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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 12:22 pm
latvia
Time: 12:22 pm
latvia
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41 total results foundAuthor: Rekins, Martins Title: Illegal Logging in Latvia and Export of Forest Products to the UK Summary: For several years illegal logging and forest crime have been priority issues for WWF globally as well as Pasaules Dabas Fonds (formerly WWF Latvia) forest programme. The previous studies conducted by WWF and its partners about the forest sector in Latvia have concluded that illegal logging and forest crime are major factors undermining the economic development of the industry, creating social problems and adverse environmental consequences. Export of forest products brought in about one third of Latvia’s export revenues in 2004, exceeding 1 billion EUR. The United Kingdom was the biggest trade partner (300 million EUR in 2004) and Latvia was the second largest supplier of timber products to the UK after Sweden. The main export product is sawn timber, constituting more than 90 % of all exported volume. The study has three main goals: to provide an overview on development trends of illegal logging and forest crime in Latvia; to gather information about the leading Latvia’s exporters of forest products to the United Kingdom and evaluate purchasing policy and corporate social responsibility of these companies; and to provide recommendations for responsible governmental organisations, industry and other stakeholders for further activities to eliminate illegal logging and forest crime in Latvia. Details: Riga, Latvia: Pasaules Dabas Fonds, 2006. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2010 at: http://www.pdf.lv/doc_upl/IllegalLogin.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Latvia Keywords: Illegal Logging Shelf Number: 120031 |
Author: European Commission`s Daphne III Programme 2007 - 2013 Title: Research of the Current Situation in Latvia, Concerning Sexual Abuse of Children at Residential Institutions Summary: Child abuse is still a pending matter in Latvia, as well as still many children in comparison live at residential institutions. Therefore it was decided to do a research that would help to analyze the current situation in Latvia. This research has two goals: 1) To gather and analyze available information, statistical data, legal framework of the Republic of Latvia and good practices concerning child sexual abuse. 2) To gather and analyze available information and statistical data regarding children who live in residential institutions. Gathering and analyzing available information, legal framework and statistical data is the method used in this research. This research is based on child abuse definition introduced by World Health Organization (WHO): Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power (WHO, 1999). World Health Organization also introduces the definition of child sexual abuse, which will also be used in this research. This definition prescribes, that child sexual abuse is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent, or that violate the laws or social taboos of society. Child sexual abuse is evidenced by an activity between a child and an adult or another child who by age or development is (WHO, 1999) in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person. This may include but is not limited to: • The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity. • The exploitative use of a child in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices. • The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials (WHO, 1999) Children who are left without care in Latvia receive extra-familial care, which is ensured with a guardian, foster family, childcare institution for orphans and children who have been left without parental care. In turn, child care institution is defined as an institution in which social care and social rehabilitation for orphans and children left without parental care, as well as children for whom social rehabilitation is necessary or special care due to their state of health, is ensured. (Protection of the Rights of the Child Law, 1998). Details: Riga, Latvia: Dardedze, 2009. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 2, 2011 at: http://www.centrsdardedze.lv/eng/daphne_programme_of_european_commission/daphne_programme_of_european_commission/ Year: 2009 Country: Latvia Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 123212 |
Author: Kamenska, Anhelita Title: Combating Hate Crimes in Latvia: Legislation and Police Practice Summary: analyses the situation concerning hate crimes in Latvia, including legislation and police practises, in order to identify the gaps and to improve legislative and law enforcement responses to hate crimes. It provides an overview concerning the development of legislation criminalising hate crimes on racist and religious grounds from the Soviet period until present times, police structure in Latvia, statistics on hate crimes, police practises and challenges in investigating racist crimes as well as the increasing role of civil society in combating hate crimes. In the understanding of hate crimes, the paper has followed the ODIHR working definition of hate crime: A) Any criminal offence, including offences against persons or property, where the victim, premises, or target of the offence are selected because of their real or perceived connection, attachment, affiliation, support, or membership with a group as defined in Part B. B) A group may be based upon a characteristic common to its members, such as real or perceived race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or other similar factor. While the paper predominantly focuses on racist crimes, developments in Latvia in recent years strongly argue in favour of criminal legislation that would widen protection against hate motivated crimes towards sexual minorities, providing also for religious and homophobic motives as aggravating circumstances. The paper is one of the outputs of a two-year EU funded project, which has aimed to improve police capacity in identifying and investigating hate crimes, and to strengthen police and NGO co-operation and which has, inter alia, included mutual exchange study visits for Latvian and Czech Police and NGO representatives. The project also includes the publication of a research paper highlighting the experiences of victims of hate crimes in Latvia, national seminars and international conferences in both Latvia and the Czech Republic. All activities represent the search for new and effective ways of addressing hate crimes that would lead to improved policing, address the needs of the victims of hate crimes and foster meaningful co-operation between the police, NGOs and minority groups. Details: Riga, Latvia: Latvian Centre for Human Rights, 2008. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 24, 2012 at http://www.humanrights.org.lv/upload_file/Naida_noziegums_ENG_Internetam.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Latvia Keywords: Hate Crimes (Latvia) Shelf Number: 124729 |
Author: Dzelme, Inta Title: Psychological Effects of Hate Crime – Individual Experience and Impact on Community Summary: This report highlights outcomes of a qualitative study of the psychological effects on victims of hate crime in Latvia. It is a response to the question of why the immediate awareness and knowledge of the experience of hate crime victims is an important issue for the whole community. The study provides an overview of the research question, surveys the relevant literature, provides observations on the methodology applied, presents concrete field materials and data, and offers a discussion and summary of outcomes and implications. The analysis evolved from six in-depth interviews with hate crime victims and from an open focus group meeting of seven participants. The research participants were representatives of the so-called visible minorities, of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons), and of the Roma in Latvia. During the individual interviews and the group meeting, the experiences of victimisation were described both from the time of the incident and as perceived effects later. The description of experiences included thoughts, feelings, body sensations, the impact on themselves and others, and on their way of being in the world. Disclosure of the experiences was allowed to emerge spontaneously, unhampered by any prior expectations of this researcher. The collected data was analysed in accordance with qualitative research methods and standards. Nine core themes were identified as inherent in the experience: (1) trying to comprehend the victimisation: attempting not to take it personally; (2) seeing hate incidents as a burden on daily life; (3) far reaching impact of physical attacks; (4) passivity and lack of help from the people around; (5) physical symptoms and stress; (6) multiple layers of psychological impact; (7) personal consequences of victimisation; (8) impact on significant others, families, and children; and (9) consequences to the community; resentment of injury. This study reflects the psycho-emotional effects of experiencing hate crime victimisation in Latvia. Individual consequences include various physical and psychological constraints, including but not limited to changes in appearance and behaviours; attempts to construct personal safety measures; damage to self confidence; strain on personal relationships; restricted social activities; and withdrawal. The social consequences (i.e. resentment, constriction, emigration) of these experiences are analysed along with suggestions for future integration strategies. The determination to take part in activities for bettering the prevailing status of their social group and apparent burnout in some cases is discussed. Possible limitations of this investigation are also addressed. Details: Riga, Latvia: Latvian Centre for Human Rights, 2008. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2012 at: http://www.humanrights.org.lv/upload_file/Naida_noziegums_ENG_cietusajiem_Internetam.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Latvia Keywords: Bias-Motivated Crimes Shelf Number: 125025 |
Author: Latvian Centre for Human Rights Title: Monitoring Report on Closed Institutions in Latvia Summary: Latvia has over 100 places of detention: 9 mental hospitals, 31 social care home, 15 prisons, 28 State police short-term detention cells, detention rooms at border posts, an illegal migrant detention facility at Olaine, and other facilities holding persons deprived of liberty by state authority. During the project „Monitoring Human Rights and Prevention of Torture in Closed Institutions: Prisons, Police Cells and Mental Health Care Institutions in Baltic Countries” 102 monitoring visits were conducted, including 15 visits to mental hospitals, 23 visits to social care homes for mentally disabled, 21 visit to state and municipal police custody facilities, 22 visits to prisons, 21 visit to illegal migrant detention facilities (and reception centre for asylum seekers and refugees). Concerning mental health care in Latvia community based services are almost unavailable. Thus, in most cases users of psychiatric services are compelled to receive regular treatment at psychiatric hospitals or to move to a social care home for the rest of their lives. The main identified problems in psychiatric hospitals are the following: the legislation has not been harmonized with international human rights standards in the field of involuntary hospitalization as there is no appeal mechanism established for cases of involuntary hospitalization and treatment, and Latvia continues to violate the requirements of Article 5 of the European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Key problems concerning the rights of illegal migrants and asylum seekers are more related to the lack of provision of information on their rights, shortcomings in legislation as well as unclear possibilities in exercising one’s rights in practice as provided by the law rather than conditions of detention. Conditions in the visited police stations range from terrible to good. There is no in-cell sanitation in a considerable number of police custody facilities and detainees are obligated to use buckets for their need of nature, often in the presence of other detainees. In many police stations detainees are obligated to sleep on a wooden platform with other detainees. Regarding the prisoners, a serious absence of employment in several visited prisons is established (only 70 out of 651 prisoners in Jekabpils Prison and 55 out of 602 prisoners in Parlielupe Prison are employed). Although fundamental legislation affecting prisoners has been adopted in 2005 – 2006 (Criminal Procedure Law, Law on Holding in Pre-Trial Detention, etc.), many prisoners remain uninformed and cannot adequately exercise their rights provided by the above legislation. Details: Latvian Centre for Human Rights, 2006. 172p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2012 at http://www.humanrights.org.lv/upload_file/Final_monitoring_reportEN.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Latvia Keywords: Correctional Institutions (Latvia) Shelf Number: 125092 |
Author: Bystrom, Marie Title: Responsible Trade in the Shadow of Illegal Logging: Swedish Import of Latvian Timber and Wood Products Summary: Swedish imports of timber and wood products from Latvia have increased considerably over the last five years, reaching 4.2 million m≥ in 2001; this increasing trend in import is expected to continue. Latvian forests are high in ecological value, providing habitat to a number of threatened and endangered species. The forestry sector is also highly important to the Latvian national economy. Sweden’s position as a major importer of Latvian timber and wood products in conjunction with their reputation as actors taking responsible forest management seriously, warrants closer scrutiny of the origin and impact of the Swedish import from Latvia. Swedish timber and wood product import was first investigated by TRN and WWF Sweden in 2000, resulting in the report entitled, Towards Responsible Timber Trade? – A Survey of Actors and Origin of Timber from Russia and the Baltic States. As a follow-up investigation to this report and taking into account the problem of illegal logging in the Baltic States, Taiga Rescue Network, WWF Sweden and WWF Latvia have undertaken extensive research. The research, compiled in the following report, has sought to highlight the specifics of current Swedish imports through analysis of the level of knowledge of Swedish companies as to the origin and impact of their trade. Current mechanisms mean that a significant amount but not all of the Swedish import from Latvia can be traced back to its origin. However the impact on forests is less clear. Additional active steps need to be taken by Swedish companies to improve their knowledge of impact if they aim to achieve a level of responsible timber trade. A gap does remain in tracing the origin of timber procured due to the growing problem of illegal logging in Latvia. Such illegal activities have only recently been uncovered and documented across Latvia, the Baltic States at large and Russia. When considered together with guidelines for responsible trade and current mechanisms to trace timber origin, Swedish companies have a unique position and very important role to play in the campaign to eliminate illegal logging. Swedish companies have the capacity to fully develop programs establishing systems to trace timber, specify and enforce company environmental and purchasing policies to the ecological and socio-economic conditions of Latvia and obtain FSC chain-of-custody certification. Furthermore, it is our hope that this report will provide the basis for and encourage openness and dialogue among all stakeholders in Sweden and Latvia alike. Thus, developing transparent trade channels, eliminating illegal forestry activities and promoting the exchange of environmentally and socially sustainable forest management within the region. Details: Jokkmokk, Sweden: Taiga Rescue Network; Solna, Sweden: WWF Sweden; Riga, Latvia: WWF Latvia, 2002. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://www.taigarescue.org/_v3/files/pdf/3.pdf Year: 2002 Country: Latvia Keywords: Forest Management Shelf Number: 128216 |
Author: Kronberga, IIona Title: Child-friendly Justice in Latvia: Focusing on Crime Prevention Summary: Child delinquency prevention is an integral part of Juvenile Justice. Today, it can be considered as one of the most significant problems in creating and implementing legal rights in Latvia. Although juvenile delinquency prevention is set as an international priority in the field of protection of the rights of the child, the institutions in charge still invest inadmissibly little effort and resources in finding solutions for the particular problem. Due to the insufficient reaction, the risk increases that the child can face a situation where his or her rights get violated or where he or she violates the rights of another person by committing an offence. The child is unprotected in every nonstandard situation of his or her life - becoming a participant of legal relations in an administrative proceeding, criminal proceeding or civil proceeding when, for instance, solving problems of their mutual relations, defence of the interests of the child is the last the parents think about. It is important that in such situations the child has a reliable and knowing person by his or her side, a specialist who is interested in helping the child. The Protection of the Rights of the Child Law stipulates around twenty institutions for protection of the rights of the child, though the performance and mutual coordination often includes significant failures, non-professional efforts, even refusal to react to the cases of violation of the rights of the child. Specialists of protection of the rights of the child have to understand how important is an individual investment in child delinquency prevention - the need and importance of this investment, as well as its contribution to ensure safe community should be realised by every professional who could become the "reliable and knowing person" in a relevant situation for a particular child. The question of juvenile delinquency prevention, as well as conclusions and suggestions from the research "Child-friendly legal environment in Latvia: delinquency prevention" could be in particular useful for such specialists as teachers, psychologists, social case workers, lawyers, sworn advocates, prosecutors, judges, Orphan's courts and other representatives of relevant institutions in the field. Details: Riga, Latvia: PROVIDUS, Center for Public Policy, 2012. 146p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2014 at: http://www.providus.lv/upload_file/Projekti/Kriminalitesibas/Child-friendly%20Justice%20in%20Latvia.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Latvia Keywords: Delinquency Prevention Shelf Number: 133453 |
Author: Kamenska, Anhelita Title: Lifecycle of a Hate Crime. Country Report for Latvia Summary: Recent years have seen positive, but at the same time insufficient developments in combatting and preventing hate crimes in Latvia. Changes have predominantly taken place in the legislation, largely as a result of Latvia's international obligations. In Latvia, much attention is paid to the incitement of hatred issues, particularly on the Internet, which have also been impacted by different foreign and domestic political events, such as the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, migration, etc. while public information about hate crimes is rare. The 2014 Criminal Law amendments which envisage criminal liability for incitement to social hatred on grounds of gender, age, disability and other characteristics, should be generally viewed positively as they expand the protection of vulnerable groups against hate crimes and hate speech. Although the list of protected characteristics is open, nevertheless, the legislator by explicitly naming a characteristic or a specific group sends a signal that manifestations of hatred against the group are unacceptable in Latvia. Despite the surveys in Latvia and wider European Union, which indicate high levels of homophobia in Latvia, there was insufficient political commitment by the parliament to include sexual orientation among protected characteristics. While racist motive was made aggravating circumstance already in 2006, and "national, ethnic and religious motive" was added in 2014, allegedly to bring the Latvian legislation in line with Article 4 of Framework Decision 2008/913/JH on combatting certain forms and expression of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, this provision has never been applied in practice. Thus, the transposition can be considered as formal as some of the leading criminal law experts have not been able to provide sufficient clarification for its application. Training of police officers to identify and investigate hate crimes has increased. The signing of an agreement between the OSCE/ODIHR and the State Police in Latvia in December 2014, trainings organized in co-operation with the State Police College and NGOs, as well as the guidelines on hate crime identification and investigation issued by the State Police in August 2018, are welcome developments. However, the training of the representatives of law enforcement bodies and judicial bodies is irregular and not systematic. Official data about hate crimes and incitement to hatred cases are limited, the number of opened criminal proceedings during the year remain small. Unofficial statistics compiled by NGOs, such as the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and the Association of LGBT and their friends "Mozaīka" indicate a higher number of crimes motivated by race, xenophobia and homophobia than those that come to the attention of national authorities. There remains very serious concern about the unwillingness of hate crime victims to report hate crimes to the law enforcement authorities. Although the legislation provides for a significant range of victims' rights which have also been expanded through the adoption of the EU's Victims' Rights, support to victims in practice remains inadequate. Latvia has no special support programmes for hate crime victims and overall, the country falls behind in general victim support structures and programmes compared with most EU Member States. For the first time, in 2015 the Latvian government granted state funding for social rehabilitation services to adult victims of all crimes. The financial support by the government and selected municipalities to different civil society projects aimed at promoting tolerance and combatting hate crimes and hate speech has increased, nevertheless it remains small. This hinders NGOs from planning long-term and sustainable projects. In recent years there have also been several research projects about different aspects of hate crimes and hate speech. Both the research conducted by the Ombudsman's Office in 2016 and the research conducted by the Latvian Centre for Human Rights in 2017 within the framework of the current project (30 police officers, prosecutors, judges and defense counsels were interviewed) address a range of topical issues related to the identification, investigation, prosecution and trial of hate crime and incitement to hatred cases. These include a need for government strategy to tackle hate crimes and hate speech, need for regular training, including multi-disciplinary training of the law enforcement and judicial sector, measures that would encourage and increase hate crime reporting by the victims. They also analyse gaps in the implementation of criminal law provisions, issues related to the selection of external experts and criteria for external expert opinions (an issue that has been unresolved for over a decade) in incitement to hatred cases and call for information campaigns to promote tolerance. Many of the issues addressed by the research are not new, however, their resolution will not be successful without the commitment of relevant national authorities, sustained government support and adequate understanding that hate speech and hate crimes can strike at the very fundamentals of the Latvian society. Details: Riga, Latvia: Latvian Centre for Human Rights, 2017. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 7, 2018 at: http://cilvektiesibas.org.lv/media/attachments/01/03/2018/ENG_brosura_internetam.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Latvia Keywords: Bias-Motivated Crimes Shelf Number: 150087 |
Author: Council of Europe. Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) Title: Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures: Latvia. Fifth Round Mutual Evaluation Reform Summary: In a report published today on Latvia, MONEYVAL acknowledges that large financial flows passing through the country pose a significant money laundering threat. Latvia is a regional financial centre, with a majority of its commercial banks focusing on servicing foreign customers, mainly from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Hence one of Latvia's key money laundering (ML) risks remains the vulnerability of CIS countries to economic crime, especially corruption. Latvia's own level of corruption, vulnerability to international organised crime and significant shadow economy are also key factors of the overall ML risk faced by Latvia. The report concludes that the overall appreciation of ML and financing of terrorism (FT) risk in the financial sector is not commensurate with the factual exposure of financial institutions in general, and banks in particular, to the risk of being misused for ML and FT. The general understanding of risks among designated non-financial businesses and professions is limited to risks relevant for their particular businesses and professions; it does not amount to an appropriate perception and awareness of ML/FT risks. MONEYVAL underlines that certain authorities, such as the Office for the Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity (financial intelligence unit) and the Financial Capital Market Commission (FCMC), demonstrated a rather broad understanding of the risks within the anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) system. However, there is uneven and overall inadequate appreciation of the potentially ML related cross-border flows of funds passing through Latvia. The supervisors demonstrate widely varying views and knowledge about ML/FT risks. Despite the knowledgeable and persistent approach taken by the FCMC to the non-resident banking sector, change of risk-appetite in this sector remains slow. The report acknowledges that since the last evaluation, Latvia has taken steps to improve its AML/CFT legal framework. At the same time the report states that Latvia's legal basis for targeted financial sanctions in the area of FT and proliferation financing calls for urgent clarifications and improvements. It is unclear whether the competent authorities have taken sufficient steps and have the necessary means to mitigate targeted financial sanctions-evasion risks. The Enterprise Register will be populated by beneficial ownership information obtained from all legal entities. However, this functionality was not up and running as of the time of the visit. When fully implemented, information contained in the Enterprise Register will be publicly accessible. The report states that, until recently, the judicial system of Latvia did not appear to consider ML as a priority. ML was not investigated and prosecuted in line with its risk profile as a regional financial centre. While results from conviction-based confiscation are hampered by the modest number of ML-convictions, non-conviction based confiscation brought some encouraging first results, allowing Latvian authorities to confiscate considerable amounts in both domestic and international cases. International cooperation constitutes a critical component of the country's AML/CFT system. MONEYVAL praises Latvia for proactively cooperating with foreign counterparts, effectively providing and seeking not only mutual legal assistance, but also exchanging financial intelligence, and engaging in joint investigations and cooperation meetings with positive results. Latvia is to report back to MONEYVAL at the last Plenary meeting in 2019 about the implementation of its recommendations under enhanced follow-up procedures. The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism - MONEYVAL is a permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe entrusted with the task of assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the effectiveness of their implementation, as well as with the task of making recommendations to national authorities in respect of necessary improvements to their systems. The evaluation of Latvia's anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism system was based on the 2012 Financial Action Task Force Recommendations, and was prepared using the 2013 Methodology. The evaluation summarises the anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism measures in place in Latvia as at the date of the onsite visit (30 October to 10 November 2017). Details: Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2018. 224p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 27, 2018 at: https://rm.coe.int/moneyval-2018-8-5th-round-mer-latvia/16808ce61b Year: 2018 Country: Latvia Keywords: Banks Shelf Number: 151274 |
Author: Global Detention Project Title: Immigration Detention in Latvia: Giving "Accommodation" a Whole New Meaning Summary: Although Latvia does not experience significant migratory pressures, the number of immigration detainees and the average length of detention have steadily increased. In 2017, the country opened a second detention facility, misleadingly called an "accommodation centre." The law provides for the detention of non-citizens for up to 10 days without a court order, the detention of children over the age of 14, and the provision of "alternatives to detention" only for "humanitarian" reasons. Since 2013, four UN human rights treaty bodies have issued recommendations to the country concerning its immigration detention policies. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Global Detention Project, 2019. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2019 at: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/immigration-detention-latvia-giving-accommodation-whole-new-meaning Year: 2019 Country: Latvia Keywords: Accommodation Center Shelf Number: 156253 |