"For the.e r4lllS0ns the Government contends that, even if the Committ.e
Ihould come to the conclusion that the co,nplaint falll within the ccope of
article 27, there ha.. been no breach of the Covenant. Th. complaint should in
this ca•• be decla1.'.d inadmis~ible as manifestly ill-founded."
5.1 Commenting on the State party's .ubmi.sion under rule 91, the author, in
submissionl dated 5 and 12 November 1986, contends that his allegations with
re.pect t~ violations of articles I and 27 are well-founded.
5.2
With regard to article 1 of the Covenant, the author stateBI
"The old Lapp villaCiJel mUlt be looked upon a. arlaII realnl., not Stutea,
with their own borders and their CiJovernment and with the riCiJht to neutrality
in war. Thia was the Swediah position durinCiJ the Vala reiCiJn and is well
••pre••ed in the royal letters by Gustavu8 Vala of 1526, 1543 and 1551. It
~as alia confirmed by Gustavus Adolphu8 in 1615 and by a royal judgement thnt
year for Suondavare Lapp viIlaCiJe •••
"In Sweden there is no theory, al there is in some other countries, that
the ling or the State was the first ownec of all land within the State'l
bord.:~.
In addition to that, there was no State border between Sweden and
Norway until 1751 in Lapp areal. In Sweden there is the notion
of allodial land rightl, meaning land rights e.isting before the State. Thele
allodial land rights are acknowledged in the travaul preparatoirel of the 1734
law-book for Sweden, includinCiJ even Finnilh territory.
"Sweden hal difficult}· in understanding Ki tok' s complaint under
article 1. litok's position under article 1, paragraph 1, il that the Sem!
people hal the right to self-determination ••. If the world Sarni population
i. about 65,000, 40,000 live in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden, 4,000 to ~,~OO in
Finland and the rest in the Soviet Union. The number of Swedi.h Sarni in the
heartland. between the veget~tion-line and the Norwegian border i. not e.&ctly
known, becau.e Sweden has denied the Sand the right to a cen.\I,8. If the
number Is tentatively put at 5,000, this population in Swedish Semi lanc'~
.hou1d be entitled to the riCiJht to lelf-~etermination. The e.istence of Semi
in other countries should not be allowed to diminish the rignt to
.elf-determination of the Swedish Sarn!. The Swedish Sarni cannot have a le.ser
right because there are Sarni in other countries ......
5.3
With respect to article 27 of the Covenant, the author statesl
"The 1928 law was unconstitutional f.lnd not consistent with international
law or with Swedish civil law. The 1028 statute said that 8 non-Iamlb~-memb.r
like Ivan litok had reir.Jeer breeding, hunting and fishing rights but was not
entitled to use thOle rights. Thi8 is a most extraordinary statu~e,
forbiddinCiJ a person to use civil rights in his possession. The idea was to
make room for the Semi who had heen displaced to the north, by reducing the
number of Sarni who could ule their inherited land and water rights .•••
"The result is that there are two categories of Semi in the Semi
heartland. in the north of Swedon between the vegetation-line of 1073 and the
NorwegIan 1751 border. One category Is the full SemI, I.e., the village Semil
the other i. the half-Semi, i.e., the non-village Semi living in the Semi
village area, having land and water rights, but prohibited by statute to ule
-226-