Sienos Grupė

The State provides only formal legal assistance to asylum seekers and foreigners staying illegally in the Republic of Lithuania. Foreigners with no income, who do not understand the language and the legal system, are often unable to defend their legitimate interests, nor can they afford a private legal assistance. In order to ensure the full implementation of human rights standards, Sienos Grupė has worked with Lithuanian lawyers, funded strategically important cases involving foreigners, and sought sponsors for their cases.

A Sri Lankan national had both limbs amputated after failing to receive adequate humanitarian and medical assistance at the border. A young man, who had been in the forest for several days, froze his feet. A private sponsor was found to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. After exhausting domestic remedies, the petition submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. The petition alleges a possible violation of Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13 of the ECtHR (right to life, prohibition of torture, right to liberty and security, right to an effective remedy). Sienos Grupė also financed the asylum case of this foreigner. The asylum application is currently pending in France.

Following the final closure of the pre-trial investigation in Lithuania into the possible illegal actions of officials in arresting a Sri Lankan citizen from the Old Town of Vilnius (the foreigner was found dead at the border 2 days later), a petition has been submitted to the ECtHR alleging a violation of Articles 2, 3, 6, 13 of the Convention (right to life, the prohibition of torture, right to a fair trial, right to an effective legal remedy).

Thanks to the Sienos Grupė, the first pre-trial investigation has been launched into a missing foreigner at the border, a Sri Lankan national. The investigation is still being carried out by the Lithuanian Police.

In spring 2023, two cases were opened after a court ruled that the detention of foreigners from the Democratic Republic of Congo without actual removal was illegal.

On 7 June 2023, following the Constitutional Court‘s decision No KT53-A-N6/2023 declaring that the provision allowing the detention of asylum seekers without an individual assessment is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, a complaint was lodged for compensation for the arbitrary detention of a vulnerable asylum seeker.

Following the detention of an Iraqi national by border guards on the grounds of deportation, legal representation in the detention case was financed. The Iraqi‘s partner was expecting a child in Lithuania. Sienos Grupė’s priority is to ensure the best interests of the child. Whenever we can, we aim to support families and ensure that children are not separated from their parents. We are pleased with our success in developing case law in the following cases. The foreigner in question is now released.

Sienos Grupe funded the legal representation of an unaccompanied minor, Syrian national, detained at the Lavoriškės border crossing. The Ombudsman for Children Rights was contacted. The Ombudsman carried out an investigation on unaccompanied foreign minors traveling through Lithuania and found violations of children‘s rights, including the lack of access to NGOs and legal representation, the failure to identify minors, and the failure to inform the State Office for Protection of Children‘s Rights and Adoption.

An appeal was initiated to the Seimas Ombudspersons’ Office regarding the incommunicado detention of foreigners, Cuban citizens, limiting the possibility of contacting a lawyer and relatives. An investigation was conducted by the comptroller of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

A complaint has been filed regarding the illegal transfer of Sudanese citizens to another country and the restriction of the right to submit an asylum application. The case is being examined in Lithuanian courts. We support the cases of citizens of Cameroon and Nigeria, with the aim of challenging the decision of the Department of Migration to send them to their country of origin. Both foreigners became parents in Lithuania. We aim to ensure the priority interest of the child and the right to be cared for by both parents. Sienas Grupė also supports the case of a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Foreigner in 2024 Twins were born in Lithuania. The aim is to ensure that the priority interest of the child is ensured, and the decision to send the foreigner to the country of origin will be reconsidered.

Sienos Grupė initiated a case against Cuban nationals who were injured in Latvia and subsequently applied for asylum in Lithuania. Last July, on a night in Latvia, they were approached by a black van with no distinguishing or identifying marks. There were 4 men dressed in black. A police car with 2 uniformed officers was patrolling nearby. All of them were carrying Taser electric pistols and firearms, as well as a handmade whip. They asked a few questions in Russian, but when they saw that the Cubans did not understand them, they started speaking to one of them in English. The officers put the Cubans in a van and started to beat the men in the group. They beat them with their feet, their fists and the aforementioned weapons. One of the men suffered broken ribs and a broken jaw. The women were tortured with blows and electrical devices. The beatings, insults and threats continued for a long time. After perhaps 15 or 20 minutes, men dressed in black brought a dark-skinned boy who was treated in the same way as the applicants. After they had finished torturing the boy, the men in black ordered everyone to get out in front of the fence with Belarusian territory and ordered the foreigner, who was the only one who could communicate with everyone in English, to lead the group, stating in no uncertain terms: “we will be watching you, go straight or we will shoot you.”

January 27, 2025. The Vilnius Regional Court, in an unappealable ruling, annulled the decision to refuse to investigate possible criminal offences. As stated in the document, “In this context, it should also be stressed that the petition raises motivated doubts about the possible commission of a crime not only against the health of the person(s), but against the most important value protected by the criminal law, namely, humanity. This circumstance implies not only the possibility of universal jurisdiction, but also very strict requirements for the investigation process. The investigation must be carried out to the extent and to the extent necessary to remove the slightest doubt that a crime against human beings may have been committed.”

The case also investigates the actions of Lithuanian officials. The SSSS officials only allowed the Cubans to enter Lithuania after the ECtHR imposed interim protection measures. The question is whether the provisions of the ECHR prohibiting collective reprisals have been violated.

January 6, 2025. In May 2023, Pabradė URC officials rejected a request by volunteers from the Siena Group to visit foreigners, although the volunteers had been successfully visiting the camp until then. The Court found that the VSAT had essentially refused to grant permission to meet the foreigners without giving any reasons, and had thus violated the provisions of Article 10(5) of the Law on Public Administration of the Republic of Lithuania.

In early 2024, Sienos Grupė applied to the prosecutor's office in relation to a Syrian national who had been subjected to border violence in Latvia and turned back in Lithuania. As a result of the frostbite suffered, the foreigner underwent amputation of both legs up to the knee. After the prosecutor's office refused to open a pre-trial investigation and exhausted its internal remedies, the petition was referred to the European Court of Human Rights for possible violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR.

On 3 May 2023, amendments to the Law on the State Border and its Protection of the Republic of Lithuania entered into force, introducing a provision to turn back foreigners attempting to cross the border of the Republic of Lithuania illegally in the event of a declared state-level extreme situation due to a mass influx of foreigners. In order to ensure that the right to asylum of foreigners is not restricted, Sienos Grupė has actively opposed such amendments to the law by submitting comments, publishing comments in the media, and together with other NGOs, circulating an appeal to the government demanding a presidential veto, and holding a protest in front of the Presidential Palace.

In the autumn session of the Seimas in 2023, two bills on the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners were debated. Sienos Grupė made following comments:

1. „Sienos Grupės“ comments for the draft law No. XIVP-2797;
2. „Sienos Grupės“ comments for the draft law No. XIVP-3047.

Sienos Grupė volunteers, who provided humanitarian aid at the border on 25 December 2021, were fined for violating the border rules. Lithuanian courts annulled the fine after finding that the volunteers had acted under conditions of strict necessity - to save a life - but the warning remained in force. A petition to the ECtHR has been lodged concerning possible violations of Articles 6, 7 and 11 of the ECHR (right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, freedom of assembly and association). On 8 April 2024, the case was communicated to Lithuania.

Two cases were opened against the State Border Guard Service. The first case concerns an unjustified and unreasoned refusal to grant the volunteers of Sienos Grupė the right to meet with foreigners in the Pabradė Foreigners Registration Centre. The other case concerns several replies from the SBGS to Sienos Grupė, which did not provide the information requested by us. The cases are pending before Lithuanian courts.

Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission satisfied 2 complaints filed by Sienas Grupė regarding illegal VSAT actions:

1. 2024 02 01 decision 21RE-73(AG-922/05-2023);
2. 2024 02 02 decision 21RE-76 (AG-923/04-2023).

An appeal to the law enforcement authorities was filed regarding the false information about the director of the Sienos Grupė that was disseminated in public domain. After submitting a statement regarding a possible crime, the person who spread the information denied it and removed it from the public domain.