Luxembourg is a small, prosperous country in western Europe. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Luxembourg has made great strides in continuing to achieve and secure basic human rights in Luxembourg for their citizens.

As of 2017, the government of Luxembourg has met the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. According to the U.S. State Department, “These achievements included increasing the number of prosecutions and convictions, finalizing and adopting a written national referral mechanism, enhancing the number of dedicated personnel to anti-trafficking positions” and others.

There were reported occasional cases of discrimination throughout the country over the last decade, specifically discrimination with respect to employment on the basis of race, color, political opinion, sex, gender, disability and other categories. Luxembourg law requires quotas for hiring diverse types of employees. It also mandates equal pay for equal work.

In September 2014, in reaction to reporting that employers paid women 8.6 percent less on average than men for the same work, the Ministry of Equal Opportunities began an awareness campaign using newspapers, online advertisements and posters in order to end the unequal treatment of women in the workplace.

On a more controversial note, Luxembourg legalized euthanasia in 2009, making it the third country in Europe to legalize euthanasia. The law on palliative care, advance instructions and end-of-life accompaniment “applied to anyone in a hopeless medical situation as a result of an accident or serious illness.” Many human rights advocacy groups, such as the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach, have spoken out against the practice.

The Human Rights Council will be reviewing human rights in Luxembourg early next year to determine whether they are fulfilling their human rights commitments. But it is safe to say that with a stable government and human rights laws that are routinely enforced, human rights will continue to be respected in Luxembourg.

– Melanie Snyder

Photo: Flickr