A/HRC/32/15 being been reduced by 30 per cent; these measures included amendments to the Criminal Law in 2013 that reformed the system of penalties and provided for the use of alternative penalties to deprivation of liberty. 16. Latvia highlighted the anti-discrimination provisions enshrined in the Constitution and legislation. In 2013, the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination of Natural Persons — Performers of Economic Activities was adopted and in 2014 the Criminal Law was amended providing criminal liability for discrimination due to racial, national, ethnic or religious belonging or for the violation of the prohibition of any other type of discrimination, if substantial harm is caused. A wide range of policy measures had also been implemented, including the further development of the discrimination monitoring system, the review of existing anti-discrimination norms and educational and awarenessraising events. 17. Latvia stated that it had been working to reduce discrimination against Roma and to ensure them equal opportunities, especially in the field of education, and noted especially among its policy measures the programme for professional training of teacher’s assistants with a Roma background. In relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, Latvia had paid attention to the training of experts, including from the Police, on issues related to protection of those persons’ rights and it highlighted its cooperation with the European organizations and agencies working in this field and with civil society. 18. On the subject of hate crimes, Latvia stated that the Criminal Law provided for criminal liability for incitement to national, ethnic, racial or religious enmity. In addition, racist, national, ethnic or religious motives were defined as an aggravating circumstance. The same law also provided criminal liability for acts aimed at inciting hatred or enmity based on gender, age, disability of a person or any other characteristics, if substantial harm is caused. The authorities had stepped up efforts to monitor online hate speech and trained police experts in the field, including in collaboration with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 19. Latvia stated that it was proud of its tolerant, open and multilingual society. There were more than 150 ethnicities living in the country. Latvian policies had ensured protection of their rights and enjoyment of the culture, language and traditions of national minorities and they were engaged in policy-planning and decision-making processes. 20. The unique State education system of Latvia included minority education programmes in seven languages. Measures aimed at improving the quality of bilingual education were being implemented regularly. The examination results in general education schools were similar to those in schools implementing national minority education programmes; students at national minority schools earned even higher scores in some subjects. The Government provided free Latvian language courses for members of national minorities and their proficiency had improved such that more than 94 per cent of them could now communicate in Latvian in comparison with 23 per cent in 1989. 21. Latvia reported that, after the restoration of its independence in 1990, the temporary status of “non-citizen” had been established and was granted to persons who had immigrated during the period of Soviet occupation as a result of deliberate migration policy of the authorities of the Soviet Union and had lost citizenship of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with its dissolution. These persons or their descendants had never been citizens of Latvia. Latvia had always stressed that the status of non-citizens was of a temporary nature. Latvian non-citizens were not stateless and this had been clearly stated in law. All preconditions for a successful naturalization process had been created and the process had repeatedly been simplified in accordance with international standards so as to be one of the most liberal in Europe. Almost 150,000 persons had chosen to become citizens of Latvia. At the same time non-citizens enjoyed the same social guarantees and 5