Overview of Human Rights in Finland

Finland is a constitutional republic with a generally good record of human rights. Indeed, the government works to respect the civil and human rights of its citizens with a few notable exceptions.

Finland has come under scrutiny for the length of civilian service its conscientious objectors must serve. Compulsory military service is only 180 days. The length of the alternative civilian service is 295 days. While Finland has said that it would work to lower this requirement so that it is more in line with internationally recognized standards and recommendations, at the time of this writing, there have not been any government proposals to do so.

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) reports that Finland has no coherent set of regulations on the use of force and means of restraint authorized during deportation of illegal immigrants. After the 2002 case in which a Ukrainian family was held in an alien unit and might have been administered sedatives before being deported back to the Ukraine, the CPT called on Finland to change its policies.

Violence against the Semitic community, trafficking in persons and discrimination against immigrants and Roma (Gypsies), are the other main offences reported recently.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank: 11th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.