Human rights in Finland

Finland

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

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“	Finland participates in international co-operation for the protection of peace and human rights and for the development of society.	”
—Constitution of Finland, Section 1

Human rights in Finland are protected by the constitution and 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. Conscientious objectors to both military and civilian service are jailed for six months. There are about 10-20^{[citation needed]} conscientious objectors every year. Most are in minimum security, open facilities, and objecting is not entered on criminal records.
2. 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".^{[citation needed]}
3. A case in which agitated asylum seekers were drugged for deportation.
4. Unfair court action in the light of unacceptably delayed verdicts, in breach with the European Convention on Human Rights article 6§1. Handling time have been unacceptably long particularly in civil cases or criminal court cases relating to bankruptcy, e.g. eight years in the district court and 12 years in total.

Independence

Finland declared independent December 6, 1917. Earlier Finland was an autonomous part of Russia (1809–1917) or part of Sweden (1253-1808).

Capital punishment

Finland has never had the death penalty in its criminal law during the peace time. Finland supported the international proposal to abolish the capital punishment in the world.

Women's rights

See also: Women's suffrage in Finland

Finland was the first country in the world where women could both vote in and stand for parliamentary election, in 1907. The first female government minister was Miina Sillanpää, who served as the II Minister for Social Affairs in 1926–27. President Tarja Halonen (since 2000) is the first female president in Finnish history. The average wages of women of equal work are less than for men today (2011). In the leading positions there are more men than women in Finland (2011).

According to the Amnesty International director Frank Johansson the violence against women in Finland should be reduced. Every year 15-20 Finnish women die in violence of their husband or ex husband. The problem should be recognized and the support services expanded.

The first women director of a post office was Charlotta Backman in Porvoo in 1878. Ms. Vera Hjält (1857-1947) started a factory for her patented carpenter bench in 1886. Since 1903 she was the first woman in Finland as trade inspector solving work strikes and disputes including the women discrimination at work, and worked later as the Member of Parliament for ten years. Tekla Hultin (born 1864) was the first woman doctorate from the University of Helsinki (then Helsingin Keisarillinen Aleksanterin yliopisto), studied in Russia and France and was the Member of Parliament for 15 years. Tekla’s mother wanted to study also, but she was not able to do it before her father’s death based on resistance from her father. Thus, the human rights are subject to not only in law but also the common attitudes in the societies. Finnish women had to apply exemption based on their sex for the state jobs until 1926. The complete equality took place not until in 1975.

Finnish women can inherit and own property. Aurora Karamzin (1808-1902) inherited his ex-husband Russian Paul Demidov. After the death of her second husband Andrei Karamzin Aurora Karamzin took care of the large land and industry property by herself. At the time, when serfdom still existed in Russia until year 1861 and Finland had no independence from Russia before 1917, this Finnish origin woman Aurora Karamzin made social security work in Finland and Russia, including education, medical aid and founding the still existing Helsingin Diakonissalaitos in 1867. The Finnish famine of 1866–1868 killed 15% of the population.

Indigenous rights

Finland has not signed the international Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by October 2011. The United Nations human rights committee asked to cancel the aimed slaughter of reindeers in Nellime Ivalo in October 2011. Without this appeal it would have taken place in the first week of October. Finland has 6 months time to answer the UN. The reindeer owners and Forest Administration (Metsähallitus) have a long dispute in the area of the forests.

Military service and civilian service

Finland has compulsory military service. Mandatory options of civilian or military service were of unequal duration: civilian service 13 months, or one month longer than the longest conscript service (conscript officers and Non-commissioned officers and certain specialists such as certain vehicle operators), 12 months, and 5 months longer than the average service in army, 8 months. Rebuttal of criticism of the length of civilian service often point out that whereas conscripts are often on duty around the clock (especially in the field), civilian servicemen often only work during office hours. However, an act enacted in 2008 changed civilian service to 12 months. Some 25% of conscripts serve 12 months, with the large majority serving 6 months.

See also

• Censorship in Finland
• LGBT rights in Finland

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
• Review of Finland by the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review, April 9, 2008

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