In a telephone interview on 11 July 1997, the director of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies (LCHRES) in Riga provided the following information, which represents the Center's viewpoint. On 12 April 1995 the Latvian parliament passed the "Law on Determining the Status of a Politically Repressed Person for those who have Suffered under the Communist and Nazi Regimes." The law indicates the categories of people eligible to obtain benefits on account of their previous mistreatment, and also indicates the benefits. The director added that the law supersedes related laws that were passed in 1992 and 1993.

A copy of the afore-mentioned 1995 law in English is not available to the DIRB. For information on the LCHRES, please consult the attachment.

Additional information on the above-mentioned topic could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB 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.

Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies (LCHRES), Riga. 11 July 1997. Telephone interview with the director.

Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies (LCHRES), Riga. 23 May 1996. Facsimile sent to the DIRB.

CSCE Digest [Washington]. Monthly.

DIRB databases.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.

News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Transition [Prague]. Twice monthly.

Uncaptive Minds [Washington]. Quarterly.

On-line search of media sources.