Belarusian human rights activists got acquainted with the Swedish system of human rights protection

In early June, the activists of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Viktar Sazonau from Hrodna, Ales Kaputski from Maladzechna, Tamara Shchapetkina from Biaroza, and Sviatlana Lapitskaia from Zhodzina visited Stockholm to get acquainted with the Swedish system of human rights protection, and with the work of Swedish colleagues.

– Sweden has built real socialism for its citizens, which is based on principles of justice, fairness and respect for human rights, Viktar Sazonau says. – Everything we saw in Sweden – independent courts, independent prosecutors, ombudsmen institutions designed to control all public authorities, and an established way of life where everything is thought-out and in the interests of people – it's not only the result hard physical work of many generations, but primarily a product of the fairness of the system, which people managed to build.

A meeting with the Head of International Division of the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen (PO) Marianne von der Esch was very interesting. She spoke about supervisory work aimed at ensuring that public authorities and courts comply with normative documents and are objective and impartial, and that their activities do not violate fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. Human rights defenders have also visited the ombudsman's office to combat discrimination. Participants of the visit believe that it was a good experience that can be used in the protection of human rights in a future democratic Belarus.

Meetings and the visit of representatives of the HRC "Viasna" were organized by the Swedish human rights organization Östgruppen.