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Democracy and the rule of law continue to weaken across Europe in 2023, and restrictions on the right to peaceful protest have significantly tightened. That’s what a new report on rules, laws and human rights produced by 37 European human rights organizations shows. Even in older democracies such as Sweden and Italy, there are signs that the rule of law is slowly eroding.
The Liberties Rule of Law Report 2024 is the most extensive independent report submitted to the EU. A group of civil liberties organizations dedicated to strengthening freedoms and rights surveyed 19 EU member states in 2023 and their compliance with the rule of law and human rights. The report provides this valuable information to the EU Commission, which annually assesses how EU Member States are meeting their commitments. Toward the rule of law.
According to this year’s report, the EU’s rule of law continued to deteriorate in 2023 as governments further weakened legal and democratic checks and balances. Balázs Denes, Secretary General of the European Civil Liberties Union, said:
“Liberties Rule of Law Report 2024 states that when governments intentionally violate the rule of law or fail to correct it, if left unchecked, they can develop into systemic problems over time. It shows that there is a possibility that unless the European Commission uses the tools at its disposal in a more proactive way, such as infringement proceedings and conditional freezing of EU funds, the consequences of these human rights violations will increase. The far right will rapidly dismantle Europe’s democracies. There is no need to wait until captive states like Hungary emerge with irrevocably anti-democratic regimes.”
Sweden was also one of the countries surveyed, and civil rights organizations contributed information about the situation in Sweden to the report.
Sweden is going in the wrong direction
Civil rights organizations highlight in their report that the democratic space of civil society continues to shrink, especially in Sweden. Over the past year, civil society has increasingly been unable to fully participate in the legislative process.
The report highlights that new legislative proposals, particularly in criminal policy, violate human rights. Discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities threatens their rights to freedom of assembly and expression.
“This is a worrying development that risks undermining public confidence in the authorities and the judicial system and, in the long term, weakens the rule of law in Sweden,” said John Stauffer, legal director at Civil Rights Defenders. he says.
Comprehensive and detailed report
Comprehensive and detailed report
This report is the independent Freedom and Human Rights Network’s most detailed ‘shadow report’ on the rule of law and human rights to date. It focuses on issues such as press freedom, checks and balances, corruption, and systemic human rights issues. In addition to the situation in Sweden, the report also covers countries such as Hungary, Poland, Belgium and Germany. A total of 19 EU member states were examined in this year’s report.
The report was produced by the European Union of Civil Liberties and Human Rights (Liberties) and its affiliates. Liberties is a watchdog organization that protects human rights for everyone in the European Union. The civil rights advocacy group is one of its member organizations investigating the situation in Sweden.
Read the report
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