Denmark – Amnesty International Report 2011

Denmark
Head of state:Queen Margrethe II
Head of government:Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Population: 5.5 million
Life expectancy:78.7 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f):6/6 per 1,000

Counter-terrorism legislation continued to give rise to concern. Forced returns contrary to international guidelines, including to Iraq, continued. Women were not adequately protected against violence in legislation or practice.

Counter-terror and security

Counter-terrorism legislation continued to impact on human rights. Judicial control of police access to private and confidential information was weak (for example, intercepting telephone and computer communications) and proceedings by which deportations and expulsions on national security grounds could be challenged remained unfair.
In September, the government published a review of counter-terrorism legislation adopted since 2001. The review was criticized for its lack of thoroughness and for failing to include the views of different stakeholders. Based on statements by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the National Police and the Police Security and Intelligence Service exclusively, the review concluded that the increased powers given to the latter had enhanced terrorism prevention.
In December, the Eastern High Court annulled an order to expel a Tunisian citizen, Slim Chafra, on the grounds that he was considered a threat to national security. The Court found that Slim Chafra had not been able to effectively challenge the decision to expel him, because it was based primarily on secret material, presented in closed hearings, which he and his lawyers did not have access to. Consequently, he had not had fair or reasonable means of defending himself.

Torture and other ill-treatment

In November, a local court ruled that the extradition of Niels Holck, a Danish national, to India could not proceed after determining that diplomatic assurances negotiated between the Danish and Indian government did not offer sufficient protection against the risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The government appealed the case, which at the end of the year remained pending at the High Court.
In December, the Copenhagen Municipal Court ruled that the mass pre-emptive arrests of 250 people during the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen were unlawful, and furthermore that the circumstances under which the arrests took place in 178 of those cases constituted degrading treatment, in violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The problem of minors on remand being detained in the same facilities as adult inmates persisted.

Refugees and asylum seekers

In May, the government amended its policy regarding transfers of asylum-seekers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation. Despite the lack of protection under the current Greek asylum determination procedure, the government announced that it would no longer wait for Greece to explicitly accept responsibility for a case before transfer. The European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures halting transfer in at least 304 cases, and effectively prevented the majority of transfers taking place. However, the Danish Minister of Refugees, Immigration and Integration did not declare a halt of all Dublin transfers to Greece. By the end of the year 20 people had been transferred to Greece under the Regulation.
Despite recommendations from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, at least 62 Iraqis were returned to Baghdad, Iraq, despite the real risk of persecution or serious harm.

Violence against women

Legislation did not adequately protect women against sexual violence. An expert committee, commissioned by the government in 2009 to examine existing legislation on rape had not yet submitted its findings by the end of the year. For example, legislation provides that if the perpetrator enters into or continues a marriage or registered partnership with the victim after the rape, it gives grounds for reducing or remitting the punishment.
On average only 20 per cent of reported rapes result in a conviction, the majority of cases are closed by the police or prosecution and are never brought to trial, leading to a high risk of impunity for perpetrators.

Discrimination

In August, the CERD Committee called on the government to provide adequate shelter for Roma and Travellers in the country, facilitate their access to public services and provide effective protection against discrimination and hate crimes.
The Committee also reported that the introduction in May of a new point-based system for individuals seeking permanent residence introduced “onerous and stringent requirements” that may unfairly exclude vulnerable individuals.

From here

Are media, arts and culture really starting to censor themselves?

Ranked first in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Denmark is known for a deep attachment to free expression and press freedom. This was seen again on 16 September 2009, when the Copenhagen-based daily Politiken published Thomas Rathsack’s entire book Ranger – at War with the Elite as a free insert after the defence ministry tried to get the courts to ban it. The book relates Rathsack’s experiences as a member of a Danish special forces unit carrying our sensitive operations inside Afghanistan. [...]

In a poll of 1,010 people carried out by Ramboell/Analyse from 11 to 14 January and published in Jyllands-Posten on 19 January, 84.2 per cent said they approved of the national media’s decision not to reprint the cartoons after the latest murder attempt on Westergaard on 1 January. Only 11.7 per cent thought the cartoons should have been reprinted and 4.1 per cent were undecided. Most of those polled (57.3 per cent) nonetheless continued to support Jyllands-Posten’s original decision to publish them in September 2005 on the grounds of the right to free expression, while 32.8 per cent disapproved and 9.9 per cent had no opinion. [...]

Is following the interview with Flemming Rose Jyllands Posten’s arts and culture editor.

Read in full at Reporters without Borders for Press Freedom

Amnesty International Report 2007 about Denmark

KINGDOM OF DENMARK

Head of state: Queen Margrethe II
Head of government: Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
International Criminal Court: ratified

Concern mounted over worsening intolerance and xenophobia against refugees, asylum-seekers, minorities in general and Muslims in particular. The scope and breadth of new legislation with the stated aim of countering terrorism gave rise to concern about its impact on fundamental human rights.

Discrimination

In its report on Denmark, published in May, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) expressed deep concern at worsening intolerance and xenophobia against refugees, asylum-seekers, minorities in general and Muslims in particular. ECRI noted with concern legislative provisions disproportionately restricting the ability of members of ethnic minorities to acquire Danish citizenship, to benefit from family reunification, and to access social protection. ECRI also highlighted an atmosphere of impunity, created by the low rate of prosecutions for incitement to racial hatred despite, among other things, inflammatory statements by some politicians and the media.

In October the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed a number of concerns after a periodic review of Denmark. These included the refusal of the Public Prosecutor to instigate proceedings in some cases, despite an increasing number of racially motivated offences and hate speech complaints, including in connection with the publication of cartoons that many Muslims found profoundly insulting. It also raised concern about the fact that asylum-seekers could not lodge appeals in the courts against decisions by the Refugee Board and that asylum-seekers and their children were sometimes housed for several years in asylum centres. It also highlighted asylum-seekers' limited involvement in social, professional, educational and cultural activities outside the centres and the reduction of social benefits for those newly arrived in Denmark, a policy which reportedly created marginalization and poverty.

Violence against women

In August, reviewing Denmark's sixth periodic report, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern about the extent of violence against women and girls; trafficking of women and girls; and the length of the "reflection period" which meant that after 30 days trafficked women would ordinarily be deported to their country of origin. The Committee also highlighted the vulnerability of foreign married women who had been granted temporary residence permits on the grounds of marriage and who risked expulsion if they left the marital home because of violence by their husbands.

In December, the government announced an extension of the "reflection period" to 100 days.

Terrorism legislation

In June new legislation with the stated aim of countering terrorism came into force. The scope and breadth of these provisions gave rise to concern that previously legitimate political activities may be deemed unlawful. Judicial oversight of police access to private and confidential information was weakened.

Solitary confinement

In December legislation further reducing the time limits for solitary confinement of prisoners was adopted. However, it failed to introduce, even for under-18s, a mandatory maximum duration in cases concerning homicide, drug-related crime or security offences. There were reductions in the use of solitary confinement against under-18s for other offences.

Freedom of expression

In December, three investigative journalists were acquitted of all charges in connection with the publication of classified information about Iraq and the extent of the government's knowledge, in the run-up to the Iraq war, about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The prosecuting authorities stated that they did not intend to appeal against the acquittals.

Policing

There were reports that police used excessive force in dealing with three separate demonstrations against evictions in Copenhagen.

In September, the mother of 21-year-old Jens Arne Ørskov filed a civil action against the police and the Ministry of Justice in connection with her son's death in police custody in June 2002. The regional state prosecutor concluded he died from the combined effects of intense physical activity with an intake of alcohol and cannabis. However, Danish as well as international medical experts disputed the official cause of death, stating instead that he died from asphyxiation after being forced to lie on his stomach and having pressure applied to his back while handcuffed. Nonetheless, the prosecuting authorities decided not to press charges or take disciplinary action against the police officers involved. The case was scheduled to be heard in October 2007.

The Amnesty International Report 2007 about Denmark can be found here, and here is the ECRI (European Commision against Racism and Intolerance) Third Report on Denmark adopted on December 16th 2005 and published on May 16th 2006. It can be downloaded in PDF format, in english and danish.