Human rights in Lithuania
Lithuania scores 91 out of 100 in 2019 report by Freedom House, which classifies the country as "free", with high rankings in civil liberties and political rights.
[1] However, there are concerns regarding children's welfare, domestic violence, discrimination against minorities including the Roma, Jews and LGBTI people, as well as poor treatment of prisoners.
The Constitution of Lithuania, adopted by referendum in 1992,[5] established the foundation of the social system and defined the rights, freedoms and duties of citizens.
[8] In Article 25 of the Constitution of Lithuania, people's rights of free conviction and expression are stated as "No one should be hindered from seeking, acquiring or disseminating information and ideas.
[13][12] On 11 January 2018, the day before the anniversary of the 1991 independence fight, in which 14 people died and hundreds were injured, the major part in parliament, which was led by the populist Greens and party of Farmer Union took actions to ban public from discoursing critical information in order to protect the country from being distrusted and distorted.
[15] In the case of potential suspension of Russian language broadcast of two TV channels, a press freedom coalition groups wrote a letter to the president of Lithuania to argue the ban is counterproductive and contradicts with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international free speech standards even though they understand the protest is in "the current tense situation".
[16] The group also added that a large public in Moscow is rational to news reports and arguments and the government should not take the risk to cut off the outside free flow of information for such audiences.
[8] The law on meetings of the Republic of Lithuania is set to guarantee the constitutional rights of the citizens about assemble and the procedure for protecting national security and public safety.
[24] In 2013, the mayor of Vilnius attempted to forcefully relocate the Pride march from the central avenue to a remote street outside the city center, but was unsuccessful due to the protection from two courts.
[29] Other state-recognized religious groups involve those who officially registered in the country for at least 25 years, have societal support from at least 15 adult citizens and have instructions that are in accord with laws and morality.
[28] In 2017, a TV show in Lithuania was closed because one of the judges, actress and former lawmaker gave a Nazi salute while contestants sang a song that was made popular by a Jewish singer.
[citation needed] Lithuanians are one of only a few remaining EU countries with no form of legal recognition for same-sex couples; this includes Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
[5] In 2013, a drafted law, aimed at limiting access to safe and legal abortions, was presented to the national Parliament for assessment.
[37] In the case of L. v. Lithuania (in 2007), L. is a transgender Lithuanian citizen who faces challenges in their daily life, due to the country failing to adopt a legal act outlining the conditions and procedures of gender reassignment.
[41] According to the survey results of 2014 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, in Lithuania 1 in 3 (31%) women aged above 15 have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, which is quite close to the EU's overall level (33%).
[47] The Amnesty International reported that Lithuanian authorities have arbitrarily detained thousands of refugees and migrants in prison-like centers, where they have been subjected to inhumane conditions, torture and other ill-treatment.
