Permanent Mission of India, Geneva

Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group
24th Session (18 - 29 January 2016)

2nd UPR of Latvia – Interactive Dialogue
Tuesday, 26 January 2016, 09:00 am - 12:30 pm

Statement by India

Mr. President,

India warmly welcomes the delegation of Latvia.

2.         We commend the fact that the Ombudsman’s Office of Latvia has been accredited with an ‘A’ status. In this regard, we urge Latvia to extend adequate human and financial resources to the Ombudsman’s Office.

3.         We take note with appreciation the progress that has been achieved in women’s involvement in decision making, especially in the economic field, which is demonstrated by the fact that nearly a third of all business enterprises are owned by women.  We commend Latvia for the progress made in amending the laws introducing protection against domestic violence and encourage it to actively pursue its plans to continue to improve the legal framework in this regard.  We urge Latvia also to continue to pay attention to the issue of high maternal mortality rates. 

4.         We welcome the recent improvements to the normative framework for combating the menace of human trafficking. We also encourage Latvia to enhance state funding for social rehabilitation of the victims of human trafficking.

5.         We welcome the improvement made by Latvia in the regulatory framework for combating hate crimes but note with concern that such crimes and discrimination against vulnerable groups including the Roma community continued to be reported.  We would, therefore, encourage Latvia to continue to address this issue actively.  We also encourage Latvia to review its Asylum Law in order to establish safeguards against arbitrary detention of asylum seekers.  We further recommend that Latvia facilitate the integration of refugees by combating stereotypes.

6.         We would encourage Latvia to work towards a more inclusive educational system especially with regard to the language of instruction in schools.

7.         We wish the delegation of Latvia all success in its future endeavours.

Thank you Mr. President.
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