Human rights in Finland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Finland

Constitution Government President Tarja Halonen Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja Parliament Council of State Elections: Parliamentary: 2003 - 2007 Presidential: 2006 Political parties Politicians Provinces (läänit) Municipalities Foreign relations Human rights EU Politics

Other countries · Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Human rights in Finland are protected by extensive domestic safeguards, in addition to the country's active membership in most international human rights treaties.

Areas of continuing interest to international agencies that monitor human rights include:

1. Mandatory options of civilian or military service are of unequal duration: civilian service 13 months, or one month longer than the longest rank-and-file service (drivers, commissioned and non-commissioned officers), 12 months, and 4 months longer than the average service in army, 8 months.
2. Conscientious objectors to both military and civilian service are jailed for three months. There are about 10-20 conscientious objectors every year. Most are in minimum security, open facilities.
3. Charges of racist/xenophobic treatment of ethnic minorities by officials, and that refugees are hand-picked by the Ministry of the Interior on basis of country of origin citing "security reasons".
4. A case in which agitated asylum seekers were drugged, for extradition.
5. Unfair court action in the light of the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights.

[edit] See also

• Gay rights in Finland

[edit] External links

• Homepage of the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Human Rights.
• Human Rights and Finnish Foreign Policy.
• Archive of Finland reports at Amnesty International.
• Archive of Finland reports at Human Rights Watch.
• 2005 Finland report of Freedom House.
• 2004 World Press Freedom Review, published by the International Press Institute
• Homepage of the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University.
• The Finnish League for Human Rights
• Censorship cases in Finland - IFEX

U.S. State Department Annual Reports

• Religious Freedom Report 2005
• Religious Freedom Report 2004
• Religious Freedom Report 2003
• Religious Freedom Report 2002
• Religious Freedom Report 2001
• Religious Freedom Report 2000
• Religious Freedom Report 1999
• Human Rights Report 2004
• Human Rights Report 2003
• Human Rights Report 2002
• Human Rights Report 2001
• Human Rights Report 2000
• Human Rights Report 1999