Today is a big day for the new Swedish Institute for Human Rights, MR-institutet. They are applying for international recognition and accreditation. Today, the Institute for Human Rights has applied for membership in the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which is an international coordination body for national human rights institutions. This application will lead to an assessment of whether the institute meets the UN’s Paris Principles from 1993.
“It is a unique mandate that has been lacking in Sweden until the institute was formed,” says Fredrik Malmberg, Director of the Institute for Human Rights.
The Paris Principles were adopted after the fall of the Berlin Wall and recommend that states establish independent institutions that monitor how the country’s international commitments to human rights are upheld at the national level, such as the right to security against violence and protection against discrimination.
When institutions identify deficiencies, the Paris Principles give them a mandate to examine the extent of the deficiencies and propose measures to the government, or alternatively, to point out the situation to international review committees.
There are currently 89 national human rights institutions that fully comply with the Paris Principles, including those in Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Germany.
“We are pleased that we can apply for accreditation to the global alliance,” continues Fredrik Malmberg. “This comes a week after we submitted our first annual report to the government and shortly before the EU conference on fundamental rights, which will take place next week.”
On April 20-21 of this year, the Swedish government is hosting the EU High-Level Conference on Institutional Protection of Human Rights in Times of Crisis.
The conference will bring together politicians and experts from all EU member states and will take place in Lund, in collaboration with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. The director of the institute will participate as a keynote speaker.