restrictions of the usage of minority language in
public services
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
; low level of minority
representation in political life; persistently high number of persons with
undetermined citizenship, etc.
Other institutions
According to
Cliohres, the European Network of Excellence organized by a group of 45 universities publication the alleged violations of human rights of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia has served as a pretext of trying to lock the region within the
sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity.
While there may be a formal a ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. Moscow's attempts to take political advantage over the issue of the Russophone minority in Estonia have been successful as Kremlin has used every international forum where the claims of the violations of human rights in Estonia have been presented.
The
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
's forum Development and Transition has discussed the situation of Estonia and Latvia in 2005.
James Hughes, a US sociologist from the
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, claimed Latvia and Estonia are both states "captured by the titular ethnic groups", employing a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective
Russophone
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussi ...
populations. He names three "pillars" of discrimination: refusal of citizenship, language usage, and participation rights, and claims discrimination is constrained by the "economic dependence on Russophone labour".
Nils Muiznieks, a
Latvian politician, former minister for Social Integration, claimed, "Hughes provides simple conclusions about the complex realities of minority policies and inter-ethnic relations in Estonia and Latvia".
Both the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(OSCE) mission in Estonia and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities declared in 1993 that they could not find a pattern of human rights violations or abuses in Estonia.
According to Human Right Report of
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, Estonia generally respects the human rights of citizens and the large ethnic Russian noncitizen community. However, there were problems with police use of force, conditions in
detention and lengthy of
pre-trial detention
Remand, also known as pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held i ...
. Also there were problems in
domestic violence, inequality of
women's salaries,
child abuse, and
trafficking
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
of women and children.
According to Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as at 2011, the evaluations given by UN Committee on economic, social and cultural rights show acute human rights issues, in particular in the field of rights of national minorities, to remain unresolved in Estonia.
[О рекомендациях Комитета ООН по экономическим, социальным и культурным правам в связи с рассмотрением правозащитной ситуации в Эстонии](_blank)
МИД России, 08.12.2011
Issues
Surveys related to human rights
Surveys conducted between 1993 and 1997 found ethnic Russians living in the Baltic states generally did not see themselves as particularly threatened or suffering from "apartheid" or racism as the Russian government often contended; a British survey in 1993 showed that "solid majorities of ethnic Russians did not consider their situations as "dangerous, difficult or especially burdensome" and found 69% of Russian speakers disagreed with the view that non-citizens and minorities were badly treated, while a Russian survey in 1995 found only 8% of Russian speakers felt their human rights were being violated.
According to a 2008 survey of 500 ethnic Russians conducted by the
EU Fundamental Rights Agency
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, usually known in English as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), is a Vienna-based agency of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2 ...
, 59% of those questioned characterized ethnic discrimination as very or fairly widespread in the country. 27% claimed they had experienced discrimination based on their ethnic origin in the past 5 years, including 17% during the past 12 months (compared to 4–5% in Lithuania and Latvia.) Discrimination at workplace was characterized as widespread, with 72% of poll participants saying that a different ethnic background would be hindering to advancement. 39% said they had experienced discrimination during the past 5 years when looking for work, including 16% during the past 12 months—the highest rate in all the countries surveyed. 10% confirmed that they avoid certain places, such as shops or cafés because they believed they would receive bad treatment due to their ethnic background.
However another survey result in 2008 found only 3% of ethnic Russians said they had regularly experienced hostility or unfair treatment because of their ethnicity, and 9% occasionally; 1% stated they had been regularly offended on the basis of their ethnicity while 7% occasionally. This survey found that while most of the respondents had not actually experienced any discrimination personally, they nevertheless held the belief that the level of discrimination was high.
The
European Centre for Minority Issues
The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) is a research institute based in Flensburg, Germany, that conducts research into minority-majority relations in Europe. ECMI is a non-partisan and interdisciplinary institution. It is a non-profit, in ...
has examined Estonia's treatment of its Russophone minority. In its conclusion, the centre stated that all international organisations agree that no forms of systematic discrimination towards the Russian-speaking population can be observed and praises the efforts made thus far in amendments to laws on education, language and the status of non-citizens, there nevertheless remains the issue of the large number of such non-citizens. As of September 2, 2009, 102,466, or 7.5% of Estonia's population remain non-citizens, dropping from 32% in 1992 and 12% in 2003.
[
] In November 2005 a survey was conducted among residents with undetermined citizenship. The results show that 61% of those residents wanted Estonian citizenship, 13% Russian citizenship and 6% citizenship of another country. 17% of the respondents were not interested in acquiring any citizenship at all. It was found that the older the respondent, the more likely he or she doesn't want to have any citizenship. The survey also showed that respondents who were born in Estonia were more likely to wish to get Estonian citizenship (73%), than those not born in Estonia (less than 50%).
Recent studies have shown that one of the significant factors of statelessness is the advantage of retaining an ambiguous legal status to everyday life; on one hand it is easier for immigrants without Estonian citizenship to travel back to Russia while on the other hand lack of citizenship poses no problems for living in Estonia; a survey in 2008 found that 72% of ethnic Russian respondents cite the ease of travel to Russia as one of the reasons people do not seek Estonian citizenship and 75% state that the fact of lack of citizenship does not hinder their lives is another reason
Several human rights related researches are conducted every year by Estonian local human rights organizations, for example th
Estonian Institute of Human Rights
Employment
72% of 500 questioned ethnic Russians believed that different ethnic background is hindering to workplace advancement.
Russian government officials and parliamentarians echo these charges in a variety of forums. Such claims have become more frequent during times of political disagreements between Russia and these countries and waned when the disagreements have been resolved.
["Law Assembly": ]
According to the 2008 survey by TIES, a project coordinated by the University of Amsterdam, 38.9% of Russian and 25.2% of Estonian respondents think that "Russians experience hostility or unfair treatment because of their ethnicity" at work "occasionally", "regularly", or "frequently". 51.4% of Russian and 50.4% of Estonian respondents also think that Russians experience ethnic discrimination looking for work. Same report says 40% of Estonians and 44% of Russians think it is "more difficult" or "much more difficult" for Russians to find a job, compared to Estonians. 10% of Estonians and 15% of Russians, on the other side, believe it is "easier", or "much easier" for Russians to find a job.
A 2005 study by
European Network Against Racism
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is an EU-wide network of anti-racist NGOs. ENAR aims to end structural racism and discrimination and advocates for equality and solidarity for all in Europe. It connects local and national anti-racist ...
found that 17.1% of ethnic non-Estonians claimed that they had experienced limitations to their rights or degrading treatment in the workplace during the last 3 years because of their ethnic origin.
Amnesty had noted in a 2006 report that members of the
Russian-speaking minority in Estonia enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system.
The discriminating policies of Estonia have led to "disproportionately high levels of unemployment among the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. This in turn has further contributed to social exclusion and vulnerability to other human rights abuses. In consequence, many from this group are effectively impeded from the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights)."
Charles Kroncke and Kenneth Smith in a 1999 article published in the journal ''Economics of Transition'' argue that while there was no ethnicity based discrimination in 1989, the situation in 1994 was completely different. According to the article, there is substantial evidence of discrimination against ethnic Russians in the 1994 Estonian labour market. The evidence examined in the article also suggested that Estonian language ability does not significantly affect wages. Kroncke and Smith also point out the surprising fact, that Estonian-born ethnic Russians appear to fare worse than immigrant ethnic Russians.
A later study by Kristian Leping and Ott Toomet published in 2008 in the ''Journal of Comparative Economics'' reports that a lack of fluency in the Estonian language and segregated social networks and school system, rather than ethnicity, as the prime reason for the apparent wage gap between Estonian and non-Estonian speakers.
Education
Since restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia has been funding Russian-language elementary, comprehensive and high schools alongside Estonian-language schools, with future reform planned since the late 1990s but repeatedly delayed. The reform plan was commenced in 2007.
According to schedule, 60% of all subjects of grades 10, 11 and 12 are to be taught in
Estonian by 2011 in all state-funded schools. All state-funded schools already teach
Estonian literature
Estonian literature ( et, eesti kirjandus) is literature written in the Estonian language (c. 1,100,000 speakers) The domination of Estonia after the Northern Crusades, from the 13th century to 1918 by Germany, Sweden, and Russia resulted in few ...
in Estonian since the 2007/2008 academic year. The government has been reserved authority to grant waivers and extensions to some state-funded schools on a case-by-case basis.
In the 2007/2008 academic year, 49 Russian schools (79%) were teaching Music in Estonian, 30 Russian schools (48%) were teaching Social Studies in Estonian and 17 Russian schools (27%) taught both transition subjects in Estonian.
Amnesty International has recommended that the authorities provide more support for teachers and adequate resources for students who will be required to replace Russian with Estonian as their language of teaching and instruction; replacing Russian with Estonian as their learning language to successfully manage this transition.
According to the 2008 survey by TIES, 50% of ethnic Russian respondents think that the statement, "As a result of
007 schoolreform the quality of education for Russian youth will worsen" is "exactly true" or "moderately true". Report also notes that "a significantly larger share of Estonians complete higher education, while Russians more often only finish secondary education. At the same time, there were no significant differences between Estonians and Russians school success in terms of drop-out rates from basic and secondary school."
Ethnicity and crime
UN Committee Against Torture in its 2008 report on Estonia notes that "approximately 33 per cent of the prison population is composed of
stateless person
Stateless may refer to:
Society
* Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state
* Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism
* Stateless nation, a group of people without ...
s, while they represent approximately 8 per cent of the overall population". The Committee calls this representation "disproportionate", and urges Estonia to take additional steps to protect rights of non-citizens and stateless residents. In 2008, about 78% of non-citizens were ethnic Russians; less than 3% ethnic Estonians. As of 2006, approximately 60% of the ethnic Russian population were non-citizens, 40 percent were stateless.
Treatment of Roma
The
Council of Europe stated in 2006 that "the
Roma community in Estonia is disproportionately affected by unemployment and discrimination in the field of education." The European Commission had previously conducted close monitoring of Estonia in 2000 and concluded that there was no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
[Agenda 2000. For a stronger and wider Union (Vol. I). The Challenge of Enlargement (Part. II), COM (97) 2000 final, p45]
Bronze Night incident
A number of organisations have commented on the events surrounding the
Bronze Night incident. There was a concern expressed about possible human right violations perpetrated by both demonstrators and police. During the April 2007 riots in Tallinn, some police allegedly used excessive force against demonstrators. Eight criminal cases opened against officers, where charges were dropped in six, and two were pending at year’s end.
The
International Federation of Human Rights
The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...
(FIDH)–a coalition of 155 human rights groups– urged the Estonian authorities to investigate all acts of human rights violations during the night. The organisation called upon the Estonian authorities to "put an end to any practice of discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority, which constitutes about 30% of the Estonian population, and to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination." FIDH and LHRC also condemned acts of vandalism perpetrated by demonstrators in Tallinn, as well as the blockade of the Estonian embassy in Moscow.
Trafficking in persons
According to the CIA World Factbook, "Estonia is a source, transit, and destination country for women subjected to forced prostitution, and for men and women subjected to conditions of forced labor". Estonia also "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, being the only country of the EU without a specific trafficking law.
Exploitation of children
Independent Special Rapporteur
Najat Maalla M'jid
Najat Maalla M'jid is a Moroccan pediatrician who serves as the United Nationsbr>Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children She was appointed to the role by Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterre ...
of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
has said that Estonia has taken clear steps to protect children from exploitation, although the human rights expert has commented that "young people remain at risk and continued vigilance from authorities is needed."
Sexual orientation
Homosexual sex, which was illegal in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, was legalised in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
in 1992. The
age of consent is 16 years and was equalized for both homosexual and heterosexual sex in 2001. Homosexuals are not banned from military service and there are no laws discriminating homosexuals.
Estonia transposed an EU directive into its own laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment from May 1, 2004. A survey carried out in September 2002 found that there was a high level of discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Estonia.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
has been legal in Estonia since 1 January 2024.
External views
Journalists
According to veteran German author, journalist and Russia-correspondent
Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, there is deep disapproval of everything Russian in Estonia. She contends that the alleged level of discrimination regarding ethnic Russians in Estonia would have posed a barrier to acceptance into the EU; however, Western media gave the matter very little attention.
However the European Commission conducted close monitoring of these countries compliance with the
Acquis communautaire
The Community acquis or ''acquis communautaire'' (; ), sometimes called the EU acquis and often shortened to acquis, is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law that came into b ...
in regard to minority rights prior to accession to the EU, the Commission claimed that there is no evidence that these minorities are subject to discrimination.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper
NRC Handelsblad,
Hans Glaubitz, a former ambassador of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to Estonia, mentioned that he resigned due to the
homophobia and
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
once they could not "cope with gay hatred and racism on the Estonian streets."
"Gay Dutch Ambassador Leaves Estonia".
6 July 2007. ''NIS News Bulletin''. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
International rankings
*Democracy Index
The ''Democracy Index'' is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper ''The Economist''. Akin to a Human Development I ...
, 2008: 37 out of 167
*Worldwide Press Freedom Index
The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002 based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to re ...
, 2023: 8 out of 173.
* Internet freedom score: 13 (2009),["Estonia"](_blank)
''Freedom on the Net 2009'', Freedom House, 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2014. 10 (2011),["Estonia"](_blank)
''Freedom on the Net 2011'', Freedom House, 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2014.10 (2012),["Estonia"](_blank)
''Freedom on the Net 2012'', Freedom House, 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2014. 9 (2013),["Estonia"](_blank)
, ''Freedom on the Net 2013'', Freedom House, 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014. and 94 (2023)
* Worldwide Privacy Index, 2007: 13 out of 37.
*Worldwide Quality-of-life Index, 2005: 68 out of 111.
*Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...
, 2010: 34 out of 169.
*Freedom in the World
''Freedom in the World'' is a yearly survey and report by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant related and disputed territori ...
, 2008: Political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
score: 1 and Civil liberties score: 1 (1 being most free, 7 least free).
*Global Corruption Report The Global Corruption Report is one of Transparency International's flagship publications, bringing together experts from all over the world to discuss and analyze corruption in a specific sector. Reports have focused on corruption in climate change ...
, 2007: 24 out of 163.
See also
* Estonian nationality law
Estonian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person is a citizen of Estonia. The primary law currently governing these requirements is the Citizenship Act, which came into force on 1 April 1995.
Estonia is a member state of the ...
* History of Russians in Estonia
In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians is estimated at 315,000, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast of Lak ...
* Internet censorship and surveillance in Estonia
References
Further reading
* European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is the Council of Europe’s independent human rights monitoring body specialised in combating antisemitism, discrimination, racism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia. It publishes perio ...
ECRI Report on Estonia. Fourth monitoring cycle.
2010-03-02.
*
External links
*Intergovernmental organizations
Human rights in Estonia on OHCHR portal
Documents on Estonia
by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent and impartial non-judicial institution established in 1999 by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the council's 46 member states. The ...
Documents on Estonia
by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
*International NGOs
**Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
br>documents on Estonia
** Amnesty International
*** Estonia /
Human rights in Europe. Review of 2019
p. 26
*** AI country-specific reports
Estonia: The right to freedom of peaceful assembly must be protected
(2006)
Linguistic minorities in Estonia: Discrimination must end
(2007)
*Governmental organizations
Chancellor of Justice
*Local NGOs
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
Estonian Institute of Human Rights
Estonian Human Rights Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human rights in Estonia