DENMARK TELLS COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION OF MEASURES TO FACILITATE INTEGRATION OF FOREIGNERS
Press Release
RD/852
DENMARK TELLS COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION OF MEASURES TO FACILITATE INTEGRATION OF FOREIGNERS
19960304 GENEVA, 4 March (UN Information Service) -- There was no reason to believe that acts of vandalism and harassment against foreigners in Denmark could be attributed to ideological motivations, a Danish Government delegation told the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning.Speaking as the expert panel examined the implementation in Denmark of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the delegation said such acts were for the most part committed by young men under the influence of alcohol. The delegation also listed initiatives to bring members of ethnic minorities into the police and to improve the employment situation of immigrants and refugees.
The Committee will adopt observations on adherence to the Convention in Denmark later during this session. The observations will be based on its discussion with the delegation and a Danish Government report (document CERD/C/280/Add.1).
Discussion of Report of Denmark
In response to questions posed by Committee members on Friday, JENS KRUSE MIKKELSEN, Ministry of Justice of Denmark, said section 266 b of the Penal Code, providing for punishment of persons who made statements or imparted other information threatening, insulting or degrading a group of persons on account on their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, had been amended effective last June. Now, if the information imparted amounted to propaganda, this fact would be considered an aggravating factor.
BIRGITTE GRONBORG-PEDERSEN, Ministry of Justice, said the Minister of Justice said that people employed in the police services should represent a broad spectrum of society. There were several initiatives to encourage members of ethnic minorities to enter the police forces, including training courses to help people qualify for admittance. Although local, these initiatives had the support of the National Commissioner of Police.
Racially motivated attacks, such as arson, violence and vandalism, were punished under the relevant sections of the Penal Code, not under provisions against racial discrimination, she continued. The National Commissioner of
Police had been monitoring the number of cases since 1992. Up to 1995, 23 incidents of arson or attempted arson had been recorded, along with 19 acts of violence or fights and 27 incidents of threats. Most of the 200 incidents mentioned by the country rapporteur on Friday concerned vandalism, harassment and other things. There seemed to be no pattern to the violations, which were mostly by young men under the influence of alcohol. There was no reason to believe that such acts could be attributed to ideological motivations. As for the granting of an operating permit to a radio station of the Danish National Socialist Movement, under current law the Government could not refuse to grant an operating license on the assumption that it would be misused. The law specified that a license could not be used to transmit racist propaganda. Also, the local radio board would monitor this radio station very closely.
Police officers were trained on how to avoid racial discrimination within a context of instruction on international human rights conventions and the ethical rules that governed police work, she said. Police candidates also received psychological and practical training to help them to identify with the people they served. Work was also done to raise the consciousness of police officer candidates regarding other cultures and religions. Persons who felt they had been subjected to unsuitable behaviour by police could complain to the Public Prosecutor. A number of pamphlets were under preparation to inform migrants of complaint procedures.
ILSE COHN, Ministry of Justice, said everyone in the prison service followed a training programme that included a presentation on international conventions, including the International Convention, she continued. In order to make sure the right persons were employed by the Prison Service, their willingness and ability to use their training in practice was also assessed.
LONE B. CHRISTENSEN, Ministry of the Interior, said the statement in the report to the effect that "outright racial discrimination was rare compared to the kind of intolerance which springs from a general and often irrational fear of social change and of strangers", was not meant to understate the problem in Denmark. The statement had been based on experience and empirical data -- the incidence of reported violations of laws on racial discrimination was not as severe as that of statements or manifestations of intolerance. This did not mean that actual discriminatory violations of the law were unimportant; on the contrary, the Government took them very seriously.
According to Ms. CHRISTENSEN, a Committee on Integration had been established in December 1994 to elaborate a comprehensive policy to integrate ethnic minorities. The panel expected to finish its work by the end of the year, at the latest. Denmark also had an original institution that formalized the relationship between ethnic associations and the Government, namely the Council of Ethnic Minorities. There was also the Danish Refugee Council, a non-governmental organization whose activities were funded by the Government.
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The Council ran an 18-month programme to facilitate the integration of refugees. Family reunification was governed by rules that, among other things, required the person requesting that a family member join him or her in Denmark prove the ability to support that family member. This provision did not run counter to the European Convention on Human Rights. The number of family reunifications had dropped substantially since guidelines were tightened in 1992.
BODIL HOLT, Ministry of Labour, said the high rate of unemployment among immigrants and refugees had led to an intensification of action in this field. Until recently, the trend had been to focus on their lack of skills and qualifications. It was necessary to realize that initiatives should also target discrimination in recruitment and in the employment relationships of immigrants. In recognition that measures taken so far had been insufficient, the Government had introduced a number of new initiatives concerning labour market and training, among them an "action plan to break down barriers". This initiative was focused directly on Danish society and its ability to absorb foreigners, rather than concentrating solely on the lack of training or skills of immigrants.
LYKKE PETERSEN, Ministry of Labour, said the Danish Parliament was expected to pass a bill this summer that would prohibit discrimination in the workplace. The bill, prepared on the initiative of the country's Ombudsman, comprised the criteria found in the Convention. Among other things, it prohibited direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private sectors.
Committee members requested further information on the employment situation of foreigners; the conditions for employment of asylum seekers; the treatment of foreigners in the courts; and the mechanisms to assess the human rights training received by police and prison personnel. Citing the low number of communications under article 14, allowing individuals to address themselves to the Committee with complaints of violations of the Treaty, an expert asked to what extent this recourse was known in Denmark. Another member expressed alarm over the lack of information provided on the situation in Greenland, a territory that differed ethnically from the Danish continental area.
Committee member MICHAEL PARKER BANTON, country rapporteur for the Danish report, requested more information on the policy for the dispersal of immigrants. He was uncertain as to whether the policy was in harmony with the requirements of the Convention. He also requested details on the status of claims made by the Inuit people in Greenland in connection with their removal from land to make way for a United States Air Force base on the island.
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HANS KLINGENBERG, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said information on the situation in Greenland would be transmitted to the Committee in Denmark's next report. Also, the Committee's observations, including on the number of communications coming from Denmark, would be publicized. Ms. HOLT added that the unemployment rate for Turks, Yugoslavs and Pakistanis -- the only groups for which it was available -- was 35 per cent. The rate for Denmark as a whole was 12.2 per cent.
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