News

On 26 January in Geneva the delegation of the Republic of Lithuania, led by the Vice-Minister of Justice Ms. Jurga Greičienė, presented the third report on the human rights situation in Lithuania and the country's progress during the Universal Periodic Review conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The international community was informed on the progress made by Lithuania in the areas of protection of rights of the child, integration of persons with disabilities, improvements made in the field of mental health, combating domestic and violence against women, human trafficking, as well as on the challenges that Lithuania faces due to the wave of irregular migration artificially created by Belarus.

The accreditation of the Office of the Seimas Ombudsperson by the National Human Rights Institution in accordance with the Paris Principles was positively assessed. States commended the changes in the Lithuanian legal system related to the criminalization of torture and the prohibition of corporal punishment of children.

During the interactive dialogue, Lithuania received questions and recommendations from 82 countries on ensuring gender equality and non-discrimination, reduce gender pay gap, protection of LGBT rights, adoption of Partnership Law and Law on National Minorities,  prevention of hate crime and efficiency of criminal prosecution, combating domestic violence and ratification of the Istanbul Convention, ensuring children rights, and rights of persons with disabilities, Roma rights, also improving conditions in prisons.

The Lithuanian delegation consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Social Security and Labor, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, the Department of National Minorities, the Police Department, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva.

The Universal Periodic Review is a human rights mechanism that has been in place since 2008. It is considered to be one of the most successful forms of action of the United Nations Human Rights Council, ensuring equal treatment of all states. It aims to assess the overall human rights situation in each United Nations Member State, making recommendations on ensuring human rights and raising questions about continuing human rights violations. The Universal Periodic Review is conducted every five years and shall be open to all Members of the United Nations. The human rights situation in Lithuania was discussed twice at the United Nations Universal Periodic Review sessions in the past - in October 2011 and in November 2016.