UPR 24th Session, Geneva, January 26, 2016
as delivered by Barry Greenberg
The United States warmly welcomes the entire Latvian delegation to the UPR Working Group. We congratulate Latvia on the submission of its National Report and its demonstrated commitment to the UPR process.
The United States commends Latvia for continuing to promote a tolerant and integrated society. We applaud the efforts the Latvian government has made toward restituting Jewish communal properties, and encourage further progress on achieving a comprehensive solution to meet the commitments made in the Terezin Declaration.
Further progress should be made to integrate and naturalize eligible members of Latvia’s non-citizen population. Latvia should also continue to address intolerance against immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and members of ethnic and religious minorities. We urge Latvia to take steps to address violence and discrimination against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons. We also urge continued efforts to fight corruption and reform the judiciary.
Bearing in mind these concerns, we recommend that Latvia:
1. Implement reforms to reduce processing times for judicial cases and reduce perceptions of unfairness in the judicial system.
2. Strengthen efforts to encourage the naturalization of eligible non-citizens.
3. Consider legislative and administrative measures to combat violence on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
(end statement)