HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT OF FINLAND

19 October 2004


The Human Rights Committee has considered the fifth periodic report of Finland on how that State party implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Introducing the report, Pekka Hallberg, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, said the rights of women, children, minorities, and persons with disabilities were among the priorities of the Finnish human rights society. He drew attention to several measures taken in terms of ensuring gender equality, non-discrimination and the rights of indigenous people and foreigners in Finland. The Government actively aimed to find a solution to the question of the land rights of the Sami and the Ministry of Justice had commissioned several reports to look into this issue. The Government had also been working to improve the position of the Roma at both the national and international levels.

In preliminary remarks, Committee Chairperson Abdelfattah Amor praised the delegation for the quality of the report, the quality of the delegation and the serious approach it had taken in replying fully to the questions posed by the Committee. The Chairperson expressed the Committee’s concern about the question of equality between men and women, about the issue of preventive detention, and the length of military service compared to civil service. The situation of the Roma and the Sami people in Finland was also raised as a matter of concern.

Other Committee Experts raised questions on subjects pertaining, among other things, to the issue of conscientious objectors and Jehovah Witnesses; Sami land rights; the reservations to the Covenant submitted by Finland; gender equality measures taken by the State party; compensation in cases of discrimination; and the length of military service compared to alternative civil service.

The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Finland towards the end of its session which will conclude on 5 November.

Also representing Finland were representatives of the country’s Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Finland is among the 153 States parties to the Covenant and as such it is obligated to submit reports on its performance aimed at implementing the provisions of the treaty. It is also one of the 104 States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. this afternoon to begin its consideration of the initial report of Albania (CCPR/C/ALB/2004/1).

Report of Finland

The report, found in document CCPR/C/FIN/2003/5, notes the setting up of a Committee in 2000 by the Finnish Ministry of Justice to examine the question of land-ownership by the Sami people. It states that the number of women occupying high posts in the State administration has steadily increased within the last few years and that the Roma are usually in a weaker socio-economic position than Finns on average, and private housing possibilities are often out of their reach. The contacts between the Roma and the Minority Ombudsman have mainly concerned housing problems.

Among certain measures taken by the State was the coordinating of an information campaign by the Ministry of Labour in 2001 against discrimination. The groups facing discrimination in Finland, including the Roma, participated in the planning and implementation of the campaign on equal standing with the authorities. There is another project partly financed by the European Union which is designed to provide training and information for local authorities in respect of good practices. Among other measures taken by the State party with regard to the Roma is a project set out during the first months of 2003 where the Ministry of Labour has undertaken to assess factors affecting the employment of the Roma.

The Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers was amended in 2002 to the effect that the enhancement and monitoring of ethnic relations is now part of the local/regional integration programmes. In February 2003, Parliament passed the Government Bill for the enactment of the new Language Act with the purpose of ensuring the protection of language rights of Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations as required by the Constitution. A new Act on the Treatment of Aliens and Detention Units, under which detained foreigners shall be held in special detention units, entered into force in March 2002, and calls for provisions to aliens in terms of lodging, interpretation and other services by the detention unit. The report also states that a detained foreigner may not be held in a police establishment for longer than four days.

Presentation of Report

PEKKA HALLBERG, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, said the rights of women, children, minorities, and persons with disabilities were among the priorities of the Finnish human rights society. Among the legislative reforms taken by the State party were the reform of the Language Act, a Government Bill for a new Sami Language Act, a new Non-Discrimination Act which entered into force in February 2004, and a Government Bill to implement Protocol 13 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning abolishing the death penalty in all circumstances, which had been submitted to the Finnish Parliament.

Under the reformed Language Act, which entered into force at the beginning of 2004, the Government sought to guarantee equality between the Finnish and Swedish languages and was mandated to submit a report to each elected Parliament on the implementation of language rights. Apart from Finnish and Swedish, the report provided information at least on the situation of Sami and Roma languages as well as sign language. The Government Bill for a new Sami Language Act was submitted to Parliament in September 2003, with a view to eliminating the difficulties there had been in the interpretation of certain provisions of the existing Act. The new Act entered into force on 1 January 2004.

The Non-Discrimination Act entered into force at the beginning of this year and prohibited discrimination based on age, ethnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, health, disability and sexual orientation, in the same way as the Constitution of Finland. This Act was also related to the establishment of the independent Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities and of the Discrimination Board attached to the Ministry of Labour. The mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman included the monitoring of ethnic discrimination.

Mr. Hallberg also drew attention to the amendment of the Act of Equality between Women and Men which was submitted to Parliament in October 2004 and was scheduled to enter into force at the beginning of next year. The amendment suggested, among other things, that the obligation of an employer to promote gender equality should be expressed more precisely by obligating the employer to promote gender equality between women and men in all terms of employment, especially in respect of payment. There have also been other measures to address the question of equal pay. In December 2003, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health designated an official to examine the possibility of preparing a joint equal pay programme for the Government and its social partners. The present Government’s political programme addressed violence as an issue of gender equality and as a phenomenon undermining the general safety of people. Moreover, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health was preparing an action plan to prevent intimate partner violence and family violence.

The head of the delegation referred to the Act on the Restraining Order which had been supplemented with an inside-family restraining order, which was intended to provide preventive protection for a family member who was likely to become a victim of a violent offence.

A new instrument to tackle trafficking in women had also been prepared by the Government, based on the proposal of a working group, which would be submitted to Parliament in 2005. A new provision had also been added to the State’s Penal Code to address trafficking in human beings committed outside of Finland, regardless of the law of the place of the act.

The overall reform of the immigration legislation entered into force in May 2004, Mr. Hallberg noted. The primary objective of the reform was to achieve a clear and consistent act and thereby contribute to improved protection of immigrants and asylum-seekers. Moreover, both the Finnish Police Act and the Frontier Guard Act had been reformed with the aim of providing more detailed provisions on the requirement of respect for fundamental human rights.

The reform of the Nationality Act had also been completed and the new Act entered into force in June 2003. The new Act considerably extended the possibility for multiple or dual nationality. It also aimed at promoting equality between men and women and by doing so, it improved the equality of children regardless of origin.

The Government had actively aimed to find a solution to the question of the land rights of the Sami and the Ministry of Justice had commissioned several reports to look into this issue. The Government had also been working to improve the position of the Roma at both the national and international levels. At the international level, the most important measure had been the initiative of the President of Finland for the setting up of a European Roma Forum. At the national level, the protection of the rights of Roma by law had been strengthened, among others, through the reform of the provisions on fundamental rights in the Constitution of Finland in 1995. Moreover, the Advisory Board for Roma Affairs aimed at increasing the knowledge of authorities of the special needs of Roma by arranging training for housing and educational authorities and for the police.

Mr. Hallberg noted that one of the relevant bodies in the prevention of racism was the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations which assisted and provided expertise for the Government and the different ministries concerning refugees and immigration in the development, planning and monitoring of the Government’s policy on refugees and immigration.

In conclusion, the head of the delegation informed the Committee that, in connection with the overall reform of the provisions on the enforcement of imprisonment, a Government Bill would be submitted to Parliament in due course with new provisions on imprisonment and release on parole.

Responses to Questions Prepared by Committee Experts

The delegation provided responses to a number of questions submitted by the Committee in writing and posed orally during the course of the two meetings. A member of the Committee noted that much work was underway in Finland and legislation was being developed to pay attention to the most important issues pertaining to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Other members asked for additional information on the situation of dangerous repeat offenders and whether the rule of in absencia could be applied in the case of serious offences.

Other questions raised pertained to the issue of conscientious objectors and Jehovah Witnesses; Sami land rights; freedom of religion, in particular the law of 2003 and whether it had resolved the situation of the religious status of the child; the reservations to the Covenant submitted by Finland; gender equality measures taken by the State party; compensation in cases of discrimination; and military service compared to alternative military, or civil, service.

In response to a question on the reservation made by Finland on young prisoners, the delegation said the population of prisoners under 18 in Finland was very low, less than 10 in all. There was a practical difficulty of separating young prisoners. Prisoners under 21 were also considered to be juvenile offenders and special departments were established in certain prisons to house prisoners in this age group. A Government Bill would be submitted which contained proposals for a new Prison Act and a new Remand Prisoners Act to address this question further, but at present there were no plans by the Government to withdraw this reservation.

Concerning Finland's reservation under article 14, on the equality of all persons before the courts and the reversal of a conviction to an accused person, the delegation noted that this reservation was rarely applied and only in exceptional situations. Cases could be reversed, for example if it was determined that false evidence was submitted. The Supreme Court of Appeals dealt with all cases of reversal of conviction. As to its reservation on article 20 on the propaganda of war, the delegation said propaganda for war during military action or an international political crisis concerning Finland was a criminal offence according to an amendment to the Penal Code. The delegation noted that consideration had been given to the withdrawal of this reservation.

Concerning the rights of an injured party to compensation, the delegation said damages might be payable if the damages were based on discriminatory acts. Under the Non-Discrimination Act, the injured party had the right to a maximum compensation of up to 15,000 Euros for discriminatory acts.

With regard to gender equality, the delegation noted that an amendment had been made to the Act of Equality of Women and Men which called for a gender equality plan to be prepared for every workplace in cooperation with all workplace staff. The matter of wage differences would be monitored as per the revision of this Act. Other efforts were also being taken with regard to equal pay. In the near future, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health would nominate a working group to further look into the matter of equal wages. The Equality Ombudsman was monitoring these equality plans and there was a possibility that the Ombudsman could bring employers to court if they were not adhering to wage equality. There was a special provision concerning the burden of proof to ensure that when a women claimed to be discriminated against and presented evidence in support of the allegations, then the employer must demonstrate that there was no violation of the principle of equal treatment.

In response to a question on domestic violence, the delegation said the Government had been intensifying its measures to combat such violence. The Ministry of Justice was preparing a national programme to reduce these incidents and had set up a working group for the prevention of violence against women. The main objectives of the working group were to prevent this form of violence and to improve the country-wide networks of services for victims of such violence, as well as services to assist children who experienced such violence. On a related question, the delegation noted that the minimum penalty for rape was increased from six months imprisonment to one year. The Act on Restraining Order was also supplemented with an inside-family restraining order which meant that a restraining order might also be handed down to persons living in the same household as the victim. Last year there were some 1,500 restraining orders submitted. Legislation had also been amended concerning the basic forms of assault and provisions which made it more difficult for a person to avoid penal sanctions.

With respect to combating trafficking in women and children, the delegation said the Government had made important legislative changes in the form of a revision of the Penal Code concerning international offences which allowed for penal sanctions of up to 10 years imprisonment for serious cases of trafficking. Last year a working group by the Ministry of Justice was set up to draft a protocol concerning the issue of trafficking. Liaison prosecutors had also been appointed to address this problem. Moreover, recently the Government had created a Working Group to draft a Plan of Action aimed at combating human trafficking in general.

On the subject of preventive detention, the delegation said the present number of prisoners in this condition was 22. As per a prisoner reform programme, after serving two-thirds of a punishment a convicted person could be freed if he or she was deemed not to be a harm to society. The only difference between prisoners who were in preventive detention and others was that they were not given the opportunity for parole. There were 104 prisoners serving a life sentence in Finland. In reaction to a related question, the delegation noted that a person had the right to use a legal counsellor in pre-trial investigation and the arrested person was always informed of the right to legal counsel. Concerning the treatment of a detained person, attention had to be paid to the medical condition of the prisoners. As a rule, the police ordered a medical check-up of a detained person at a public health centre, the delegation added. With regard to the provision made to aliens in detention, the detention might last for a maximum of four days. Last year there were some 200 reports for cases involving aliens.

Concerning pre-trial detention, the delegation said there were two new prisons in Finland which segregated remand prisoners from other prisoners. Apart for these two new prisons, remand prisoners were not segregated from other prisoners in Finnish prisons. Concerning the treatment of persons in police custody, the delegation said that according to the criminal investigations act, any person had the right to obtain legal counsel and was informed of the charges brought against him or her in the presence of a legal counsel. General conditions of prison facilities were monitored by police officials. There had been a major renovation of police stations in the capital and other locations as a way of bringing them up to standard. Concerning the situation of prisoners awaiting an appeal decision, the delegation said they kept the status of a remand prisoner until the decision was handed down by the Court of Appeals.


In response to a question pertaining to Roma in prisons, the delegation noted that according to information from prison services, threats and violence had occurred against Roma prisoners. The problem was one which was hard to tackle. Roma prisoners had been placed with other prisoners facing similar threats and violence. A prisoner had a right to request separation from other prisoners if he or she believed that their safety was being threatened.

Concerning a question on asylum seekers and the State’s Aliens Act, the delegation said the notion of a safe country of origin was used to describe each applicant’s individual situation in the country concerned. The individual requirements of the applicant were always taken into account. A general provision was placed in processing applications for asylum seekers which asked whether the State had an impartial judicial system allowing for a fair trial of the person in question and whether serious violations of human rights had taken place in the State concerned. In the case of a negative decision, the applicant was allowed to apply for a suspension of the decision.
The principle of non-refoulment was very well guarded in Finnish legislation and was enshrined in both the Constitution and the Aliens Act. The Government report on the implementation of the new Immigration Act of 2002 laid down certain policy lines and made proposals on measures to be taken which adhered closely to non-discrimination.

In response to a question on convictions in absencia, the delegation said some 20 per cent of criminal cases were decided in the absence of the person convicted, most often in cases involving drunk driving. Cases in absencia were only possible in the case of crimes when the punishment which could be imposed was a fine or a prison sentence not exceeding three months.

In response to a question related to terrorism, the delegation said Finland’s anti-terrorism legislation was implemented in terms of an amendment to the Penal Code. Many acts considered to be terrorist offences were punished by existing legislative provisions. Finland's anti-legislation measures aimed to place a special emphasis on human rights. A terrorist group was also expressly defined in the Penal Code.

Concerning the issue of military service in Finland, the delegation said military service was carried out in military barracks and lasted for a period of six months. The alternative to military service was civil service which lasted approximately 13 months. Amendments had been made to the Military Service Act of 1998 which made changes to the length of military service in Finland to periods ranging from 180 to 362 days. Persons who completed military services were obligated to serve as military reservists.

Concerning Jehovah Witnesses, the delegation noted that in June, the Ministry of Defence had set up a committee to examine the situation of Jehovah Witnesses who were given preferential treatment by being exempted from military service. The committee was expected to complete its work next year.

In response to a question posed on Sami land ownership rights, the delegation indicated that the Finnish Government had taken several steps in an attempt to alleviate the problem of land rights for Sami people. The Finnish authorities had been looking into the history of settlements and of the Sami people and a working group had been set up by the Government to further examine this question. A member of the Sami Parliament had been invited to participate in the working group. Generally speaking, the question of the self-determination of indigenous people was currently under debate in Finland and the Government hoped to solve the issue soon.

In response to questions on basic education services for the Roma, the delegation noted that Finland had a population of just over 5 million persons of which some 13,000 were Roma. In 2001 and 2002 the National Board of Education ran a national project in order to improve the quality of education for Roman pupils. The intention was to collect information to assess how these pupils were faring in the Finnish school system. In Finland, very few Roma spoke the Roma language; they spoke Finnish. However, measures had been taken to encourage these young people to learn the language of their ethnic origin. Efforts had been taken to encourage Roma families to have better attitudes about enrolling their children in schools. Measures had also been taken to improve the quality of school teaching material for Roma. Last year a text book was written in the Roma language for primary education; educational videos and a spelling and grammar book were produced. The Ministry of Education had also supported the publishing of a special Romani-Finnish dictionary. About five per cent of children in schools belonging to the Roma minority dropped out of compulsory schooling. The estimated number of Roma children in schools was 1,000. The biggest problem faced in terms of teaching the Roma language in schools was the lack of Roma-qualified teachers.

In response to a question posed on the State’s Non-discrimination Act, the delegation said the Act obligated the Government to draw up an equality plan to enforce ethnic equality and to take into account both immigrants and national minorities such as the Sami people and the Roma. The Roma in Finland lived in the same areas as Finnish people and there were hardly any homeless among them. However, Roma people still faced difficulties in terms of housing. The Ministry of Environment and the Advisory Board on Roma had published a guide on housing allocation which paid special attention to non-discrimination to address this problem.

Concerning the employment of Roma, the delegation said it was assessed that the unemployment rate of the Roma in Finland was some 20 per cent; 290 of the Roma unemployed made up a combination of young people under 25 and those over 60 years. The Ministry of Labour had sent a letter to employers nationwide to encourage them to employ Roma job seekers. Since 2001, the Ministry had encouraged special projects to promote equality which included measures such as awareness-raising as well as training for employment officers.

Preliminary Remarks

ABDELFATTAH AMOR, Committee Chairperson, in preliminary remarks praised the delegation for the quality of the report, the quality of the delegation and the serious approach it had taken in replying fully to the questions posed by the Committee. He said the Committee also paid tribute to one of its own members, Martin Scheinin of Finland, for his years of professional service with the Committee.

Mr. Amor noted that some issues continued to call the attention of the Committee and were cause for some reflection. The first issue that raised questions and concern was the issue of reservations to the Covenant. The Committee was also curious about the question of equality between men and women, particularly in terms of professional wages earned. As for the issue of preventive detention, the Chairperson noted that a person in preventive detention had the right to legal counsel but was concerned that this right implied the possibility of contacting the counsel by phone or by mail. Mr. Amor asked whether that was to be interpreted that the lawyer could not assist the charged person in person during the custody stage. While referring to the provision of medical services for a person in preventive detention, the idea of medical assistance implied that a person in custody should not suffer ill treatment.

The Chairperson said he was surprised by the length of military service compared to civil service and asked for more precise and clear information about this, given that the period of military service was half of that of civil service. He also called for additional information in the next report of the State party on the situation of Jehovah Witnesses and conscientious objectors. The situation of Roma was also a mater of concern and the Chairperson called on the State party to make more efforts in that regard. The interference with the independence of the judiciary and the rights of the Sami people were also matters of concern to the Committee. On the latter point, Mr. Amor noted that the Government had expressed its desire to reverse negative trends affecting Sami people but not enough had been done to defend these people in Finland.