Human rights report emphasizes long-term measures to promote equality
Press release 242/2014
30 October 2014
The Government today approved the Human Rights Report for submission to Parliament. The report assesses both international human rights activities and the implementation of fundamental and human rights in Finland. Its predecessor, the Government Report on the Human Rights Policy of Finland, was submitted to Parliament in 2009.
The report emphasizes long-term measures to promote equality. In addition, important principles and departure points in the Government’s activities are to ensure the coverage and universality of human rights as well as strong participation rights for civil society.
Unlike the human rights reviews of many other countries, this report deals with both national fundamental and human rights issues and international human rights activities. The Government stresses the interconnection and parallelism of national and international activities. Safeguarding freedom of speech and eradicating hate speech, the fundamental and human rights of sexual and gender minorities (LGBT), the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights are all considered in their own sections.
Priorities in international activities are women’s rights, intervention concerning the most serious forms of discrimination, civil society’s participation rights and the openness of decision-making. Finland stresses the importance of the implementation of international law and effective monitoring. Preventing the use of armed violence requires sufficiently early and clear intervention in situations involving violations of the rights of minorities and other human rights. Intervention in situations of human rights violations should take place everywhere with the same consistency. Finland keeps human rights issues in the forefront regularly as an aspect of political contacts with other countries.
The report highlights the increased importance of the European Union in the promotion of fundamental and human rights within the Union and internationally. Strengthening the fundamental rights dimension of the European Union is an important aim for Finland. Finland supports the EU’s accession, as quickly as possible, to the European Convention on Human Rights as well as further strengthening of the position of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
The Government believes that during its term of office, the coming Government should prepare Finland’s second national action plan on fundamental and human rights, the priorities of which should be defined already in the Government Programme. Activities of the now established Government network of contact persons for fundamental and human rights should be continued. The present Government, within its term of office, will launch a study on the position, distribution of tasks and resourcing of national actors involved in fundamental and human rights issues.
A wide range of non-governmental organizations, monitors of legality and other fundamental and human rights experts were consulted during the compilation of this report. Almost one thousand people responded to the questionnaire on fundamental and human rights posted on the otakantaa.fi service of the Ministry of Justice.
Additional information: Human Rights Ambassador Rauno Merisaari, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 974, and Ministerial Adviser Kaisa Tiusanen, Ministry of Justice, tel. +358 295 150 454 (EU and national affairs).