By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Victims of Sweden's now-discredited forcible sterilization program should be paid $21,000 apiece, a government-appointed commission recommended Tuesday.
Such payment could not be regarded as true compensation for people's reproductive abilities being taken away, commission head Carl-Gustaf Andren said in presenting the body's interim report.
But ``there is an important implication in this economic compensation ... concrete and visible evidence of personal redress, an expression of taking a stand against and regretting what took place,'' he said.
The commission was formed in 1997 after a series of newspaper articles about forced sterilizations from 1935 through 1975 in Sweden.
Many of those who were sterilized were targeted for the operations because they were deemed to have undesirable racial characteristics, mental deficiencies or other ``inferior'' qualities.
The sterilizations were in line with the concept of ``eugenics'' -- selective breeding to improve the human stock. Although eugenics was an idea accepted by many worldwide in the 1930s and '40s, the sterilizations were a severe contrast to Sweden's ideal of a welfare state that cares for all and promotes racial tolerance.
The report said nearly 63,000 sterilizations were performed during the period, but that it was unclear how many of them were forced.
``Earlier investigations have shown that between 6,000 and 15,000 of those affected would be considered as forced sterilizations,'' said commission member Leif Persson.
The commission's report noted that ``According to those studies performed 5 to 10 years after the operation, nearly 80 percent of the patients were perfectly happy with their sterilization and did not regret it.''
The first sterilization law, which went into effect in 1935, applied to the mentally ill and the mentally retarded.
A new law in 1941 was based on voluntary consent, but the report said there were many cases ``where it can be questioned if they were in fact voluntary'' -- including cases where sterilization was a condition for receiving certain welfare benefits or for being released from prison.
The commission has not determined how many of those sterilized are still alive. So far, it has heard from only about 20 sterilized people, Andren said.
The commission's recommendations must be approved by the government before compensation can begin.
AP-NY-01-26-99 1332EST