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Swedish university bans political rallies and posters on campus

Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg is banning all political demonstrations and posters on campus, said university bosses in a statement.

Published: 14 November 2023 14:33 CET

Swedish university bans political rallies and posters on campus

Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. Photo: Fredrik Persson/TT

“Due to the turbulent global situation and the highly polarised social climate, Chalmers has decided not to allow political manifestations on campus, or in our premises. This is to safeguard the work environment and safety for our students and employees,” reads the statement, written by university president and CEO Martin Nilsson Jacobi and the president of the student union, Isabelle Jarl.

The decision follows a series of petitions and rallies at which students have among other things demanded the boycotts of Israeli universities in protest against the war in Gaza.

“Freedom of expression is the lifeblood of a university,” continues the statement, arguing that people will encounter diverse opinions at universities, some of which they may find offensive.

“But in order to secure the university as a place for the exchange of ideas, open for different perspectives, opinions and nuances, the university must take responsibility for the forms of this exchange – we must create rules that allow the exchange to take place in a peaceful and open way.”

Chalmers is the workplace of more than 3,000 employees and 10,000 students, they write.

“To be extra clear: by manifestation we mean people gathering and expressing political opinions in a way that means that those who pass by cannot avoid seeing or hearing the message, and we also include posters, at what constitutes our students’ and employees’ workplace, the Chalmers campus.”

Other universities in the area, such as Gothenburg University and University West are public bodies, and they have not introduced a general ban against political protests. Chalmers, founded in 1829, is owned by a foundation and has more freedom to set its own rules.

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'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast.

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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