Economic, social and cultural rights
In August, the prime minister of Denmark together with the leader of Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, issued a joint apology to thousands of Inuit women who had had intrauterine devices implanted without their consent between 1966 and the 1990s. Civil society organizations welcomed the move while demanding financial compensation for the Inuit women and other Inuit victims of discrimination.
In February, the government presented an action plan on racism following criticism from the CERD Committee and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance. The plan included a focus on the Inuit people, the Indigenous population in Greenland.
Freedom of expression
Fourteen citizens, including a 16-year-old girl, were given prison sentences of up to nine months for “approving terror” for comments they made on social media following the 7 October 2023 attacks in southern Israel. Civil society organizations expressed concern about the arbitrary use of the law and the unclear definition of what constitutes the “approval of terror”.
Freedom of peaceful assembly
In September, nine peaceful climate activists were each awarded compensation for being held in police custody for up to two hours for no legal reason after being charged for “disturbing the public order”. This was just one of around 20 pending cases involving hundreds of peaceful protesters who were allegedly held by police beyond the legally permitted or justified period.
Irresponsible arms transfers
In April, the High Court ruled on a lawsuit filed by Amnesty International Denmark, ActionAid Denmark, Oxfam Denmark, and Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq against the Danish state (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police) to stop arms exports to Israel through the country’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet programme. The lawsuit claimed there was a clear risk that exports of parts and components for F-35 fighter jets would be used by Israel to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
The court found that the organizations did not have the right to pursue the case. In April, the case went to appeal before the Supreme Court, which would primarily focus on whether Amnesty International Denmark and the other organizations had legal standing in the matter. The organizations were concerned that, if the Supreme Court were to uphold the verdict, it would become impossible to legally challenge whether arms exports violated the provisions of the Arms Trade Treaty, to which Denmark is a state party.
Right to a healthy environment
Denmark’s climate policies remained world-leading. However, increased investment would be needed to reach the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. Denmark’s indirect emissions also remained high due to the level of imports and outsourced production.
