Covering events from January - December 2004

Discrimination against ethnic minorities and foreign nationals, prison overcrowding, and failures to investigate complaints against the police promptly or independently were among a range of concerns raised by international monitoring bodies. Further revelations were made about the forcible deportation of two asylum-seekers to Egypt in 2001, raising concerns that the Swedish authorities had colluded in their unlawful "rendition" to the custody of the USA before their eventual transfer to Egypt

International scrutiny

In March, after considering Sweden's 15th and 16th periodic reports under the UN Convention against Racism, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination adopted its Concluding Observations. Among the Committee's concerns were the lack of statistical data on the ethnic composition of the population; reports that few hate crimes led to prosecutions and that relevant legislation was not applied; difficulties faced by a large part of the Roma community in areas such as employment, education and housing; unresolved issues relating to Sami land rights; persistent discrimination against immigrants in relation to social and economic rights; and the possibility of expulsions without a right of appeal under the Special Control of Foreigners Act.

The automatic – instead of exceptional – imposition of restrictive regimes, isolation in particular, on remand detainees, the overcrowding in some prisons and detention facilities, and "unacceptable" outdoor facilities at the Kronobergs remand and detention centre in Stockholm were some of the concerns raised by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights in his July report of a visit to Sweden in April. Other concerns were the absence of legislative provisions setting out the maximum time adult asylum-seekers could be detained; the whereabouts of unaccompanied children – feared to have become victim to paedophile and trafficking networks – who had gone missing from the care of the Migration Service; and the insufficient assistance provided to victims of trafficking, including children. Sami land rights issues, and discrimination faced by migrants and Roma in accessing employment, education, housing and the provision of services were also highlighted. The Commissioner's recommendations included the establishment of a separate and independent institution for investigating complaints against the police.

In November the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) issued a report of its visit to Sweden in January and February 2003. The CPT found that some initial investigations into complaints of police ill-treatment in the county of Västra Götaland had not been prompt, independent or effective, and that detainees in police custody were still not formally guaranteed rights to inform someone of their own choice of their arrest or to have access to a lawyer and a doctor. The CPT urged the government to reconsider the need for a demonstrably independent police complaints agency. With respect to prisons, the CPT recommended that the authorities take further action to mitigate the damaging effects of prolonged periods of isolation, impose restrictions on remand prisoners only in exceptional circumstances, and vigorously pursue strategies to address inter-prisoner violence. The CPT found arrangements for outdoor exercise to be unsatisfactory for remand prisoners subject to restrictions at Gothenburg and Umeå Remand Prisons, and for all inmates at Västberga prison.

Prison conditions

Overcrowding in Kronobergs remand and detention centre led to remand detainees being held in cells not intended to house them, such as isolation cells ordinarily used for intoxicated people, which contained only a plastic mattress and a drain in the floor. Detainees should have been kept in such cells for only brief periods, but sometimes spent up to 10 days in them, according to the chief executive of the prison. Such conditions amounted to cruel and inhuman treatment. Detainees were also held in common areas, depriving all detainees of the use of those facilities, or in storage or laundry rooms.

There were reports that several prisoners with mental disabilities were held in ordinary prisons in contravention of international standards.

Update: policing of 2001 protests in Gothenburg

In December the Court of Appeal confirmed the controversial acquittal in February of the chief police commissioner in charge of the police operation against demonstrators at the Hvitfeldtska school in June 2001, during the European Union summit in Gothenburg. He had been charged with unlawful detention and misconduct in public duty. The Court of Appeal ruled that, even though people held at the school had been detained unlawfully, the chief police commissioner did not act with criminal intent. Following the disturbances at the summit, which led to mass arrests, complaints were lodged against approximately 170 police officers. The complaints resulted in five officers being charged with misconduct, none of whom was subsequently convicted.

Update: 'war on terror' deportations

Two asylum-seekers were handed over by Swedish police to hooded men and placed on an aeroplane leased by the US Defense Department for their transport to Egypt, according to revelations in a Swedish television programme in May. The two men were allegedly hooded and subjected to other forms of ill-treatment before and during their handover and transport. Muhammad Muhammad Suleiman Ibrahim El-Zari and Ahmed Hussein Mustafa Kamil Agiza were forcibly and secretly expelled to Egypt in December 2001, where they later alleged they were tortured, after the Swedish government received "assurances" that they would not be subjected to human rights violations. AI called for an international investigation into all aspects of the case, including alleged collusion between the Swedish and US authorities and failure to protect the two men by Egypt, Sweden and the USA (see Egypt entry). Hanan Attia, the wife of Ahmed Hussein Mustafa Kamil Agiza, and their five children were granted permanent residence in Sweden in June on humanitarian grounds. AI believed that she should have been granted refugee status and protection arising from such a status rather than on humanitarian grounds. During the year, it emerged that the Swedish authorities had withheld information about Hanan Attia from the UN Committee against Torture in an attempt to undermine the credibility of her complaint to the Committee.

Violence against women

Following a survey of Swedish municipalities, AI expressed concern about the ability of local authorities to help survivors of domestic violence. It transpired that for some municipalities it was not a priority, and most of them lacked strategic plans for addressing violence against women.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.