The Research Directorate was unable to find any mention of a Lithuanian political party called the League for Lithuanian Liberation among sources consulted. However, reports on parties called the Lietuvos Laisves Lyga (LLL), or Lithuanian Freedom League (Lithuania 8 Oct. 2000b; ibid. 8 Oct. 2000a), and the Lietuvos Laisves Sajunga (LLS), or Lithuanian Freedom Union (ibid.; Europa 2002 2002, 2541; Political Parties of the World 2002, 305), were found in a number of sources.

Lithuanian Freedom League (LLL)

Based in Vilnius, the Freedom League was founded on 14 June 1978 and was registered on 11 November 1995 (Lithuania n.d.). With a reported membership of 400 (ibid.; Kaunas 1996a), the party is led by Antanas Terleckas (BNS 5 Dec. 2000) and vice-chaired by Jonas Gelazius (Lithuania n.d.).

The Research Directorate was unable to find reports indicating the Freedom League's mandate among sources consulted. However, it was considered "small but radical" (BSN 5 Dec. 2000; Kaunus 1996b) and one of a number of "scanty and uninfluential far-right parties" (BNS 7 Aug. 2000). The party failed to have a candidate elected in both the 1995 parliamentary election (Kaunas 1996a) and the 2000 elections (Lithuania 8 Oct. 2000c; ibid. 8 Oct. 2000d). On 20 October 2001, the LLL merged with "minor right-of-center parties" called the Homeland People's, Democratic and Independence to form the Lithuanian Rightist Union under Chairman Arunas Zebriunas (RFE/RL 22 Oct. 2001).

Lithuanian Freedom Union (LLS)

Formerly a faction of the LLL, the Lithuanian Freedom Union, led by Vytautas Sustauskas, split to form an independent party in 1992 (Kaunas 1996c). Based in Kaunas, it was established on 28 August 1994 and registered as a party on 13 September 1994 (Lithuania n.d.). Although a number of sources identify Vytautas Sustauskas as the leader of the LLL (BNS 10 Apr. 2002; CER 7 Feb. 2000; Stephen Roth Institute 2000), other sources report that he campaigned for the LLS in 2000 (Lithuania 8 Oct. 2000e) and identify him as its leader (BNS 31 Jan. 2001; Lithuania n.d.; Kaunas 1996a). In 2000, Sustauskas was elected to the Seimas (BNS 30 Oct. 2000); he was the only LLS member to be elected (Lithuania 8 Oct. 2000c) after the party failed to have a candidate elected a member in 1995 (Kaunas 1996a).

An undated document from the Lithuanian embassy in Warsaw reports that the LLS has approximately 1,000 members (Lithuanian n.d.); however, in the 2000 election, the party received 18,622 votes (Lithuania 8 Oct. 2000d) for 1.3 per cent of the vote (Political Parties of the World 2002, 305). Additional information indicates that A. Budnikas and E. Volungevicius were vice-chairmen of the party (Lithuania n.d.).

The Research Directorate was unable to find reports that outlined the Freedom Union's mandate among sources consulted. However, the LLS is referred to variously as a right-wing (Political Parties of the World 2002, 305), "clearly populist" (Kaunas 1996c), "ultra-nationalist", "radical rightist," "anti-Semitic" (Stephen Roth Institute 2000), "radical" (BNS 12 July 2001) and "radically populist" party (ibid. 31 January 2001). Reports attribute Sustauskas with xenophobic (ibid. 10 Apr. 2002) and anti-Semitic views (ibid. 12 July 2001; ibid. 26 Feb. 2001) and state that party leaders have been known to use swastikas (ibid. 10 Apr. 2002) and to associate with Lithuanian "National Socialists wearing Nazi-like" symbols (ibid. 31 Jan. 2001).

The Research Directorate found no reports referring to the ill-treatment by either the LLL or the LLS of the estimated 300,000 Russians (representing 8 per cent of the population) in Lithuania (Europa 2002 2002, 2534; UN 3 Feb. 1998) among sources consulted.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

BNS News Agency [Tallinn, in English]. 10 April 2002. "Lithuanian Speaker Condemns Anti-Jewish Statement by Extremist Party." (FBIS-SOV-2002-0410 10 Apr. 2002/WNC)

_____. 12 July 2001. "Lithuanian State Security Department Urges Criminal Charges Against Radical MP." (FBIS-SOV-2001-0712 12 July 2001/WNC)

_____. 26 February 2001. "Lithuanian Parliamentary Commission Codemns MP for Anti-Semitic Interview." (FBIS-SOV-2001-0227 26 Feb. 2001/WNC)

_____. 31 January 2001. "Lithuania: Radical Left Protest in Vilnius." (FBIS-SOV-2001-0131 31 Jan. 2001/WNC)

_____. 5 December 2000. "Lithuania's Radical Right-Wing Voices Support to Maverick Presidential Candidate." (FBIS-SOV-2000-1206 5 Dec. 2000/WNC)

_____. 30 October 2000. "Lithuania: Controversial Kaunas Mayor Resigns After Being Elected to Parliament." (FBIS-SOV-2000-1030 30 Oct. 2000/WNC)

_____. 7 August 2000. "Several Lithuanian Parties Hold Pre-Election Conferences." (FBIS-SOV-2000-0807 7 Aug. 2000/WNC)

Central Europe Review. 7 February 2000. Vol. 2, No. 5. Mel Huang. "News Review for Lithuania." http://www.ce-review.org/00/5/lithuanianews5.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

The Europa World Year Book 2002. 2002. 43rd ed. Vol. 2. London: Europa Publications Limited

Kaunas University of Technology. 1996a. Department of Public Administration. Lithuania's Seimas Elections' 96. "Basic Facts on Lithuania's Political Parties 1988-1996." http://vingis.sc-uni.ktu.lt/rinkimai/basipart.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 1996b. Lithuania's Seimas Elections' 96. "Antanas Terleckas." http://vingis.sc-uni.ktu.lt/rinkimai/persons/terleck.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 1996c. Lithuania's Seimas Elections' 96. "Vytautas Sustauskas." http://vingis.sc-uni.ktu.lt/rinkimai/persons/sustausk.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

Lithuania. 8 October 2000a. The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania. Elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 2000. "Partijos ir politines organizacijos, iškelusios kandidatus." http://rc.lrs.lt/n/rinkimai/20001008/psarl.htm-12.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 8 October 2000b. Elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 2000. "Parties, Political Organizations and Coalitions which Nominated Candidates." http://rc.lrs.lt/n/rinkimai/20001008/partsara.htm-13.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 8 October 2000c. Elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 2000. "Voting Results in Single Member Constituencies." http://rc.lrs.lt/n/rinkimai/20001008/rvapgsara.htm-13.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 8 October 2000d. Elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 2000. "Voting Results in Multi-Member Constituencies." http://rc.lrs.lt/n/rinkimai/20001008/rda.htm-13.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. 8 October 2000e. Elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 2000. "Lithuanian Freedom Union." http://rc.lrs.lt/n/rinkimai/20001008/kandparta.htm-337.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

_____. n.d. Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Warsaw, Poland. "Political Parties and Organizations of the Republic of Lithuania." http://www.waw.pdi.net/~litwa_amb/part-ang.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

Political Parties of the World. 2002. 4th ed. Edited by Alan J. Day. London: St. James Press.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 22 October 2001. Newsline. "Four Lithuanian Political Parties Merge" http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2001/10/221001.asp [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

Stephen Roth Institute [Tel Aviv]. 2000. "Baltic Republics." In Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000. http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw99-2000/baltics.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2001]

United Nations [UN]. 3 February 1998. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (CCPR/C/SR.1634). 'Summary record of the 1634th Meeting: Lithuania. 03/02/98." http://www.bayefsky.com/summary/lithuania_ccpr_c_sr.16341997.php [Accessed 12 Dec. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era.

Internet sites including:

Extreme Right Wing Parties Around the World

Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences

Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - Election Reports