Meet Our Members is a series where Liberties introduces you to our network of human rights defenders. We hear the stories of the people behind the organisations and why they do the work they do. Liberties is an umbrella network which coordinates campaigns with its expanding network of national civil liberties NGOs in 18 EU Member States

Creativity isn’t necessarily an association people make with a career in the civil society sector, but it’s a word that keeps cropping up during our ‘Meet Our Members’ series. For John Stauffer, Legal Director and Acting Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders Sweden, the jump from working for the Equality Ombudsman to a career in the civil society sector was a creative flight. Freed from the restrictions of a legislative mandate, his role at Civil Rights Defenders allowed him to explore more innovative ways to positively impact society. He characterises the career move as a return, harking back to his career beginnings as an intern at Amnesty International in London where he forged his appreciation for civil society's mission.

Cleaning Up Your Own Backyard

John tells me he was hired in 2013 to develop Civil Rights Defenders’s legal capacity and long-term work as a national watchdog during a period when the organisation was reshaping its priorities. While Civil Rights Defenders’s main focus since its formation in 1982 was supporting human rights defenders in the most repressed regions globally, internally they were coming to the realisation that its own backyard needed tending to. John now leads a team of ten lawyers and three legal interns that uses strategic litigation and oversight bodies to strengthen civil society and human rights in Sweden.

The pivot to home turf was prescient in light of Sweden’s nosedive performance in Liberties’ rule of law monitoring exercise. In Liberties’ Rule of Law Report 2024, Sweden regressed in five out of six categories apart, a damning outcome based on direct government involvement in picking judges, short consultations on new laws, repressive and rights-infringing criminal policies, the expansion of law enforcement’s power based on national security and widespread discrimination of minorities. This contrasts with the 2022 report, which saw Sweden stagnate in only one category and progress in two.

Reflecting on current rule of law safeguards, John is quick to admit to Sweden’s inadequacies: "I would say that Sweden does not have a very robust system”. Given Sweden’s reputation as a bastion of democracy, I can’t help but wonder, how did we get here? According to John, Sweden has been coasting on public faith that politicians and civil servants carry out their duties in the people’s best interest. While public trust is crucial for political stability and was well-founded for a long period, he believes this has led to an underdeveloped ability amongst the broader population to be critical of the government’s motivations. This, in turn, “makes us vulnerable when we have a government that wants....to push through very rights-infringing policy.”

Participants play Dictator of Sweden, a boardgame created by Civil Rights Defenders

Chinks in Sweden's Rule of Law Armour

Since the new government, backed by the Sweden Democrats, came into power in 2022 and brought the era of political goodwill to a close, the chinks in Sweden’s rule of law armour have become even more apparent. John tells me there is an increased propensity to overlook the unwritten yet long-standing tradition that Ministers do not intervene in individual cases or influence decision-making. Other practices ripe for abuse include the courts’ lack of independence from the government and the ease with which changes can be made to fundamental rights.

One of the biggest challenges Civil Rights Defenders faces is shaking Swedish society out of its complacency. According to John, Swedes need to deepen their understanding that human rights are the foundation of democracy, so they can recognise the inherent danger when basic human rights are restricted. However, this is complicated by the fact that many Swedish people agree with the government’s rights-infringing policies, such as stop-and-search zones, which overwhelmingly target minorities and migrants.

Strategic litigation has proved an effective tool to curb discriminatory state politics. In 2015, Civil Rights Defenders successfully sued the Swedish state after it emerged that 4,700 Roma individuals were registered by the Skåne police in an ethnic register, resulting in record-high damages being paid.

Overcoming Sweden's Political Apathy

Alongside legal victories, getting the public on side is crucial. The current government is departing from tradition by resisting civil society involvement, instead portraying their work as an obstacle to legislative reform or even a threat to national security in the case of environmental activists. Many of these domestic difficulties are not unique to Sweden. John notes in this regard Liberties’ network of human rights defenders is invaluable, as it gives Civil Rights Defenders a platform to collaborate with other members and lobby for change on the EU-level.

Civil Rights Defenders believes that with the right messaging and cross-sectoral alliances, from NGOs, academia and think tanks to unions and sports clubs, they will awaken public perception to the dangers of democratic backsliding. "One problem that we're having is that we're lacking a clear counter-narrative among the largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, to repressive and rights-infringing policy, but at the same time we're seeing an awakening, at least in some parts of society, that understands now we need to react to this", John tells me. He’s referring to the reaction to the proposed ‘snitch law’, which would require public sector workers, including doctors, nurses and social workers, to report undocumented people. The proposal has prompted a backlash across society, especially among the unions and the medical community, and John hopes the counter-campaign will provide much-needed momentum for more resistance and critical engagement.

Like all movements, the greatest barrier Civil Rights Defenders has to overcome is apathy. Perhaps this is where creativity has the greatest role to play. In John’s own words, "it is really only our imagination that sets the limits".

More articles in the Meet Our Members series:

How Did A Mathematics Philosopher End Up Fighting for Prisoners' Rights?

From Activist Journalist to Co-Creating an Organisation Supporting Grassroots Movements

Giving Birth Pushed Adéla Holeček to Fight For Maternal Justice