Committee on the Rights of the Child considers the report of Sweden

Committee on the Rights of the Child

14 January 2015

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the fifth periodic report of Sweden on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Introducing the report, Pernilla Baralt, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden, said that the vision was to make Sweden one of the best countries for all children to grow up in and crucial in this work was to further strengthen the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  The right of the child to have a say and be taken seriously in all matters affecting the child was a real challenge for decision-makers; legislation and economic resources were not enough and Sweden planned to take further action in promoting awareness and knowledge in this regard.  Other priority areas included the protection of children at risk, inclusive education, reducing coercive measures against children in psychiatric institutions and pre-trial detention, and strengthening the position of children in the asylum process.  Continuous efforts were being made to combat trafficking in children and to assist victims of trafficking.

Committee Experts reiterated the long-standing concern that the principle of the best interest of the child was not well understood by the legislators and the judiciary and asked what was being done to increase their understanding of this principle.  Experts raised the issue of discrimination and expressed concern about the increase in racial discrimination and xenophobia in the country, and about exclusion and discrimination against children with disabilities, particularly in access to schools.  Experts asked a number of questions about the principle of local self-governance and how equal access to services for all children was guaranteed throughout the country.  Other issues raised in the dialogue included the disappearance of unaccompanied children from reception centres, methods of coercive treatment of children placed in psychiatric institutions, the system of juvenile justice, measures to improve the health status of children from disadvantaged groups, and the national plan to combat child poverty.

Hatem Kotrane, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, in concluding remarks thanked the delegation for the quality of the dialogue which had provided a better picture about the situation in Sweden and had shown that a lot of progress had been made in the laws and policies.  The Committee’s concluding observations would, inter alia, refer to the definition of child pornography, treatment of migrant children, pre-trial detention, and the situation of children in conflict with the law; it would also address legislation that was not in line with the Convention.

Also in concluding remarks, Ms. Baralt said that the dialogue today was crucial to understand the importance of socio-economic aspects, which was one of the grounds for discrimination, and the importance of inclusion of all, children with disabilities in particular.  The biggest task ahead was the fight against discrimination, racial discrimination and xenophobia, which must start with endowing children with the knowledge of own rights and the rights of their fellow children.

The delegation of Sweden included representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will reconvene in public at 3 p.m. today in Chamber B to consider the combined third to fifth periodic report of Mauritius (CRC/C/MUS/3-5).  In Chamber A, the Committee will meet at 3 p.m. to conclude its consideration of the combined second to fourth periodic report of Turkmenistan (CRC/C/TKM/2-4) and its initial reports under the Optional Protocols on children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution.

Report

The fifth periodic report of Sweden can be read via the link: (CRC/C/SWE/5).

Presentation of the Report

PERNILLA BARALT, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden, introducing the report, said that promoting and protecting the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights, including the rights of the child, was a core value and a central priority in Sweden’s national and foreign policy.  The vision was to make Sweden one of the best countries for all children to grow up in and crucial in this work was to further strengthen the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  The right of the child to have a say and be taken seriously in all matters affecting the child was a real challenge for decision-makers; legislation and economic resources were not enough and Sweden planned to take further action in promoting awareness and knowledge about how to promote and protect the rights of the child.  Important work had been done by the Ombudsman for Children who had developed methods on how decision-makers and professionals at all levels of society could learn from children’s and young people’s knowledge and experience. 

The protection of children at risk was another area of great importance.  In this context, the social services were an important actor as a primary interface between the State and the child.  The ability and competence of all parts of society, including the social services, to act promptly on signals or information about children at risk must be enhanced.  Education was crucial for all children to enable them to claim and defend their rights and achieve their full potential, while the best interest of the child was the starting point in all education.  Sweden had launched a series of reforms and had amended legislation to further enhance the right of pupils to support, which also clarified that children with disabilities were to receive the required individualized support.

The Government was taking several steps to reduce coercive measures against children, which were still widespread in psychiatric institutions, while a working group under the Prosecutor General was preparing proposals aimed at reducing the use of isolation and other restrictions against children in pre-trial detention.  Turning to children seeking asylum in Sweden, Ms. Baralt said that the Swedish Aliens Act contained a number of provisions ensuring that the rights of the child were considered in all parts of the migration process, while further measures were being taken to strengthen the position of children in the asylum process.  The number of asylum-seeking children was increasing: during 2014, about 6,900 unaccompanied children sought asylum in Sweden, an 80 per cent increase compared to 2013.  Next year, Sweden expected about 8,000 unaccompanied children to seek asylum.  Continuous efforts were being made to combat trafficking in children and to assist victims of trafficking.  A new action plan for the protection of children against human trafficking, exploitation and sexual assaults had been adopted in February 2014, which contained measures to address the deeply concerning cases of unaccompanied children disappearing from reception centres. 

Over the last 25 years, Sweden had transformed the articles of the Convention into provisions in relevant Swedish laws and it was constantly seeking ways to improve the implementation of the rights of the child in the country and had decided to incorporate the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Swedish law as a national law.  Investigatory work concerning the incorporation of the Convention into Swedish legislation had been prioritized; the Government had yet to consider a ratification of the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communication procedure.

Questions by the Committee Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, asked how the outcomes of previous meetings and dialogues with the Committee had been disseminated, and whether they had been translated in Swedish and thus made accessible to children and adolescents.  With regard to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, did Sweden intend to withdraw its declaration and recognize all forms of child pornography as defined by the Optional Protocol?  The Committee took note of the ongoing efforts to modify and introduce new legislation and asked about the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the deliberations concerning the direct application of international treaties in domestic legislation.  Turning to the extraction of national resources from indigenous territories, Mr. Kotrane asked about the oversight system in place and the protection of the rights of children and other members of the community in this context.  Was racial discrimination included in the Constitution as a concept and how were the rights of ethnic minorities respected, particularly of Roma and their children? 

Mr. Kotrane reiterated the long-standing concern that the principle of the best interest of the child was not well understood by the legislators and the judiciary and asked what was being done to increase their understanding of this principle and the Committee’s interpretation in this regard.  Swedish children did not feel they were well heard, particularly at the local level.  The Committee shared the concern about the methods used as coercive treatment for children placed in psychiatric treatment, including the use of belts and solitary confinement.  How would the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communication procedure change the role and the mandate of the Ombudsman for Children?

PETER GURÁN, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Report of Sweden, said it was clear that Sweden was a pioneer in the area of children rights and over the past 25 years had achieved many positive results, thus setting the example of good practice on making children’s rights effective.  The delegation was asked to explain how it intended to exceed the minimum compliance requirement of the Convention, to explain the equalization system implemented by the Ministry of Finance, and to clarify the minimum standards concerning the access of children to services in municipalities.

The Ombudsman for Children was performing excellent work and the Country Rapporteur wondered about the complaints system, how children could access the Office, and the political will of Sweden to ratify the Third Optional Protocol on a communication procedure.  Could the delegation comment on Student Councils and how the right of the child to be heard was guaranteed in schools and municipalities.

A Committee Expert said that many around the world were concerned about the increase in racial discrimination and xenophobia in many countries and asked about discrimination in schools, measures to relieve psychological trauma of children coming to Sweden from other countries, and how children could voice their opinion on major political initiatives in the country.  The delegation was also asked how Sweden ensured equal access to services for all children throughout the country; whether it was easy to extract from the budget the information on how much was allocated to the exercise of children’s rights; about obligatory evaluation of all legislative and administrative measures for their impact on the rights of the child; and about child rights impact assessment of Swedish development cooperation.

Replies by the Delegation

In response to these questions and comments, the delegation of Sweden said the general survey of the domestic legislation showed that it was mainly in compliance with the provisions of the Convention; however, Sweden could do even better in implementation at each level.  The hope was that the Inquiry Commission on the integration of the whole of the Convention in domestic legislation would show how it could be done and it was important to say that civil society organizations were involved in this work.  The decision had yet to be taken regarding the Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communication procedure and how it would impact the Office of the Ombudsman.  Participation to give children a voice was a big challenge to all and Sweden was aware of it; the Government was working with the Ombudsman, children and various organizations, and was undertaking inquiries and assessments on how to take this process forward and ensure the crucial follow up to hearing the voices of children.

With regard to the Committee’s concluding observations, the delegation said that the Government had reviewed all the recommendations with non-governmental organizations and made a priority of those to be further discussed; on this basis, various thematic discussions had taken place.  Sweden had also increased the involvement of communes and municipalities in the reporting process and in the follow-up to concluding observations.

Municipalities and county councils operated with a large degree of autonomy, which was particularly the case for the public sector concerned with children’s rights.  Education and health were governed by national law and were supported by the Government, including through increasing knowledge and capacity building.  The principle of local self-governance was a democratic principle and allowed children to be closer to those making decisions about day-to-day life, which was an important way to guarantee children’s rights.

The best allocation of resources was made in the local context with accountability to local actors, said the delegation, adding that it was also crucial that education was equal throughout the nation; that was why it was important that education was governed, implemented and evaluated by national legislation and authorities.  Special education schools and the six Sami schools were not run by local but by national authorities.  Racial discrimination was a growing problem in Sweden and schools and education had a crucial role to play to enhance and improve democratic values.  Awareness raising measures had been implemented in schools and included issues of racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia, and bullying, including cyber-bullying. 

Concerning child impact assessments, the delegation said that it was not obligatory to assess Government decisions or budget bills, but it was an increasingly common practice which provided the Government with better grounds for decision-making.  The challenge was in interpreting and turning into practice the principle of the best interest of the child and Sweden appreciated the Committee’s general comment which it found very helpful and already used for changes in the Social Services Act. 

In 2015, the New Patient Act had entered into force which stipulated that the best interest of the child must be considered when medical care was provided and the child’s position regarding the care was to be clarified and taken into account.  Coercion of children could only be undertaken if in the child’s best interest, which included life or death situations.  The best interest of the child was explicitly included in the Aliens Act and the decisions of the Immigration Board which must analyse the consequences of their decisions for children.  Child impact assessments were regularly made in order to determine the best interest of the child.  The Ombudsman had developed the statistics and data system called Max18 in order to provide uniform overview of the situation of children throughout the country.  The system mashed the various data that existed and provided decision-makers with the information necessary to make decisions.

Sweden had recorded a decrease in suicide across all age groups except for youth, which was an issue of great concern.  The National Centres for Suicide Prevention and Research had in place a suicide prevention programme which was an internationally recognized programme for those who taught, cared for and lived with children under the age of 18, with the objective to provide tools and techniques to support young people with mental distress.

A Committee Expert said that information was received about the very high use of isolation cells for children, about 1,000 per year, and wondered why that was the case; those were different from separation cells, and children were held in isolation for 22 hours out of 24 which was rather long.

Further Questions by the Committee Experts

PETER GURÁN, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, asked the delegation about children whose parents were ill and about the support to children of incarcerated parents.  On the right to play, it was often mentioned that children often did not have enough time or accessibility to leisure and play time.

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, asked about specific programmes for fathers to ensure they were more involved in family affairs, and about violence suffered by children with disabilities which was an issue of concern in Sweden.  There was concern about the exposure of children to sexual exploitation, the disappearance of unaccompanied children, as well as the return of children to parents whose treatment they had fled in the first place.  In 2007, the Committee had been concerned by the lack of a law prohibiting the use of children by the armed forces, said the Country Rapporteur and asked whether there was a formal prohibition of children joining armed forces outside of Swedish territory.  Did the law completely coincide with the definitions of child prostitution and child pornography contained in the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography?

Another Expert noted concerns about psychosocial support for children with disabilities in schools, their right to be heard and their access to education if it was considered that the resources necessary for it were excessive.  Unaccompanied minors in reception centres were extremely vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking, and there were dozens who had disappeared.

Committee Experts asked the delegation about the long-term strategy to build the capacity of schools to implement the provisions of the Convention, the plans to address the exclusion of students from the elaboration of equality plans in schools, the action taken to improve the rates of exclusive breastfeeding, the excessive use of drugs for attention deficit disorder in children, and the measures to improve the health status of children from disadvantaged groups.  There were a high number of children living in poverty and migrant children were more prone to live in precarious situations, noted an Expert and asked about the national action plan to combat child poverty.  Other issues raised included the lack of data on trafficking and on child abuse by Swedes abroad, honour killings, and the juvenile justice system.

Replies by the Delegation

Responding to the questions and comments made by the Committee Experts, the delegation said that Swedish legislation guaranteed the right of the child to be heard in the context of family affairs.  The main rule was that the child was heard by social services during the custody investigation, and then if needed also by the court.  A Governmental inquiry had been set up to evaluate the 2006 law and see whether the purpose of strengthening the child rights perspective had been achieved.

Concerning the right of children to leisure time, play and participation in sports, the delegation noted that children with disabilities faced discrimination in this regard and said that measures had been taken to address this issue; now over 95 per cent of libraries were accessible to children with disabilities, and four out of five municipalities had an accessibility plan.

The good health in Sweden was not equally distributed and the overall national objective for public health was to create conditions in the society so that all could equally enjoy it.  The Government aimed to eliminate avoidable health inequalities within one generation and with this in mind it had set up a national strategy and core values statement.  The strategy was made up of five key areas, including transparency and analysis of disparities and care and treatment, system support, strategies and actions in specific fields, support and stimulation of development of care, and dialogue with care providers.

Since 2010, health care and medical services had had the specific obligation to pay particular attention to the child’s need for information and explanation when parents were ill, suffered substance abuse or suddenly died.  A more family-oriented approach needed to be developed and the Government had initiated a long-term project to support such children through social services.

Children of incarcerated parents were able to enjoy a relationship with their parents through visits, home leave, use of the phone and letters; the authorities were now examining whether the use of the internet could be allowed.  A significant number of prisons had flats with several rooms and a kitchen which were used for longer or overnight visits by the child and both parents.  Prisoners serving longer sentences received parenting training to enable them to establish a relationship with their families. 

Research showed that parenting was extremely important to Swedish men and more and more of them used the parental leave.  In order to improve the equal use of the parental leave by women and men, a number of measures had been undertaken including the 90 days of paid parental leave for both parents. 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was part of the core curriculum on human rights and democracy and all children received education with the aim of internalizing the knowledge about human rights and the rights of the child and what it meant in everyday life.  The aim was to create a lasting knowledge and enable children to drive the change.

Students with disabilities, like any other students, had the right to choose school; however, municipalities had the right to refuse acceptance if it meant the need for significant organizational changes.  This decision could be appealed and did not remove the obligation of municipalities to ensure access to education for children with disabilities.

Follow up Questions by the Committee Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, commended Sweden for their efforts to ensure that children of incarcerated parents had an opportunity to build and maintain their relationship and asked whether the principle of closeness was respected in deciding on the place of incarceration.

Other Experts asked about the number of inmates moved closer to home and said that the whole system of education was in the hands of municipalities and wondered about an oversight system to ensure the inclusion of all.

Replies by the Delegation

Every child in Sweden had an equal right to education and the commune always provided education for a child with disabilities; what was discriminatory was the choice of a particular school, where entry could be refused.  The principle of closeness was not abolished and was taken into account during sentencing. 

The Swedish Disability Policy had a number of principles such as mainstreaming, equal accommodation, enabling the child to influence decisions that concerned them, and knowledge about their rights.  The amendments to this Act which entered into force recently covered areas such as education and equal access to health services.  The Government had taken concrete actions to implement the observations made by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities received in May 2014, such as developing a strategy and allocating resources to raise awareness about disability and the rights of persons with disabilities.

There was a special provision in the Aliens Act allowing children to be placed in society care, but if this care could be obtained in the country of origin, permission to entry was not granted.  The circumstances that had led to a decision to place a child in society care were taken into consideration during residency permit deliberations.  The National Board of Health and Welfare had published in 2013 the rules governing the return of the child to their country of origin.

Children with disabilities could attend schools for learning disabilities; those were integrated with compulsory schools, shared premises and ensured same kinds of grades. 

In extraordinary cases, it was possible to detain children and to place restrictions on them; restrictions were imposed individually and were reviewed regularly.  Children in detention had the right to challenge the restrictions.  In 2013, there had been 119 children, of whom 94 had been detained for up to 90 days and most of them less than 60 days.  Special measures were implemented to reduce isolation of young clients in remand prisons and the number of psychologists available to young clients had been increased.  Procedural rights were a high priority for the Government.  There were instances in which children had been interrogated without the presence of defence council, but it was unknown how many.  According to the law, a lawyer must be assigned to all children under the age of 18.

All children were entitled to protection against violence and combating violence against children was the priority for the Government.  Children with disability could be in a more vulnerable situation and that was why the Government tasked in 2013 the National Board of Health and Welfare with setting up of national centres for combating violence within selected higher education institutions.

Sweden had an articulated vision and culture that supported breastfeeding.  In 2009, the National Breastfeeding Committee had been formed with the purpose of promoting and protecting breastfeeding, while a national strategic plan for breastfeeding was in place.

The child’s right perspective was an integral element in the assessment of the international cooperation that Sweden was involved in.  The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) had developed a manual for the human rights-based approach methods which were used in the programming of development activities.  Development cooperation was also assessed against gender perspectives which took into account the perspectives of the girl and boy child.

Weapons exports were governed by guidelines which prohibited exports to countries with widespread human rights violations or countries in armed conflict.  Sweden had a formal ban on the recruitment in armed conflict of children under the age of 15.  Sweden was of the view that the ban should include all children and that the age limit should be raised to 18 years of age. 

Swedish legislation fulfilled the requirements of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography with regard to the criminalization of child pornography offences and Sweden said that it did not intend to withdraw its declaration on article 2(c).

Honour-related violence and oppression were an important issue for the Government as they affected a considerable number of people in the society.  In 2013, a national skill team had been put in place to strengthen the capacity of the police to address honour-related violence and oppression, assist victims and investigate the crimes.

Concluding Remarks

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Sweden, thanked the delegation for the quality of the dialogue which had provided a better picture about the situation in Sweden and had shown that a lot of progress had been made in the laws and policies.  Child pornography was not limited to visual materials but could be audio as well, noted Mr. Kotrane and stressed the importance of giving the Convention a domestic standing and prevalence over national laws.  Sometimes migrant children were dealt with differently, and the aim must be to provide them with equal treatment.  Concerns remained about the situation of children in conflict with the law, particularly in respect to pre-trial detention.  In closing, Mr. Kotrane said that legislation in Sweden was not totally in line with Convention and this would be made clear in the concluding observations.

PERNILLA BARALT, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden, said that becoming the best country in the world for all children to grow up in was hard work.  The dialogue today was crucial to understand the importance of socio-economic aspects, which were one of the grounds for discrimination, and the importance of the inclusion of all, children with disabilities in particular.  Sweden would make sure that the concluding observations were translated and disseminated among the key actors and would assist children in understanding them.  Awareness was the first step and efforts would be made to ensure awareness, education and training about rights and how fellow children and adults should be treated.  The biggest task ahead was the fight against discrimination, racial discrimination and xenophobia, which must start with children and their knowledge of own rights and the rights of the fellow children.  

HIRANTHI WIJEMANNE, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, thanked the delegation for the very positive, frank, interactive discussion and agreed that it was the interaction that would pave the way for progress and the future of Sweden and the world. 

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