Posts Tagged ‘foreign policy of Sweden’

Sweden’s new strategy places greater emphasis on Human Rights Defenders

February 13, 2024

On 5 February 2024, the Swedish Government adopted a new five-year strategy for development cooperation for human rights and freedoms, democracy and the rule of law. This strategy is an important part of the implementation of the Government’s new reform agenda for development assistance and contributes to free and inclusive democratic societies built on respect for human rights and freedoms.

Democracy, human rights and freedoms, and the rule of law are essential for freedom, security and the continued development of society. At the same time, we see storm clouds gathering. Democracy is in decline for the seventeenth consecutive year, which gives rise to increased oppression and conflicts. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is a clear example of this. 

Another is the way authoritarian states are undermining fundamental human rights and freedoms and using new digital technology for oppression and to spread disinformation.  

“With this strategy, the Government is placing greater emphasis on the individuals around the world who fight for their freedom every day. We want to help those living under oppressive systems. Unfortunately, we see that democracy is headed in the wrong direction. That’s why Sweden has to do its part. We will do what we can to support the positive forces that exist,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell.

The strategy outlines the Swedish Government’s increased focus on supporting defenders of human rights and democracy, free elections and independent journalism, in comparison with the previous strategy. The allocated budget for the strategy in 2024 is SEK 900 million. This budget is set out by the Government each year.

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/686383753/new-development-cooperation-strategy-increases-focus-on-defenders-of-democracy-and-independent-journalists

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Sweden charges ex-Ambassador to China over pressure on daughter of Gui Minhai

December 10, 2019

Last month I reported on Sweden standing up to China in giving an award to Gui Minhai [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/11/19/sweden-defies-chinese-threats-after-award-to-book-publisher-gui-minhai/] On 9 December 2019 the New York Times comes with a related story that is quite amazing: the former Ambassador to China, Anna Lindstedt, is accused of arranging unauthorized talks between the daughter of a detained bookseller and two men representing Chinese interests. She has even been charged with “arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power”. “In this specific consular matter, she has exceeded her mandate and has therefore rendered herself criminally liable,” Hans Ihrman, the deputy chief public prosecutor for Sweden’s National Security Unit, said in a statement on Monday. Mr. Ihrman said the charge of arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power was “unprecedented.” Angela Gui, the daughter of Gui Minhai, said the two Chinese men who had offered to help free Mr. Gui instead pressured her to keep silent.

Credit…Leif R Jansson/TT, via Associated Press

A lawyer for Ms. Lindstedt, Conny Cedermark, said Monday in an email that no crime had been committed. “Arbitrary conduct in negotiation with a foreign power has a series of prerequisites,” he said, and none of them had been met in the case.

Mr. Gui was one of five Hong Kong-based publishers who were abducted and taken to China in 2015 after publishing books that were critical of the Communist Party elite, setting off international condemnation. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/01/21/confessions-abound-on-chinese-television-first-gui-minhai-and-now-peter-dahlin/

Relations between Sweden and China have been strained since Gui Minhai was kidnapped in 2015, and tensions increased last month when the Swedish office of the writers’ group PEN said that it was awarding a literary prize to Mr. Gui. The prize is given annually to an author or publisher who is persecuted, threatened or living in exile. Three days later, the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm called the prize a “farce” and threatened consequences if members of the Swedish government were to attend the award ceremony. A week later, Amanda Lind, Sweden’s minister of culture, not only attended the ceremony but also awarded the prize, despite warnings from the Chinese ambassador that Ms. Lind and other government officials working in the area of culture would no longer be welcome in China. Late last month, China appeared to follow through on its warning, with SVT reporting that two Swedish films had been banned from screenings in China. Last week, after a seminar in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Swedish-Chinese relations, the Chinese ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou, told the newspaper Goteborgs-Posten that China would limit trade with Sweden because of its handling of the Gui Minhai case.

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2017 (5): With Trump US president, Sweden must stand up for human rights

January 24, 2017

On 24 January 2017, thelocal.se published the English version of an opinion piece originally written in Swedish by Civil Rights Defenders executive director Robert Hårdh for newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Like my post published yesterday about the call for Canada to ‘compensate’ for Trumps election [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/01/23/2017-4-canadas-year-of-real-human-rights-action/], this piece argues that Sweden, also as a member of the EU and with its current place on the UN Security council, must step forward and take a greater responsibility to protect human rights on a global level: Read the rest of this entry »

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