Is the liberal bastion no longer there? Rights groups concerned about Sweden’s crackdown on gang crime

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Rocked by a wave of gang violence, Sweden is rushing to rewrite laws long seen as a hallmark of an open society, but critics fear it will go too far, too fast and threaten the rule of law.

Sweden, long one of Europe’s most liberal states and with one of the continent’s most generous social welfare systems as a result of generations of political dominance by centre-left Social Democrats, has faced a historic political restructuring in the face of rising gang crime.

In less than two decades, the country has gone from having one of the lowest rates of gun violence in Europe to its highest ever. Last year alone, 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings in a country of just 10 million people; this became the deadliest shooting attack per capita in Europe.

In 2022, the Social Democrats were voted out and replaced by a right-wing government that came to power with the support of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who campaigned on promises to wage war on gangs and further reduce immigration.

The new government has enacted or proposed measures such as keeping the identities of some court witnesses secret, increasing electronic surveillance, much tougher penalties, and so-called security zones where police can search people without any suspicion of a crime. He says he is simply confronting the truth that was ignored for too long by previous administrations.

“There is no doubt that we are changing some of the balance points in our system, because reality demands it from us,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters.

“But at the same time, we do it in a well-considered way and we do it in accordance with the rule of law.”

Civil rights organizations, opposition parties and legal watchdogs warn against overdoing it.

“Even if each proposal has merit, the totality is deeply concerning,” said John Stauffer, Acting Executive Director of the Stockholm-based human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders, describing the changes as “the biggest change we have ever made to criminal law.” perhaps seen in modern times”.

“There are incredibly huge consequences in terms of rights, but also in terms of trust in society, trust in government. When that weakens, democratic society also weakens,” he said. “Respect for rights is deteriorating and the rule of law is also being compromised and weakened.”

CONTROVERSIAL SUGGESTIONS

In a bid to get more people to testify against gang members, the government proposed a bill in October that would allow the use of anonymous witnesses from January next year; however, despite criticism that this undermines the customary law practice of fair trials. Similar laws already exist in Denmark and Norway.

The Legislative Council, a government body that reviews draft bills and decides whether they are constitutional, said the benefits “appear to be very limited” and that the change could lead to courts facing a weaker basis for decisions. The government defends the proposal.

“Gangs threaten and silence witnesses,” Justice Minister Strommer said, adding that this impedes investigations and leads to cases being dropped. “We have to change this.”

The government has also increased electronic surveillance, allowing police to eavesdrop on people without suspicion of a specific crime.

Gudrun Nordborg, crime policy spokeswoman for the opposition Left Party, said some reforms were necessary, such as tougher sentences for some crimes, but government policy as a whole was problematic.

“They are tampering with democracy and not respecting the legal process,” he said. “For a long time we have established principles that must be followed, such as human rights, the constitution and the fact that the state should not have too many rights over its own citizens. And now we are on shaky ground here.”

Police were given the power to stop and search people without any suspicion of crime within so-called security zones. Police say such a measure is necessary to cool areas after crimes such as shootings. Critics, including Amnesty International, argue this would lead to racial profiling.

“People are already marginalized in deprived areas. We don’t need to stigmatize them further,” said Nadim Ghazale, who worked as a police officer for 17 years before becoming a community organizer in Boras in western Sweden. “This could damage trust in the police and I fear it will do more harm than good.”

Strommer said much of the criticism was disproportionate and that Sweden was only implementing measures that had been tested elsewhere, such as Denmark.

“My firm belief is that, in light of the fact that the vast majority of people embrace it, we need to advance our positions strongly on several fronts at the same time,” he said.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Niklas Pollard and Peter Graff)