Human rights in Sweden

Sweden's modern Constitution was enacted in 1974[7] with the inclusion of Chapter 2 named 'Fundamental rights and Freedoms'. The chapter protects four types of rights: positive freedoms, negative freedoms of opinion, physical rights and rule of law guarantees.[7] (pg 102). Article 1 protects positive freedoms of opinion including freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of assembly, to name a few. Articles 2-3 protects negative freedoms of opinion such as coercion regarding political, religious, cultural, or other opinions as well as the requirement for consent for citizens to have their political opinions publicly registered. Articles 4-8 outline the physical rights to integrity and freedom of movement such as no capital punishment, no one to be subject to torture or no citizen to be refused entry to Sweden. Articles 9-11 outlines the rule of law principle that ensures each citizen is entitled to procedural guarantees.[7] (pg. 102). Articles 12-13 protect against discrimination against people on grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexuality. Article 15 protects individuals right to private property and the right to public access of land or buildings.[11]

Freedom of press is a well established right in Sweden being protected since 1766. In 1766 Sweden incorporated freedom of the press into its constitution, being the first country globally to do so.[12] This constitutional law abolished censorship in printed publications as well as guaranteeing public access to government documents.[13]

In 1949 the Freedom of Press Act was enacted and superseded the existing acts. Article 1 of Chapter 1 on the freedom of press outlines that it is to be "understood to mean the right of every Swedish citizen to publish written matter, without prior hinderance by a public authority or other public body, and not to be prosecuted thereafter on grounds of its content".[14] In 2018 Sweden was ranked the second on the World Press Freedom Index.[15]

The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression 1991 is largely similar to the Freedom of Press Act set out above.[2] Both are fundamentally protecting the right of expression and speech. Whilst freedom of speech has been protected in Sweden since 1766, it initially only extended to written published documents. There was no other mention of other types of freedom of speech until 1974.[2] Article 1, section 1 of the Act sets out the aim of the Act to guarantee every citizen's right to publicly express themselves. The Act protects all Swedish citizens right to express themselves freely on the radio, TV, films, video and the internet.[16] The Act also lists freedom of expression offences such as defaming someone or threatening domestic security through publication.

In 2015 relations between Saudi Arabia and Sweden became tense after Margot Wallström, foreign minister of Sweden, delivered a speech to Swedish parliament stating that human rights were violated in Saudi Arabia and that she would pursue a feminist foreign policy.[20] Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Sweden and stated it would no longer issue business visas for Swedish citizens.[21] The diplomatic affair resulted in the termination of a long-standing arms deal between Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Saudi Arabia was the third largest non-Western buyer of Swedish arms and bought approximately $37 million euros of arms in 2014.[22] Sweden prioritised its human rights policy, in particular in regards to women's rights in their relations with Saudi Arabia.

Another instance where Sweden has favoured human rights obligations over bilateral relations was in the early 2000s when Uganda proposed a bill that instituted the death penalty or life imprisonment for homosexuality.[23] Sweden condemned the legislation and adjusted its foreign aid to Uganda due to the "appalling" anti-gay law.[24] Sweden along with donors such as the World Bank, Norway and Denmark withheld aid of approximately $110 million from Uganda due to the law.[25]

Sweden has been vocal in criticising Russia for their human rights violations. The relationship between Sweden and Russia has been termed "cool neighbours"[26] due to past conflicts and diverging ideologies and views. Although relations between the two states is relatively stable in recent times, Sweden is critical of some of Russia's policies. According to Sweden's ambassador to Russia, Peter Ericson, Sweden has "a lot to teach Russia in terms of free speech".[27]

Sweden's current anti-discrimination laws have eliminated the term race, replacing the term with "ethnicity" to denote "national or ethnic origin, skin colour or other similar circumstances".[29] Michael McEachrane in a 2018 study considers the exclusion of the term race means Sweden is not able to "recognise, monitor, or address structural racial discrimination even as a possible universal human rights issue".[29] McEachrane outlines the nature of racial discrimination pertinent to Sweden with housing segregation of non-European backgrounds such as African or Middle Eastern living in low-income neighbourhoods.[29]

A report released by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in May 2018, highlighted that “racist hate speech against Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims and Roma” is particularly prevalent “during election campaigns, as well as in the media and on the internet”. The report also stated that “The Committee is particularly concerned with reports of arson attacks against mosques and reception centres for asylum seekers.”[30]

Sweden has recently been criticised in a report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) over "racist hate speech against Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims and Roma".[31] In particular the report found that hate crimes remain high with an 11% increase in reported hate crimes from 2014 to 2015.[32] In 2016 it was reported that approximately 440 hate crimes with an anti-religious motive, specifically anti-Islamic were committed.[32]

A study by Martha F. Davis and Natasha Ryan in 2017 found that Swedish authorities had evicted more than 80 Roma settlements during 2013 and 2016.[33] These evictions were on the grounds of poor sanitation and access to water, both considered fundamental human rights. The study concluded that Sweden had violated its human rights obligations under both European and international law. Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights access to water and sanitation are fundamental human rights for all.[33] The 2017/2018 Amnesty Report also noted the discrimination faced by Roma citizens who are denied access to basic services such as health care and education by the State.[34] The Roma citizens continue to be subject to harassment and prejudice from European nationals.

Sweden's protection of asylum seekers and refugees has historically been viewed as "progressive and ambitious".[35] They received the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers per capita in 2013 among the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[36] Like many European countries with the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis Sweden adopted new border controls and cut benefits that refugees had previously had.[37] Sweden introduced an amendment to their asylum seeker policies which prevented entitlement to "accommodation, subsistence allowance and special aid"[38] for adult asylum seekers with no children and who have had their applications rejected. These emergency measures breached asylum-seekers fundamental rights such as the right to family reunification.[39]