Sweden may stiffen law to allow for easier gov't abduction of home-schooled children
ADF, HSLDA say changes would violate int’l legal standards on human rights
Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012
ADF attorney sound bite: Roger Kiska
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — A leader of Sweden’s Liberal Party last week called for a change in the country’s social services law so that the government can take children away from home-schooling families more easily by allowing social workers to do so.
The call for the change comes amidst already stringent penalties in Sweden for home schooling. The Alliance Defense Fund and Home School Legal Defense Association have applied to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of one family whose child was abducted by the government in 2009 and have filed a brief in a Swedish appellate court on behalf of another family fined an amount equivalent to $26,000.
“Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. “Swedish policy on home education is at odds with recognized international legal standards that uphold the right of parents to direct the education of their children. Those standards include the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights documents, all of which recognize that parents have a fundamental right to choose what kind of education their children will receive.”
“Sweden’s educational policy is becoming increasingly totalitarian,” said HSLDA Director of International Relations Mike Donnelly, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “A country that does not permit home education is not really a free country.”
Liberal Party politician Lotta Edholm called for the change to the country’s social services law in a Jan. 10 column in Aftonbladet, a prominent Swedish newspaper. Edholm then wrote on her blog: “Today I write with Ann-Katrin Aslund on Aftonbladet’s debate page that the social services law should be amended so that social services are able to intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents--often for religious or ideological reasons.”
The statement is the most direct and serious threat to date for home-schooling families in the Nordic country, where the climate for home-schooling has continued to deteriorate. The Swedish Court of Appeal has agreed to review three different cases in which government officials denied permission to home-school.
“ADF and HSLDA will continue to defend home-schooling families in Sweden and other European countries until we win,” Kiska said.
The call for the change comes amidst already stringent penalties in Sweden for home schooling. The Alliance Defense Fund and Home School Legal Defense Association have applied to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of one family whose child was abducted by the government in 2009 and have filed a brief in a Swedish appellate court on behalf of another family fined an amount equivalent to $26,000.
“Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. “Swedish policy on home education is at odds with recognized international legal standards that uphold the right of parents to direct the education of their children. Those standards include the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights documents, all of which recognize that parents have a fundamental right to choose what kind of education their children will receive.”
“Sweden’s educational policy is becoming increasingly totalitarian,” said HSLDA Director of International Relations Mike Donnelly, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “A country that does not permit home education is not really a free country.”
Liberal Party politician Lotta Edholm called for the change to the country’s social services law in a Jan. 10 column in Aftonbladet, a prominent Swedish newspaper. Edholm then wrote on her blog: “Today I write with Ann-Katrin Aslund on Aftonbladet’s debate page that the social services law should be amended so that social services are able to intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents--often for religious or ideological reasons.”
The statement is the most direct and serious threat to date for home-schooling families in the Nordic country, where the climate for home-schooling has continued to deteriorate. The Swedish Court of Appeal has agreed to review three different cases in which government officials denied permission to home-school.
“ADF and HSLDA will continue to defend home-schooling families in Sweden and other European countries until we win,” Kiska said.
- Pronunciation guide: Kiska (KISH’-kuh), Donnelly (DAHN’-uh-lee)
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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