Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

101st session

20 April–8 May 2020

Item 6 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted

by State s parties under article 9 of the Convention

List of themes in relation to the combined twenty-second to twenty-fourth reports of Denmark

Note by the Country Rapporteur

1.The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decided at its seventy-sixth session (A/65/18, para. 85) that the Country Rapporteur would send to the State party concerned a short list of themes with a view to guiding and focusing the dialogue between the State party’s delegation and the Committee during the consideration of the State party’s report. The present document contains a list of such themes. It is not an exhaustive list; other issues may also be raised in the course of the dialogue. No written replies are required.

Statistics (arts. 1 and 5)

2.Measures taken to revise data-collection processes to include ethnicity; further information on country of origin and citizenship data that have been collected on immigrants and descendants, foreign nationals and newly arrived refugees and immigrants (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 7; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 9–13).

The Convention in domestic law and the institutional and policy framework for its implementation (arts. 2, 4, 6 and 7)

3.Details on the implementation of the Convention in the domestic legal order; examples of the application of the Convention by the Danish courts; measures taken to amend the Criminal Code to bring it into line with the Convention (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 8; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 14–16).

4.Detailed information on racial discrimination complaints received and investigated by the Danish National Police, including under sections 266 b and 81, No. 6, of the Criminal Code, and the outcome of such cases, including the reasons for discontinuing any investigations or withdrawing any charges (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 9; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 43).

5.Information on progress towards developing a national action plan on racism (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 10).

6.Measures taken to strengthen the procedure for lodging complaints with the Board of Equal Treatment, including through allowing oral testimonies; measures taken to raise public awareness about the Board and the impact of such measures; information on types of compensation awarded by the Board to victims of racial discrimination (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 17; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 255–257).

Racist hate speech, incitement to racial hatred and hate crimes (arts. 2, 4 and 6)

7.Measures taken to address and prevent racist and xenophobic discourse by politicians and racist messages on the Internet (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21/Add.1, para. 2; CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 10).

8.Detailed, updated information on steps taken to combat, investigate and prosecute hate crimes (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 10; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 42).

9.Updated number of hate crimes and crimes with racist motivation registered by the Danish National Police and information on the nature of such crimes; updated number of court cases regarding hate crimes and their outcomes (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 9; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 41 and 67).

Situation of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons (arts. 2 and 5)

10.Information on the implementation of the new political agreement of June 2018 and its impact on the ability of applicants to obtain Danish nationality (CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 120).

11.Information on the implementation of the amendment to the Alien Act, which postpones access to family reunification for refugees with temporary protection status, increasing the waiting period from one year to three years, and the impact of the amendment on the ability of refugees to reunite with their families (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 11; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 129–136).

12.Measures taken to ensure that the receipt of social benefits does not influence the decision to grant residence permits to a spouse or child victim of domestic violence (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 16; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 102–103).

13.Updated information on measures taken to facilitate access to the labour market by immigrants, refugees, persons reunited with their families, and ethnic minorities, in particular Roma, and the impact of such measures (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 15; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 32–36 and 139–147).

14.Statistical data and information on the nature and outcomes of cases of employment discrimination based on race, colour, descent, or ethnic or national origin (CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 147).

15.Updated information on measures taken to improve access of asylum-seeking children, ethnic minority children and in particular Roma children, to quality education, including efforts to increase bilingual education, and the impact of these measures (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 14; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 196–201 and 212–219).

16.Measures taken to combat structural discrimination against ethnic minorities and non-citizens, in particular non-nationals of the European Union, in access to employment, housing, health services, quality education and access to justice (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 20).

17.Information on measures taken to repeal the law allowing for the confiscation of cash and jewellery from asylum seekers; measures taken to reform or replace facilities used for the administrative detention of migrants, such as the Ellebaek Centre for foreigners.

Situation of indigenous people of Greenland and the Faroe Islands (arts. 2 and 5)

18.Measures taken to establish a competent body in Greenland to handle complaints of discrimination based on race, colour, ethnic or national origin; updated information on efforts to establish a human rights council in Greenland and on its mandate (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 19; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 286–287).

19.Updated information on the establishment of a national human rights institution in the Faroe Islands (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 19; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 303).

20.Information on efforts to engage in consultations with the Thule Tribe regarding matters of importance to them (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 21; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 281–283).

21.Information on the content and impact of the campaign against hate speech launched in the Faroe Islands in 2018 (CERD/C/DNK/22-24, para. 306).

22.Implementation and impact of the strategy for vulnerable Greenlanders and their children in Denmark.

Situation of ethnic and ethno-religious minorities

23.Steps taken to remove the term “ghetto” from laws and policies describing collective housing areas of ethnic minorities; measures taken to ensure access to adequate housing and related benefits, without discrimination, to ethnic minorities and the impact of such measures.

24.Statistics on the representation of minorities in political and public affairs, including at the highest levels; measures taken to increase the recruitment of persons belonging to minority groups to positions in the administration, including to the police, and the impact of such measures (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 18; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 97–98).

25.Measures taken to improve the situation of non-Western ethnic minority children living in high rates of poverty and the impact of such measures.

26.Measures taken to prevent multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, in particular against Muslims and women of African descent.

27.Measures taken to prevent racial profiling by the police (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 18; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 104–105).

Human rights education to combat prejudice and intolerance (art. 7)

28.Measures taken to raise awareness of the public, civil servants and law enforcement to the importance of cultural diversity, tolerance and inter-ethnic understanding, and the impact of such measures (CERD/C/DNK/CO/20-21, para. 22; CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 273–279).

29.Detailed information on measures taken to promote human rights education, including on racial discrimination, in schools and the impact of such measures on the promotion of understanding and tolerance among refugees, asylum seekers and the various ethnic groups, including Roma (CERD/C/DNK/22-24, paras. 310–315).