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RACISM

What are Denmark’s racism and antisemitism ‘action plans’?

Denmark has this week announced what it terms ‘plans of action’ against racism and antisemitism. What changes could the plans bring about?

Published: 25 January 2022 16:59 CET
Danish officials and chairman of the Jewish Community in Denmark Henri Goldstein present the government's action plan against antisemitism in Copenhagen on January 25th 2022.
Danish officials and chairman of the Jewish Community in Denmark Henri Goldstein present the government's action plan against antisemitism in Copenhagen on January 25th 2022. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

On Monday, the government, along with left wing parties and the Christian Democrats, announced that spending from the 2022 budget would be set aside for a “plan of action” (handlingsplan in Danish) aimed at tackling racism.

The plan of action will “fight racism broadly in society, and its initiatives will stretch from the labour market and education to culture and hate crimes,” a Justice Ministry press statement read.

“But first and foremost, the extent and character of racism must be established,” it added.

Money set aside to fight hate crime in the 2022 budget will be partially spent on the action plan. The budget includes 8.2 billion kroner in 2022 and 8.1 billion kroner annually from 2023-25 for prevention of hate crimes.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: How could Denmark’s 2022 budget affect foreign residents?

The government and other signatory parties to the budget want to “make a plan of action that fights racism in all its ugly manifestations,” Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup said in the statement.

“It’s not befitting of Denmark that we have people in this country who experience hate crimes and being turned away from nightlife, jobs and housing solely because of their ethnic heritage. Nobody should be subjected to racism and discrimination. A plan of action against racism will contribute to a more safe and secure society for everyone in Denmark,” Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) spokesperson Samira Nawa said in the statement.

The racism action plan will begin with a report on the known extent and character of racism in Denmark with further political discussion to take place in the second half of this year, according to the press statement.

The government on Tuesday announced a separate action plan against antisemitism.

The antisemitism action plan was formed in dialogue with community organisation the Jewish Community in Denmark (Det Jødiske Samfund), which provided the setting for a briefing at which the plan was presented by officials on Tuesday.

Included in the plan are 15 initiatives aimed at broadly tackling antisemitism in Denmark.

These include mandatory teaching about the Holocaust at schools, lessons on Danish-Jewish history and police training to prevent radicalisation. It will also promote interfaith dialogue between young people.

More targeted research into antisemitism will also be funded, including on areas of society in which antisemitism is prevalent.

In a statement, the government said that a directive to put together an antisemitism plan was issued in response to incidents of vandalism at Jewish graveyards in several locations in Denmark.

The aim of the plan is to “prevent antisemitism putting down roots in Denmark,” the Justice Ministry statement said.

“Antisemitism has sadly become a bigger problem in Denmark in recent years. We know from European studies that some Danish Jews avoid wearing items that can identify them as Jews and that some are harassed at school or work because they are Jewish,” Hækkerup said in the statement.

“We can and will not accept that,” he added.

The chairman of the Jewish Community in Denmark Henri Goldstein praised the plan at Tuesday’s briefing.

“I think to the highest possible degree that this plan is good. It’s thorough. But we will have to wait for 5 to 10 years to see whether it has had the effect it needs to,” Goldstein said according to broadcaster DR’s report.

The antisemitism action plan can be read in full (in Danish) on the ministry’s website.

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DISCRIMINATION

UN committee faults Denmark for stopping probe of ‘racist’ art exhibit

Denmark failed to take effective measures against racist hate speech when it dropped an investigation into an art exhibition depicting "racist hate images" nearly a decade ago, a UN watchdog said Tuesday.

Published: 8 February 2023 09:14 CET
UN committee faults Denmark for stopping probe of 'racist' art exhibit

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) ruled in favour of a Swedish man who filed a complaint against Denmark’s lack of action over a 2014 art exhibit in which he and other people of colour were depicted in a humiliating way that could incite racial hatred.

“It does not suffice merely to declare acts of racial discrimination punishable on paper,” committee member Mehrdad Payandeh said in the statement.

“Criminal laws and other legal provisions prohibiting racial discrimination, including racist hate speech, must also be effectively
implemented.”

The case was brought in 2017 by Momodou Jallow, the former spokesman for the National Association of Afro-Swedes and the national coordinator for the European Network Against Racism in Sweden.

He complained that Danish authorities had discontinued their investigation into an exhibit at a private gallery in Copenhagen three years earlier by Swedish street artist Dan Parks, who had already been convicted in Sweden for defamation and incitement to hatred.

Sponsored by the far-right Danish People’s Party, the exhibit included an image of Jallow and two other black people hanging from a bridge, with the caption “hang on, afrofobians,” and another depicted Jallow as a runaway slave with the text “our negro slave has run away”.

Jallow filed a complaint against the artist and the organisers, alleging racial discrimination.

The state prosecutor in Copenhagen opened an investigation, but discontinued proceedings citing national and European laws on freedom of expression.

After his appeal in Denmark was rejected, Jallow brought his case to CERD, maintaining that the Danish decision violated the convention.

The committee determined that the images displayed constituted expressions of racist hate speech.

It acknowledged the need to strike a balance between the right to freedom of expression and the obligation to fight racist hate speech.

But it said the depictions and words in this case were particularly concerning as they expressed the idea of racial superiority and could incite violence.

“Some of the pictures displayed specific anti-discrimination activists, with messages to humiliate them and tarnish their dignity, and that can incite racial hatred and violence,” Payandeh said.

The committee, whose opinions and recommendations are non-binding but carry reputational weight, ruled that the Danish authorities had failed to give an appropriate and proportional response in the case.

It said Denmark should apologise to Jallow and grant him “a full reparation”.

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