Violation of human rights by the Soviet regime in Latvia. Medico-legal aspects

Abstract

Violence against an individual, if it grows into a system, acquires a mass-scale character and, if it is carried out (usually in an obscure way) by political, economic or military structures, it turns into genocide. This is the recent history of the Baltic States. Latvia gained its independence in 1918, and after 22 years of existence it fell a victim to the regime, that was ambitious for power, and in 1940 Latvia was occupied by the Red Army. Self-confidence of the freedom-loving and self-respecting nation hindered the Soviet regime to fulfill its geopolitical ambitions. It had to carry out systematic, well-planed and rafined complex of various actions. To make it short, the scheme for action was as follows — to exterminate the Latvian nation in its ethnic, historic territory on the coast of the Baltic Sea, by mass-scale deportations to other regions, thus submitting them to perish. At the same time, masses of aliens were let in by implementing a corresponding economic policy. It was explained to be an immense gift to the Latvian people. But what was in the background of all this? Here are the data of demographic statistics: the number of Latvians in 1939 was 75%; in 1989–50 years later — 52%. The nation was on the verge of extinction. Even nowadays, 65% of the inhabitants in Riga, the capital of Latvia, are aliens. By the way, the western European countries feel threatened and alarmed, if the number of foreigners exceeds 5%. The extent of genocide in Latvia is characterized by the following data. During the first stage of deportations, about 21000 Latvian citizens were transferred to Siberia.