Under det svenska ordförandeskapet i OSSE 2021 har det svenska OSSE-nätverket sammanställt en ”självvärdering” av hur Sverige lever upp till sina åtaganden vad gäller mänskliga rättigheter inom OSSE-samarbetet. Redaktörer har varit Anki Wetterhall och jag själv. Rapporten finns att ladda ned på nätverkets hemsida, http://www.ossenatverket.org. Här en kort presentation och innehållsförteckning.

Sweden is almost automatically categorized among the “good guys” in international human rights comparisons. Even so, it is most relevant that a country of Sweden’s stature during its chairpersonship of the OSCE in 2021 is examined and discussed regarding its compliance with the human rights commitment associated with its membership of the OSCE.The tradition of self-examinations of chairperson states has been established over the past decade by the Civic Solidarity Platform (CSP), the network of civil society and human rights advocacy groups in OSCE member states. The purpose is to promote self-reflection among chair governments and civil society organisations in their countries during the time they chair this important organisation for security, cooperation and civic rights in Europe, the transatlantic sphere and Central Asia.

Already in 2020 the Swedish government presented a comprehensive national report to the United Nations Human Rights Council and its Universal Periodic Review, UPR. The report was to a great extent based on input from Swedish civil society. Thus, it is logical to begin this self-evaluation by presenting the Swedish UPR report as originally submitted. Then, following the practice in recent self-evaluations in the CSP context, a limited number of issues has been chosen for more in-depth analysis.

Invited civil society and advocacy groups contribute assessments under the headings of Discrimination and Hate Speech, Gender Equality and Torture.

Additional thematic essays by academic and professional expertise deal with further problem areas of particular interest, like constitutional reforms in process, the status of national minorities, in particular the Sami people, corruption and media developments and the role of public service radio and television. In  a year still tragically marked by the covid 19 pandemic a thorough essay is also devoted to the Swedish strategy for and handling of the pandemic and its different human rights implications.

Assessments and opinions expressed in the different chapters are the responsibility of the individual contributors. The responsibility for the publication as presented here rests with the editors. The Swedish OSCE Network, the Swedish CSP member, is the initiator and sponsor of the project. The network is an independent voluntary organization with both individual and organizational members. It is not affiliated to any political party or religious denomination. The purpose of the network is to inform the public and stimulate discussion about the work of the OSCE and related themes.

Table of contents

1. Introductory remarks: scope and methods
Anders Mellbourn and Anki Wetterhall, editors  ………………………….. 7

2. National report from Sweden in the third cycle of

the Universal Periodic Review ………………………………………………… 9

3. Civil society concerns in the UPR and other reports …………. 39

a) Discrimination and hate speech ……………………………………………. 40

b) Gender equality ………………………………………………………………….. 57

c) Torture ……………………………………………………………………………….. 82

4. Thematic essays …………………………………………………………………. 87

a) Sweden and the rule of law ………………………………………………….. 87

Philip Tåhlin, Department of Law, Stockholm University

b) The rights of Indigenous peoples: the Swedish state’s

policy towards the Sámi people ………………………………………………. 106

Ulf Mörkenstam, professor, and Ragnhild Nilsson, Department

of Political Science, Stockholm University

c) Bribery, corruption and other abuses of power ……………………… 121

Claes Sandgren, Professor em, Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law,

Stockholm University; former chair, Swedish Anti-Corruption Institute

d) Media development in Sweden …………………………………………… 127

Olof Kleberg, former editor-in-chief at Västerbottens-Kuriren, and

Pär Trehörning, freelance journalist, former ombudsman at

the Swedish Union of Journalists

e) The Swedish pandemic strategy and its human

rights implications

Review of measures taken, legislation and public debate ……………….. 141

Lisa Pelling, PhD, Director of Arena Idé

5. Concluding reflections …………………………………………………….. 167

a) Summary thoughts from inside …………………………………………… 167

Charlotta Göller, Programme Manager & Advisor, International

Law, The Swedish Foundation for Human Rights

b) A look from the outside …………………………………………………….. 170

Matthias Hui, humanrights.ch, for Civic Solidarity Platform (CSP)