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The Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation has ceased to exist. On 1 January 2009 the Ombudsman was merged with the other Ombudsmen against discrimination into a new body: the Swedish Equality Ombudsman. The previously existing acts against discrimination were also replaced with a new Discrimination Act. Some of the material on this website may therefore be out of date. For more information, see: www.do.se
Incitement to hatred against a population group – Website of the
Swedish-Finnish congregation Following a complaint against a website alleged to belong to the Swedish-Finnish religious congregation in Sundsvall, HomO decided to investigate whether the contents of the website constituted incitement to hatred against a population group. According to the complainant, there were a number of articles that indicated that homosexuals were Satanists, and incited readers to violence against and extermination of homosexuals, Muslims, vegetarians, members of the Left Party, Jews and other ethnic groups. In accordance with Chapter 16, Section 8, of the Penal Code, any person may be convicted for incitement to hatred against a population group if he or she expresses or disseminates threats or contempt for a group of persons with allusion to race, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, religious creed or sexual orientation. Questions involving preliminary investigation and charges relating to incitement to hatred against a population group are dealt with by a public prosecutor or – in the case of freedom of the press or freedom of expression - by the Chancellor of Justice. HomO cannot take direct action in cases of incitement to hatred against a population group, and can only draw the attention of the relevant authorities to the need to investigate offences of this nature. The website in question contained materials which might be characterised as tasteless, stupid and offensive. In the Ombudsman’s view, some aspects of the contents were also of a nature indicating, per se, that they might be covered by the prohibition on incitement to hatred against a population group. At the same time, there were several indications that the website was intended to be a form of satire, targeted, for example, at representatives of extremist political and religious tendencies. As a result, HomO concluded that there were insufficient grounds for notifying the police of suspicion of incitement to hatred against a population group. (Decision of 22 April 2003, Dossier No. 9/03) |
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HomO | Box 3327, 103 66 Stockholm | E-mail: homo@homo.se | Phone: +46 (0)8 508 887 80 | Fax: +46 (0)8 508 887 90 |
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