International Helsinki Federation calls Estonian government to investigate police actions

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The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights sent an address to the Estonian government calling for an objective investigation of cruel treatment by police in oppressing riots in the country and guarantee that international standards would be observed in future.

“According to mass media reports and under information received by IHF, in some cases police resorted to disproportionate use of force against participants of disorders. Some of the protesters were reportedly bludgeoned, beaten and subjected to cruel treatment after being detained at a makeshift place organized at Tallinn port. Some cases of evident cruelty of police were shot by cameras or recorded by mobile phones,” the statement says.

According to the statement, police “can resort to force only in cases when other means prove to be ineffective or give no hopes for achieving the expected result. Cruel, inhuman or humiliating treatment is generally prohibited by international law.”

As the human rights activists say, the riots in Tallinn and other Estonian cities became witnesses of the current problems concerning integration of the Russian-language minority, which is about one third of the 1.4 mln people population. “Despite many vital legislative reforms since the first years of independence, the minority has not been recognized yet as a linguistic minority and is still subjected to discrimination and social isolation in everyday life, which results in indignation of its members. Many Russian-language people do not have the Estonian citizenship yet, education in Russian is curtailed , strict language requirements put limits to access to the labor market for Russian speaking people,” states the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.