The 52nd session of the Human Rights Council Item 6 – Universal Periodic Review
Statement by the Delegation of Finland, 27 March 2023.
Mr President, Distinguished Colleagues,
Participants
On behalf of the Government of Finland, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to all delegations for making recommendations during our interactive dialogue in November.
We thank our troika, Luxembourg, Mexico and Somalia for skilfully facilitating the review process as well as the Secretariat for all their work and support, which we very much appreciate.
Today we warmly welcome, in particular, the opportunity to hear the views and comments from our National Human Rights Institution, accredited with A status, and non-governmental organisations.
The UPR is a valuable system, as every cycle provides us with more targeted and tailored recommendations. The previous cycles have supported the Government to implement and put into concrete action human rights commitments of Finland.
The UPR covers the field of human rights in a way that is equal and constructive. The UPR works as a channel to present national achievements, but also works as a mirror to detect those areas, where work is still needed. The recommendations give us concrete tools, which can be used in the promotion of human rights.
Looking at the past years in Europe and globally, COVID-19 and Russian aggression on Ukraine have emphasised the need for a rule-based universal international system and binding obligations for human rights. The UPR procedure can promote our joint efforts to protect human rights.
For Finland, the timing of our UPR review could not have been better, as parliamentary elections are held in April and a new government programme will be drawn. As the Constitution of Finland requires active measures from the public authorities for the protection and promotion of fundamental and human rights, the recommendations support the implementation and promotion of human rights in the Government's activities.
In the Government Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the legal protection of fundamental and human rights formed the very basis. The basic principles in the programme are equality, non-discrimination, participation, and securing everyone’s social, cultural and economic rights.
The Government’s policy on fundamental and human rights has been outlined in the Government of Finland Report on Human Rights. It stresses the importance of strengthening non-discrimination, equality and participatory rights. The democratic system and the rule of law underline ensuring the freedom of action of civil society as well as the broadest possible opportunities for people to participate in and influence in various sectors of societal life.
The active role of civil society is present also in the UPR process. The dialogues and interactions with non-governmental organisations provide an opportunity to asses critically also the stand the Government of Finland has taken on the recommendations, and highlight the areas where prompt actions are needed.
The network of contact persons for fundamental and human rights consisting of representatives of all government ministries has reviewed the UPR recommendations and will continue actively following up to their implementation. A voluntary mid-term report, with the support of independent human rights actors will be prepared and submitted to the Human Rights Council.
Finland’s National Human Rights Institution, particularly the Human Rights Centre, will naturally be playing a significant role in monitoring the implementation of the UPR recommendations.
Mr. President,
Finland received 229 recommendations, of which all were taken for further examination. Through inter-ministerial cooperation, the Government has thoroughly considered all recommendations. The Government supported altogether 168 recommendations and 14 recommendations were partially supported. The rest, 47 recommendations were noted. The Government provided its written comments on the noted recommendations in the addendum of the Working Group’s report at hand. The Government also provided an annex with further information on the supported and partly supported recommendations.
Many of the supported recommendations are already in the process of being implemented and the rest will be taken into further consideration as to how they will be implemented.
For example, as regards the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, I am pleased to inform you that Finland has deposited its instrument of ratification last Friday. For Finland, the Convention will enter into force in one month.
Key themes arising in our UPR recommendations are discrimination, racism and hate speech, as well as violence against women. The rights of minorities, asylum seekers and indigenous Sámi people, also illustrate the challenges in the national human rights framework that need urgent attention.
Regarding violence against women, Finland firmly supports these recommendations and presents the further measures, which have already been adopted to combat the challenge. For example, the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Istanbul Convention 2022-2025 includes a total of 36 measures aimed at, for example, preventing violence against women and improving access to services intended for victims and perpetrators of violence. The Government Report on Gender Equality also pays strong attention to gender-based violence, and the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has been assigned the role of a Rapporteur on violence against women. However, it is clear that further steps are still needed.
To combat racism and discrimination, the Action Plan for Combating Racism and Promoting Good Relations between Population Groups will continue until the end of 2023. Finland will also engage in cross-administrative work between different ministries in combating racism and hate crimes against immigrants and asylum seekers.
Both noted and accepted recommendations are used as tools of equal value in the Government’s work. The Government will also review the possible implementation of the noted recommendations when preparing its voluntary mid-term report. Moreover, Finland will provide information on noted as well as accepted recommendations in its fifth UPR report. The noted recommendations also provide an important tool for the National Human Rights Institution and non-governmental organisations in their independent monitoring of the human rights situation in Finland. The Government wants to underline that noting recommendations does not mean rejecting them.
Two legislative reforms that have caused much discussion are the Act on the Sámi Parliament and the new Animal Welfare Act.
We received several well-founded questions about the rights of the indigenous Sámi people. A government proposal to amend the Act on the Sámi Parliament was submitted to Parliament in November 2022. The proposal was discussed in various parliamentary committees in 2023, but there was no plenary decision taken. Due to time constraints related to the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Constitutional Law Committee, which served as the Committee for reports, did not have the prerequisites to draw up an appropriate report on the matter. However, the Committee considered it important that the Government submits a new proposal on the matter immediately at the beginning of the next parliamentary term in order to safeguard the provisions on the status and rights of the Sámi in the Constitution of Finland and to fulfil Finland’s international human rights obligations. Thus, Finland is committed to taking the necessary steps to protect the rights of the Sami.
A government proposal for an Act on Animal Welfare and related acts was submitted to Parliament in September 2022. The proposal would have changed the provisions on animal slaughtering due to religious reasons so that the animal must be stunned before slaughtering. However, Parliament accepted the proposal as amended and the provisions on animal slaughtering remained as before.
Many of the noted and partly supported recommendations included measures which are dependent on the Government programme and related resources. As a new Government programme will be soon drawn and its contents are not know, supporting these recommendations was not possible.
Noting a recommendation does not mean, that measures on the subject are not taken. For example concerning Roma people, Finland is committed to enhancing opportunities to join education and work life, but new steps are not planned. The National Policy on Roma 2023-2030 contains measures to improve the participation, inclusion and equality of the Roma population in education and training and in employment opportunities.
Finland is committed to increasing human rights education, but due to the strong constitutional safeguards for autonomy, it is not possible to present obligatory teaching for independent universities or on the judiciary. However, the National Courts Administration provides yearly human rights training to the members of the judiciary and the Government encourages universities to include goals related to human rights in their curricula and all other levels of education.
Finally, Mr President,
The Government’s views on the UPR recommendations were discussed with the Finnish civil society representatives in the beginning of March. In the discussion, they presented their views on the acceptance of the recommendations. The Government was requested to support more recommendations. Civil society representatives were frustrated with repeated recommendations calling for more effective implementation measures. It was strongly emphasized that there must be sufficient resources for the implementation of Finland’s human rights obligations and commitments, regardless of the government term and the government programme. Moreover, the organisations expressed the need to discuss the UPR recommendations at the highest political level. Adequate structures and processes for the regular review of Finland’s human right obligations and commitments were called for. Both the Government and Parliament should discuss the recommendations as well as judgments and decisions comprehensively.
With regard to the thematic UPR recommendations, the most criticism was levelled at the shortcomings related to the implementation of the rights of the indigenous Sámi people. Concerns were expressed, for example, with regard to insufficient measures to prevent violence against women, to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and to address the questions related to military service and its alternatives. The Government took note of these comments. In the Government’s view, the dialogue with civil society is an absolute added value of the UPR – broad recommendations enable diverse dialogue at different stages of the process.
The Government welcomes civil society participation in and contribution to the implementation process. This cooperation will continue also in the preparation of the mid-term report. By working together, the goal of a stronger human rights framework will be achieved.
Thank you.