KGB Act threatens Lithuania's international reputation

  • 2007-01-31
  • By Arturas Racas

FACING THE FACTS: Sabatauskas has openly admitted that Lithuania will most likely receive sanctions from the Council of Europe.

VILNIUS - Lithuania has still not decided on what to do with its former Soviet special service collaborators, despite threats from the European Court of Human Rights to impose sanctions. In two rulings (2004 and 2005), the court judged that a number of provisions under Lithuania's so-called KGB Act violate human rights.

The act, formally called the Law on the Evaluation of the U.S.S.R. State Security Committee and the Present Activities of Former Organization Employees, stipulates that former KGB collaborators may not work as public officials or civil servants for 10 years.
"I think that Lithuania will attain some sanctions from the Council of Europe, as it does not fulfill the decisions by the European Court of Human Rights," Julius Sabatauskas, chairman of Parliament's legal affairs committee said at a briefing on Jan 29. "Lithuania promised to make the necessary decisions but it failed to do so."

In 2004 and 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that employment restrictions placed on former KGB collaborators - not only in the public sector but also in private companies - violate Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
The court pointed out that the KGB Act came into force in 1999, almost a decade after Lithuania declared its independence on March 11, 1990. Therefore, restrictions on the applicants' professional activities were imposed 10 years or more after their departure from the KGB.

"The KGB Act's belated timing, although not in itself decisive, may nonetheless be considered relevant to the overall assessment of the proportionality of the measures taken," the court said in its ruling.
It also ordered Lithuania to pay compensation to all four former KGB collaborators who appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in 2000-2001 on the basis of discrimination. Two were banned from employment in public institutions and two from employment in private companies.

"If the law had been changed a few months after the court's decision, such an action would have been normal. But the first decision was in 2004 and we're already in 2007, so the delay is difficult to justify," Sabatauskas told The Baltic Times.
"The council of ministers has already discussed this problem, and is going to consider it again in February. I think that a resolution urging Lithuania to respect the international treaties that it signed and to fulfill its obligations under these treaties will be adopted," he added.

At the end of last year, Parliament debated amendments to the law on former KGB employees, taking out restrictions on employment in the private sector.
Yet in the end, these amendments were not passed as lawmakers could not agree on amendments stating that employment restrictions should also be applied to former KGB reserve officers. This issue, in particular, is extremely sensitive as two top ranking Lithuanian officials 's State Secu-rity Department Director Arvydas Pocius and former Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis 's belong to the list.

"Since the municipal elections are approaching, this is quite a sensitive topic for some political parties," Sabatauskas said, adding that a decision needed to be made soon.
"The reputation of [our] country is at stake. If we do not fulfill our international obligations, someone may raise question to the state of democracy in Lithuania," Sabatauskas said.
According to the committee chairman, Parliament should hold a special meeting in January to discuss amending the law on former KGB employees.

"The issue should be discussed within the framework of another law providing for restrictions on former KGB agents and collaborators," Sabatauskas said, admitting that he was not yet confident whether a compromise could be found.