A/HRC/55/47/Add.2 84. In January 2023, the Government appointed a collaborative task force for Jewish life under the leadership of the State Secretary to the Prime Minister, to serve for the remainder of the current electoral period (until September 2026). The task force, composed of various State secretaries and representatives of the Jewish community, collaborates and conducts dialogue on preventive measures and efforts to improve the conditions for Jewish life and prevent and combat antisemitism in Sweden. In the first year of its activities it has focused on the safety and security of the community. The Government has also increased its funding for the Jewish Museum, the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities and the Living History Forum, and for security measures related to Jewish life and Jewish congregations. C. Situation of the Sami people 85. The Sami are an Indigenous People and also one of the five recognized national minorities in Sweden. The region comprising their traditional lands is called Sápmi in the northern Sami language. Some estimates suggest that between 20,000 and 40,000 Sami live in Sweden. 86. In the seventeenth century, efforts were made to Christianize Sami in Sweden. They were forced to attend church services, under threat of fines, imprisonment and even the death penalty for those who did not give up their traditional beliefs. The effort of Christianization included the burning of sacred drums and the desecration of sacred sites, and led to an almost complete destruction of traditional Sami religious expression. The persecution went hand-inhand with State encouragement for farmers to settle on Sami territory in the very far north of Sweden.39 87. The Sami people was first recognized as an Indigenous People by the Riksdag in 1977. Following an amendment, as of 1 January 2011, the Constitution explicitly recognizes the Sami as a people, in addition to being an Indigenous People and a national minority in Sweden. 40 Swedish has the status of official language within the country. Five other languages, including Sami, have the status of official minority languages. Citizens are permitted to use those minority languages in certain official or judicial contexts, and Sami may be used in the contexts of childcare and elder care; children who speak Sami have the right to attend bilingual Sami schools instead of regular Swedish schools. 88. Recognition of Sami rights has gradually increased since the 1950s. The Sami Parliament was established by the Sami Parliament Act of 1992 and is both a publicly elected parliament and a government agency.41 The Act on consultation on issues concerning the Sami people (2022:66) entered into force on 1 March 2022, making consultation with the Sami Parliament and Sami organizations obligatory before a decision is made in matters of particular concern to the Sami. 89. One aspect of Sami culture is reindeer herding, although it is not practised by all Sami. Too much focus on this one aspect has led to other aspects of Sami land rights being overlooked, along with free, prior and informed consent.42 A continuing and complex issue is the repatriation of Sami remains and sacred objects to Sápmi, and the Special Rapporteur recognizes the significance relating to the freedom of religion or belief of such repatriation. 90. In October 2022, Archbishop Antje Jackelen issued a second public apology to the country’s Indigenous Sami community for centuries of mistreatment that had contributed to what the Sami described as legitimized repression conducted by the Church of Sweden. The Sami representatives were successful in their attempts to include a traditional Sami singing style previously considered sinful, joik, in Church services. The Church of Sweden and its Sami Council presented an action plan to increase Sami participation and influence, strengthen Sami religious life, and include Sami children and young people, as well as increase knowledge of Indigenous rights. 39 40 41 42 16 See https://minorityrights.org/minorities/sami-3/. A/HRC/33/42/Add.3, para. 36. Ibid., para. 37. See https://minorityrights.org/minorities/sami-3/. GE.24-04001