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Title: Denmark Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
DENMARK
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democratic rule.
Queen Margrethe II is Head of State. The Cabinet, accountable to the
unicameral Parliament (Folketing), leads the Government. A minority
three-party coalition took office in September 1994 following national
elections.
The national police have sole responsibility for internal security. The
civilian authorities maintain effective control of the security forces.
Denmark has an advanced, market-based industrial economy. One-half of
the workforce is employed in the public sector. The key industries are
food processing and metal working; the leading exports are a broad range
of industrial goods. The economy provides residents with a high
standard of living.
The Government fully respected the human rights of its citizens, and the
law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of
individual abuse. The Government responded to a 1994 Amnesty
International report by suspending the use by police of leg-locks as a
method of restraining detainees.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The law prohibits such practices, and there were no reports that
officials employed them. The Government responded to a 1994 Amnesty
International report by suspending the use by police of leg-locks as a
method of restraining detainees.
Prison conditions meet minimum international standards, and the
Government permits visits by human rights monitors.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The law prohibits arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile, and the
Government observes this prohibition.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government
respects this provision in practice. The judiciary provides citizens
with a fair and efficient judicial process.
The judicial system consists of a series of local and regional courts,
with the Supreme Court at the apex.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial and an independent
judiciary vigorously enforces this right.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The law prohibits such practices, government authorities generally
respect these prohibitions, and violations are subject to effective
legal sanction.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The law provides for freedom of the press, and the Government respects
this right in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary,
and a democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech
and of the press, including academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The law provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in
practice.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for religious freedom and the Government
respects this right in practice. There is religious instruction in the
schools in the state religion, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but any
student may without sanction be excused from religion classes with
parental permission.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The law provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in
practice. The Government cooperates with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in
assisting refugees. There were no reports of forced expulsion of those
having a valid claim to refugee status.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens exercise this right in practice through
periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal
suffrage.
The territories of Greenland (whose population is primarily Inuit) and
the Faroe Islands (whose inhabitants have their own Norse language) have
democratically elected home-rule governments with powers encompassing
all matters except foreign affairs, monetary affairs, and national
security. Greenlanders and Faroese are Danish citizens, with the same
rights as those in the rest of the Kingdom. Each territory elects two
representatives to the Folketing.
In the current Government, 7 ministers (of 20) are women.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of human rights groups operate without government restriction,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
Government officials are cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Government's operations and extensive public services do not
discriminate on the basis of any of these factors. The law prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex, and the law is effectively enforced
by the Government. Discrimination on the basis of race is at present
covered by two laws, which prohibit racial slander and denial of access
to public places on the basis of race. Human rights organizations such
as the Anti-Discrimination Center have criticized the Government for
failing to expand legislation to other areas of potential
discrimination. The rights of indigenous people are carefully
protected.
Women
An umbrella nongovernmental organization reports that in 1994, women's
crisis shelters were contacted 11,312 times, and 2,158 women stayed at
shelters. There were 834 rapes and other cases of sexual assault. The
law requires equal pay for equal work, but some wage inequality still
exists. The law prohibits job discrimination on the basis of sex and
provides resources such as access to the Equal Status Council for those
so affected. Women hold positions of authority throughout society,
although they are underrepresented at the top of the business world.
Women's rights groups are effective in lobbying the Government in their
areas of concern, e.g., wage disparities and parental leave.
Children
The Government demonstrates a strong commitment to children's rights and
welfare through its well-funded systems of public education and medical
care. Sections within the Ministries of Social Affairs, Justice, and
Education oversee implementation of the Government's program for
children. There is no pattern of societal abuse against children.
People with Disabilities
There is no discrimination against disabled persons in employment,
education, or in the provision of other state services. Building
regulations require special installations for the disabled in public
buildings built or renovated after 1977, and in older buildings that
come into public use. The Government enforces these provisions in
practice.
Indigenous People
The law protects the rights of the inhabitants of Greenland and the
Faroe Islands. The Greenlandic legal system seeks to accommodate Inuit
customs. Accordingly, it provides for the use of lay people as judges,
and it sentences most prisoners to holding centers (rather than to
prisons) where they are encouraged to work, hunt, or fish during the
day. In Greenland, education is provided to the native population in
both the Inuit and Danish languages.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The inflow of ethnically and racially diverse refugees and immigrants
has provoked a degree of tension between Danes and immigrants (mostly
Iranians, Palestinians, and Sri Lankans until late 1992; refugees are
now overwhelmingly former Yugoslavs). Incidents of random, racially
motivated violence do occur but are rare. The Government effectively
investigates and deals with cases of racially motivated violence.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law states that all workers, including military personnel and the
police, may form or join unions of their choosing.
Approximately 80 percent of wage earners belong to unions, which are
independent of the Government and political parties. The Danish
Confederation of Trade Unions, which includes about one-half of the
country's work force, remains closely associated with the Social
Democratic Party. Unions may affiliate freely with international
organizations, and they do so actively. All unions except those
representing civil servants or the military have the right to strike.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Workers and employers acknowledge each other's right to organize.
Collective bargaining is protected by law and is widespread in practice.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers against union
members and organizers, and there are mechanisms to resolve disputes.
Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are required to
reinstate workers fired for union activities. In the private sector,
salaries, benefits, and working conditions are agreed upon in triennial
negotiations between the various employers' associations and their union
counterparts. If the negotiations fail, a national conciliation board
mediates, and its proposal is voted on by management and labor. If the
proposal is turned down, the Government may force a legislated solution
on the parties (usually based upon the mediators' proposal). The
agreements, in turn, are used as guidelines throughout the public as
well as the private sector. In the public sector, collective bargaining
is conducted between the employees' unions and a government group, led
by the Finance Ministry.
Labor relations in Greenland are conducted in the same manner as in
Denmark. In disputes, Greenlandic courts are the first recourse, but
Danish mediation services or the Danish Labor Court may also be used.
In the Faroes, there is no umbrella labor organization, but individual
unions engage in periodic collective bargaining with employers.
Disputes are settled by mediation.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law, which the Government
effectively enforces.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum age for full-time employment is 15 years. The law
prescribes specific limitations on the employment of those between 15
and 18 years of age, and it is enforced by the Danish Working
Environment Service (DWES), an autonomous arm of the Ministry of Labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is no legally mandated national minimum wage, but national labor
agreements effectively set a wage floor. The lowest wage paid is
currently about $13 (DKr 75) per hour effective in September, which is
sufficient for a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The
law provides for 5 weeks of paid vacation per year. A 37-hour workweek
is the norm, established by contract, not by law. The law does,
however, require at least 11 hours between the end of one work period
and the start of the next.
The law also prescribes conditions of work, including safety and health;
duties of employers, supervisors, and employees; work performance; rest
periods and days off; and medical examinations. The DWES ensures
compliance with labor legislation. Workers may remove themselves from
hazardous situations or arms production without jeopardizing their
employment rights, and there are legal protections for workers who file
complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions.
Similar conditions of work are found in Greenland and the Faroes, except
that their workweek is 40 hours. As in Denmark, this is established by
contract, not by law.
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