UM del - 2006-07 - Bilag 44: Rapport af ambassadør Ömur Orhun vedr. bekæmpelse af intolerance og diskrimination af muslimer

IntroductionIn response to an official invitation from the Government of Denmark, I conducted acountry visit to Denmark on 29 - 31 May 2006. The programme of the visit and organizationof meetings was co-ordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A copy of the programme isattached to this Report (Annex 1). During my visit I was accompanied by the ODIHR'sTolerance and Non-Discrimination Programme Officer Ms. Nay Purewall.Given my mandate as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office topromote better co-ordination of participating States' efforts aimed at effective implementationof relevant Ministerial and Permanent Council Decisions in the field of tolerance and non-discrimination, and to cooperate with the Chairmanship-in-Office in this endeavour, thepurpose of the visit was to:1) Learn about the problems and the situation of Muslims in Denmark, includingdifficulties and efforts for integration, and to make observations and report findings to theOSCE Chairman-in-Office;2) Identify good practices underway in Denmark to promote tolerance and respecttowards Muslims and combat discrimination and intolerance against Muslims;3) Raise awareness about programmes available to support the Government ofDenmark and representatives of civil society in their efforts to combat intolerance anddiscrimination against Muslims.Taking into consideration the active work of other key international organizations inassessing the situation of Muslims in Denmark, my report builds also upon the findings andrecommendations of recent reports issued by relevant International Organizations and otherinternational bodies, as well as on the assessments of the civil society.Although the main purpose of my visit was not solely confined to a discussion of the so-called "cartoon crisis", this issue came up during almost all my contacts.I would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Representativeof Denmark to the OSCE for all their efforts to develop a comprehensive programme for myvisit which was well-organized and coordinated and which included a good balance ofmeetings with high-level authorities, representatives of Muslim communities as well asexperts from non-governmental organizations and specialized bodies.

Monday, 29 May 2006My first meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Undersecretary for LegalAffairs Ambassador Peter Taksoe-Jensen and his collaborators (Mr.Kim Vinthen, Head ofHuman Rights Unit, and Mr.Jens Faerkel, Minister Counsellor) was more of a welcomingnature, where we went over the general lines of the programme and discussed issues that fallwithin my mandate. I was advised of the visits to Denmark by the UN Rapporteurs and in thatcontext the requirements of reports on similar topics by different International Organizationswere touched upon. We also had a frank exchange of views on the present state of affairs atthe OSCE.

Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR)Afterwards, I visited the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and had alengthy and fruitful discussion with the Executive Director of the Institute Mr. MortenKjaerum, who is also a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination. Deputy Director of the Institute Ms. Birgit Lindsnaes, Senior Researcher onHuman Rights and Religion Ms. Eva Maria Lassen, Project Manager for Human RightsMonitoring in Denmark Mr. Christoffer Badse and Project Manager for Complaint HandlingMr. Omar Rosenberg Khawaja were also present.After an introduction of my mandate, my first question to Mr. Kjaerum was about theDIHR's administrative structure and why an extensive reform was made in that regard asrecently as 2003. Mr. Kjaerum explained that the DIHR was the successor to the DanishCentre for Human Rights (DCHR), founded in 1987, which he headed from 1991 onwards.The DCHRs works throughout the 90's on refugees and immigrants apparently drew the ire offar right political circles.After the general elections of November 2001, the Danish government was formed as aright-wing bloc for the first time in the last 60 years, and was made up of a two-party minoritygovernment supported by the Danish People's Party (DF) from outside. One of the conditions

that were put by the DF for supporting the government was that the DCHR was to bedisbanded. The ensuing decision to close the DCHR was widely criticized by not only theOSCE and the ODIHR, but by local circles as well, which forced the Danish government toreconsider its decision, and by the end of 2002 a new structure was devised so as toaccommodate the concerns of critics.This was the creation of the Danish Centre of International Studies and Human Rights,which consists of a Board of Directors that is in charge of budgetary matters only, and twoseparate institutes called the DIHR and the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS).Hence, the functions, as well as the Board of Directors of the defunct DCHR had passed ontothe DIHR, whereas the Board of Ethnic Equality (BEE) was closed. As EU directives wereviolated by the annulment of the BEE, however, the government again looked for reviving theBoardTs functions, and in the end opted for creating a Complaints Committee for EthnicDiscrimination, of which Mr. Khawaja was a member.Mr. Kj aerum clarified that the DIHR was not a state agency, was not an NGO either,but worked along the lines of an ombudsman, and was in the family of national democraticinstitutions. (Mr. Kjaerum also leads the International Network for National Human RightsCenters).I told Mr. Kjaerum that my mandate focuses mainly on the situation of Muslims, andthat I had studied various documents about the matter, from various sources such as the ECRIand the EUMC, including the official presentation of the government of Denmark in light ofthe cartoons crisis. I shared my observation that the latter seemed to focus mainly onintegration and that while the human rights situation in Nordic countries was generally alwayspositive, the overall impression was that things had worsened in Denmark in the last4-5yearsvis-à-vis foreigners in general and Muslims in particular. I also explained that I intended tostudy the situation of Muslims in Denmark, who add up to 200,000 people, under four mainheadings:a) Religious Freedoms: This seemed to be the least problematic area, except for theproblems encountered in relation to constructing suitable places of worship. The fact thatthere were a lot of mosques across the land was clouded by the reality that most of these weremakeshift buildings. Recognition of Islam was also an issue.b) Structural Problems: Inadequate housing and the notion of ghettoism, which wereinterconnected with other problems such as improper schooling, segregation, (mostly hidden)discrimination as regards employment were areas of concern under this topic. I highlighted

that this problem seemed to be more widespread, i.e. not confined to Denmark, and asked tolearn more about Mr. Kjaerum's observations.c) Legislation: I reminded my counterparts that the international community wasgenerally critical of Denmark's recent changes to its legislation, especially the Foreigners andImmigration Acts and their implementation, branding them as tough and restrictive, and askedfor comments.d) Social Milieu: The political discourse towards and media coverage of Muslims inDenmark seemed to be the source of greatest concern, as reflected by the cartoons crisis.Apparently, the discourse of rightist elements of the political spectrum, which had forced theDCHR to close down, was behind the controversial changes to legislation as well. It was inthis vein that I asked Mr. Kjaerum to comment on the aforementioned points, and highlightnot only problems, but good practices as well.Mr. Kjaerum said that he basically agreed with my framework, and had two additionalpoints of his own:1. Denmark was not successful in integrating minorities: Mr. Kjaerum underlined thatDenmark was struggling with the challenges of becoming a more open and extrovert society,rather than a more family-oriented, farmer based society, and while the high rate of taxesensured that there weren't starving people on the streets, the difficulties were still evident asregards disadvantaged groups such as the disabled people or ethnic minorities.2. Inferiority Complex: The example that was used in this context was the treatment ofthe German minority in Denmark, which was exemplary. Mr. Kjaerum explained thisphenomenon by arguing that the way Danes treated Germans was from the perception of thebigger picture as seen by Danes, who consider themselves as a minority to the Germans, the"big brother". Mr. Kjaerum used the same analogy to state that while the 200,000 or soMuslims in Denmark seemed like a manageable figure, they were a reflection of the threatthat the vast Muslim world posed to "the Christian culture that small Denmark stood for".Ms. Lassen elaborated on my description of religious freedom. She believed that thesocial milieu's influence on religious freedom was even bigger than my portrayal, andreminded that some circles had previously asked from the parliamentary rostrum that "onlyChristians should get Danish citizenship". She further explained that whenever Muslimpractices were highlighted, it was done so in a bad light. Apparently, the Muslim slaughteringritual was scrutinized as such, and the appeals for banning the practice were only shelvedwhen it was discovered that Jews were also to be adversely affected. The fact that groups

apart from Christians and Jews were described as "other" categories also pointed towards theexistence of implicit discrimination, leading to the conclusion that religious freedom existed,but religious equality did not.Ms. Lassen further detailed her last point by reminding that there were currently threetypes of religious communities in Denmark:a) the state church,b) recognized communitiesc) acknowledged communitiesWhile the difference between recognized and acknowledged communities was mostlyabout semantics, the atmosphere in the country affected the perceptions of the people, makingthem believe that there was a differentiation.Another example that Mr. Kjaerum brought up was that while marriages in Lutheranchurches were automatically registered by civil authorities, other groups didn't have thispossibility. A similar case was valid for registration of newborns, and he suggested thatgroups such as Muslims should be allowed to register their children directly to themunicipalities, rather than going through the Lutheran Church.I argued that the civil authorities, rather than the religious communities should issue thebirth and marriage licenses, so as not to encounter problems with age limits, mental capacity,intra-family marriage, etc.Mr. Badse underlined an interesting perspective. He argued that the "Muhammad" crisissurprised the Danes, in conjunction with other events such as 9/11, London and Madridbombings, Theo van Gogh killing, burned Danish embassies, etc. which had all played a rolein the perception of Muslims in the country. He argued that Muslims were seen as amonolithic group for a certain period, but that even the rightist politicians were careful now intargeting "radical Islamists" only.He touched upon the Danish government's position vis-à-vis freedom of religion andthe debate on the impact of religion in the public sphere. He underlined existence of freedomof religion, but not of equality of religions. On ghettoization and parallel societies, and onhow to avoid self segregation, he argued that the existence of schools that were 90% "black"caused cases of reverse discrimination. Mr. Badse also questioned how interference of one'schoice of school or residence can take place without breaching the freedom of choice.

Mr. Kjaerum summed up by stating that things needed to be analyzed from theperspective of discrimination, as well as of equality. He explained how difficult it was forDenmark, a country who had taken a leading role in the condemnation of apartheid, to cometo grips with the fact that it, too, had a problem of discrimination. The problems in thehousing market in which even those with adequate financial means found it hard to movebeyond their ghettoes, showed that discrimination may even come in invisible forms. He alsohighlighted that discriminatory practices should be targeted instead of trying to establishequality between various religious groups, which was impossible in practice due to the factthat one group (Lutheran Christians) had a backing of almost95%.I agreed with Mr. Kjaerum, and shared my observation that the problems seemed toemanate from certain circles that had a derogatory view of Islam, rather than the Danish stateitself which recognizes Islam as a religion. I asked my counterparts whether they thought thenecessary lessons had been drawn by the government from the cartoons crisis.Ms. Lassen said that half of the Danish population had actually reacted to thepublication of the cartoons, the dialogue within the society as a whole was a positive element,and the majority of the population wanted to keep the Penal Code article on blasphemy intact.As some good had actually come out of the crisis, she expected the government to reactaccordingly, but that it might be difficult under the yoke of the rightists to admit theirmistakes and move on. However, she mentioned that many previous supporters were movingaway from the rightist parties.Mr. Kjaerum added that many people had actually understood that the ongoing rhetoricwas actually damaging Denmark. Strong private companies such as Danfoss had spokenopenly against the government. Serious books about Islam were also much more popular bythe public.Mr. Badse's foresight was that the government would keep the dialogue channels open,but stay the course.I analyzed the cartoons crisis in some depth with my interlocutors. The crisis essentiallyhad two dimensions, one in Denmark and another on a global scale. The latter, of course, wasmore damaging. The cartoons themselves were tasteless, pointless, and hadn't even met theirpublishers' goal. The attitude of the Danish government was instrumental in the creation ofthe crisis, as they failed to distance themselves from the publication of the cartoons at an earlyphase in a meaningful manner.

I told my counterparts that I had actually met with the Danish Minister of ForeignAffairs during the Forum for Future meeting in Doha on 14th November 2005, where I had anopportunity to tell him that his government's position did not seem to be the right way todefuse the crisis, but could escalate it. The developments then inspired some other artists tocarry out similar silly acts.The news that the author of the children's book, who started the whole episode byclaiming he couldn't find anyone to picture Muhammad, a Mr. Kaare Bluitgen, was workingon a new book about interpreting Quran was again disturbing. Lacking the necessary languageand theological skills, this character was probably going to use this or that interpretation ofQuran, handpick a couple of sentences from the whole text, and possibly come up withmocking or disrespectful arguments. This was another recipe for further deepening of the faultlines. It was other initiatives like the Alliance of Civilizations that now tried to repairdisrupted ties.Ms. Lassen said that Mr. Bluitgen wasn't a very good writer, and Mr. Badse claimedthat there was a risk of intimidation, as self-censorship was promoted in certain circles, andthe only real option was not to buy the books that were offensive.I said that possible reactions to Mr. Bluitgen's books wouldn't necessarily be about thequality of his work, and clarified that the aim was ethical codes, rather than self-censorship.Self-regulated bodies that exist in certain countries provided an answer, in which the saidbodies sanctioned possible offenders of previously agreed ethical codes.I reminded that the Chief Prosecutor in Denmark had summarily dismissed the caseabout cartoons in a verdict that was criticized as more political than legal. I shared myobservation that the issue should have been left to the courts, which had previously used theblasphemy paragraph of the Penal Code against an e-mail of the DF, or against the offendersthat had painted swastikas on a workplace, and asked my interlocutors' opinion.Mr. Kjaerum said that he believed there was a genuine effort in the preparation of theGeneral Prosecutor's verdict. However, a reference to the UN Convention of RacialDiscrimination was missing, which is the sole document that covers the freedoms of religionand expression in a joint manner. He was of the opinion that the courts should make thedecision.Mr. Khawaja said he was in doubt whether the courts would have sentenced anyoneeven if a case was opened. He underscored that the Danish legal system doesn't allow groupsto go to court, because it was difficult to prove the interest link.

I finally asked how things have been affected since 2002, i.e. the toughening ofimmigration and residency laws by the Danish government, and how complaints pertaining tothe new situation are handled.Mr. Khawaja provided information about the Complaints Committee (CC) under theDIHR, of which he is a member. The Committee was founded in accordance with the Act ofEqual Treatment, and its mandate was on complaints regarding race and ethnicity (i.e. religionwas not included). He touched upon the difficulties that they encountered in identifyingMuslims as an ethnic group, and gave the example of the United Kingdom, where Jews andSikhs are identified as a separate ethnic group. The Committee assessed and handled cases ofdiscrimination, mostly at the labor market.Mr. Khawaja gave the example of denying someone from entering a restaurant, and saidthat such a case of discrimination would fall under the Danish Penal Code and is, as such,normally covered by the police. That being said, there was a reluctance to report such cases,and to process them. Most importantly, the Danish Parliament had to come to a decision onwhether they wanted to take a stand against this kind of discrimination, and include religionas a factor of discrimination or not.He explained that the Committee, upon receipt of complaints, was able to make a non-binding decision, and this was not a legal basis for the complaining party to go to court,although at this point the Committee provided free legal advice for him/her to go to court.According to his figures, as of July 2003, when the CC's mandate passed from theParliament, a total of 215 complaints were received, of which35were decided upon by theCommittee. The total number of decisions pointing towards discrimination was a mere 7-8.Mr. Khawaja admitted that this could at best be described as a mixed result, based on theirmandate, their level of recognition and their means.He further explained his last point that the CC could only work on documents that werebrought to them, i.e. they can not officially ask for documents from any institution. Most ofthe complaints were on an oral basis; therefore they were hard to prove when penetratingfacilities weren't at their disposal. This proved to be a major difficulty especially with privatebodies. He said that they also want to open the channels to go to court when they decide thatthey can't come to a conclusion due to lack of evidence, and that perhaps one model theycould import would be from Sweden, where there is an ombudsman on discrimination.I found Mr. Kjaerum's final comments to be of interest, where he stated that the

Roundtable with NGO'sLater that day, I attended a Roundtable with NGO's hosted by the Danish Institute forHuman Rights. The points raised by civil society representatives can be summed up asfollows:1. Situation of Muslims living in Denmark is quite different after the cartoon crisis.Muslims and Danes need a period of reflection, thinking about what happened and why. Themain actors of the debate have been silenced. The present situation is unclear and confusing,so that it is difficult to present oneself as a Muslim. Generally the debate is not aboutMuslims, but Islam. On the other hand, Muslims in Denmark are not well organized and theylack adequate communication. Some dominating voices present themselves as representativesof the Muslim community and try to dominate the debate. Prejudices and stereotyping ofMuslims is a major problem. However, Muslims have also failed to display their true image.They have given a somewhat wrong impression of who the Danish Muslims are. On the otherhand, not only practicing Muslims, but all Muslims should speak, so that a wrong andmisleading impression in Denmark of Muslims and Islam should not be created.2. The cartoon crisis has been a wake-up call for everybody. This crisis prompted somepolitical leaders to stop looking at Muslims as a one homogenous group. There is now morewillingness from some of them to listen to the Muslim voices.Before the cartoon crisis, Muslims were looked upon as monsters and this led Muslimsto be on the defensive side. Now Muslims are not on the defensive side. Some were arguingthat being a Muslim and a Dane at the same time was not compatible.The crisis was used as a political capital also to polarize the civil society. The broaderscope of why Muslims are identified as not part of the Danish society must be dispelledthrough progressive and constructive dialogue.A positive outcome of the cartoon crisis has been the increased foreign (outside) interestin Denmark.Media is not interested in dialogue with Muslims and Muslims are pushed out by themedia.

Diverse Muslim groups live in Denmark. They are fragmented not only on ethnic lines,but also in political understanding and socio-economic conditions.3.ENAR Shadow Report has shed light on the human rights situation of the Muslimcommunity in Denmark. Diversity of Muslim communities and differences of their socioeconomic perspectives have also been underlined.Through media monitoring more than 1200 articles of ten largest newspapers weresurveyed and 90% of the coverage of Muslims was found to be biased and negative.The debate in Denmark is shifting from ethnicity and color to religion and culture, asobserved in the tendencies in the public discourse.Media is instrumental in changing the mindset of the Danish people, as Muslims are themost visible minority group.Negative portrayal of Islam and Muslims is presently observed not only at the fringe farright parties, but also in the mainstream parties. Political leaders, on the other hand, tend toadopt a knee jerk reaction to criticism. Muslims are caught in between: socialists do not wantreligious people, others do not want foreigners. The case of political parties pandering topopulism is also misleading the public. The reaction of the government to the ECRI Report("throw it to the dustbin") is an eye opener.4. Monitoring political rhetoric and Islamophobic utterances: Marginalizedorganizations and political personalities in the far right campaigning against Muslims are nowin a position of power. Nowhere in Europe can one find so much negative rhetoric even at themainstream parties, as seen in Denmark. Hate speech is also more pronounced in Denmark ascompared to other countries. Islamophobia is the centerpiece of the People's Party. Theirdiscriminatory statements are not hidden or subtle, but can be seen openly in papers or TV.The Prime Minister, however, categorically denies existence of hate speech in Denmark.Government's reaction to criticism represents a general attitude of psychological defense.The discourse against Muslims resembles the attitude towards Jews in 1930's. Somehave even started to claim that Muslims are awaiting to invade and then kill the Danes.Islam is not recognized as a religion in Denmark. This is a big impediment for freedomof religion. Lack of proper mosques is another problem area.

5.Government is constantly talking about dialogue, but in fact there is really nodialogue at all with the Muslim community. They also talk about tolerance, but what theMuslims want is respect.6. Muslims should not concern themselves very much with the rubbish talk, but shouldtry to give a good image of Islam. They must also portray their kindness.7. It has to be recognized that there are two major Muslim groups in Denmark; guestworkers and refugees. However the practical problems they encounter are rather similar,being religious education, lack of proper mosques and well trained Imams and Muslimgraveyards. The majority of Muslims want dialogue. However the caricature crisis has shownthat there is a big gap between the majority Danes and the Muslims.8. The Prime Minister is not a devil, but a clever politician. He needs majority.However he has not been a successful politician as far as his handling of the cartoon issue.The Prime Minister has also given confusing signals to the society through his cynicalremarks. So far no serious incident has happened in Denmark and the economy is going well.As soon as the situation will change, the Prime Minister will also change his policy.The media is exaggerating the problems. It will take three-four generations for Muslimsto fully integrate with the Danish society.9. The government and the media is trying to split Muslims as good Muslims and asbad Muslims, which is quite damaging. Muslims should not be put against each other.10. Illusion of normality: It has become quite normal to accept discriminatory attitudesand to have a discriminating government. Muslims should insist on changing this discourseand should insist that they are equals to Danes. They are no more guest workers.Question of authority: Who has the right to define values? Muslims were humiliatedand had to endure ridicule because of this attitude.Another threat to Muslims would be from other Muslims, like those who callthemselves Democratic Muslims. Democratic Muslims are demonizing those who do notaccept their concepts.

Structural issues: It is absolutely impossible for a Muslim, even if born in Denmark,even if a democrat, to have a political carrier.The main enemy of Muslims are Islamists.11. How to relate is the main obstacle before Muslims in Denmark. Islam is nowplaying a political role in Denmark. Therefore Muslims also have a responsibility to solve thecurrent impasse.The fundamental point is not on people to people contact but on perceptions andinteraction with the media and politicians. Danes, on the other hand, should also try to relateto "the other".12. Freedom of media has been used as a shield to avoid discussion of discriminationand to avoid going into deeper and more difficult argumentations on assimilation.Freedom of expression was never challenged. Therefore the debate was carried on falsepremises.It is not correct to say that there is no racial violence in Denmark. However, violenceperpetrated by a Muslim is always exaggerated and repeatedly used. Hooliganism is alwaysportrayed as a sociological problem, however crime by Muslims is portrayed as a culturalproblem.The high unemployment rate of50- 60 percent among Muslims is a further obstacle infront of Muslims. Arabic sounding names are not even considered for interviews.13. Legal matters: Blasphemy law has never been applied for Muslims. The AttorneyGeneral, who is a government employee, decides if a case would go through the court.14. Democratic Muslims is a set up used as a front by the government. They have beengiven three million kroner, but they are not using it for the good of Muslims.Some are trying to change lessons on religions to lessons on Christianity. On the otherhand, Ministry of Church pays for the expenses of the churches, but not of the mosques. Inother words, the Danish state is functioning for Christian religion and the churches but not forMuslims.

15. The Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DAC0RD)could not attend the Roundtable with NGO's. I talked briefly on the phone with Mr. NielsErik Hansen, Director of this Centre, and he forwarded to me some information about hatespeech in Denmark, which can be found at Annex 6. Mr. Hansen also informed me of thefollowing:"I can also inform you that recently (May 24) DACoRD received a new decision fromthe Danish authorities. Member of Parliament Søren Krarup from the Danish Peoples Partystated last year that "... according to Islam it is the man's right to punish wife and children sothat they become yellow and blue. This form of violence has a sadistic and brutal nature".(Daily newspaper Politiken, November 5, 2005)DACoRD filed a complaint for hate speech on behalf of a Muslim man, but the policeand the State Prosecutor has rejected the complaint, stating that as politician and a Member ofParliament Søren Krarup has an extended freedom of expression on political issues like this.As we have now exhausted all national remedies, this case will be filed as a petition underICERD Article 14, like the previous case that was decided in March 2006 by the CERD - alsoabout hate speech from another leading member of the Danish Peoples Party."

Minister of Foreign AffairsMr. Per Stig Møller, Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcomed me to Denmark, andhighlighted the good cooperation that exists between the OSCE and his country.After emphasizing his wish that the cartoon crisis would not harm the integrationprocess in Denmark, Mr. Møller said that one good outcome of the said crisis was showingthat the Muslims living in Denmark are not that different from their compatriots, which couldbe seen from the civilized discussions that took place in February and March 2006, followingthe crisis. Mr. Møller stated that the six imams who had traveled to Middle Eastern countriesin November-December 2005 did not represent the views of the Muslim community inDenmark, as can be seen from the fact that the many town councilors of Muslim descent wereevenly distributed among various political parties in Denmark. The creation of "DemocraticMuslims" initiative was further evidence to this fact. The Danes, on the other hand, realizedthe diversity of the Muslim communities.The Minister went through the official Danish position on the cartoon crisis, andunderlined that a sense of indignation existed on both sides during the crisis. He clarified thathis messages throughout the crisis was one of understanding, so as to ensure that none of the

parties tried to forcefully change the other's views. Mr. Møller highlighted variousconferences and meetings he attended in order to promote mutual understanding.The Minister characterized the cartoon controversy as "unnecessary" and said that theincident was inflamed weeks after the publication of the drawings.I reminded that my previous meeting with Mr. Møller had taken place in November2005 and informed him about my mandate and my visit's objective.I told Mr. Møller that in my assessment of the situation of the Muslim community inDenmark, I would consider four problem areas. (As touched upon in my meeting with theDanish Institute of Human Rights, these are the social milieu, legislation, structural issues andfreedom of religion in general). 1 shared my impressions about the meeting I had earlier withthe local Muslim NGO's, and confirmed Mr. Møller's observation about how diverse theirviews mostly were. I drew attention to some NGO's pessimistic observations, the anti-climaxof which was a remark that "there was an illusion of normalcy in Denmark", andrecommended that concerns of the population, even exaggerated ones, must be dulyevaluated.I also shared my observation with Mr. Møller that the cartoon crisis was unnecessary,and it was rather unfortunately portrayed as a clash between the freedoms of expression andreligion. I explained that what the international community expected of the Danishgovernment was not to force the newspaper to revert the cartoons, but rather to distance itselffrom them due to their repulsive and unaesthetic nature. As I also reminded him during ourmeeting in Bahrain, the Danish government also had a freedom of expression, but that therewasn't a reaction to the said cartoons for a long time, after which came the unacceptable actsof violence and even loss of life.I pointed out that it was important to take lessons from the damage done, and shared myviewpoint that Denmark now had to redouble its efforts to establish its reputation once againwith the Muslim world, as it once had done thanks to its contributions to the Middle Eastpeace process.I then forwarded some of the problematic points raised by the civil society in terms ofemployment, housing, family reunification (which was recently taken up by the ECRI aswell), as well as good practices, such as the Complaints Committee that functioned under theDanish Institute of Human Rights, although it needed more powers.

Minister Møller thanked me for my frank, even blunt comments. He stated thatDenmark's report to the OSCE in relation to the cartoon crisis was well received, and arguedthat the crisis wasn't of an international nature, but it was rather a problem with somecountries. He explained that the situation got out of hand when the cartoons were reprinted inNorway in January 2006, and that he was under the impression that the matter was closed asof that month when the events in February 2006 unfolded.Mr. Møller expressed that he had warned his counterparts in November 2005 "to nothelp those who expect the Clash of Civilizations". He further observed that various partiescould have acted differently throughout the crisis.Mr. Møller then proceeded to explain to me that freedom of religion actually exists inDenmark, and that out of the 84 recognized religious communities, 20 were Muslimcongregations. There were 140 mosques throughout the country. He further gave examples ofcampaigns of disinformative nature that were carried out in the midst of the crisis, such as anSMS campaign that allegedly warned that "the Danish police aligns with neo-Nazis to beat upMuslim groups", or that "Qurans were to be burnt in the Town Hall Square by Danes".Minister Møller highlighted that four months had passed after the cartoons were first printedwhen the first signs of mass disturbances came from the Middle East, which clearly confirmedthat various parties involved couldn't see in time that they were losing control over thedevelopments.The Minister agreed with me on the need to explain the compatibility of freedom ofexpression with freedom of religion. He underlined Denmark's contributions to the MiddleEast Peace Process, and shared some of the concrete results from the Arab Initiative that hisgovernment had started as of 2003, notably the creation of an Ombudsman in Jordan and thefacilitation of women's participation in the labor market in Morocco.He further elaborated on the Arab Initiative and said that its primary aspect was that thepartner nation determined the area of cooperation. The Danish Parliament had recentlyamended the initiative. The changes included a budget increase amounting to25%,and adecrease in partner countries to 6 from the previous 18. Other aspects of change includedenhanced staff presence in Danish embassies in partner countries, more people-to-peoplecontacts, and possibly the creation of an Arab Institute or an Arab House in Denmark.On the recent ECRI report on family reunification, Mr. Moller said that he had sent aletter that featured the factual errors of the said report, that two Danish professors had recentlyagreed with his observations on the media, and that many countries in ECRI meetings alsoagreed with his points.

Upon my question, the Minister explained that virtually no difference existed between"approved" and "recognized" religious communities, and the practical aspect was that bothtypes of communities were entitled to have tax reductions. I advised Mr. Møller to inform theMuslim communities on this nuance, as some members of the civil society had expresseddoubt on this aspect.I underlined once again that the Muslim world's expectation was that the Danishgovernment merely distanced itself from the cartoons, and I shared my view that things couldhave turned out very differently if the Prime Minister's New Year speech had come at anearlier phase.Minister Møller's response was that they perceived the developments as a dialogue,rather than as a crisis basis for a long time. He explained that the 11 Ambassadors of Muslimcountries were given a polite answer by the Prime Minister to their initial appeal, andexpressed doubt whether things might have turned out differently if the said Ambassadorswere invited for a meeting with the Prime Minister. He raised the question of why it took 2.5months for Muslims to be angry with the cartoons, and claimed that the Ambassadors hadcrossed the line by demanding that the Prime Minister "put all those responsible to task". Heexpressed doubt on how, hypothetically, other countries would have responded should aDanish Ambassador have taken up such a tone with them. He argued that a deeperunderstanding of the cartoons crisis was necessary.Having said all these, Minister Möller recognized that there exist some lessons learned,like the need for more focused interaction with the Muslim communities, for a new strategyfor person to person contacts, for more scholarships to Muslim students and the like.I shared my observation that the crisis in fact seemed to involve the dignity, rather thanreligious values of Muslims. I concluded by saying that I hoped that Denmark'srepresentatives would be attending to the OSCE Tolerance Meeting in Almaty on 12-13 June.

other hand, the controversy on "recognized versus approved" congregations need to beresolved.b. Education, however, is an area where improvement is needed. Segregation in schoolsleading to non-integration is a major problem. The practice of making a differentiation inteaching of mother tongue to EU citizens but not to Muslim migrants is also seen asdiscrimination. The uneven implementation of classes on religion also leads to a communityperception of discrimination.c. Integration strategy of the Danish government is not coherent and consistent andgives the impression of an assimilationist model. It is difficult to get an objective picture.d. Legislation on family reunification and restrictions for entry are two areas of majorcomplaints and discrimination. The current age limits are arbitrary and unity of families are indanger. The justification of preventing forced marriages is not convincing and the currentpractice has implications for freedom of movement for Muslims.e. The cartoon crisis deeply affected the perception of the people. Admission of lack ofknowledge of Islam is a healthy sign. The Danish society tried to hold together in the face ofextreme reactions Danes faced; however they now started to question the reasons behind thecrisis and started to accept mistakes done in this process (soul searching). The PublicProsecutor's decision not to bring the case to the court is seen by many as a mistake and thedecision of the European Court of Justice, if Denmark would be found guilty, will constitute abig embarrassment not only for the government but also for the society as a whole.f. In the aftermath of the cartoon crisis the Danish government officially tended to putthe blame and responsibility on others. However, in private conversations everybody acceptsthe fact that many mistakes were done. Now is the time to look to the future, not to repeat thepast mistakes.g. People of Turkish origin constitute a rather stable group within the migrantcommunity. To a great extend they have not been involved in the cartoon crisis and tried tocalm down the reactions. After two - three generations people of Turkish origin will be fullyintegrated with the Danish society with less problems.h. Traditionally, Denmark has a good human rights record. However, during the lastfive years the situation of Muslims and migrants has deteriorated mainly due to the policies ofone party. (Anti-Muslim rhetoric). Danish people have now recognized the consequences andDanes are now criticizing themselves through a soul searching to find out what went wrong.

Tuesday, 30 May 2006Minister of Refugees, Immigration and Integration AffairsI met with Ms. Rikke Hvilshøj, Minister of Refugees, Immigration and IntegrationAffairs, for a rather long and detailed discussion. Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr. HenrikKyvsgaard and Private Secretary Mr. Christian Lützen were also present.Further upon my introduction of my mandate, Minister Hvilshøj underlined that theintegration efforts undertaken by her Ministry were targeted towards the Danish society as awhole, i.e. no special effort is made towards Muslims' integration.Minister Hvilshøj then described her Ministry's integration efforts at length, whichwere said to be targeted at bridging the gap regarding education and employment between"old" and "new" Danish citizens. Of particular interest were the free education courses thatwere offered by the Municipalities to all newcomers with a valid social security number forthree years, and the projects such as "Brug for Alle Unge-We Need All Youngsters" that wereaimed at helping young members of the society to continue their education. Using role modelsfrom immigrant backgrounds that have succeeded in advancing in the society by getting aproper education and tutoring cafes where volunteers would help with children's home workswere also mentioned in this context. She also mentioned and provided a copy of a bookletgiven to all newcomers, which contains insight into the Danish society and way of life.Another aspect emphasized in Minister Hvilshøj's presentation was the assistanceprovided by the Municipalities (which were mostly funded by the State) in finding jobs andshelter for refugees and immigrants. Minister Hvilshøj indicated that a significant differencein the employment rates between new and old Danes (50% and 76% respectively) existed, andthe situation was similarly disadvantageous regarding the employment of women withimmigrant backgrounds.In response to my inquiry about the criticism pointed towards the Danish governmentby various international organizations in view of the amendments to Danish legislationconcerning foreigners and rules of citizenship that toughened requirements for obtaining

citizenship and marrying non-EU national foreigners since 2002, Minister Hvilshøj defendedthe decisions of her government, and described their aim as reducing forced marriages,furthering integration and prolonging the education of their citizens, especially young womenwith immigrant background.I stressed that forced marriages could still occur beyond the government's age limit,and that imposing an additional waiting of six more years to the legal age for marriage (18) inorder to marry a foreigner seemed discriminative. I also raised objections to the seeminglyarbitrary age limit of15,after which a child abroad was not permitted to unite with his familywho had a permanent residence in Denmark. Minister Hvilshoj reiterated her government'sposition on the stated matters, argued that the regulations were in line with Europeanlegislation, including the "European Directive for Family Reunification" and explained thataltering Danish legislation on citizenship or family reunification in whatever direction wastheir sovereign right.Minister Hvilshøj also stressed that work and study permits had actually increasedsince her government took office, and that no discrimination whatsoever was made towardsMuslims in citizenship or family reunification matters. She underlined the difference betweenher government and the previous one as a demand of more commitment from immigrants inresponse to more efforts for integrating them. I was also advised that discrimination andhostility towards Muslims living in a multi-cultural society had actually decreased, or werebetter than the EU average according to the statistics of Denmark.I then brought my meeting with the civil society representatives to the Minister'sattention. I underlined that their points of concern did not actually arise from lack of freedomof religion, but from the bitter taste that was left by the cartoon crisis, which amounted to ahardening of discourse in politics and mass media, that caused concern also in theinternational community.I countered the argument of the Danish government that depicted the caricature crisisas a clash between the freedoms of expression and religion. I stated that these two freedomsare not mutually exclusive or contradictory. I also expressed my worry that the fault linebetween the West and the Muslim world, as well as between the Muslim community ofDenmark and the rest of the population, could grow.Minister Hvilshøj responded by stating that they cannot control the media, nor that theywould want to do that. She argued that while there was negative coverage of certain groups inthe Danish media, including Muslims, even newspapers like the Jyllands Posten madeoccasional coverage of well-integrated Muslims. The Minister also pointed out that selling

good stories was the ultimate challenge, and there was no policy of stereotyping foreigners. Iencouraged Minister Hvilshoj in trying to highlight the good practices and stories more in themedia.I elaborated further on the cartoon crisis by explaining that nobody in the internationalcommunity had actually asked the Danish government to control the media. I told MinisterHvilshoj that the Danish government was expected instead to distance itself from thepublication of the cartoons, and that the government had also freedom of expression againstthese tasteless and provocative drawings as well. I commented that things could have turnedout differently had the Prime Minister's positive New Year speech had taken place inOctober.Minister Hvilshøj argued that the negative reactions to the cartoons were in fact morevisible outside Denmark, whereas the discussion within the country had a very civilized tone.The Danish government had actually focused on many initiatives aiming at dialogue since thecrisis, and communities within Denmark had showed understanding to one another.The Minister finally admitted that like so many other countries, Denmark also is notfree of any manifestation of intolerance and discrimination, including against Muslims. In thatrespect, I underlined the criticisms contained in the Third Report on Denmark by the ECRI.When I reminded about civil society complaints regarding the difficulties encounteredin building mosques, and that while the total number of mosques were high, most of thesewere apparently makeshift buildings, Minister Hvilshøj countered by stating that nothing inthe legislation made it more difficult to build a mosque as opposed to a church. She furtherexplained that it was the communities who were supposed to build their temples, as was thecase with the Sri Lankan community.The day after my meeting with the Minister, she forwarded a letter to me (which is atAnnex 4) containing some useful documentation as well as some further clarification onpoints that we had discussed. (Copies of this material have also been forwarded to theODIHR.)

Ministry of JusticeAt the Ministry of Justice, I had a useful meeting with Mr. Michael Lunn, thePermanent Secretary and Mr. Jens Kruse Mikkelsen, his deputy.My first question to Mr. Lunn was about his Ministry's perspective on how the Danishpolice deals with issues related to racism and discrimination towards Muslims, among othergroups.Mr. Lunn proceeded with a detailed introduction about how the police works with casesof racial and religious discrimination. The highlights of his introduction included details suchas the obligation of the police to report complaints about such incidents, regardless of whetherthey end up in a court case or not, to the General Prosecutor and to the Intelligence Service(PET); and the fact that35cases of such nature (in accordance with para. 266b of the DanishPenal Code) have been brought to court between 1999-2005. A discussion on whether thepolice brings the cases in front of the courts as efficiently/well prepared as they should wouldbe useful according to Mr. Lunn, but his conclusion is that the system works in an orderlymanner. Despite certain claims to the contrary, Mr.Lunn is convinced that the police dealswith such cases seriously, and he cautioned that it is an obligation of the police not to bringthose cases into court if there is reason to believe that the case will not lead to an indictment.It was understood from Mr. Lunn ' s presentation that cases of racial discriminationcould be opened upon individual complaints or the initiative of the police, but that owing tothe vigilant attitude of the civil society, all cases so far were opened upon individualcomplaints.I relayed the concern of some members of the civil society that the police were hesitantto follow up upon their complaints of discrimination, which led to a situation of"underreporting". Mr. Lunn acknowledged these concerns, but was rather skeptical as to theirreliability. He stated that the police take such cases seriously and that the need for vigilanceby the police in this area is taken up with all police chiefs in their regular meetings.I tried to counter Mr. Lunn's points by expressing that perceptions could sometimes beas important as the reality itself. I recommended that future informative efforts could betargeted towards Muslim communities, who seemed to be convinced about underreporting,and who are, by nature, more timid in protecting their rights in comparison to their ethnic-Danish compatriots. I also voiced my belief that the police could be yet more careful in thereception of complaints. Mr. Lunn acknowledged my points, and informed me that the PEThas a dialogue forum with representatives of the Muslim community. He also emphasized that

similar initiatives are being taken by local police precincts to improve dialogue with membersof the Muslim community, and recruiting ethnic minorities into the police force was amongtheir priorities.Ms. Purewall invited the Danish focal point to ODIHR's program on hate crime datacollection in September 2006, and asked whether training on inter-cultural relationships weregiven to police officers. Mr. Lunn confirmed that it was part of the basic training curricula,and further training was offered throughout policemen's careers.I took up the cartoon crisis, and reminded Mr. Lunn that the General Prosecutor hadrefrained from carrying the case brought by a group of religious organizations to court. Iunderlined my view that his assessment seemed more political than legal. I concluded that ascourts are more independent and respected, it would have been better if he had forwarded thecase to the court.Mr. Lunn described, in depth, the differences in Danish public opinion throughout thedebate on the cartoon crisis, concluding by saying that it was a discussion where all partieshad strong feelings. He said that he believed the General Prosecutor's decision was taken aftervery serious consideration and was consolidated; hence he didn't agree that it was political.While agreeing with me in saying that the most convincing way of handling the casewould have been forwarding it to the court, Mr. Lunn nevertheless defended the GeneralProsecutor's decision as being in line with a long tradition of not pressing any charges onaccount of blasphemy. He believed that most of the 12 cartoons were not in conflict with theblasphemy paragraphs anyway, that only one (the one with the bomb-turban) raised doubts,and even that was not found sufficient to bring a case to court. He believed that the GeneralProsecutor rightfully believed that the court probably would have decided on acquittal. Mr.Lunn also speculated that the possibly long process of reaching a verdict might have alsoprovided ground for unrest among Muslim communities, as opposed to the swift closure ofthe case by the General Prosecutor's decision.I responded to him by saying that the controversy was actually not over, that the Muslimgroups had apparently applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and if thatCourt's decision proved to be negative for Denmark, the position of Denmark would be moreembarrassing. (Ms. Christina Rasmussen from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whowas with us throughout our meetings, stated afterwards that while there were press reportssuggesting the case was forwarded to the ECHR, so far they did not have an officialconfirmation from Strasbourg. However, Ms. Rasmussen confirmed that they knew the casewas sent to the UN Anti-Discrimination Committee for evaluation.)

Parliamentary OmbudsmanMy first appointment in the afternoon was with Mr. Hans Gammeltoft Hansen, theParliamentary Ombudsman.During our most pleasant conversation, Mr. Hansen explained in some detail theformation, functioning and competencies of his office.I was told that all activities of all public authorities would fall under the jurisdiction ofthe Parliamentary Ombudsman, except cases related to the legislature and the judiciary.Last year, of the approximately 4000 cases referred to the Ombudsman, 1/3 was refusedbecause of irrelevance, 1/3 was refused because they related to other means of appeal andremaining 1/3 was processed.The Parliamentary Ombudsman has no sanctions to apply; however his advice inpractice has always been followed. In reality, the Ombudsman functions as an administrativecourt.Upon my inquiry, Mr. Hansen informed me that his office has not received manycomplaints or appeals from the Muslim community in Denmark. (Upon the conclusion of myvisit to Denmark, I received a kind message from Mr. Hansen, which is at Annex-5, informingme that he has decided to form a working group with the task of preparing a leaflet with thenecessary information about the Ombudsman and his competence to be distributed to theMuslim groups in Denmark in Turkish, Urdu and Arabic. I was most pleased to learn of thisinitiative, which also proves the utility of country visits.)On the so-called cartoon crisis, I related to the Parliamentary Ombudsman myconsiderations and concerns. Mr. Hansen, referring to his non-political role, underlined thathe has not participated in the public debate concerning the cartoons. He went on to say that hehad read my Semi-Annual Report to the OSCE Permanent Council, was impressed with it andas a scholar would agree with my assessment on the cartoons issue.

Mr. Hansen also informed me that his office has received five appeals related to thecartoon crisis and that because of the legal and political nature of the issue his office was notinvolved with this controversy.When I raised my concern on the Public Prosecutor's decision not to bring this case tothe court, Mr. Hansen, on a personal level, told me that if he had been the Public Prosecutorhe would doubt whether he would go to the court, because as a lawyer he was of the opinionthat a Public Prosecutor should not bring a case to a court if he sees no chance of winning thecase in question. However, Mr. Hansen also made an exception, implying that if a case hasattracted too much public awareness and has become a contentious issue; such a case shouldbe brought to a court.

Members of ParliamentAfterwards, I met two Members of Parliament of migrant background separately.At my meeting with Mr. Kamal Qureshi, he started by saying that the Danish ForeignMinistry's web site contained misleading information to the effect that Islam has the samerights as Christianity. He said this was not true and that although there is freedom of religionin Denmark, there is no equality of religions. Mr. Qureshi underlined that even this statementby the MFA imply existence of discrimination. He went on to emphasize discriminationagainst Muslims at structural level, with special emphasis on the State Church. He told methat they were investigating whether to take this issue to the court.Referring to discrimination against Muslims through legislation, Mr. Qureshi stressedthat as the subsidies for churches are allocated from the national budget, Muslims are alsocontributing to the salaries of priests, which is against the EU rules.On another level, Mr. Qureshi stressed that Islam is not recognized as Judaism is, and assuch is not allowed to register. Therefore, he said, Muslims are obliged to go to the church forsome of their civic needs.On problems encountered by Muslims in their daily life, he mentioned the non-existence of proper burial grounds for Muslims, underlining that the present government hadstopped construction of a Muslim graveyard. He also mentioned existence of only onepurpose built mosque, the rest being makeshift. He said that every time a permission is askedto build a mosque, an excuse is found by the authorities not to grant this permission.

Mr. Qureshi stressed that the most important problem facing Muslims in Denmark is thepolitical discourse and the negative changes in the public debate concerning Muslims,destroying co-existence and integration. He gave examples of utterances by someparliamentarians to the effect that all Muslims are criminals, that they are a plague to theDanish society and that they are cancerous elements of the Danish establishment. He alsounderlined that the media is creating a picture whereby Muslims are marginalized andstereotyped.Mr. Qureshi drew my attention to the danger of the youth being pushed into the handsof fanatics. He said that the Muslim youth has now no pride in their cultural heritage.On housing, education and job market, Mr. Qureshi said that as Sweden was doingmuch better, the government closed the borders. He said if negative picturing of Muslimswould stop, job opportunities would increase. In the field of education, Mr. Qureshiunderlined that although in principle not compulsory, Christian religious education in practiceis given to all Muslim children. He also criticized the lifting of subsidies by the governmentfor mother-tongue education.Mr. Qureshi mentioned that the housing market is controlled by buying capacity and forrenting public housing there are at times a waiting time going up to 15 years. As loanpossibilities for buying property are limited, tendency for ghettoization increases.Mr. Qureshi was most critical on the legislation introduced for foreigners andimmigrants by the present government and their integration policy. He said that in general thisgovernment has tightened all legislation related to migrants, the biggest issue being familyunification. He cited the present restrictions and underlined that Danish citizens of migrantbackground are less favored as compared to other EU citizens. He also stressed that visaapplications for family visits have recently been tightened without any logical explanation.During my meeting with Mr. HUseyin Arac, he underlined that the political situationduring the last 4 -5years have changed negatively, mainly due to the influence of one party.Although this party is not a member of the governing coalition, its influence is too much felt.Mr. Huseyin Arac said that both the government and the opposition seem to be awarethat a better integration policy is needed. He underlined that as the economic performance ofthe country is rather good, there exists a window of opportunity to improve the situation ofMuslims.

Referring to problems in the field of education and especially to the rather high rate ofdrop-outs of Muslim youth from gymnasiums, Mr. Ara§ nevertheless said that the higherattendance of girls to schools is a positive development.On the role of the press and the media in general, Mr. Arac was critical of thedisproportionate negative portrayal of Muslims, especially one crime being attributed to thewhole Muslim community.Mr. Ara§ also spoke about the immigrants' responsibility, that they had to understandthe social system of their new country and that some extreme elements should not be giventhe opportunity of portraying a negative impression for all Muslims. He said that suchextremes are too few. Mr. Ara§ stressed that if the Muslims would approach their problemsmoderately, better results could be achieved. However, he said, the policies of right wingparties were harming the whole Muslim community.Mr. Arac approached the caricature crisis in a balanced manner, saying that two extremegroups pushed the case to where it is. He underlined that most Muslims were squeezed inbetween these two extremes. He suggested solution of the problem through dialogue, respectand cooperation. According to him, the Prime Minister should have come out earlier with hisNew Year statement.Mr. Arac, referring to the opposition of some circles to Turkey's entry to the EU, saidthat Turkey in the EU would create a very good impression in the Islamic World and thiswould improve dialogue and cooperation between the West and the Muslim World. He addedthat social democrats would like to continue to support democratization in the Middle East.Finally, on the issue of building proper mosques, Mr. Ara§ was of the opinion that themain problem was not getting licenses but providing funds.

I met the Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Council Mr. Sukru Ertosun and DeputyChairs Ms. Nur Beier and Mr. Muhsin Turkyilmaz.I was told that the Ethnic Minorities Council was founded in 1999 and that everymunicipality must have such a council. Up till now 63 councils have been established in 275municipalities. Each Municipal Council sends one representative to the General Assemblyand a 14 member National Council is elected.The main function of the Ethnic Minorities Council is to inform and guide politicianson integration, and as such works very closely with the Ministry of Integration.The officials of the Ethnic Minorities Council (EMC) underlined that it was not easyto work for proper integration and that the EMC tries to work as a role model. EMC has theright to voice its opinion on legislation, but not much influence. During the last six years theEMC has worked to carry the voice of the minorities, but their work is becoming moredifficult, as funding for assemblies have been withdrawn and funding is available only forprojects. However, migrants in general are not able to present projects. Therefore their voiceis not properly heard.Officials of the EMC also underlined that they are only a last organ to receivecomplaints and that there have been mistakes on both sides, little interest being shown bymigrants for the EMC. Therefore, the EMC is trying to raise awareness.On the general situation of Muslims, the EMC representatives underlined that all thebad roles are attributed to migrant groups and the negative political discourse discouragesmigrants to be involved in politics and to get better organized. The situation has worsenedafter 1999 with the new government, which puts the blame for non-integration solely onmigrants. I was also told that the discourse nowadays is not healthy.EMC representatives then referred to restrictions on marriage and family re-unification. They said that this legislation has a deeper connotation, as Denmark had opted outof EU's free movement clause. The argument by the Danish government is that the Danishwelfare society cannot absorb so many migrants. There have been suggestions that Denmarkshould adopt the Dutch model, which would create a paradoxical situation, whereby a twotime restriction would be applied.

One of the main criticisms of the EMC was the requirement for migrants not to haveany relationship with their home country to get residence permit. This was characterized as anarbitrary criterion.EMC officials underlined that the greatest danger would be pushing migrants moreand more to the fringes and creating an environment whereby so-called "good persons" wouldbe put against "bad persons." In that respect the critical remarks of the Third ECRI Reportwas mentioned.The EMC was the opinion that integration efforts should focus more on education andfind solutions to high drop-out rates. They also said that although there are measures for thegroups with the worst performance, there are no measures for the groups with the bestperformance.The general evaluation of the EMC was that Denmark was moving from integration toassimilation.Other specific points raised during this meeting were the following:a) Although if their parents so wish the migrant children may not attend to classes onreligion (Christianity), as they have nothing else to do, most migrant children are compelledto attend to such classes. They should be provided with either classes on culture of religionsor Islamic religious education.b) Although there are some plans, there is no citizenship lesson practice yet.c) Mother tongue lessons were subsidized up until 2002. As of this date, subsidieshave been lifted. Therefore most municipalities have stopped mother tongue lessons. The netresult for migrants is loss of identity.d) Migrants do face severe difficulties in the job market and they get the lowestsalaries. Migrants/Muslims are usually channeled to services. There have been instances ofdiscrimination because of Muslim sounding names.e) Difficulties in finding proper housing has a double negative effect; one beingtendency for ghettoization, the other being poor quality in education for children.

f) In the field of the freedom of religion, the dilemma of recognized-approvedreligions was underlined, together with the problems encountered in getting permission andfinding funds for building proper mosques.The representatives of the EMC also dwelled upon the political discourse and mediarepresentation related to Muslims, underlying that the general tone is discriminatory,stereotyped and intolerant. Criminality is attributed to migrants and the media reflects thepolitical discourse. (Although there is a difference of attribute by different newspapers.) Theimpression created is that it is not the Muslims who have failed, but it is their culture thatmade them fail.On the cartoon crisis, EMC representatives stressed that this sad episode opened theeyes of the Danish people and started a debate, which they do not know where it will lead. Adangerous consequence of the cartoons issue was a superficial differentiation (polarization)between good Muslims and bad Muslims. On a positive note, the need for respect for Islam isbeing acknowledged by more Danes.

Ministry of EducationAt the Ministry of Education I met Mr. Niels Preisler, Permanent Secretary, and Mr.Torben Kornbech Rasmussen, Director of the International Unit.My counterparts underlined that in Denmark people's religious denominations are notregistered. Therefore, the Ministry of Education has introduced no specific measures forMuslims, but considers them within the larger group of migrants. (However they are awarethat the larger parts of migrants are Muslims, amounting to approximately 200.000.) I wasalso reminded that Muslims do not constitute one monolithic group, that some are refugees,some are migrants with temporary residence permits and some have acquired Danishcitizenship. Even the number of mosques is reflective of the diversity of the Muslimcommunity. In all, the Ministry of Education has no one counterpart organization representingall Muslims in Denmark. However, the Ministry has very good relations with Turkey, basedon formal agreements, and25-30Turkish instructors are giving religious lessons to Turkishstudents.One of the main aims of the Ministry of Education as far as migrants are concerned isto help their integration and thus facilitate finding jobs.

I was told that the Ministry has realized a few years ago that children of foreignbackground were facing special problems and were performing less well than others. Themain reason for this was their inadequate knowledge of Danish, due to less attendance tokindergartens and speaking non-Danish at home. Therefore, the Ministry decided to introducea system of language screening at three years of age and if a problem was encountered,immediate remedies were provided free of charge. Another screening at six years of age isnow proposed.At school there are no specific regulations on how to treat children of differentbackground, because foreigners are a new element in Denmark.It is recognized that in some schools high concentration of children of non-Danishbackground is a big challenge for the authorities, also in establishing collaboration with theparents. Although migrant parents are respectful towards schools and teachers, they do notfully understand how the system works. Therefore, school administrations are trying to find acommon language with migrant parents, through different meetings and other socialarrangements.As far as private schools are concerned, these are financially supported by the state.They do not need to follow the public school curricula, but must follow same standards. TheMinistry controls these schools pedagogically and if problems are found, funding iswithdrawn. At present, there are 18 Muslim private schools with around 3000 students.I related to my counterparts my concerns related to withdrawal of subsidies for mothertongue education, high drop-out rates of Muslim gymnasium students, concentration ofMuslim students in so-called "black schools" and Christianity classes.I was told that till 1975 lessons on Christianity did include instructions on services,which have now been removed. I was also told that in these classes information about otherfaiths are also thought. Finally, officials of the Ministry informed me that the government wasreluctant to introduce lessons on Islam, also because of the diversity within the Muslimcommunity. On concentration, I was told that if a child is found less successful in a school,he/she can be send to another school. (Although not a pedagogue, I tried to underline that thispractice would make things even worse.)On the issue of subsidies for mother tongue classes, my counterparts admitted that thereare different views and approaches on this point and that they will evaluate the new practicein a few years time.

On the issue of high drop-out rates, I was given a long technical explanation. I tried tounderline that a sense of failure on the part of Muslim youth would lead them to radicalismand even to crime. Therefore, something needs to be done to correct this situation.My counterparts admitted that there are some manifestations of discrimination ofMuslims in Denmark and they underlined that they want to remove any suspicion ofdiscrimination and that they are trying to encourage schools to do better.Finally, I referred to the considerations of the civil society representatives to the effectthat the situation of Muslims were deteriorating in Denmark due to restrictive policies andlegislation introduced by the present government.

Ministry of Religious AffairsAt the Ministry of Religious Affairs, I met Mr. Jacob Heinsen, Permanent Secretary,Mr. Paolo Perotti, Head of Unit and Mr. Jørgen Engmark, Information Officer.Our discussions at the Ministry of Religious Affairs centered around "recognized-approved" religions, permission for building new mosques, Muslim graveyards and thenecessity of a Muslim umbrella organization. Mr. Heinsen advised me that employees of hisMinistry are representative of the population as per a Government Directive and thatrecognized and approved religions have similar rights to a great extend, albeit there are someexceptions.I told my counterparts that the Muslim civil society was apprehensive that some of theirtaxes are going for the maintenance of not mosques but of churches. In response, Mr. Heinsenstated that %80 of the church tax is paid only by members of that church. He went on to saythat those church members that pay taxes don't get a reduction, whereas Muslims can get taxreduction.After a lengthy discussion, we agreed that the confusion related to "approved-recognized" religions as well as the contradictory claims about the church tax should becleared and both Muslim civil society and Muslim communities should be advised of theactual situation.My counterparts also informed me about the 2005 law concerning Imams, whereby theyare required to speak Danish and be able to demonstrate democratic values.

Meeting With the Dean of Copenhagen DomkirkeLater that day, I visited Copenhagen Domkirke and had a pleasant conversation with theDean Mr. Anders Gadegaard, who is also a member of the World Council of Churches.Our conversation was of a general nature, whereby we touched upon various initiativesfor inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, the widening fault line between the Islamic andthe Christian worlds and the current issues facing Muslims. We agreed that there is nocontradiction between freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief and that itwould be a mistake to isolate people of other faiths, which may lead them to fanaticism. Wealso spoke about the role religions can play in value dialogue.Dean of the Domkirke admitted that Denmark and for that matter the Danish Churchwas not truly successful in integrating migrants and Muslims, but that the situation isimproving. Many Muslims feel more confident to live side by side with Christians.He also underlined that the cartoon crisis was a most unwelcome development, thatopen minded Muslims are now speaking more vocally and that both sides now have to provethat there are many common points in both religions.Dean Gadegaard also spoke about the "concept of scapegoat", Jews being the scapegoatbefore and now the Muslims. Therefore, he said, his church was trying to create an inter-religious platform to bring people of different convictions together. He also stressed thatMuslims should form an umbrella organization.Dean Gadegaard also underlined the need to educate the Danish people, that theyshould not fear from losing their identity and that they should show more interest to learnabout Islam. On the other hand, Dean Gadegaard said that as most of the Imams don't speakDanish, they are not very helpful to their fellow believers.Reverting back to the cartoon crisis, Dean Gadegaard advised me that while he foundthese drawings offensive and unacceptable, he was also personally surprised of the reactionsshown to their publication. He said personally he thinks the government made some tacticalmistakes, like for example not receiving the 11 Muslim Ambassadors.

1. Overall Situation Facing Muslims:Basically Denmark is ethnically and religionwise a homogeneous welfare society, with a good human rights record. However, as themigrants and Muslims in particular, which constitute the largest segment of the migrantpopulation, have both increased in size during the last 15 - 20 years and have become morevisible in the Danish society, with all the problems migrant communities have, allegations tothe effect that "Denmark is loosing its identity" seem to have gained a strong foot holdespecially within the rightist circles. As a result of this ill-advised perception and also due topolitical maneuvering after the last general elections, the political and media discourse vis-à-vis the Muslim community has hardened and restrictive legislation and implementation hasbeen introduced. It is an irony that all this is happening in a country which prides itself withits human rights performance and which preaches the same to others.

these issues. Examples of tightened requirements include the '24 years rule', where onlythose over 24 years may apply for spousal reunification, on condition of possessing areasonable sized dwelling, providing proof of adequate ties to Denmark, having been a Danishnational for 28 years, and on condition of satisfactory period of employment. Such rulesdiscriminate against persons who may have acquired Danish citizenship, but were not born inDenmark. Although these restrictions are applicable to all migrants, Muslims are the mostaffected group, also because of their size. In addition, as of 2004, the mandatory setting upwithin all municipalities of integration councils (which help new immigrants and refugeesintegrate into Danish society) has been abolished. Subsequently, in 2006, there exist only 63such councils out of the275municipalities.

3. Climate of Tolerance:Another serious challenge is the deteriorating general climatein Denmark, with some politicians and parts of the media constantly projecting a negativeimage of minority groups in general and Muslims in particular. In this regard, the relevant lawon incitement to racial hatred, Article 266b in particular, is seldom if ever applied to thosewho make inflammatory statements. This has served to create a de facto sense of impunitywhich has in turn contributed to a further deterioration of the public climate. In particular, thecontinuous negative political discourse on migration has contributed to virulent anti-immigrant sentiment within the general public, which is reflected in public policies relating tomigration and integration.

particular are persistently disadvantaged in areas pertaining to housing, education,employment and access to social services. Segregation in housing and exclusion fromemployment serve to marginalize groups from the mainstream and preclude integration intomainstream society. In the field of education, aside from addressing the specific requirementsof the Muslim community, Denmark should also devise inter-cultural education, to promoterespect for diversity and understanding of other cultures and religions. On the other hand, theinput of the migrant and Muslim communities to Denmark should as well be underlined.Segregation that is seen in some schools should be eliminated.

6. Complaints Committee for Ethnic Equal Treatment:Regretfully, the Board forEthnic Inequality was closed down in 2002, following the adoption of a decision by theGovernment to close down, merge or reduce the mandate or funding or more than 100organizations which it considered to be 'judges of good taste'. In 2003, the Danish Institutefor Human Rights was created and given, amongst other tasks, the mandate of promotingethnic equality - hence the establishment of the Complaints Committee for Ethnic EqualTreatment. My meeting with the Institute for Human Rights revealed many shortcomingsrelated to this Complaints Committee, including insufficient funds and a very weak mandatethat precludes it from meeting all the criteria of a specialized body (as per ECRI GeneralPolicy Recommendation No.2 on Specialized Bodies to combat racism, xenophobia andintolerance). The Committee has no mandate to cover religious discrimination, does not havethe power to hear witnesses, and no authority to compel private entities to give evidence. Asa result, it is forced to rely solely upon documentary evidence, and where it lacks evidence, ithas to dismiss complaints. In effect, this body has been rendered 'toothless' and is unable toeffectively examine complaints of racial discrimination or provide adequate redress tovictims. The Committee should be mandated to have more powers and be equipped witheffective remedies. On the other hand, networking with similar bodies in other Europeancountries to learn more about their mandates, powers and activities would be recommendable.

7.Lack of Funding for NGOs:The government has withdrawn or reduced funding formany NGOs, thus making it more difficult for minority and Muslim groups to have issues ofparticular concern to them being addressed and brought to the public forum. Many NGOs andbodies dealing with racial discrimination and intolerance have closed down. Compounded bythe problems faced by the Complaints Committee, this has created a vacuum which leavesminority groups in an even more vulnerable situation. Government-initiated dialogue withvulnerable communities and Muslims in particular is in general infrequent. NGOs alsoclaimed that authorities, by attempting to define who are 'good' and 'bad' Muslims, haveproduced artificial social divisions between communities, and have engineered 'appropriate'groups they will engage in dialogue with.

9. The Impact of the Cartoon Crisis:It is evident that the so-called cartoon crisis hasimpacted not only Denmark's relations with the Islamic world and has deepened the faultlines between the West and the Muslim world, but had also ramifications on the Muslimcommunity of Denmark. It is my hope and wish that all concerned have drawn the necessarylessons from this unfortunate, unnecessary and sad episode. As this issue has been dealt atlarge at various fora, I will confine my remarks to those highlighted throughout the presentreport. However, it should be noted that, during private and personal conversations, none ofmy Danish counterparts have tried to defend the tasteless drawings.

1. This report should be shared with the Government of Denmark, who should in turn befurther encouraged to circulate it to representatives of civil society. The report shouldalso be shared with other participating States of the OSCE, Partners for Cooperation,other OSCE Institutions, as well as with the other two Personal Representatives of theChairman-in-Office.2. In order to support increased co-operation between the OSCE and other internationalorganizations dealing with the fight against racism and intolerance, it is alsorecommended that the report be shared with the European Commission against Racismand Intolerance, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, theUnited Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committeeon the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the OIC.3. The Danish Government is to be commended for its display of willingness to respondto acts of discrimination and intolerance against Muslims as well as for its acceptanceof the problems encountered in integration policies and practices and for its readinessto remedy this situation. However, much remains to be done. The various goodpractices noted throughout this report, on the other hand, should be disseminated toother OSCE participating States in order to demonstrate constructive and effectiveways for dealing with intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.4. Representatives of Muslim communities and civil society should take note ofprogrammes and mechanisms available through the OSCE Office for DemocraticInstitutions and Human Rights, including the Programme on Building the Capacity ofCivil Society to Combat Hate Crimes and Violent Manifestations of Intolerance.5.Authorities in Denmark are encouraged to maintain an open and constructive dialoguewith a wide cross-section of representatives from the various Muslim communitiesthroughout Denmark in order to ensure that they are well informed of key concerns aswell as the development of local grass-roots initiatives.

Monday 29 May09.30 Departure from Hotel09.45 - 10.15 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Welcoming meeting withUndersecretary for Legal Affairs, Ambassador Peter Taksøe-Jensen, Head of Human Rights Unit, Mr. Kim Vinthen andMinister Counselor, Mr. Jens Frkel10.30 - 12.15 The Executive Director of The Danish Institute for Human Rights,Member of UN Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination, Mr. Morten Kjrum and Head of InternationalDepartment, Deputy Director Ms. Birgit Lindsns.Senior Researcher on human rights and religion Ms. Eva MariaLassen, Project Manager, human rights monitoring in Denmark,Mr. Christoffer Badse and Project Manager, complaint handling inDenmark, Mr. Eddie Omar Rosenberg Khawaja12.30 -13.45Lunch hosted by the The Danish Institute for Human Rights.Mr. Morten Kjrum and Ms. Birgit Lindsns.Restaurant Era Ora.

Wednesday 31 May09.30 Departure from Hotel09.45 - 10.45 Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Council, Mr. SUkrü Ertosun andDeputy Chairs, Ms. Nur Beier and Mr. Muhsin Turkyilmaz11.00 - 13.00 Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr. NielsPreisler and Director of the International Unit, Mr. TorbenKornbech Rasmussen followed by lunch13.00 -13.55Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Mr.Jacob Heinsen. Head of Unit, Mr. Paolo Perotti and InformationOfficer, Mr. Jørgen EngmarkDean Anders Gadegaard of Copenhagen DomkirkeMember of the World Council of ChurchesMinistry of Foreign Affairs. Meeting with Undersecretary forLegal Affairs, Ambassador Peter Taksoe-Jensen andrepresentatives from other relevant Foreign ServiceDepartmentsPress Conference at the International Press CenterReturn to Hotel

Ritzau News Agency, 31 May 2006: "Mohammed Drawings Were Unnecessary""Copenhagen, WednesdayThe biggest problem of the Muslims in Denmark is the harsh debate in politics and in themedia. The Mohammed drawings were unnecessary, according to OSCE Ambassador.The Mohammed drawings published in the Jyllands-Posten were an unnecessary provocation.The freedom of speech was not threatened, and the drawings were offensive to Muslims inDenmark and abroad.This is the assessment of OSCE ambassador Omür Orhun at a press meeting in theCopenhagen International Press Center on Wednesday. During the past three days he has paida visit to Denmark in order to assess whether Muslims are the victims of intolerance anddiscrimination. He plans to deliver his report to the OSCE Chairman by the end of July.Muslims in Denmark are especially affected by the harsh tone in the political debate and themedia. Certain politicians have characterized Muslims as "cancer cells of society", he pointedout.Such statements are unacceptable. They stigmatise and marginalize Muslims. They were themain topic of my meetings with civil society, Omür Orhun said.He pointed out that in many media bad examples are often overstated, while good examplessometimes are understated. The Mohammed drawings came up at almost all his meetings inDenmark.It was an unnecessary and harmful experience. The freedom of speech is not threatened byanyone, but it is just as important to show respect for moral values and holy symbols. The keyword is responsible journalism. What is called for is a strong sense of responsibility, OmürOrhun said.Everyone carries the responsibility not to increase the gap between Muslims and the West. Ittakes tolerance and respect for diversity. Dialogue is necessary, just like the initiative"Alliance of Civilizations" which Denmark supports, he said.Omür Orhun made the words of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan his own:"We must free ourselves from intolerance".During his visit, Omür Orhun had many "open and useful" consultations. He met withMinister for Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Møller (K) and Minister of Refugee, Immigration andIntegration Affairs, Rikke Hvilshøj (V) as well as with two out of three Members ofParliament with immigration background - Huseyin Arac (5), Naser Khader (R) and KamalQureshi (SF).

He also had meetings with civil servants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry ofJustice as well as the Ministry for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs and he visited theDanish Institute for Human Rights, the Danish Ombudsman, the Council for EthnicMinorities and with the Copenhagen Dean of the Chapter, Anders Gadegaard. In addition, hehad a round table meeting with several members of civil society, Omür Orhun explained.Previously, Omür Orhun has paid similar visits to the USA, the UK, France, Germany and theNetherlands.Since the terror attack against the US on September 11, Muslims everywhere have feltexposed to stereotypes, marginalization, discrimination, rejection, even violence, heexplained.There are differences between the countries, but perhaps the similarity that the Muslims feellefi out of mainstream society. The political debate and the tone of the media are among theirbiggest problems, he thinks.The OSCE ambassador has examined the conditions of Muslims in Denmark in four areas: 1)debate among politicians and in the media, 2) legislation in aliens and immigration policy,e.g. family reunification, 3) social conditions such as housing, education and work and 4)freedom of religion.Omür Orhun pointed out, that Muslims are free to practice their religion, but are in need ofnew mosques. Most of the 140 or more mosques are established in provisional buildings.Furthermore, the Government should explain better to Muslims the difference betweenapproved and recognized religious communities.He commented that many Muslims have difficulties renting a house. They are concentrated inpoor districts, so that their children are not educated so well and consequently havedifficulties finding a job. The Government should work more on unemployment, andcontributions towards mother tongue tuition should not be the responsibility of themunicipalities, he suggested.Since 2001-02 Denmark has tightened its aliens policy. This goes in particular for familyreunifications. Integration is important for Muslims as well as for the stability of the society.Rikke Hvilshøj explained at the meeting that she will initiate a new dialogue with the Muslimcommunity, Omür Orhun said.I support and welcome the initiative. There is a need for information and bettercommunication. We also discussed breaches of the racism clause. Statistics indicate that manyviolations are not reported, he believed./ritzau/

Politiken, June 1, 2006OSCE: Acceptable Tone Towards MuslimsRecently, Denmark was criticized by the Council of Europe. Just now the OSCE has sent arepresentative to examine the conditions for Danish Muslims.Yet another international organization comes forward with criticism of the tone in the Danishaliens debate. This time it is the OSCE that has a representative in Denmark in order toexamine conditions. The tone in the political debate seems to me to be the biggest problem,ambassador OmUr Orhun said, when he told about his observations after his 3-day visitDenmark at a press meeting yesterday. Orhun is the representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims.Certain political statements appear unacceptable. Such as referring to Muslims as canceroustumors. Such statements will, of course, stigmatize and marginalize Muslims, he says,referring to Louise Frevert (DF), who during the local elections campaign last autumn usedthe expression "cancerous tumors" on her web-site. The OSCE ambassador has beenfocusing on four main areas during his visit. Besides the tone, it is legislation, structuralproblems in the housing market, in the education system and in the job market, and finallyreligious conditions.Generally, there are no big problems with freedom of religion. People may practice theirreligion, Omür Orhun says.OmUr Orhun also held talks with the Government about the tightening of the aliens policy inrecent years. He commends Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, RikkeHvilshøj (V), for her initiative for increased dialogue with the Muslim community inDenmark.The report from ambassador Orhun is expected by the end of July.

Introductory Remarks by Ambassador Orhun at the Press Conference Duringhis Country Visit to Denmark, 31 May 2006(From tape recording)As you know, I am the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of theOSCE on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims. I have paid a visit toDenmark on an invitation of the Danish Government. A very comprehensive program wasprepared for my visit and I had very frank and useful discussions with the governmentauthorities, civil society representatives and different institutions.As usual, at the end of my visit I will be preparing a report to be submitted to theChairman of the OSCE.If I might first go over the highlights of my program, I had separate meetings with theMinisters of Foreign Affairs and Integration. I met officials of the Ministries of ForeignAffairs, Justice, Education and Religious Affairs. I visited different Danish Institutions,including the Danish Institution of Human Rights, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and theEthnic Minorities Council. I had a pleasant conversation with the Dean of CopenhagenDomkirke. I met two members of the Danish Parliament of immigrant background and finallyI met quite a number of representatives of civil society in the form of a roundtable.Before coming to my visit to Denmark, perhaps a brief word on the situation ofMuslim communities, especially in the post Sept. 11 period might be appropriate, becausemost of the Muslim communities and Muslim people have started to experience increasingintolerance, stereotyping, marginalization, at times discrimination, a sense of rejection andeven violence and this is why different organizations have tried to address this issue.During my visit to Denmark I tried to conduct my discussions mainly around fouragenda items. First is the general social milieu in this country and by that I mean political andmedia discourse related to Muslims and representation of Muslims in the media.The second general area related to legislation and implementation of this legislation.By that I mean, for example, the Foreigners Act and immigration policies, familyreunification and issues of similar nature.The third general issue was, as we also face in other European countries, the structuralproblems and by that I mean housing, education, access to job market and instances ofdiscrimination.

And finally religious freedom and related issues.If I may start from the last agenda item, generally speaking it seems there is not muchproblem related to religious freedoms. People are able to follow their religious beliefs. In thatrespect two areas of concern were brought before me. One was lack of proper prayer places,proper Mosques. I understand there are around 140 Mosques in Denmark, where greatmajority of them are in improper places. So there is a necessity of having proper Mosques.Secondly, there is a confusion related to recognized versus approved congregationsand I believe this is an issue that needs more information to be shared with the Muslimcommunities to dispel any doubts related the differences between these two categories.On the structural issues, I was told that there are some difficulties encountered bysome Muslims in renting residences, which means concentration in poor housing districts thatleads to lack of proper education for their children and by definition this means restrictiveaccess to the job market.The unemployment rate within the Muslim community is much higher than the rest ofthe population. I was explained the initiatives that the government is taking and is intending totake. Perhaps more needs to be done in that respect. As I said unemployment is a major issue.Mother-tongue education and subsidies is another area of concern and I already mentioned theschooling problem.Legislation and implementation of the legislation; the general evaluation byinternational organizations is that since 2001 and 2002 more restrictive immigration policieshave been introduced, which we have seen especially in the family reunification. Thegovernment authorities explained the reasons why they took these measures and I have notedthem.Of course integration is a very important issue, because integration serves bothmigrant Muslim communities and also stability of the society in general. In that respect, theMinister of Integration explained to me that she is going to initiate a new dialogue with theMuslim community. I welcome and support this initiative because it seems there is a necessityof more information. So, effective communication with Muslim communities would be mostwelcome.An issue also discussed was crimes related to hate speech. There are some reactions bythe civil society that the statistics don't show the real situation because there is underreportingby people who have faced such actions.Finally, the social milieu, political discourse and the media representation. It is tooearly for me to form a concrete impression about my visit, but at this stage I think this seems46

to be the most problematic area. Some political discourse, some political statements seemunacceptable, like references to Muslims as the cancerous elements of this society. Suchdiscourse of course stigmatizes the Muslim people and Muslim communities. This was themain issue raised by the civil society. Of course the media representation reflects to a greatextent the political discourse and I was told that bad examples are exaggerated and ratheremphasized, whereas good experiences are generally not highlighted.I did not come to Denmark to discuss only the cartoon issue, the so-called cartooncrisis, but as you might expect this question can not fall out my mandate. I must say that itwas an unnecessary and damaging experience. Freedom of expression is not challenged byanybody. What equally important is respect for moral values and sacred objects and I believeresponsible journalism is the key word here. Some sense of responsibility is needed. Many ofmy counterparts have highlighted these points and also not only in Denmark but in theoutside world, including the EU High Representative, the UN Rapporteurs, the Council ofEurope Secretary General also have stated that all freedoms comes with responsibility andthere are limits to freedom where other freedoms start.There was a reaction by the Muslim world in general and the Muslim people and thisis also recognized by the Danish society in general and by the Danish government. Now Ibelieve it is time to reflect and to take lessons. There is an unfortunate fault line between theMuslim world and the West in general. It falls on the part of all of us, we should try to narrowthat fault line, but not to widen. And the remedy for this would be tolerance, respect, respectfor diversity, respect for "the other" whoever the other might be.I also believe we should not be caught between a sensitive argument between freedomof expression versus respect for moral, cultural and religious values. These two concepts,these two values are not mutually exclusive. Both can be respected at the same time.Therefore, a true and meaningful dialogue is a must not only at the national level but also atthe international level. And this dialogue must be carried with courage and wisdom. In thatrespect, I would like to refer to the Alliance of Civilizations initiative which the OSCE alsosupports and which Denmark also would like to co-sponsor.I would like to quote from the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. KofiAnnan. He very wisely stated that "we must unlearn intolerance." I think that is the mainissue. No one can be neutral in the fight against intolerance and discrimination. And one finalword. I try to implement my mandate from the perspective of the dignity of human beings,and all human beings, including Muslims and others. As I said there is need for religious andinter-cultural understanding via multi-cultural studies, formal school curriculum, training for47

Question:Difference-similarities of Denmark as compared other European countries.Answer:All countries, all Western countries with considerable Muslim populations are indifferent shapes and conditions, so it is very difficult to make comparisons between countriesbecause conditions are not comparable. I have visited UK, France, US, Germany and Hollandand now Denmark. The situation in all these countries are different. But there are similaritiesin the trends of being left out of the mainstream by these Muslim communities and in thatrespect, as I also tried to underline in my introductory remarks, the political discourse and themedia representation comes in the forefront.

Dear OrnürOthunIncontrnuation of our meeting yesterday conceniing your tas1c to uncover possible intoler-ance and dtscnmination against Muslims I hereby send you a broad selection of material onthe Danish legislation onimm§-ationand inteation as welt as on the many waysin whichwe !flDenmark work towards creating an o§ien freeand culturally diverse society with asoOd protection against dtscr*nination,FurthermoreIenclose the discussed statistics on citizenships and other relevant statistics.Iwouldlike to stress that we in Denmark see mialion and ntealion policies as integalparts of one comprehensive proathto ensuring social cohesionto the best interest of theindmdual. The Danish approach is to manage mation prudently. so it oocurs in a way thatallows for a good inteation process.Please note with reference to your remarksdunng the meeting thatI have enclosed the Dan-ish Govemments remarks to the thd report on Denmark from The European Commissionagainst Racism and Intolerance, which has been publishedas an appendix to the rapport.The enclosed material provides you 'with a broadinsightinto the Danish approach. Pleasedont hesitate to contact Sidse{ Kathrine Maller at +4533951990or [email protected]for anyfurther information.

I also wanted you to know that one of your remarks during our conversation made it quiteclear to me that there might be a need, not only to produce information about the Ombudsmanto various, selected target groups in the Danish society, but maybe more importantly toidentify the channels that will make an effective dissemination possible. I therefore decided toform a working group here at my office with the task of writing and distributing a leaflet withthe necessary information about the ombudsman and his competence - what one might expecthim to do and, maybe more importantly, what one cannot expect him to do. I have amongothers asked Mr. Seyit Ahmed Ozkan, who is my IT Administrator and also Deputy Mayor inthe Community of Ishoej, and Mr. Tanwir Ahmad, who is a law student and at the same timeworking in my office, to take part in this group in order to make sure that we will have aneffective text and distribution of the leaflet. For the time being, I have decided to have theleaflet published in Turkish, Urdu and Arabic.

Comments from DACoRD to CERD, about the Danish Governments official reportDenmark has still not incorporated the International Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Racial Discrimination into Danish law.DACoRD notes that the Government in its 1 6th and17thperiodic report to the Committeestates, that Denmark - despite the lack of incorporation - fully respects the provisions of theConvention.In the meantime DACoRD is of the opinion that the Convention is not being used by theauthorities in the same manner as it would be, had it been incorporated. This perception isbased on numerous cases of rejection by the prosecuting authority and the State Attorney toraise charges for racist statements made by e.g. members of Parliament or other personsparticipating in the public debate.The legal provision in the Danish penal Code covering racist statements is section 266 bwhich reads as follows:"(1) Any person who, publicly or with the intention of wider dissemination, makes a statementor imparts other information by which a group ofpeople are threatened, insulted or degradedon account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion or sexual inclination shallbe liable to afine or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.(2) When the sentence is meted out, the fact that the offence is in the nature of propagandaactivities shall be considered an aggravating circumstance."DACoRD has on several occasions made complaints to the prosecuting authority on behalf ofpersons who have felt aggrieved by statements covered by the Danish Penal Code section266b. A number of these complaints have been rejected on the grounds that the prosecutingauthority was of the opinion that the statements would not lead to conviction in a court of law.Furthermore, the State Attorney has in a case filed by DACoRD concerning racist statementsmade by Member of Parliament for the Danish Peoples Party Ms. Louise Frevert stated that:"The section (section 266 b in the Danish Penal Code, ed.) must be interpreted inconcurrency with the principles of freedom of expression laid down in the DanishConstitution section77and the European Convention on Human Rights article 10, whichimplies that section 266 b of the penal code must be interpreted narrowly under concern ofthe freedom of expression".'Nothing is mentioned of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination, presumably given the fact that it is not an integrated part of Danish law.Issues covered by CERD article 4 and 6:

(a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racialsuperiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence orincitement to such acts against any race or group ofpersons of another colour or ethnicorigin, and also the provision of any assistance to racist activities, including the financingthere ofiArticle 6: States Parties shall assure to everyone within their jurisdiction efftctiveprotection and remedies, through the competent national tribunals and other Stateinstitutions, against any acts of racial discrimination which violate his human rights andfundamental freedoms contrary to this Convention, as well as the right to seek from suchtribunals just and adequate reparation or satisfaction for any damage suffered as a resultof such discrimination."

• Lack of examination by the Danish courts of cases of hate speechAnother example of the absence of any consideration of the Convention is the AttorneyGenerals assessment of whether the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten could be prosecutedfor the publishing of the "Mohammed-drawings". The case was initially brought before theState Attorney of Viborg County by an individual who felt aggrieved by the drawings. TheState Attorney of Viborg County processed the case under section 266b as well as section 140under the Danish penal code covering statements of blasphemous nature. The State Attorneyrejected the complaint stating that it was not likely that the case would lead to a conviction ofthe newspaper. The Attorney General supported this view with a thorough investigation ofsection 266b and section 141 of the Danish penal Code in comparison with the DanishConstitution section 77 (freedom of expression) and The European Convention on HumanRights Art. 10 (freedom of expression). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofRacial Discrimination is only mentioned in relation to the preparatory work related to section266 b and is not used as a direct source of law.DACoRD has expressed concern that the public prosecutors often dismiss complaints like theabove mentioned about hate speech. The prosecutors often refer to the wider freedom ofexpression enjoyed by for instance politicians, and the importance of protecting this. TheSupreme Court has, however, on 23rd August 2003, set an important precedent in regard tothis issue, when it stated that the wide freedom of expression about controversial matters doesnot grant exemption from punishment, despite the political purpose of the expression, if theexpression is insulting and demeaning. It would have been desirable for the judgement to havehad an impact on the practise of the prosecutors.

In para. 10 of its concluding observations concerning Denmark's fifteenth periodic report2 theCommittee recommended the Danish Government to closely monitor the reported increase ofhate speech in Denmark:"The Committee is aware of reports of an increase in hate speech in Denmark. While itacknowledges the need for balance between freedom of expression and measures to eradicateracist abuse and stereotyping, the Committee recommends that the State Party carefullymonitor such speech for possible violations of articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. In thisregard, the Committee invites the State Party to take particular note of paragraphs 85 and115 of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, respectively, which highlight thekey role of politicians and political parties in combating racism, racial discrimination,xenophobia and related intolerance.(...)"

DACoRD notes that the Danish Government in its Seventeenth periodic report to theCommittee in para. 84 as a reply to the Committee's recommendations on the subject states:"The Danish Government gives high priority to the fight against discrimination in any form,including hate speech. The number of criminal proceedings against politicians for violatingsection 266 b of the Danish Criminal Code mentioned above with regard to article 6,illustrates i.a. that the prosecution authorities and the courts do not hesitate to set limits forthe freedom of expression for politicians when the said politicians have uttered racistcomments, in some cases even comments bordering on hate speech."The Government refers to statistic material in paragraph 78 which shows violations of section266 b divided into three categories; number of cases prosecuted, number of persons indictedin the cases prosecuted and number of cases where charges were withdrawn. Apparently thenumbers represent decided cases before the Danish courts.DACoRD has different statistic material concerning incidents of hate speech which isprovided to us by the Danish Police.Yearly statistics of filed complaints have been presented in the table below.Year20052004200320022001

and the increase in 2005 may be explained by the terror attack in July 2005 in London.However, apart from the similar situation regarding terror attacks in the years 2001 and 2005,both years were election years in Denmark (both local election and general election), and asthe political discourse in Denmark is rather harsh when it comes to immigration andintegration issues, which are always a topic during election campaigns in Denmark, thedebates may influence the tension in society.In 1992 the Chief Superintendent of the Danish Security Intelligence Service (PET), sent acircular to all police districts in Denmark stating that all criminal incidents (including arson,vandalism, violence, etc.) with a suspected racist motive must be reported to PET. Therecords produced by PET cover only "racist/religious" actions without categorizing them asislamophobic or anything else, as the ethnic origin and religious affiliation of the victims arerarely described.PET RECORDS 2000-2005Year2005200420032002

Statistics on hate speech and PET's records of criminal incidents follow the same trend with adeclining rate of incidents after 2001, and then an increase in 2005.The weakness of the police statistics and records is, that far from all incidents are likely to bereported to the police, and it seems that not all incidents reported to the police are forwardedto PET, according to the 1992 circular from the Chief Superintendent of the Danish SecurityIntelligence Service (PET). Besides, PET noted in its annual report 2003 page 18, that it isaware that there may be some reservation among ethnic minorities to report incidents of racistviolence and crimes, as it is the common impression that the victim will not be taken seriouslyor will be met with scepticism.DACoRD urges the Committee to take the above mentioned statistics into consideration sinceit documents the already reported increase in cases of hate speech between 2002 and 2005.The point is that very few of the cases ever reaches the court rooms as they are being rejectedby the police, as mentioned above.In Communication No. 34/20046 the Committee examined a case brought before theCommittee by DACoRD on behalf of an individual claiming to be the victim of violations byDenmark of articles 2, paragraph 1 (d), 4 and 6 of the Convention.The case concerned a letter from Ms. Pia Kjrsgaard, member of the Danish Parliament forthe Danish Peoples Party published in the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad. The letter -in rough - made a comparison of a Danish Somali organisation and paedophiles in the sensethat the Somali organisation had been heard on the preparation of a new bill banning femalecircumcision which - according to Ms. Pia Kjrsgaard - was the same as consulting theNumbersprovide toDACoRD by PETCERD/C/68/D/34/2004every year since

association of paedophiles on a bill banning sex with children.An investigation of the matter was rejected both by the Copenhagen police and later by thePublic Prosecutor on the grounds that the statements at hand were made during a currentpolitical debate and that it would not be likely that the statements would lead to a conviction.The Committee stated in its consideration of the merits para. 7.3 that:"The Committee observes thatitdoes not suffice, for purposes of article 4 of the Convention,merely to declare acts of racial discrimination punishable on paper. Rather, criminal lawsand other legal provisions prohibiting racial discrimination must also be effectivelyimplemented by the competent national tribunals and other State institutions. This obligationis implicit in article 4 of the Convention, under which State parties "undertake to adoptimmediate and positive measures" to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of racialdiscrimination.(...)"

In para. 7.6 the Committee states:"In the light of the State Party s' failure to cariy out an effective investigation to determinewhether or not an act of racial discrimination had taken place, the Committee concludes thatarticles 2, paragraph 1 (d), and 4 of the Convention have been violated. The lack of aneffective investigation into the petitioner's complaint under section 266 (b) of the CriminalCode also violated his right, under article 6 of the Convention, to effective protection andremedies against the reported act of racial discrimination."The Minister of Justice, Ms. Lene Espersen, subsequently expressed that she did notunderstand the criticism of the Committee, as the case regarded a letter to the editor, and thatthe question of proof therefore was simple. She further stated that there is a wide freedom ofexpression in Denmark, and that the Danish society will have to rely on the ability of thecourts to use section 266b when needed.7However, the case was never brought before the courts, which is the real problem in relationto these types of cases.

COMMENTS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF DENMARK ON THE REPORT ONTHE COUNTRY VISIT TO DENMARK BY AMBASSADOR OMURORIIIUN28-31MAY2006IntroductionThe Danish Government welcomes this opportunity to comment on the PersonalRepresentative's report on his visit to Denmark in May 2006.The Danish Government is firmly committed to the elimination of racial and religiousdiscrimination and to the development of policies and legislation, which address intoleranceand discrimination. Danish legislation and policies are based on the basic principles of non-discrimination and apply equally to all persons regardless of race, sex, language or religion. Theoverall policies of the Danish Government aim to promote social cohesion, democratic valuesand freedom for diversity. No Danish legislation or policies aim directly or indirectly todisadvantage specific groups, including Muslims. On the contrary, in nurturing a democraticculture Denmark provides a solid framework for the enjoyment of religious freedom by allreligious communities, including Muslim.The effective and independent international monitoring of compliance with internationalhuman rights standards is a priority issue for the Danish Government.The Danish Government welcomes the fact that the Personal Representative notes variousgood practices throughout the report and his recommendation to the Chairman-in-office thatthese should be disseminated to other OSCE participating States in order to demonstrateconstructive and effective ways for dealing with intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.The Government has noted the areas of concern put forward by the Personal Representative inhis report. The Government has summarised below a response to those areas of concern, andhas clarified some of the misleading or inaccurate information contained in the report.The Government has, so far, not adopted steps to implement the recommendations. Thereport was only received in July this year. The Government is open to consider such steps, ifthere are problem areas, which need to be looked into.

This allegation is not supported by any facts or data. In the absence of scientifically collecteddata on the nature of the public debate in Denmark, it can reasonably be argued that, whilesome statements occurring in the public debate are unjustly negative towards Muslims or Islam,those same statements are also countered and opposed by many other statements as part of adebate among free - and mostly private - citizens in a democratic society. It is difficult todetermine which trend is the dominating one in the public debate.The Danish Government sees a free debate as healthy in a democratic society. But it is not fairor correct to make a linkage between an allegedly hardened public discourse and the policies ofthe Danish Government.The measures undertaken by the Government in the area of migration and integration all havethe purpose of maintaining and developing Denmark as a democratic society with socialcohesion, freedom for cultural, religious and political diversity and equal rights, duties andopportunities for everyone regardless of gender, colour or conviction.From the side of Danish public authorities, Islam and Muslims are respected on an equalfooting with all other religions, communities and individuals. Likewise, the Government speaksout and acts against antidemocratic and discriminatory behaviour from whatever side.The report's claim that the discourse vis-à-vis Muslims has hardened is not supported bysurveys carried out on the issues of discrimination and tolerance (see below remarks to thepoint of the report on "Climate of Tolerance").The Nationality Act, the Integration Act and the Aliens ActThe report states that the Nationality Act, the Integration Act and the Aliens Act have beenmodified in a manner which disproportionately restricts the ability of members of minoritygroups to acquire Danish citizenship, to benefit from spousal and family reunification and tohave access to social protection on an equal footing with others.As to the rules concerning obtaining Danish citizenship, it should be noted that Article 44 ofthe Danish Constitution stipulates that no foreign national shall be naturalised except bystatute. Therefore, the power to grant Danish nationality to foreign nationals rests with theParliament alone and it is a majority of the Parliament, which determines the guidelines,according to which the Danish Ministty of Integration administrates.On 8 December 2005 the two government parties, the Danish Liberal Party and theConservative People's Party, and the Danish People's Party entered into an agreement onNationality, which lays down the future general guidelines for the preparation of naturalisationbills by the Minister for Integration.The parties have laid down requirements on acquisition of Danish citizenship, which are foundto sustain the integration process in a positive manner and correspond with Denmark'sdemocratic values and international obligations.

Under the new guidelines, the requirement of proof of an applicant's skills in the Danishlanguage and knowledge of the Danish society, Danish culture and history has beenstrengthened. Furthermore, as a new condition the applicant must be able to support himself.In principle, all applicants for citizenship must fulfil the conditions under the new guidelines.The Danish Government is of the opinion that the rules on naturalisation are appropriate in ademocratic society and respect Denmark's international obligations. Thus, the DanishGovernment does on a continuous basis ensure that the rules on naturalisation do not in anyway contain distinctions or include any practice which amount to discrimination on thegrounds of religion, race, colour or national or ethnic origin.Concerning the recent amendments to the Aliens Act, the report notes that there have beenseveral restrictions to the right to family reunification, i.e. the 24-year-rule, the condition ofpossessing a reasonable sized dwelling, the condition of ties, the 28-year-rule and a condition ofsatisfactory period of employment. Furthermore, the report states that although theserestrictions are applicable to all migrants, Muslims are the most affected group, also because oftheir size.The 24-year rule was introduced in 2002 as one of more amendments concerning familyreunification. It follows from the explanatory memorandum to the Bill that the purpose ofthese amendments was to enhance the efforts to combat forced marriages and to limitthe number of family reunifications to counteract the problems of poor labour marketintegration.Concerning the purpose of preventing arranged and forced marriages, the Government is ofthe opinion that the older a person is, the better he or she can resist pressure from the family orothers to contract a marriage against his or her own will.The purpose of the 24-year rule is thus to help young people pursue their own wishes as totheir choice of a partner and to complete an education - that is to choose the life they think isright for them.The 24-year rule has proved to be a more effective tool against forced marriages and arrangedmarriages than the former 25-year rule, which was introduced in July 1998, and accordingto which, if one of the spouses was less than 25 years old, it had to be assessed on a case-by-case basis whether the marriage was based on an agreement concluded by others thanthe spouses. If so, family reunification was refused.The Government fmds the current 24-year rule effective because it protects youngpeople against pressure in connection with the entering into a marriage. The rule also promotesbetter integration, because it contributes to improved educational and work opportunities foryoung people. A strong argument included in the Government's deliberations on this rule has

been that large groups among young people with an ethnic background other than Danish -along with the leading opposition party in Parliament - support the 24-year rule.The condition applies to everybody, that is, all persons living in Denmark irrespective of ethnicorigin, be they Danish nationals or resident foreigners.The condition that the spouses' aggregate ties with Denmark must be stronger than their tieswith any other country replaced a more lenient condition of ties. According to the explanatorynotes relating to the current condition of ties, integration is particularly difficult in familieswhere generation upon generation fetch their spouses to Denmark from their own or theirparents' country of origin. Among foreigners and Danish nationals of foreign extraction wholive in Denmark, there is a widespread tendency to marry a person from one's own country oforigin, among other reasons due to parental pressure. This tendency contributes to theretention of these persons in a situation where they, more frequently than average, experienceproblems of isolation and maladjustment in relation to the Danish society. The tendency thusrenders the successful integration of foreigners newly arrived in Denmark more difficult. Thepurpose of the condition of ties is to ensure the best possible starting point for the successfulintegration of family members wanting to be reunited with their family in Denmark, whileprotecting young people against pressure from their family or others to enter into arrangedmarriages or forced marriages with spouses from a country and with a cultural backgrounddistinctly different from the young people's own daily lives and cultural reality.The condition of ties applies to everybody, that is, to all persons living in Denmark irrespectiveof ethnic origin, be they Danish nationals or resident foreigners.Since the current condition of ties was introduced in 2002, the condition has been modified.Accordingly, no married couple has to satisfy the condition of ties if the spouse living inDenmark has been a Danish national for 28 years or more.The 28-year rule is an exception to the condition of ties and reflects a standardised assessmentof ties. Therefore it is necessary to require citizenship of a certain length of time.A 28-year-old Danish national will normally be found to have such ties with Denmark that it ispossible to refrain from making a condition of ties. Thus, there are objective reasons for thedifferential treatment accorded to citizens depending on the length of their citizenship.Due to a desire not to treat Danish nationals and foreign nationals living in Denmarkdifferently in comparable situations, the legislation specifies that an exemption from thecondition of ties will generally apply to persons who have not been Danish nationals for 28years, but who were born and raised in Denmark or arrived in Denmark as small children andgrew up in Denmark, when they have resided lawfully in Denmark for 28 years.These people are in practice subject to the same treatment as persons who have been Danishnationals for 28 years.

Thus it should be noted that on the 13 April 2005 the Supreme Court delivered 3 decisionsconcerning family reunification in connection with the condition of ties that was in forcebefore July 2002 (U2005.2086H, U.2005.2099/1H and U.2005.2099/2H). Contrary to thecondition of ties in force today, the condition of ties only comprised persons, who did not havea Danish citizenship.About this differential treatment of Danish citizens and non-Danish citizens, the SupremeCourt stated that such a differential treatment on the basis of citizenship was not contrary tothe prohibition against discrimination in article 14 compared with article 8 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights, cf. the decision taken by the European Court of Human Rightson the 28 May 21985 (Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balakandali v. UK, 84-86).Finally it should be noted that in all cases concerning family reunification the authorities havean obligation to respect Denmark's international obligations. This follows from the DanishAliens Act and from the explanatory notes to the provisions concerning family reunification. Itis thus the opinion of the Danish Government that the provisions in the Danish Aliens Actconcerning family reunification fully respect Denmark's international obligations and do notlead to discrimination.Climate of ToleranceStatistical evidence points to the fact that - contrary to what is stated in the report - there is anincreased climate of tolerance in Denmark.A survey, conducted by the research company CATINET from May 2006, shows that in 2000,42.7 pct. of immigrants and refugees and their descendants in Denmark felt they hadexperienced discrimination. In 2006, the percentage is down to 29.5 pct.International studies compare the Danish majority population's attitude towards immigrantswith the attitudes in other European countries. Studies reported by the European MonitoringCentre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) in 2005 prove the Danish population to be lessresistant towards a multicultural society and towards immigrants than the EU average. TheEuropean Value Study 1999 places Denmark in the middle of the spectre of Europeancountries as regards xenophobic attitudes towards Muslims, while Danes prove to be some ofthe most tolerant when it comes to accepting ethnic minorities as their neighbours.The report of the Special Representative concludes that the provision on hate speech in theCriminal Code (article 266b) is "seldom if ever applied to those who make inflammatorystatements" and that "serious processing of reported hate crimes" is an area that requires moreclose attention".The Danish Government disagrees with these conclusions.As explained by the Ministry of Justice during the visit of the Personal Representative [(DraftReport p. 22)], 35 cases concerning violation of article 266b were brought before the courts in

the period 1999-2005, and the Director of Public Prosecution has issued regulations in 1995(RM 4/1995) requiring local prosecutors to report to him all complaints concerning violationof article 266b regardless of whether the case is brought before the courts or not in order toensure a uniform prosecutorial practice and to collect all relevant case law. A summary of allrelevant court decisions involving article 266b is available to local prosecutors (and the public)on the website of the Director of Public Prosecution (wwiv.rigsadvokaten.dk) and thedocument is regularly updated with new decisions.Although there might arguably be a perception amongst NGO's and Muslim communities thatarticle 266b is not applied vigorously enough by the police and the prosecution - cf. theimpression relayed by the Personal Representative to the Ministry of Justice [(Draft Report p.22)] - this hardly warrants a conclusion that the provision is "seldom if ever applied" and thatthere is no "serious processing of reported hate crimes" taking into consideration theinformation provided by Government during the visit concerning case statistics and theprocedures introduced by the Director of Public Prosecution.Structural Discrimination and InequaiiThe report states "Minority groups and Muslims in particular are persistently disadvantaged inareas pertaining to housing, education, employment and access to social services. Segregation inhousing and exclusion from employment serve to marginalize groups from the mainstreamsociety".This statement gives a distorted picture of facts and the policy objectives of the DanishGovernment.Almost all social services in Denmark are provided by the welfare state, ensuring equal accessto all groups regardless of ethnicity and beliefs.The question of underreporting of hate crimes is considered in the latest annual report (2004-05) of the Danish Security Intelligence Service (PET), published on 21 September 2006. As isstated on p. 58-59 in the annual report, PET receives information from the police districts oncrimes etc. that may have racial/religious background in order to evaluate whether such crimesare committed in a more organised or systematic way. It is uncertain to which extent theinformation from the police districts gives the full picture of committed hate crimes. Therefore,PET is considering - together with the police districts - to launch a campaign to encouragecitizens to report racial/religious motivated crimes to the police. It is also under considerationto produce and distribute information material (e.g. a folder) on this subject.a. HousingData on housing particularly for Muslims are not available. But immigrants and theirdescendants from non-western countries are in fact overrepresented in the non-profit housingand in deprived urban areas.In 2005, 60 percent of the immigrants and descendants from non-western countries live innon-profit housing as compared to 14 percent of Danes. The share of immigrants and

descendants in non-profit housing has hardly changed since 1999. However, the share ofimmigrants and descendants from non-western countries has increased from 1998 to 2004 inspecific deprived urban areas with high percentages of unemployed people.The report seems to infer that there is a policy of segregation - this is wrong. On the contrary,there is a policy of anti-segregation and integration.On 25 May 2004, the Government presented a comprehensive strategy to help initiate andmaintain a positive development in the urban areas at risk of social problems - many of whichcharacterized by an overrepresentation of ethnic minorities with weak relations to the labourmarket.In autumn 2006, a consultative council on urban planning issues is expected to publish a reportwith its recommendations on what initiatives should be taken.A new model for allocating social housing has been introduced to restore the residentcomposition in urban areas with a high percentage of residents who are outside the labourmarket with social problems.The local authorities are also responsible for providing housing. After the introductionprogramme that lasts for a period of up to three years the immigrants join the ordinary schemesconcerning employment and education.b. EmplqymenrData on employment particularly for Muslims are not available. But immigrants anddescendants from Non-western countries do have a lower employment rate than the rest of thepopulation: In 2005, the employment rate for immigrants and descendants from non-westerncountries aged 16-64 was 48 percent, while the employment rate for Danes was 76 percent.However, the employment rate for immigrants and descendants from non-western countrieshas improved slightly since 2001.The Danish Government has a clear goal to improve integration of immigrants anddescendants of immigrants in the labour market. The Danish government has pursued aconsistent and long-term policy towards this objective since its action plan 'Towards a newintegration policy' from March 2002.The main focus of the action plan is that newcomers as well as refugees and immigrants, whohave lived in Denmark for some time, should be able to take part in working and social life onan equal footing with the general population.Reforms within the integration and labour market fields were introduced in 2002 and 2003.The strategy is to ensure that new immigrants get a quick start and obtain employment asquickly as possible. One of the elements of the reforms is a flexible system for teaching theDanish language, simplification of activation schemes in the form of guidance and upgrading ofskills, practical work experience and wage subsidies and requirements for active job search

activities and registration with the Public Employment Service for foreigners who are ready totake up a job.Furthermore, a possibility to obtain permanent residence permit more quickly was introducedfor the benefit of well-integrated foreigners. Finally, the reforms have increased the economicincentives for the municipalities to offer labour market oriented incentives.At the end of 2002, the Government initiated the campaign We Need All Youngsters'. Thegoal of the campaign is to increase the awareness amongst ethnic minority youth and theirparents of the educational system and to increase the awareness among employers of thequalifications of young immigrants. Among the activities are teams of role models composed ofethnic minority youth and parents, who visit schools and educational institutions. Thecampaign will run until the end of 2009.According to The Integration Act (1999), local authorities are responsible for the introductionprogramme targeted at newly arrived refugees and migrants through family re-unificationconsisting of Danish language education and job training. The focus is on active training and, ifpossible, job and language training on enterprises.c. EducationAs for the issue of education, data particularly for Muslims are not available. But statistical dataillustrate, that a lower share of immigrants and descendants from non-western countriescomplete a qualifying education in Denmark compared to Danes. High drop-out rates amongyoung immigrants and descendants is one of the reasons. However, improvements have takenplace recently: A larger share of immigrants and descendants from non-western countries aged25-59 has completed a Danish qualifying education in 2005 compared to the share in 1999.The government pursues an intensive policy to strengthen integration in the field of education.The report of the Special Representative refers to bilingual children's lack of proficiency inspeaking and writing Danish. The Government closely follows this field. To ensure thatchildren with a need for linguistic support acquire maximum benefit from the educationsystem, bilingual children are offered compulsory language stimulation (children aged 3-6) andat admission to the Folkeskole bilingual pupils with special needs are referred to education inDanish as a second language from pre-school to 10t1 form, pursuant to section 4 a og section 5,subsection7of the Danish Folkeskole Act.The Government is of the view that the integration of bilingual children is increased whengood conditions for general learning and language education go together. The conditions forthe acquisition of proficiency in Danish are improved when bilingual children are surroundedby other children and adults, who have Danish as their mother tongue or master Danish onmother tongue level.The decision to offer language stimulation must be taken on the basis of an individualassessment of the educational needs of each bilingual child. If a school child's need for Danishas a second language is not insignificant and the municipality assesses that the child can be

given a better educational offer at another school than the district school or the school chosenby the parents, the municipality has the possibility to refer the child to the school which itdeems to have the best educational offer for that particular child, pursuant to section 5,subsection 8 of the Danish Foilceskole Act. There must be an ongoing assessment to seewhether the reasons that necessitated the initial decision persist. If this is not the case, theparents have the right at any time to choose that the child shall be referred to its district schoolor another school of their choice.To support the acquisition of Danish, the Minister of Education has suggested that themunicipalities engage bilingual teachers in the Folkeskole as the bilingual teachers can giveexplanations or expand on the content of the subject at hand, utilising the mother tongue toenable the pupils to fully benefit from the education. In this way, the mother tongue is used asa short cut to learning Danish.Danish as a second language in the Folkeskole was evaluated in 2004. A new evaluation isplanned to take place in2007.The report of the Special Representatives notes that there are no specific regulations on how totreat children of different backgrounds in the schools and on how to establish collaborationwith the parents. However, to encourage a good dialogue between school and home theMinistry of Education published a leaflet "Rights and duties in the Danish comprehensivePrimary and Lower Secondary Schools in 2002". The leaflet is intended as a tool to further co-operation between parents and school. Knowledge of rights and duties means clearerunderstanding of expectations to the co-operation. The leaflet is published in 11 languages,including Turkish.The Danish Government has for example published guidelines on discipline, good behaviourand well-being at the Folkeskole, which describe courses of potential action for parents, schoolboards, head teachers and teachers with regard to improving pupils' behaviour and well-being,thus avoiding bullying, disruption and poor behaviour (issued March 2006) and guidelines ondemocracy that may help reinforce teaching in democratic values at the basic school and insecondary education (issued August 2006). Democratic values of course include equality,dialogue, tolerance, intellectual liberty and freedom of speech.The central knowledge and proficiency areas for the Folkeskole's various subjects are a goodfoundation for an implementation of a teaching that strengthens the integration of bilingualpupils.The central area of knowledge for the subject of Religious Studies is the religion of the DanishNational Evangelical Lutheran Church and so based on Christianity. Since 1975 tuition ofReligious Studies has been based on factual knowledge. In other words, tuition is not based onthe preaching of Christianity. Tuition is also to include foreign religions and other philosophiesof life.

The Danish Government is of the view that it is not a good idea if pupils are taught about theirown religion separately. It may mean that pupils do not learn to put themselves in other pupils'place, including knowledge of different religions.It is important for children to get a good start in order to understand Danish cultural traditionand different norms and values in the Danish society, and that they relate to common humanissues and other philosophies of life.In the policy agreement 'A New Chance for Everyone', several new initiatives aim at furtherreducing the drop-out rate for ethnic minority children. The initiatives comprise individualeducational guidance to children and their parents from the ethnic minorities, initiatives tosecure more traineeships for youngsters from the ethnic minorities and a vocational trainingcourse with emphasis on the practical training which is believed to be of particular relevance toyoungsters with an ethnic minority background.To Ambassador Orhun's comment about high drop-out rates, the Government can refer totwo important initiatives: The Government's globalisation strategy and the agreement with theSocial Democrats, Social Liberals and the Danish People's Party on Welfare Reforms. Theseinitiatives have, among other things, the following aims:• All young people should complete a general or vocational upper secondary educationprogramme with the following targets:• At least 85 per cent of all young people should complete a general or vocational uppersecondary education programme in 2010 and at least 95 per cent in 2015.• General and vocational upper secondary education programmes must be attractive andof top quality.• Vocational education and training (VET) programmes should be challenging for thebrightest students and provide them with opportunities for further education andtraining. The VET programmes must also include the provision of programmes of asuitable level for weak learners• Guidance services must provide young people with a solid basis on which to choose aneducation or training programme that matches their wishes and abilities as well as theneeds for skilled labour in society.• A coherent education system at all levels is essential - from compulsory school to highereducation. Guidance services should contribute towards the creation of flexible andsmooth transitions from one educational level to another.Freedom of Relzgion and Belief and Equality of Religionsa. Registration, recognition or approvalReligious communities, including Muslim communities, have the freedom of practising theirreligion in Denmark without being registered or approved by the governmental authorities.However, if a religious community wants to enjoy rights that religious communities may obtainaccording to Danish legislation, the community has to apply for an approval by the Ministry ofEcclesiastical Affairs.

From 1682 until 1970, 11 religious communities were recognised through royal decree. As from1970, the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs has approved religious communities on the basis ofthe provisions of the Maniage act, according to which clergy of other religious communitiesmay be authorized to perform marriages with legal effect, provided that the communities havebeen approved.The Ministry has approved about 135 communities, including 36 Muslim communitiesIn addition to the right to perform marriages, both the old recognised communities and thecommunities approved since 1970 enjoy the right to obtain residence permits for foreignpreachers under the Aliens Act and the right to establish their own cemeteries under theDanish Cemetery Act.There are some historical and, in fact, quite small differences between the right and duties of"recognised" and "approved" communities. The recognised communities may name andbaptize children with legal effect, they have the duty of maintaining church registers and theymay transcribe certificates of names and marriage on the basis of these registers.The office of the local church undertakes the registration of all births, regardless of religiousbackground, on behalf of the public authorities and transcribes certificates of names for allchildren except those who are related to one of the old recognised communities.The municipal authorities transcribe certificates of marriages performed by the ministers of theapproved religious communities.b. Mosques and Muslim burial placesA religious community, which wants to build a mosque (or a church or a temple) or to convertan existing building for this purpose does not need any permission from the Government, but aplanning permission issued by municipal authorities. The religious community itself mustprovide the funds needed for such project.According to research published in April 2006, there are about 115 mosques across Denmark. 3of these are purpose-built.During recent decades there have been some attempts to form the basis for building a majormosque in Copenhagen, and for many years the municipal authorities have reserved an area forthis purpose. However, the Muslim communities in Copenhagen have not managed to establishthe organization or provide the funding for the project. Probably, this is to some extent due tothe fact that there is not just one Muslim community in Copenhagen but a substantial numberof smaller communities.For the time being, there are negotiations between the Muslim community and the municipalauthorities in Arhus, the second-largest city in Denmark, on a suitable location for a mosque.

Regarding burial places, the situation is that Muslim communities enjoy exactly the same rightsand possibilities as other religious communities to establish their own burial grounds. Areligious community who wants to do so must itself provide the necessary funds and has toobtain a planning permission as well as a special permission from the Ministry of EcclesiasticalAffairs.In 2001, the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs assisted the Muslim communities in theCopenhagen area in locating a suitable area for a burial ground to be owned and managed by afoundation established by the Muslim communities. The foundation was established in 2003and the purpose-built burial ground was opened in September 2006.c. TaxationBoth recognised and approved religious communities enjoy a number of tax benefits. Financialcontributions to these communities are tax-deductible under the Danish Tax Assessment Actto the same extent as financial contributions to charitable non-profit associations.In this way, recognised and approved religious communities and their members receive indirectfinancial subsidies from the State, which might per member exceed the financial subsidy that isgranted directly from the State to the Evangelical Lutheran National Church. This indirectsubsidy may amount to 32 per cent of the contribution.Only members of the Evangelical Lutheran Danish National Church pay church tax. Thechurch tax amounts to about 80 % of the total incomes of the Danish National Church. Unlikethe contributions paid to other religious communities by their members the church tax is nottax-deductible.All citizens in Denmark contribute, regardless of religious background, to an annual subsidy tothe Danish National Church, which is granted on the State budget. In 2006 the subsidyamounts to DKK 762.600.000 - equivalent to about DKK 170 per member of the NationalChurch.However, all citizens also contribute to the indirect subsidy that other religious communitiesreceive resulting from the fact that according to the tax legislation contributions to religiouscommunities are tax-deductible.Complaints Committee for Ethnic Equal TreatmentThis point in the report of the Special Representative seems to draw its conclusions from alimited set of facts. The Danish Government would therefore like to draw attention to thefollowing points regarding the mandate and effectiveness of the Institute for Human Rightsand the Complaints Committee on Ethnic Equal Treatment.By Act No. 411 of 6 June 2002 establishing the Danish Centre for International Studies andHuman Rights the competences formerly held by the Board of Ethnic Equality and the Centrefor Human Rights were transferred to the Institute for Human Rights under the Danish Centrefor International Studies and Human Rights.

The rationale behind the Government's decision to close down a number of superfluouscouncils, boards and committees was first of all to make available resources to improvedwelfare and secondly, to simplify the state administration and improve accessibility for citizens.Furthermore, the decision was of a general nature and mainly concerned other areas, includingenvironmental and nutrition issues.The Institute for Human Rights operates according to the so-called Paris principles - adoptedby the UN general assembly as resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993. The Institute is thusindependent of the Government. The Institute for Human Rights has been assigned a verywide mandate covering all existing and future human rights conventions to which Denmark is aparty as well as the Danish constitutional human rights and is therefore also competent topromote equal treatment regardless of religion or faith.The Institute for Human Rights has furthermore been assigned all the powers required by theEU racial equality directive (2000/43/EU) for a national body for the promotion of equaltreatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin, including the power to assist victims ofdiscrimination in pursuing complaints about discrimination, to conduct independent surveysconcerning discrimination and to publish reports and make recommendations on issues ofdiscrimination.In May 2003, the Act on Equal Ethnic Treatment was adopted by the Danish Parliament. Bythis Act the Institute for Human Rights was given the power to review individual complaintson discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnic origin outside the labour market. Denmarkthereby moved beyond the requirements of international and EU-law. It is furthermorenoteworthy that the Board of Ethnic Equality never had the competence to review individualcomplaints.In June 2003 the Institute for Human Rights set up the Complaints Committee for EthnicEqual Treatment to carry out this task.In 2004, by Act No. 253 of 7 April 2004 amending the Act on Prohibition of Discriminationon the Labour Market the authority of the Institute - and thereby the Complaints Committee -was further extended to embrace individual complaints concerning discrimination in the labourmarket etc. on the grounds of race or ethnicity.The Complaints Committee may express its opinion as to whether the prohibition ofdiscrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin contained or the prohibition ofvictimisation have been violated. The Complaints Committee may furthermore recommendthat victims of discrimination are granted free legal aid in accordance with the DanishAdministration of Justice Act. There are no fees for bringing a case before the ComplaintsCommittee.The prohibition against discrimination in the labour market is, however, not limited todiscrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin but also prohibits discrimination on the

grounds of colour of skin, religion or faith, political observation, sexual orientation, age,disability, national or social origin. Complaints of discrimination on any of the groundsprohibited by the act, including discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, race, religion orfaith, can be lodged through unions or at the courts.The prohibition of discrimination in the labour market covers the whole period ofemployment, including hiring, dismissal, transfer, pay, conditions of work and further training.A victim of discrimination may freely decide whether he or she wants to bring the case directlybefore the courts or to complain to the Complaints Committee for Ethnic Equal Treatment.However, the main rationale behind the establishment of an administrative complaints body isto provide victims of discrimination with a flexible, inexpensive and swift alternative to theordinary courts. On the basis of a decision from the Complaints Committee, the victim ofdiscrimination may decide whether or not to bring the case before the courts.The Act on Ethnic Equal Treatment leaves considerable discretion to the ComplaintsCommittee as to which cases it decides to handle. The preparatory remarks do however containsome guidelines. These guidelines state that it should be taken into account if the complaint isunfounded or unimportant. Furthermore, cases that present such a doubt to the evidence as tonecessitate the hearing of parties or witnesses must be rejected by the Committee. Such casesmust instead be instituted at the courts.Statistical information from the Complaints Committee for Ethnic Equal Treatment does notrender an image of a 'toothless' Committee, but rather of one that has just begun its operationsa few years ago.By 8 May 2006, a total of 213 cases had been brought before the Complaints Committee sinceits establishment in 2003, including 39 cases, which were taken up on the Committee's owninitiative. The Committee has decided 35 cases on their merits. In 28 cases, no breach wasfound to have taken place while a breach of the prohibition of unequal treatment on thegrounds of race or ethnic origin was found in 7 cases or in 20.0 % of the total number of cases.4 of the cases in which a breach of the prohibition of unequal treatment on the grounds of raceor ethnic origin was found were based on individual complaints and in 2 of these theCommittee recommended that the complainant should be granted free legal aid. One casedecided by the Complaints Committee has been brought to court. On 29 November 2005, theCopenhagen City Court found however that the complainant had not been a victim of unequaltreatment because of ethnic origin and this conclusion was confirmed by the Eastern HighCourt in the appeal case on 27 June 2006.The Institute for Human Rights has been allocated 6.0 mill. DKK on a yearly basis (approx. 0.8mill. Euros) to perform the tasks related to the promotion of equal treatment regardless ofracial or ethnic origin. The Government has had no indication and has not received any wordfrom the Institute for Human Rights to the effect that the funding is not sufficient for theundertaking of these activities.

The Government has decided to take protection against discrimination even further. TheGovernment therefore aims to propose the establishment of an independent CommonComplaints Board for Equal Treatment which is to begin operations in 2007.The Common Complaints Board for Equal Treatment will be competent to review complaintson the grounds of discrimination because of gender, race, religion or faith, age, disability,national, social or ethnic origin, political observation or sexual observation.The new Common Complaints Board is modelled after the existing Gender Equality Board(Ligestil1ingsnvnet). The Gender Equality Boards personal composition - where a judge headsthe proceedings and the members are all lawyers - is an efficient system, which provides a highdegree of professionalism, competence and expertise.The establishment of the Common Complaints Board implies among other things that thereview of complaints of discrimination because of ethnic origin - which today are handled bythe Complaints Committee on Ethnic Equal Treatment - will be raised to the level of theGender Equality Board and thereby considerably strengthened.One of the main changes is that victims of discrimination can be accorded compensation fornon-pecuniary damages directly by the Common Complaints Board and that the CommonComplaints Board will be entitled to take the case to the courts if the perpetrator is not willingto pay.The Institute for Human Rights will remain the independent national body for the promotionof equal treatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin and thus be competent to provideindependent assistance to victims of discrimination, conduct independent surveys concerningdiscrimination and publish independent reports and make recommendations on any issuerelating to such discrimination.Lack of Funding for NGO cThe report of the Special Representative claims that minority organizations andantidiscrimination bodies are being starved by the Government and that many have beenforced to close down. Also, the report alleges that the government is creating gaps betweengroups in society by hand picking partners for dialogue.This picture of Danish policies is false. The government has a very broad network of partnersfor cooperation and dialogue and puts vast efforts and economic resources into integration andanti-discrimination, including activities of a wide range of organisations and associations.On the issue of anti-discrimination bodies, the Government agrees that victims of racial orethnic discrimination should be provided with easily accessible legal assistance and remedies.The Institute for Human Rights by Act no.374on Ethnic Equal Treatment in 2003 wastherefore provided with the powers to provide assistance to victims of discrimination in

pursuing their complaints about discrimination and to review complaints about violations ofthe prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin. At the same time,Danish discrimination law has been considerably strengthened.Victims of discrimination therefore no longer have to rely on the earlier limited NGO-assistance - which is portrayed as very substantial by the NGO's, but as a matter of fact wasquite limited - but now enjoys legal assistance and protection against discrimination from aboth nationally and internationally highly reputed independent human rights institution - theInstitute for Human Rights.Referral is also made to the remarks above on the proposed establishment of a CommonComplaints Board on Equal Treatment.As for the broader spectrum of NGO's, local bodies etc. in the field of integration andminorities, the picture of these organizations being starved by the Government could not bemore false.Below are some examples of the vast resources put into integration, cultural diversity and anti-discrimination via financial support from the Danish government:Campaign: Show Racism the Red CardThe Danish trade union for professional football players 'Spillerforeningen' and theNGO MixEurope have received a total amount of 3.5 million DKK (app. 469,000 Euro)in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for the campaign "Show Racism the Red Card" of which850,000 DKK (app. 114,000 Euro) is funding from the amount set aside for theimplementation of the Action Plan. The additional DKK 2.65 million (app. 355,000Euro) are additional funds from the Ministry of Integration.The campaign is known from other European countries, but in Denmark the campaignhas a wider scope than just combating racism in football, as the campaign will include arange of initiatives directed towards schools and companies. Professional footballplayers are going to visit companies to discuss racism and discrimination and to establishinformal agreements with companies to employ more people with a different ethnicorigin than Danish.The campaign is furthermore cooperating with the Trade Union for Teachers inDenmark (Danmarks Lererforening) on the development of teaching materials aboutracism and discrimination and the professional football players involved in the campaignare going to visit schools to discuss these themes with the pupils so as to raise awarenessamong the children of the complete unacceptability of racism.The campaign has begun in spring 2006. At the first event of the campaign on May 7,the professional football players in the national league showed the banner "ShowRacism the Red Card" on the stadiums before the matches began.

Cultural Festival: Images of the Middle EastThe Danish Government nancially supports the campaign 'Images of the Middle East'conducted by the Danish Centre for Culture and Development (DCCD). The activitiesof the Images of the Middle East campaign includes an information/-educationprogramme which takes place from 2004 to 2007 and a Cultural Festival in Copenhagenand throughout major Danish cities from August 12 to September 20, 2006.Images of the Middle East is financed by funds from DCCD, the Danish Ministry ofForeign Affairs, EU, as well as programme partners, local authorities, ministries,foundations, etc.DCCD receives financial support of 42 million DKK (app. 5.63 mill. Euro) from theMinistry of Foreign Affairs in the period 2004 - 2006. About one third is reserved forthe implementation of 'Images of the Middle East'. In addition to this funding, theinformation programme in relation to Images of the Middle East has received 3.478.000DKK (app. 466,000 Euro) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Middle East Initiative.The DCCD furthermore receives 640,000 DKK (app. 86.000 Euro) of funding from theMinistry of Integration Affairs. The 'Images of the Middle East' thus in total receivesGovernment funding of more than DKK 18 mill.The aim of the festival is to provide a more positive image of the Middle East, tosupport the integration of people from the Middle East, to increase the mutualunderstanding between different groups in the society and to present Middle Easternculture in a positive way.The Images of the Middle East Festival focuses on contemporary culture and thecurrent changes, which are taking place in the Middle East. The festival covers events astheatre, dance, music, films, literature, exhibitions etc.Images of the Middle East is also cooperating with UNESCO, ISESCO, and ALECSOin the framework of the UNESCO programme "Dialogue between Civilisations".Auschwitz DayEvery year on 27 January - the official international Auschwitz Day - Denmarkcommemorates the Holocaust and other genocides of the 20th century. The day has afocus on furthering the debate on, awareness of and education in the tragic events ofgenocide. The Auschwitz Day intends to provide insight into the dynamics of genocideand to contribute to the prevention of future genocides. The day contributes to thecombat against anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.The activities surrounding Auschwitz Day are organised under the auspices of theMinistry of Education and bring together several ministries, the Danish Institute forHuman Rights, and the Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the Danish

Institute for International Studies. Broadly speaking, these activities fall into twocategories: local arrangements in participating municipalities and educational activitiesconducted by the Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.The Ministry of Education spends around 2,0 million DKK (app. 268,000 Euro) toimplement the Auschwitz Day.- The Ministry of Integration and the Ministry of Education has each contributed DKK132,000 DKK (app. 17,750 Euro) - 264,000 DKK (app. 35,500 Euro) in total - to theDanish participation in an OSCE project on developing teaching materials forcombating anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.- The Danish Centre for International Studies has received 400,000 DKK (app. 54,000Euro) to conduct a report about anti-Semitism and anti Muslim views among schoolpupils at the age between 14 and 20 in Danish schools. The research had the form of apilot project.The MIA-campaign and MJA-prizeThe Ministry of Integration Affairs represents the Danish Government in theProgramme Committee of the Community Action Programme to CombatDiscrimination 2001-2006. The Community Action Programme was established byCouncil Decision 2000/750/EC of 27 November 2000. The Community ActionProgramme which consists of activities at both the European and national level providesfunding from the European Union to the member states for national awareness raisingactivities. In previous years the funding has been 100,000 EURO (app. 750,000 DKK).That amount has been raised to 150,000 EURO (app. 1.125 mill. DKK) in 2006.The Danish Government has since 2002 mandated the National Equality Body for thepromotion of equal treatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin - the Danish Institutefor Human Rights - to undertake the Danish national awareness raising campaignentitled 'Diversity in the Workplace'. The campaign - which has existed since 2003 andis intended to continue in 2007 - includes among several other initiatives to promotediversity in the workplace a yearly prize to companies which have made specialcontributions to that effect (the MIA-prize)Initiatives regarding employment and education- Local initiatives regarding employment in districts with Urban Regeneration - 6.2 mill.DKK (app. 830,000 Euro) of financial support to local job agencies.The purpose of these projects is to establish job agencies in order for more immigrantsand refugees to get employment. The projects seek to develop closer cooperationbetween municipalities and local companies and businesses.

Projects to eliminate barriers in regards to employment of newly arrived immigrants andrefugees-33mill. DKK (appr. 4.4 mill. Euro) of financial support to ethnic jobconsultants.The purpose of these projects is to develop and undertake development activities etc. sothat cultural barriers and negative attitudes do not form a factor when immigrants areemployed.Initiatives on vulnerable communities and groups- Strengthening of the municipal effort in regards to non-adapted youths - 3.7 mill. DKK(app. 500,000 Euro) of financial support to municipalities.The purpose of these projects is to strengthen the motivation for immigrant youths toadapt to the generalcommunity.

Initiatives in socially vulnerable communities -33mill. DKK (appr. 4.4 mill. Euro) offinancial support to voluntary organizations.The purpose of these projects is to strengthen volunteer work in the local community,which focuses on future employment and prevention of crime.- Support for especially vulnerable groups of unemployed immigrants and refugees - 2mill. DKK (appr. 270,000 Euro) of financial support allocated to disabled immigrants.The purpose of these projects is to develop the possibilities for disabled persons fromimmigrant communities to gain access to the labour market.Initiatives for volunteer workSupport for the participation of young descendants of immigrant origin in sports clubsand other associations - 5.2 mill. DKK (appr. 700,000 Euro) of financial support foramong others the National Sports Federation (DIP), The Danish GymnasticsAssociation (DGI) and the Danish Youth Council (DUF).The purpose of these projects is to get more immigrants involved in local leisure timeand sports activities and further to engage the parents in the activities.- Direct support of 15 mill. DKK (appr. 2.0 mill Euro) to the information and volunteerwork of the Danish Refugee Council.The purpose of this project is to ensure the counselling of asylum seekers, the RefugeeCouncils volunteer work and the Danish Refugee Councils participation in theevaluation of the resettlement of UNHCR asylum seekers.

Other initiatives and projectsThe Danish Youth Council has received 250,000 DKK (appr. 34,000 Euro) for a projectaiming to strengthen the organisational and democratic capacities of a number of ethnicyouth associations through partnership, advice and economic support to selectedactivities. The benefiting associations must be willing to work for integration and on thebasis of democratic values. The project, whose continuation is currently underconsideration, can be seen in the larger framework of the Government's efforts tocounter radicalization and intolerance and to promote civil citizenship, diversity andmutual responsibility for everyone across colour, gender and conviction.- Football clubs and football supporter clubs has received financial support for antiracistcampaigns (Brøndby Support has received 30,000 DKK (appr. 4,000 Euro) and thefootball club Frem has received 20,000 DKK (app. 2,700 Euro)).Danish Red Cross Youth has received approximately 26,000 DKK (appr. 3,500 Euro)for a role playing game called "Youth on flight" (Unge pa Flugt.) The aim is to give theparticipants a more nuanced picture of the reality that refugees meets on their way fromtheir homeland to a new country and thereby influence the participants' opinions onrefugees and immigrants in an anti-discriminatory way.Local theatres have received support to performances about e.g. the similarities bet\veenIslam and Christianity or about the meeting between people with different cultural andreligious background. (Examples: the theatre 'Teater Tasken' has received 50,000 DKK(app. 6,700 Euro), the theatre 'DI-VERS' has received 30,000 DKK (appr. 4,000 Euro),the theatre 'Taastrup Teater' has received DKK 19,300 (appr. 2,600 Euro).The Ikast local church in cooperation with the local Muslim community has received21,000 DKK (appr. 2,800 Euro) for a project about similarities and differences betweenIslam and Christianity.Local festivals have received financial support for activities, which aim to show differentcultures and build mutual understanding between people with different ethnic origin.For example the 'Norrebro Festival' in Copenhagen received DKK 30,000 in (appr.4,000 Euro) in financial support.In March 2006 - in the wake of the Cartoon Row - the Minister of Integration Affairsallocated 4 mill. DKK (appr. 0.54 mill. Euro) for initiatives concerning dialogue onfellowship and diversity. This allowed for initiatives all over the country with the aim offacilitating increased dialogue and comprehension among ethnic and religious groups,create awareness on diversity within common boundaries, support common basic valueson democracy and citizenship and counter prejudice and misconceptions betweendifferent groups.

One of the projects under this initiative was to have a national constitutional speechcontest. Clearly emphasising democratic values as a corner stone of society serves notonly as a solid and sustainable framework for tolerance and diversity but is alsonecessary in order to ensure cohesion and positive coexistence. The Minister forIntegration Affairs this spring initiated the competition, which was for young peopleunder 25 years of age. The participants had to write a speech for Constitution Day - the5th of June - on democracy and integration. The competition was organised incooperation with the youth organisation the Danish Youth Council. The winnerreceived a travel scholarship and a 10 minute slot of the Prime Ministers' speaking timethat day. In total 13 winners were given speaking time with ministers and issues ofintegration and dialogue in society as well as the many positive images of youngstersfrom different ethnic origins caring about society were widely exposed thanks to thebroad media attention given to the traditional Constitution Day.Educational software - 10 DKK mill. (appr. 1.34 mill. Euro) allocated for thedevelopment of IT-based educational software for lessons in Danish as a secondlanguage.The purpose of this project is to ensure that there will be a closer connection betweenDanish lessons and future employment and education.- Support for the Immigrants and Refugees - financial support of 21 mill. DKK (appr.2.82 miii. Euro).The purpose of these projects is, inter alia, to work against family related violence,prevent and help victims of forced marriages, provide assistance to victims of tortureand strengthen the information available in regards to sexually transmitted diseaseswithin the immigrant community.The Ministry of Integration Affairs in 2005 provided financial support for several NGO's andassociations. Examples are:- The Danish Red Cross (Rode Kors)- The Danish Red Cross Youth (Ungdommes Rode Kors)- The Women's Council in Denmark (Kvinderàdet)- The Danish Association against Female Gender Mutilation (Foreningen modpigeomskring)- The Ark of Eva, an international house for women (Evas ark)- The Danish Association for international Cooperation (Mellemfolkeligt samvirke)- The Danish Women's Community (IDansk Kvindesamfund)- The Association for Integration of new Danes into the labour market (ForeningenNydansker)