Human rights in Sweden
[3] According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, their position on human rights is strongly linked to democracy and the rule of law.
[5] Sweden has been regarded for its soft power diplomacy in promoting new human rights norms and challenging the international state of affairs.
Key concerns include equality before the law, discrimination, race and social issues, the peaceful enjoyment of property and protection of asylum seekers.
The first protection of human rights in Sweden dates back to the mid-14th century with the Konungabalk ("King's Chapter") found in the Landslagen (the General Law of the Realm).
It contained an oath for all succeeding monarchies in Sweden to "defend justice and truth and put down injustice, falsehood, and lawlessness" and to "keep faith with the commonality of the realm, to injure neither rich nor poor in life or limb except after trial in accordance with the law of the realm, neither to deprive any man of his goods except by due legal process".
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.
Sweden is a "dualist state"[2] in its adoption of International Law such as the ECHR thereby requiring a special act by the Swedish government for treaties and conventions to take effect domestically.
[17] Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Sweden and stated it would no longer issue business visas for Swedish citizens.
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.
[21] Sweden along with donors such as the World Bank, Norway and Denmark withheld aid of approximately $110 million from Uganda due to the law.
The relationship between Sweden and Russia has been termed "cool neighbours"[23] due to past conflicts and diverging ideologies and views.
[24] According to Amnesty International some areas for concern of human rights in Sweden include discrimination, rape and sexual violence and the protection of asylum seekers.
[26] 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".
[26] 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.
[26] 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".
"[27] 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".
[30] 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.
[32] 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).
