Speech
Conference "Making rights a reality for all", Stockholm 10 December 2009
Nyamko Sabuni, Minister for Integration and Gender Equality

Speech at the conference "Making rights a reality for all"

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Ladies and gentlemen, a few weeks ago, we celebrated a special day in the struggle for human rights. It's was the day, 20 years after the Berlin wall fell.

That day, people broke the wall that separated them, not only from their neighbours and countrymen, but also from their basic freedom and rights.

The Berlin wall did not crumble by itself. Thousands of women and men risked their lives by smuggling books that were banned by the police. By protecting political refugees and by promoting democratic reforms.

Those who fought for human rights made a difference then, and they are stil making a difference today. The spreading of democracy and the defence of human rights are cornerstones of the EU. We have much to be grateful for - but much remains to be done.

Still - there are people in Europe who live without equal rights, afraid of discrimination and abuse, because of their sexual orientation or ethnic background. The struggle against oppression continues in new forms.
The EU is about more than the internal market. It must be about values and freedom of the individual. We all have an obligation to raise our voices against intolerance.
In all Member States, far-right parties are gaining influence; either in parliament and governments or in the media debate. For them intolerance is a badge of honour.
They promote the politics of fear. Their common idea is to portray immigrants and other minorities as a threat.
But it's not only the far right parties that concern me. Also the actions of the Member States need to be carefully followed up. Human rights are universal and belong to everyone, independent of which government currently holds power. Governments must be made accountable. And the question is; how do we act when a Member State violates fundamental human rights?

There are plenty of documents that call for upholding human rights. Just to mention a few: we have international conventions, EU directives, recommendations from different international treaty bodies, judgements from the European Court of Human Rights and national legislation. But the problems they were created to solve, remain.

The situation for two groups concern me in particular, the Roma and LGBT-people.

For centuries, the Roma have lived on the outskirts of society, with threats and harassment as part of their daily lives. According to the EU-MIDIS report, the Roma reported the highest overall levels of discrimination across all the areas surveyed:

• every other Roma respondent was discriminated against at least once in the previous 12 months.
• 66-92% of Roma (depending on the country) did not report their most recent experience of discrimination to any competent authority. The main reason given was that "nothing would happen or change"
• When asked, whether they could name an organisation that could assist them if they had been discriminated against, 86% of Roma failed to do this
• 65-100% of the Roma-respondents felt they lacked confidence in law- enforcement and justice-structures.

These are alarming figures. They highlight the urgency of acting for change. The social indicators on education, health, employment, housing and political participation for Roma serve as a call for action.

Another group at risk is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Discrimination and hate crimes against the LGBT-persons are still a reality in many European countries. Some member states put restrictions on the freedom of assembly for LGBT-associations. Guy Pride festivals are banned or attacked. People are protesting against other individuals right to choose whom to love and go public with it.
Human rights concern everybody. They need to be visible, or even tangible, for everyone. The key to this is implementation. Successful implemantation requires knowledge how to make the necessary changes. This is why I am happy that so many of you have come here today. So that we can share experiences and best practices. Help each other to develop policies and strategies that are adapted to our different needs.

To live a life free from discrimination is part of the core of the universal declaration for human rights. In the Lisbon Treaty, the protection of human rights has been enforced. The EUs charter of fundamental rights is part of the treaty and therefore also legally binding. Any citizen will consequently be able to use the Charter to challenge the decisions taken by the EU. Furthermore, the EU is now a legal entity that is bound by judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

The legal base for enforcing human rights in the EU is better now than it was some weeks ago. But in order to really improve the protection of rights, we need to make sure that the words are transformed into action. Let's be clear! EU should never be tolerant of intolerans. It is time to make rights a reality for all.