Bryan Stevenson and EJI Winners of the Scandinavian Human Dignity Award 2020

The Scandinavian Human Dignity Award is presented by the Scandinavian Human Rights Committee and Lawyers to a person or an organization which has made a special contribution to human rights, all of which derive from the inherent dignity of the human person and are essential for her free and full development.

The Scandinavian Human Dignity Award 2020 is dedicated to Bryan Stevenson and the organization Equal Justice Initiative for their tremendous efforts to promote justice and human rights and to restore human dignity.

- Bryan Stevenson is a real pioneer and his dedication to restore hope in the seemingly “hopeless” cases and infuse human dignity into the lives of disadvantaged people facing the death penalty, is truly remarkable. Bryan Stevenson and EJI have made a tremendous effort in their fight for the unfairly sentenced and their work raise the voice of the voiceless. Bryan is a purpose-driven lawyer and his fight against systemic unjustice and his bold stand for truth, mercy and justice is a great inspirataion for us in our fight for human rights and justice in Scandinavia and Europe. Ruth Nordström, Founder and chief lawyer of Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers

- I am incredibly honored by the Scandinavian Human Dignity Award, I have had the privilege of spending some time with the previous winner of the prize, Dr Denis Mukwege and know about his remarkable work in Africa and to be in the company with people that have done such extraordinary things is deeply meaningful and very humbling. I am part of a tradition of people who just believe that faith has to be made real in what we do and it has to be expressed in the lives of people whose humanity and dignity is not valued. I receive the award not just as an affirmation for what I do, but as an affirmation of the people that I serve. I accept it on behalf of the condemned that are awaiting execution around the world, on behalf of those who are told that their lives have no meaning or purpose or value so they are put in prison for ever, on behalf of those children who had their childhood taken away because they been deemed adults even though they are 13 or 14, on behalf of women that have been told that their struggles against violence and abuse are irrelevant when they fall down, respond or react, and behalf of the poor who are often made to feel that they are less valuable and less important. It is in these communities that my life and work has meaning and it is this kind of recognition that makes that work even more remarkable so I am grateful and very thankful to the organization and to the network of lawyers, advocates and activists all around Scandinavia and Europe that thought it was useful to recognize what we are doing here at EJI, I am very honored, says Bryan Stevenson, founder of Equal Justice Initative.

Previous recipients of the Human Dignity Award are, among others, Nobel Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege and International Justice Mission:
https://humanrightslawyers.eu/scandinavian-human-dignity-award/

The Award Ceremony will take place at a gala in favor of asylum seeking Christian converts in St. Clara's Church in Stockholm on Saturday 31 October at 18-20.30. As the number of participants is limited to 50 people, the gala will be broadcast live via TBN Play https://www.tbnplay.se/browse and on Viasat channel site 141 and St. Clara Church's Youtube channel.

Conflict of interest at the European court of human rights?

May 18, 2020

On May 18, the same day as judge Robert Spano takes over as President of the European Court of Human Rights, the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers submit a request for revision regarding the admissibility decision concerning the Swedish midwife cases regarding freedom of conscience within healthcare, which was delivered on March 12.

In the latest episode of the Human Rights Podcast, we discussed the fact that the Swedish judge who ruled on the case, has very strong connections to the opposing party in the domestic proceedings and to RFSU, a Swedish NGO that is member organization of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) avoids the important human rights issues at stake in the case. A recently published report regarding NGO:s and judges at the ECtHR has raised the issue of impartiality and conflicts of interests.

-The application for revision is based on three grounds. Firstly, we believe that it was wrong for a Committee of three judges to be assigned to rule on the admissibility of the midwife cases on freedom of conscience within health care. According to the European Convention, Committees should only be assigned in simple cases where there is established case law, which was not the fact in these cases. Due to the nature and the importance of the cases, the Committee was not competent to decide on the cases, says Ruth Nordström, Chief lawyer at the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

-The second reason for the application is that we believe that the Swedish judge, Judge Wennerström, who was one of the three judges seated on the Committee, was obliged to withdraw because of conflicts of interest, which he did not. The composition of the Court was not known before the decision was delivered and the parties therefore had not opportunity to make objections before the ruling. According to the ECtHR, when there is a conflict of interest or doubts about it, a judge must inform the President of the Chamber. Even circumstances which can be perceived as bias or conflicts of interest have significance - "Justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done", the ECtHR has stated in its previous case law. It is important that it is also objectively perceived by the public that justice is done, says Rebecca Ahlstrand, lawyer at the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

-Judge Wennerström, took up the assignment as judge after the midwives’ complaints were submitted to the ECtHR. Prior to 2018, Judge Wennerström served as Director General of the Swedish Crime Prevention Council. In its annual report from 2017, it is stated that Sweden's municipalities and County Councils, the opposing party of the midwives in Sweden, belonged to the authority's core network. The authority also awarded grants to Sweden's Municipalities and County Council during that year according to its Annual Report. As recently as 2018, Judge Wenneström sat on the Board of Supervisors of the Swedish Equality Authority, alongside the CEO of Sweden's Municipalities and County Councils, the opposing party of the midwives. At the same time, Åsa Regnér was Minister of Gender Equality, and strongly and openly opposed the right to freedom of conscience. Åsa Regnér was previously chairman of the organization RFSU (Riksförbundet för Sexuell Upplysning), a member organization of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which also received grants from the Equality Authority in 2018, and the connection between RFSU and Sweden's Municipalities and County Councils is strong - they wrote debate articles together against our clients, says Ruth Nordström.

-According to his CV, Judge Wennerström has worked for about 30 years for the Swedish government in various positions, including the Foreign Ministry. While it may be common for judges to have held government positions in the past, it is exceptionally problematic in the present case - it is fairly uncommon for so many ministers of a government, and even the prime minister, to express opinions in individual cases as in this one, and in such a clear manner. Before the cases were settled and in force in Sweden, former Minister Gabriel Wikström stated that the decision to deny freedom of conscience in the midwives’ cases was “good”, which led to a conviction in the Constitution Committee, says Rebecca Ahlstrand.

- Finally, we address the fact that there are a many factual errors in the decision, both in the factual presentation and in the legal assessments; for example, a fundamental and decisive fact, that there is a European consensus in Europe regarding freedom of conscience for health care workers and a number of resolutions by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, was not taken into account. According to the doctrine of "margin of appreciation", the individual country has a very narrow margin of discretion to deviate from established European consensus when there is a common European standard. When it comes to freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals, this is in principle respected in the vast majority of all European countries, either in general or through specific regulations on freedom of conscience within healthcare. The right to freedom of conscience is also prescribed in the preliminary works of the Swedish Abortion Act, and when the majority of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe are able to balance the right to care and the right to freedom of conscience, it must be possible in Sweden, where it has already been practiced for 40 years, says Ruth Nordström.

Skandinaviska Människorättsjuristerna (SHRL) är en skandinavisk juristorganisation som arbetar med att främja mänskliga rättigheter i Europa. SHRL är medlem i EU:s plattform för mänskliga rättigheter, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights http://fra.europa.eu/en)

SHRL arbetar via internationella nätverk och organ och som styrdokument finns FN:s deklaration om mänskliga rättigheter, Barnkonventionen, Europakonventionen om de mänskliga rättigheterna och Europarådets konvention om bekämpande av människohandel. SHRL och Scandinavian Human Rights Committee delar årligen ut priset Scandinavian Human Dignity Award.

Swedish women's clinics apply employment contracts violating human rights

July 17, 2019

In an interview with Swedish Radio P4 Blekinge, Marianne Gertzell, head of the women's clinic in Karlskrona, states that since January this year, the clinic requires that person’s seeking employment state whether they agree to participate in abortions, in their employment contract. The article also states that staff who stated that they do not want to carry out abortion have been denied employment: https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=105&artikel=7263815

Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers comment on the subject of the employment contract that the County Council's women's clinic is said to use, as this is very likely to violate human rights law and conventions.

- It may be unlawful that, as a condition for employment, a midwife, doctor or assistant nurse must be in favor of participating in abortions. The right to freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are fundamental human rights according to, inter alia, the European Convention, which is Swedish law. In order to limit these rights, support is required by law, there needs to be a legitimate purpose and it must be both necessary and proportionate in a democratic society, which we do not believe it is, says Ruth Nordström, Chief lawyer at Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

- The requirement to perform abortions for employment may appear neutral, but most likely the majority of those excluded from work will have a religious conviction. It may therefore be indirectly discriminatory to apply such a clause in an employment contract. In addition, it violates international ethical codes such as the International Code of Ethics for Midwives and the Code of Ethics of the International Gynecologist Association. One can also ask whether this is the right way to handle difficult ethical issues, to simply sift away dissent, says Rebecca Ahlstrand, lawyer at Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

- There is an extreme shortage of healthcare personnel, especially midwives in childbirth care. Putting patient safety aside and denying person’s employment because of their inner conscience or religious beliefs instead of hiring such personnel in childbirth care, is not a legitimate purpose and affects childbirth very negatively. In this regard, the women's clinic allows ideology precedence before women's right to a safe childbirth, which cannot be considered necessary or proportionate in a democratic society, says Ruth Nordström, Chief lawyer at Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

- The current clause cannot be regarded as a proportionate restriction on human rights. Freedom of conscience is applied in over 40 European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom and the neighboring countries Norway and Denmark. If it is possible to solve in workplaces in basically all democratic states among the member states of the Council of Europe, it also should be possible in Sweden. Freedom of conscience has also been granted at workplaces throughout Sweden for about 40 years and is stated as a prerequisite in the preparatory works of the abortion law, says Rebecca Ahlstrand, lawyer at Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

Skandinaviska Människorättsjuristerna (SHRL) är en skandinavisk juristorganisation som arbetar med att främja mänskliga rättigheter i Europa. SHRL är medlem i EU:s plattform för mänskliga rättigheter, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights http://fra.europa.eu/en)

SHRL arbetar via internationella nätverk och organ och som styrdokument finns FN:s deklaration om mänskliga rättigheter, Barnkonventionen, Europakonventionen om de mänskliga rättigheterna och Europarådets konvention om bekämpande av människohandel. SHRL och Scandinavian Human Rights Committee delar årligen ut priset Scandinavian Human Dignity Award.

The UN Committee against Torture stops expulsion of family

July 4, 2019

Scandinavian Human Rights lawyers represent a family of six people, citizens of Afghanistan, who fled to Sweden because of honor-related persecution. In Sweden, the family has converted from Islam to Christianity, but all family members have been denied a residence permit in Sweden, even though they risk torture and inhuman and degrading treatment in Afghanistan. After the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers filed four complaints concerning different family members, to the UN Committee against Torture, the Committee requested that the Swedish Government stop the expulsion while the case is examined by the Committee.

- The decision is very satisfying. In the complaints we have pointed to the shortcomings that exist in the Migration Authorities' examination of genuine faith and that, among other things, the recommendations of the UNHCR are not followed in all respects. There is, for example, no expert knowledge about religion and conversion among the authorities and the assessments are often lacking in objectivity, says Rebecca Ahlstrand, lawyer at the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

- The UN's decision means that the enforcement of the family's deportation is now stopped and that the Swedish government is given the opportunity to respond and give its statement to the UN's torture committee, says Jonathan Johnsen, lawyer at the Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers.

- We have previously worked with a legal analysis of similar cases in the Conversion Report that was released earlier this year. The investigation shows that the assessment of genuine faith is often characterized by arbitrariness and legal uncertainty for the individual. In the complaint, we have also pointed to the overall and systemic shortcomings that we have observed in this case and similar cases, says Ruth Nordström, Chief Legal Counsel Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers

Read on: Conversion report

Skandinaviska Människorättsjuristerna (SHRL) är en skandinavisk juristorganisation som arbetar med att främja mänskliga rättigheter i Europa. SHRL är medlem i EU:s plattform för mänskliga rättigheter, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights http://fra.europa.eu/en)

SHRL arbetar via internationella nätverk och organ och som styrdokument finns FN:s deklaration om mänskliga rättigheter, Barnkonventionen, Europakonventionen om de mänskliga rättigheterna och Europarådets konvention om bekämpande av människohandel. SHRL och Scandinavian Human Rights Committee delar årligen ut priset Scandinavian Human Dignity Award.

Report about the Asylum Processes of Religious Converts in Sweden

Stockholm, March 20, 2019

Summary and Conclusions

In a world with growing numbers of refugees, the number of asylum-seekers in Sweden peaked in 2015. This year marked a high point for refugees with roots in Afghanistan, among others. Within this group, a relatively large number have converted to Christianity. This has led to questions of faith, religion and conversion and have become highly relevant in the asylum process. Many Christian churches throughout Sweden are involved in these matters, and in their engagement, they have witnessed the challenges that asylum-seeking converts face. This reality forms the background of this report.

This report has four related objectives:

• to gather information about asylum cases in which the grounds for asylum is conversion.
• to shed light on questions of religion and conversion, first and foremost in the context of the asylum processes of converts.
• to analyze the Swedish Migration Board’s handling of asylum cases in which conversion is a relevant factor. This analysis is divided into three sections: quantitative, qualitative and legal.
• to present recommendations for action based on the findings.

The material found in this report has been collected from 76 Free Churches in 64 locations throughout Sweden. The material is based on documents concerning the asylum processes of 619 persons. These 619 persons are all Afghan citizens who applied for asylum in Sweden between 2015 and 2018. All 619 are baptized members of the aforementioned churches and are therefore considered converts in this report.

In reviewing current research on religion and conversion, the report shows that religion cannot be understood solely as a system of ideas. All current research on religion considers religious faith to be multidimensional, and the last few decades of research emphasize the social and material dimensions of religious practice. Conversion must therefore be understood, in the light of this research, as a multifaceted process rather than as an emotional or conceptual transition from one worldview to another.

The quantitative analysis shows that 68% of the converts represented in the study are denied asylum on the grounds that their faith is not judged to be genuine. In cases where conversion became a relevant factor late in the asylum process, the figure for negative decisions increases to 81%. Furthermore, it is apparent that converts’ proven involvement in church life plays a negligible or nonexistent part in the decisions. One of the most notable aspects of the analysis is the great difference between comparable entities in the material. In two comparable congregations, one has a negative decision frequency of 52% while the same figure for the other is 84%. A comparison of the Swedish Migration Board’s offices in Jönköping and Gothenburg shows that the former has a negative decision frequency of 44% while the same figure for the latter is 80%. Furthermore, the study shows that the political leanings of the Swedish Migration Court’s lay judges have a significant effect, as SD (Sweden Democrat) lay judges reach negative decisions in 93% of cases, while the same figure for V (Left Party) lay judges is 15%. The overall conclusion of the study is that the asylum process for converts is not in accordance with the rule of law.

By means of a qualitative analysis of the content of the documents in 61 cases, a comparison has been made between the stories of the converts and the Swedish Migration Board’s motivations for decisions. The analysis shows that there is no structurally identifiable content-related difference on a group level between the converts who have received negative decisions and those who have received positive decisions. However, the study indicate clear differences in the Migration Board’s motivations in cases that have received negative decisions as compared to cases that have received positive decisions. The difference can be traced to the convert’s intellectual ability to reflect on his or her faith, with the result that it is the intellectual capacity, rather than the faith, of the convert that is judged. The analysis also shows that the Migration Board holds a dubious and inconsistent position on the public nature of faith, as converts are presumed to be able to choose to keep their faith private and secret. The qualitative analysis also shows that the converts’ membership and involvement in local churches is given negligible or nonexistent weight. In light of all of this, the conclusion of the study is that the Swedish Migration Board does not have sufficient competence to judge cases on scientific grounds in accordance with the rule of law.

In the legal section, the point is made that the right to change religion is a basic human right, as is the right to an objective asylum procedure in accordance with the rule of law. The analysis shows that the Swedish Migration Board’s decisions are often in opposition to applicable law, international law and human rights. The European Court of Human Rights, the guidelines given by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations’ Committee Against Torture all provide essential guidance concerning the application of relevant international conventions. Based on this guidance, this analysis reveals systematic deficiencies in the praxis of the Swedish Migration Board. The overall conclusion of the study is that the Migration Board’s decisions in the cases of converts included in the study are arbitrary and not in accordance with the rule of law.

The Report’s Conclusion:

• The Swedish Migration Board has a weak understanding of religion and conversion which lacks scientific grounding.
• The Swedish Migration Board’s decisions show unreasonable differences between comparable entities, leading to arbitrary decisions.
• The Swedish Migration Board’s praxis is not based on reliable methodology, leading to inconsistent motivations for decisions.
• The Swedish Migration Board does not comply sufficiently with international law and human rights conventions, leading to a lack of legal security.

On the basis of a full review of the analyzed material, the following is recommended:

• Further investigation of the unreasonable and legally insecure conditions that this report has revealed must be carried out.
• The Swedish Migration Board must ensure the due competence of all employees who make decisions in asylum cases in which conversion is relevant. It must ensure that no negative decisions are made without first being reviewed by a trained specialist.
• The Swedish Migration Board’s legal department should appoint a group of experts in the field of religion and conversion as a resource in all cases where conversion is a relevant factor.
• The converts’ cited written evidence must be valued more highly in the asylum procedure.
• Until these changes are carried out, deportation of converts and asylum-seekers in whose cases conversion is a relevant factor must not be carried out.
• When new guidelines are implemented:
  • All asylum seekers in whose cases conversion is a relevant factor must be given the right to a new process.
  • Sweden’s foreign embassies must be assigned to contact deported persons who have applied for asylum on the grounds of conversion in order to investigate whether they have been subjected to threats or treatment that can be grounds for protection. If this is the case, Sweden should offer these persons international protection.

For full report, see http://humanrightslawyers.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Konvertitutredning_summary_in_english.pdf

Authors:
Maria Gustin Bergström, Ulrik Josefsson, Maria Lindqvist, Ruth Nordström, Rebecca Ahlstrand and Jakob Svensson.

Skandinaviska Människorättsjuristerna (SHRL) är en skandinavisk juristorganisation som arbetar med att främja mänskliga rättigheter i Europa. SHRL är medlem i EU:s plattform för mänskliga rättigheter, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights http://fra.europa.eu/en)

SHRL arbetar via internationella nätverk och organ och som styrdokument finns FN:s deklaration om mänskliga rättigheter, Barnkonventionen, Europakonventionen om de mänskliga rättigheterna och Europarådets konvention om bekämpande av människohandel. SHRL och Scandinavian Human Rights Committee delar årligen ut priset Scandinavian Human Dignity Award.