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Mrs.
Louise Arbour,
11. 4.2008
the High
Commissioner for Human Rights
Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson
52 rue
des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Postal
address:
Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
General
Inquiries:
Telephone: +41 22 917 9000
E-mail: InfoDesk@ohchr.org
Website:
http://www.ohchr.org
NGO
Liaison Officer: Telephone:
+41 22 917 9656
Mail: civilsocietyunit@ohchr.org
Subject: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ,Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review First session
covering Finland
Geneva, 7-18
April 2008
The claim: The
proceedings should be stopped on the following grounds:
Human rights are the Rights of a
normal citizen towards the administration.
The report by Finland
February 2009 was prepared by administration ie
the report was prepared jointly with the Prime Minister's Office and the
relevant ministries. This party is
responsible for all human rights
violations in Finland by definition. This proves that the report is falsified
and it gives totally wrong picture of the real situation in Finland.
The whole process now going
on in Geneva reminds me, when Red Cross visited and investigated the Theresienstadt
concentration camp in Nazi-Germany in forties. Everything was fine, spick et
span, as it was well prepared as propaganda and theater.
The processing of
the Finnish case should be stopped untill a neutral and
realistic report is on hand for the UN
Human Rights Council.
More detailed but only draft evaluation because of lack of
time of the Finnish Feb 2008 report follows.
Jali Raita , diploma engineer
Puistotie 11
31400 Somero, Finland
tel 358 46 8921216
email jraita@mac.com
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW BY
THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL
REPORT BY FINLAND
February 2008
2
A. NATIONAL PREPARATION OF
THE REPORT
1. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs was responsible
for preparing and coordinating Finland's national report submitted for periodic
review by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN). The report was prepared jointly with
the Prime Minister's Office and the relevant ministries.
JR: Report is prepared by
Human Righst violators themselves. This proves that report is propaganda, falsified and full on lies.
2. Participation by civil
society in the reporting process significantly contributed to both the report's content and the Government's
continuous and open human rights dialogue with non-governmental
organisations. On 6 February 2008 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs arranged a
dis-cussion meeting, which was also attended by representatives of a number
of ministries. At this meeting, non-governmental organisations expressed
their views on the challenges of Finland's human rights situation and put
forward proposals on how to ensure more effective implementation of human
rights. The draft report was sent out to organisations for comment before the
discussion meeting.
JR: There is no list of the
NGO:s involved. Actually there are
very few real NGO:s in Finland as most
are manned by administration and funded by the State. There is no reporting
of the comments by NGO:s. For the hearing
adminstration invited those NGO:s suitable for them ie, which are less
critical.
B. FRAME OF REFERENCE OF
HUMAN RIGHTS IN FINLAND
Basic rights and liberties
5. In Finland, public
authorities are responsible for ensuring the implementation of basic rights and
human rights. An overall reform of the basic rights and liberties took effect
on 1 August 1995.
Its main purpose was to
create in Finland a basic rights system that is in full compliance with the international human rights obligations
and thus reinforce the fulfilment of these obligations at national level. The
Constitution of Finland (731/1999) guarantees the inviolability of human
dignity and the freedoms and rights of the individual and promotes justice in
society. One of the objectives of the basic rights reform carried out was to
increase the direct applicability of basic rights and liberties by courts and
other authorities in their decisions. Before the reform these authorities
made only limited references to basic rights and liberties, but thereafter
they have clearly referred increasingly to these rights in the reasoning for
their decisions.
Legislation.
JR: This is only theory.
Nobody really follows the implementation of the basic rights. There is no
basic law court for ex. There are about 500 valid laws, which are against the
basic law.
6. Finnish legislation
consists of a great number of statutes (the Constitution, the acts and the
lower level legislation). In addition, as a member state of the European
Union, Finland applies directly applicable Community legislation. Because of
the extensive number of statutes it is impossible to provide a detailed
analysis of the implementation of human rights at the level of legislation.
Below in this report reference is made to legislation in thematic contexts.
JR: EU-law is not known to
the experts. The Supreme Court president Ms Pauliine Koskelo told the
audience in Turku University last autumn that Finnish judges, lawyers and jurists generally do
not know and understand the EU-law and it is also not taught in the
Universities.
Judiciary
7. The Constitution of
Finland guarantees everyone the right to have his or her case dealt with
appropriately and without undue delay by a legally competent court of law or
other authority, as well as to have a decision pertaining to his or her
rights or obligations reviewed by a court of law or other independent organ
for the administration of justice. Provisions concerning the publicity of
proceedings, the right to be heard, the right to receive a reasoned decision
and the right of appeal are laid down by an act. The courts of law are
independent and impartial. In their decision-making, the courts of law are
only bound by the law currently in force. No external actor can intervene in
their decisions.
JR: The real life is totally
opposite. I refer to the report by Mr Jukka
Davidsson Feb 2008 to Ms Louise Arbour. There are many secrect courtprocesses and
thereby against the basic law. In the courtprocess the judge does not write
what has been really said in the courtroom by different parties. Judge only
writes his own report to support his own decision. Reporting is
falsified. In a secrect meeting 6th of May 1992 that time president of the
republic Mauno Koivisto forced the courts to implement falsifed processes ie
to guarantee that banks and public officials are always winning the case
against a normal citizen.
European remedies
8. Finnish authorities and
courts are responsible for ensuring compliance with obligations deriving from
the European Community law and the European Convention on Human Rights. In
these contexts, as a rule, appellants primarily resort to national remedies.
In some cases, however,
it is possible to turn to
European authorities or remedial bodies. For example, every person under the
jurisdiction of Finland may appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, if
he or she has exhausted the national remedies. For Finland the right of
access to a court that is guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention
on Human Rights ('Right to a fair trial') has been unproblematic. However,
the excessive length of proceedings in Finland has caused problems and is
currently the most frequent ground for judgments establishing Finland's
violation of the Convention.
JR: Those responsible for
wrong judgements are never punished nor made responsible for damages.
Wrongdoers can continue their behaviour.
Guardians of the law
9. The Chancellor of Justice
of the Government and the Parliamentary Ombudsman are the supreme guardians
of the law inFinland. As an important part of their duties both of them
monitor the implementation of basic rights and human rights. In practice, the
Chancellor of Justice and the Parliamentary Ombudsman supervise legality by
processing and ruling on complaints against actions of authorities and others
performing public tasks. Both guardians of the law may also investigate
matters on their own initiative. Their competence is limited to intervention
due to procedural faults, and they may not amend judgments of the courts,
which are independent, or of authorities.
Through their work, however,
the Chancellor of Justice and the Parliamentary Ombudsman can steer the
authorities to take basic and human rights better into account in their
activities.
JR: Very seldon there is any
acion against the public officials. The trust for these guardians of law has
eroded and totally vanished.
Ombudsmen
10. Supervision of legality
is additionally carried out by four other ombudsmen, with different emphasis
on legality: the Ombudsman for Equality, the Data Protection Ombudsman, the
Ombudsman for Minorities and the Ombudsman for Children. The ombudsmen may
issue statements on defects that they have noticed and take initiatives if
they deem it necessary.
JR: Ombudsman for Children
Ms Aula is not an expert on this field. She is a politician. Lately she was
special advisor for that time primeminister Mr Aho. This job was created for
her specially and office close to her home ie in central Finland, remote
Jyväskylä.
Advisory boards
11. Finland has long
traditions of cooperation between the state administration and civil society.
A good example of this cooperation is the large number of advisoryboards,
including the Advisory Board on Human Rights, the Advisory Board on Romani
Affairs, the Advisory Board for Ethnic
Relations, the Advisory
Board for the Ombudsman for Children, the Advisory Board for Minority Issues,
the Council for Gender Equality and the Advisory Board for Sámi Affairs,
where representatives of civil society contribute to the development of human
rights. Among other things, the advisory boards issue statements and make
proposals for the development of legislation and other measures.
JR: These are manned by
yes-men and –women, loyal supporters of the administration.
Concluding observations of
the UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies concerning Finland
70. Family violence against
childrenandsexual abuse of children and young personsseri-
ouslyviolate children's
rights. The purpose of the Child Welfare Act that took effect at the beginning
of 2008 is to ensure that the child's rights and interests are taken into
account in child welfare measures, and to guarantee the child and his/her
parents the supportive measures and services that they need. The purpose is
also to promote child-specific and family-specific child welfare measures.
Health care centres and hospital districts are obliged to provide expert
assistance in child- and familyspecific measures, and if necessary, to
arrange examinations of the child as well as treatment and therapy services
for him/her. Municipalities are obliged to arrange urgent services for children
if sexual abuse or assault is suspected. As from the beginning of 2009, the
costs for the aforementioned services will be borne by the State, and this
will probably increase the supply of such services. The fact that cases of
family violence against children are pending in courts reflects a change in
the atmosphere in Finnish society. The Ministry of Justice will probably, in
the near future, set up a working group to consider the question of linking
an obligatory medical treatment of sexual offenders with the sanctions
system.
JR: There must be high level
support for the child abusers within the administration as the case of
paediatrician Ritva Salunen shows.
71. The Constitution of
Finland prohibits torture. Torture is punishable under the Finnish Penal
Code, but not as a specific type of offence. Different acts of torture are
mainly punished as aggravated assault, coercion and/or other serious offences
and, if the perpetrator is a civil servant, also as aggravated abuse of
public office. In certain circumstances, for example in armed conflicts,
torture would also be punishable as a war crime or violation of human rights
in a state of emergency. In its conclusions concerning Finland, the UN
Committee against Torture has considered that states should enact a specific
penal provision concerning torture offences. In June 2007 the Ministry of
Justice appointed a working group to draft a government bill for penal
provisions on torture. The bill will be submitted to the Parliament towards
the end of 2008. A government bill (HE 55/2007) submitted in September 2007
proposes that the provisions of Chapter 11 of the Penal Code concerning war
crimes and offences against humanity should be amended so as to better comply
with the criminalisations in the Statute of Rome. In this bill, torture is
mentioned expressly as a component of an offence against humanity and a war
crime.
JR: There is torture in
mental hospitals. Medical experiments are carried out on the patients against
their will and knowledge of the fatality of the experiments. The one only
person responsible for this situation by law is ombudsman Ms Riitta-Leena
Paunio. She has done nothing to correct the situation only hiding and
covering the wrondoing.
77. The increased abuse of
alcohol and drugsandthe high frequency ofmental problems are among major
concerns in Finland. Due to the defects found in the implementation of the
rights of intoxicated persons the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has
issued instructions for their acute care. The instructions place special
focus on the influence of intoxication in access to services and the division
of work between emergency health care and social welfare services,
psychiatric care and the police.
JR: some 400 000 persons are
using depression medicaments. Calculated this towards active population this
makes some 40%. The cost of the medicament is high, some 150€ per 3 months
dose. Many cannot afford this so they use cheaper alcohol. This shows how
sick the Finnish society really is.
D. ACHIEVEMENTS, GOOD
PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES
D.1. Achievements and good
practices
Realisation of the rule of
law
78. Good governance provides
good conditions for the implementation of basic rights and liberties and
human rights in Finland. Public administration in Finland is characterised by
transparency of administration – including open document publicity – ,
respect for the rule of law, well-reasoned decisions, transparency in
decision-making and a low degree of corruption, which is very low even by
international standards. The exercise of public power is based on law, and
the law must be carefully complied with in all public activities. Authorities
cannot have competence to exercise public power without a specific
justification for it in the legal system. The Finnish administration seeks
dialogue with citizens. Nopeus, tehokkuus vai oikeudenmukaisuus
("Rapidity, efficiency or fairness"); Publication series of the
Ombudsman for Minorities 2/2005.
JR: This is only theory. In
practise for example investments are disappearing from Finland because of
lack of Justice and the Rule of Law as told by the Supreme Administrative
Court President Pekka Hallbetg to the audience in Turku University seminar in
2006.
79. The Finnish system of
government is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
Democracy is reflected in the democratic arrangement of the exercise of state
power and other jpublic power. Elements of this are especially the status of
the Parliament, elected by the people by direct elections, as the highest
organ of government and the fact that the exercise of public power is
ultimately based on acts enacted by the Parliament. The democratic system of
government essentially includes ensuring the freedom of action of civil
society as well as the broadest possible opportunities for people to
participate and influence in different sectors of societal life. The
Constitution of Finland is characterized by the principle that, in a
democratic society, an individual's opportunities to influence the
development of his/her society and living environment must not be restricted
to the right to vote in elections.
JR: This is only theory. The real life dirty. Finland got new basic
law on 1st of March 2000. By that new law parliament elects the primeminister
not president as earlier. That time primeminister Paavo Lipponen just continued
with his cabinet. Parliament did not elect him to this post. This was indirect coup de-tat. Ms Anneli
Jäättenmäki became the first woman primeminister in 2003. She and her government was
illgally dismissed in June 2003. This was again bloodless coup de-tat, In
which present primeminister Mr Matti Vanhanen got the power illegally. The
case is still linvestigated by Chancellor on Justice Mr Jonkka. So far
nothing has happened. Mr Jarmo
Korhonen secretary general of the Center
party has given proof that this was bloodless coup de-tat supported by Ms
Jääteenmäki´s party associates.
D.2. Challenges
Compensation for violations
of basic rights and human rights
88. Violations ofhuman
rights must be prevented to the extent possible, but any existing violations
must be investigated, the mistakes must be admitted, and their consequences
must be compensated for. Only sufficiently efficient legal remedies against
violations ofbasic rights and liberties can bring effective results. In early
2006 the Parliamentary Ombudsman stated that the current Finnish system does
not provide effective and comprehensive legal protection against violations
of basic rights and liberties, because it does not offer a specific
compensation mechanism10.
JR: There are no punishments
for the wrongdoers, so they can
continue their illegal activites.
Jali Raita,
diploma engineer
Puistotie 11
31400 Somero
Finland
tel 358 46 8921216
email jraita@mac.com
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