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Milda Vainiute
5 December 2018
The Seimas Ombudsman has called the Parliament to avoid any initiatives limiting the independence of the national broadcaster. The Seimas Ombudsman Augustinas Normantas has urged the Parliament to avoid the initiatives that would have a political and/or economic influence on the public broadcaster, thus violating the provisions of Article 10 of the ECtHR. Without assessing the specific proposals of the Seimas temporary investigation commission, formulated in Project No. XIIIP-2656, the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office as a national human rights institution advocates the protection of the independence of the national broadcaster.
„The right to information is a fundamental value of democracy that needs to be safeguarded. Various news in the media have a direct and indirect impact on the democratic processes of the society”, the statement reads.
The Seimas Ombudsman pointed out that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has emphasized that the Constitution guarantees and protects the public interest to be informed, that the constitutional freedom to unhindered search, receipt and dissemination of information and ideas is one of the foundations of an open, fair, sustainable civil society, a democratic state, it is an important pre-condition for the realization of various individual rights and freedoms established by the Constitution.
12 November 2018
The Seimas Ombudsman Augustinas Normantas and the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova conducted a joint humanitarian monitoring mission to Donetsk and Luhansk regions on 8-9 November 2018 with an aim to observe and assess human rights situation therein.
The ombudspeople reported a lack of appropriate infrastructure at the ‘Mayorsk’ checkpoint on the contact line where around 10,000 people cross it daily. “Sometimes, they have to wait in a queue for hours,” – pointed out the ombudspeople.
It should be noted that ‘Mayorsk’ checkpoint is one of the busiest in Donbas. Russia-backed militants are regularly shelling it. In August, the checkpoint was shut down several times because of the attacks.
The delegation met the Commander of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Serhiy Nayev who informed the international delegation about the powers of servicepersons in the JFO area, as well as about the work of checkpoints. According to him, due to a rise in the number of people crossing checkpoints, the decision was approved to increase the number of personnel at all checkpoints. Besides, at two checkpoints, namely in ‘Mariynka’ and ‘Stanytsa Luhanska’, the reconstruction of infrastructure has been carried out. The ombudspeople noted the importance of the decision on extending the working time of checkpoints when there is a large number of people.
12 October 2018
The new Seimas Ombudsperson Milda Vainiutė, who swore an oath at the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania on 26 September, started her duties at the office on Friday, 28 September. The oath of the newly appointed Seimas Ombudsperson was sworn to the Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis. Afterwards, the Seimas Ombudsperson signed the text of the oath, which will be kept at the Chancery of the Seimas.
The Seimas Ombudsperson promised to perform her duties in good faith: "I will strive to carry out my duties honestly and thoroughly", declared Milda Vainiutė at the Seimas. According to her, by cooperating with other institutions much can be achieved in this area.
The Head of the Seimas Ombudsmen's Office, Augustinas Normantas, welcoming the appointed Seimas Ombudsperson wished her success and strength: "Your experience and expertise will allow the work that has been started in the field of human rights to be successfully continued."