Sweden1

On 30 November, major Swedish dailies jointly published the photos and names of 62 of the most well-known neo-nazis under the theme Civil Society under Threat. Gertraud Hdl

IHF FOCUS: Peaceful assembly; courts and racially motivated violence; right to privacy; protection of asylum seekers.

Sweden has a good record concerning the promotion and implementation of international human rights standards. However, there were some areas in the human rights context in which Sweden was subject to criticism during 1999. In one case, a human rights organization was refused permission to hold a peaceful demonstration. There was also reason to believe that Swedish courts did not properly apply leg1

islation on neo-Nazi organizations. The problem grew as racially motivated violence escalated in Sweden, resulting in three deaths, and because Sweden was one of the leading countries producing white power music. The partially illegal use of surveillance methods by police forces raised concern. Moreover, the government expressed a wish to increase the spectrum of surveillance methods, thus placing the right to privacy at risk. Sweden has been repeatedly criticized for a number of years for its policy concerning asylum seekers. In Sweden, asylum seekers are, inter alia, not guaranteed the right

Based on the report by the Swedish Helsinki Committee to the IHF.

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to a fair trial. Moreover, the grounds for a decision on each specific asylum application remained somewhat unclear and placed a heavy burden of proof on the asylum seeker him/herself. In addition, an appeal against a rejected application was no guarantee for a stay of deportation. their front pages, declaring that the increase of neo-Nazism constituted a threat to democracy. They also published photos, and the names and ages of 62 key neoNazi activists in Sweden. Sweden is one of the leading countries in the world that produces and distributes white power music. s In September, the Svea Court of Appeal ruled against four persons on grounds of racial agitation. The court lowered the sentences given by a district court, considering the crime to be an isolated incident. The defendants were, however, key persons in the white power music business. During proceedings in the court of appeal, the prosecutor initiated legal proceedings against the defendants in another similar case of racial agitation. One major problem in cases of white power music and similar propaganda is the statute of limitations. Legal proceedings must be initiated within one year from the day on which the material was produced. In 1994, a law dealing with racially motivated violence entered into force in Sweden. According to the legislation, if the motive of a crime is to violate a person, ethnic group, or other group on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion or other similar circumstance, the court of justice shall consider this an aggravating circumstance which increases the severity of the penalty. The wording or other similar circumstance included, for example, sexual orientation. The purpose of the new legislation was to clearly emphasize that courts must pay special attention when ruling on racially motivated crimes and similar acts. Sweden also considered the legislation (together with some other provisions) to be a sufficient substitute for a law that would outlaw organizations which promote or incite racial discrimination. The UN Committee on the Elimination of 349

Peaceful Assembly
In July, the Swedish Section of Amnesty International was denied permission to hold a peaceful demonstration with 2030 participants outside the American embassy. The organization wanted to protest the use of electroshock belts on prisoners in the USA. Permission was denied because the police claimed not to have had enough resources to guarantee law and order at that specific time and place. Another remarkable feature of this case was the fact that 50 representatives of the Falun Gong-movement were allowed to demonstrate outside the Chinese embassy, located not far from the American embassy, only two days after Amnesty had planned to arrange their demonstration.

Courts and Racially Motivated Violence

The use of racially motivated violence escalated in Sweden throughout 1999. Two police officers were killed by three neoNazis during a bank robbery, and a union leader known for his struggle against neoNazism was killed outside his apartment. Furthermore, a bomb was hidden and detonated in the car of two journalists who had been reporting on neo-Nazism and racism. One of the journalists was severely injured. Prior to the attack, they had received numerous threats along with many other Swedish journalists. Due to the severe situation regarding neoNazism in Sweden, the four main Swedish newspapers co-operated in a unique action: they published a joint editorial on

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Racial Discrimination criticized Sweden for breaching the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, precisely because it did not explicitly outlaw such organizations. According to official statistics, the 1994 law has rarely been applied in fact, between 1 July 1994 and 1 April 1997, it was only applied in 24 cases. There was reason to strongly suspect that the number of cases in which this law could have been applied was much higher. However, official statistics were somewhat unreliable since the courts were not obliged to state in their rulings whether this specific law had been applied as was the case regarding certain other regulations. As a result, it was impossible to collect relevant data and produce statistics. Instead of improving legal rights and increasing the possibilities for public control, the government expressed its wish to expand the field of secret surveillance; for example, by permitting bugging. The government planned to present a proposal for new legislation to this end in early 2000.

Protection of Asylum Seekers

In the IHF Annual Reports of 1998 and 1999, the Swedish asylum procedure and practice was criticized inter alia for not conforming with Swedish laws and/or international standards. Remarkably, the procedures and practices in this respect did not improve at all during 1999, and Sweden maintained its position as the country most criticized (seven times) by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The majority of issues facing the committee asked whether the forced return of an asylum seeker to his/her country of origin, or to a (specific) safe third country, would violate Swedens obligation under article 3 of the convention. In one of the latest cases, the CAT noted that the decisions made by the Swedish Board of Immigration and the Aliens Appeal Board did not show that the test required by article 3 of the UN convention had in fact been applied. It was also noted (in two of the latest cases) that Sweden pointed to contradictions and inconsistencies in the accounts of individuals, although the CAT stated that complete accuracy is seldom to be had from victims of torture especially when the victim suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Furthermore, the CAT clarified that the risk of torture must, according to article 3, be assessed on grounds that go beyond mere theory or suspicion, but that the risk does not have to meet the test of high probability. 350

Right to Privacy
Under certain circumstances, the Swedish police force had the right to use secret surveillance techniques during pre-trial investigations; including phone-tapping, surveillance with a hidden camera and checking the numbers, times, location and duration of calls to and from a telephone. Permission to use secret surveillance was granted by a court on the basis of an application by a prosecutor. The suspect was unaware of the proceedings and had no representation in court. Certain methods used by the police were not prescribed by law, including the use of body micro-phones, which breached the ECHR. During 1997 and 1998, 1,240 applications for secret surveillance were submitted; only one was rejected. At least 50 percent of the operations during 1998 were carried out without any meaningful outcome. A person exposed to secret surveillance had no possibility to appeal an incorrect decision, a fact which also violated the ECHR. State interference in the private lives of its citizens lacked in legal rights and transparency.

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During 1999, a state commission presented a report on how to improve the legal rights of asylum seekers. Several Swedish Human Rights organizations, however, considered many of the proposed changes to be inadequate, and thus the report was severely criticized. At present, Sweden has five cases pending with the CAT. Rulings in these cases will be made in the year 2000. sss

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