General information Estonian Institute for Human Rights (EIHR) EIHR, initiated by Estonian President Lennart Meri – was founded on the 10th of December, Human Rights Day, 1992. The purpose of EIHR shall be: 1. monitoring the situation in the field of individual and collective human rights in Estonia and in the world 2. collecting and disseminating domestic and international information on human rights 3. providing information and expertise on human rights, their protection and implementation 4. compiling and publishing manuals on human rights 5. acting toward the compliance of domestic and foreign policy of Estonia with international norms 6. providing legal aid in the field of human rights 7. financing activities for the purposes of EIHR as stated in the Bylaws. For the purposes stated herein, EIHR shall compile and publish, at its own initiative and on request, reports and surveys of problems in the field of human rights in Estonia and elsewhere. As an organization holding contacts with international and national organizations that develop and protect human rights, the EIHR shall seek international expertise concerning the human rights situation in Estonia. It shall also engage international experts into propagating human rights, and to inform the world about the problems, situations and achievements in protecting human rights in Estonia. About EIHR projects. The most well known project is Legal Aid Service established in 1994 and supported by Open Estonia Foundation (Soros Foundation in Estonia) until 2000. Also EIHR created its information office in Estonia (Tõnismägi 2, Tallinn, tel/fax: 6 307 477) in co-operation with the county and city governments, Open Estonia Foundation and Phare Democracy Programme, Netherlands Embassy in Helsinki, International Commission of Jurists, Estonian Mobile Company, Estonian Telephone Company. The office will render free of charge legal aid, distribute information on human rights and deal with problems in these areas. Daily service in both Estonian and Russian languages. The EIHR, addresses the framework of promoting and protecting human rights in Estonia through documentation and publishing reports, teaching materials, compilations of lectures, translations and publications of Human Rights documents and international instruments. The EIHR also promotes educational programmes for young lawyers and law students through grants received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands, Swedish International Development Agency, UNDP, UNCHR, International Helsinki Federation and International Commission of Jurists. The EIHR also organized by our own initiative and together with partners international meetings, conferences and seminars on the Human Rights issues. In 1997 EIHR organized together with partners and supporters an exhibition and seminar on death penalty – Death Penalty – a Penalty for Society. The exhibition and the seminar were aimed at possibly giving more knowledge on the practice of capital punishment in different countries and on the possibility and the strategy of its abolition. The Estonian Parliament abolished the death penalty in Estonia on March 18, 1998. In May 1998 the EIHR organized together with partners and with the financial support of Phare Programme the seminar Integration through Reconciliation – Integration of Non-Indigenous Population and Regional Development. For Estonia, the seminar came at a particularly important moment, as the country began its accession negotiations with the European Union. The aim of the seminar was to develop constructive dialog about minority integration in Estonia as well as to exchange information from a regional perspective. Within the EIHR we organized sub-commissions which are dealing with minorities, prisoners and with other human rights issues. Within the Phare Democracy Program the project “Compliance with International Standards of the Rights of the Child in the Baltic States”(1998-2000), in all three Baltic States simultaneously, the national legislation in the area of children’s rights protection, the real situation and planned activities for improving the children’s status were assessed. Having joined the UN, Council of Europe and other international organizations Estonia has become subject to the international human rights commitments and has taken the obligation to guarantee the internationally accepted human rights and inter-state legislation and practices. EIHR provides daily information to individuals, organizations, state bodies and to other interested groups on these commitment. EIHR Board members are Merle Haruoja, Ene-Eha Urbala, Aleksander Dusman, Valeri Kalabugin, Matti Päts.