BY CARL-ERIK ISACCSSON
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The government here is using a campaign against child pornography as the latest in a series of pretexts to restrict democratic rights. Several hundred people marched in Stockholm April 26 for a total ban of possession of child pornography. The demonstration was organized by Ecpat, an organization that claims to protect the rights of children. The group also organized an international conference against commercial sexual exploitation of children in Stockholm last August.

The April 26 demonstration was sponsored by 20 organizations, among them Amnesty International and Save the Children. Filip Sorensen, a billionaire and the former owner of Securitas, the biggest security company in Sweden, also sponsored the demonstration. Among the speakers was Jean Lambrecht, whose daughter was murdered by pedophiles in Belgium in a highly-publicized case.

A commission in parliament is proposing to ban the possession of child pornography, which would open the door to arbitrary house searches. There are exceptions for journalists and organizations that protect children, as a safeguard against charges of restricting the freedom of the press and speech. Distribution of such material is already banned. The organizers of the demonstration said the commission's proposal is good, but not sufficient.

On April 22 the daily Svenska Dagbladet published an article by the majority in the parliamentary commission, which includes members from all the political parties, arguing for their proposal. In presenting the results of their own investigations, the authors revealed that scope of child pornography in Sweden and elsewhere is much less than the sensational coverage has suggested. They noted, for example, that of 6,000 video clips confiscated in Belgium, only three had child pornographic scenes.

The government has recently appointed the former vice- chairman of the teachers union, Solweig Paulsson, to investigate the feasibility of public schools and child care centers having access to the crime register in order to do background checks on potential employees.

Freedom of association under attack
The Swedish government is probing to restrict other rights as well. Citing heavy fighting between the Hells Angels and Bandidos motorcycle gangs, Justice Minister Laila Freivalds is proposing to make it punishable by law to be "an active participant" in an organization that is committing crimes. Her proposal is designed to avoid banning organizations outright, to sugar coat this attack on freedom of association.

The social democratic government is also moving to restrict the right to appeal, proposing that every appeal has to meet certain criteria. Current laws provide the right to appeal any verdict by the lowest court.

A legal review within the ministry of justice is proposing to give more powers to the police in dealing with gatherings declared to be "disturbing public order." The issue has come up around sports events, civil disobedience actions, and countermobilizations against fascists. The police had earlier been criticized by the justice ombudsman for mass arrests and searches, as several innocent people had been arrested or searched. Under the new proposal, the police would have increased powers to block off areas when a crowd is "disturbing public order."

In another move against democratic rights, the government has decided to review the possibilities for the police to use bugging, which has been illegal since 1975.

And later in May, parliament will discuss and vote on a proposal to give the police the right to gather information about people who are not themselves suspected for a crime, but are alleged to have connections to suspected criminals. This plan sparked debate after the cops in Kalmar, a town in southern Sweden, registered children who ordered vegetarian school meals. They argued the information was needed to prevent terrorist activities by militant vegans.

Carl-Erik Isacsson is a member of the metal workers union in Sodertalje, Sweden.  
 
 
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