Denmark

journalists, ordered the temporary closure of five radio stations, and suspended the broadcasting of several television and radio programmes deemed to be of a political nature.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

The authorities failed to honour commitments made to the Indigenous Twa people in connection with their forced eviction from the Kahuzi Biega National Park in the east. Since 1975 the community had been evicted in waves and had received promises that they would be provided with alternative land of equal quality, education and employment opportunities, health services and the release of members of their community who had been arrested for entering the National Park. Meanwhile, negotiations between the Park authorities and Twa representatives, concerning alternative land for the community, remained stalled.

In February, six Twa men, including key negotiator Chief Jean-Marie Kasula, and two Twa women, were found guilty of illegal activities in the Park. Their one-day trial before a military tribunal fell far short of international standards for fair trial and they were sentenced to between one and 15 years in prison. Four of the eight were released on bail from Bukavu prison in August. An appeal against their convictions had not been heard at the end of the year.

1. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Alarming research shows long lasting harm from cobalt mine abuses (Press release, 6 May)

2. South Africa: Mining gathering must confront human rights violations (Press release, 3 February)

3. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Concrete actions must be taken to protect Denis Mukwege after death threats (Press release, 4

September)

DENMARK

Kingdom of Denmark Head of state: Margrethe II Head of government: Mette Frederiksen

A new law was passed recognizing sex without consent as rape. Abuse of minorities increased during the national COVID-19 lockdown. A discriminatory law on social housing remained in place. The authorities failed to protect the rights of children born with variations in sex characteristics.

DISCRIMINATION

In June, the Danish Institute for Human Rights published a survey which showed that members of minorities experienced increased verbal and physical abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown between March-June.

Housing

The 2018 Regulation L38 on social housing continued to be in force despite recommendations from 2019 by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) to reform the law. The CESCR raised concerns about stigmatizing categories such as “ghettos” and “hard ghettos” for neighbourhoods comprising more than 50% of residents with “nonwestern backgrounds”. The police had the power to temporarily designate these neighbourhoods as “increased punishment zones” in which residents and visitors could face double the criminal penalties for certain offences, including vandalism, assault, public order offences, arson, threats and extortion. At the end of the year, the law had yet to be reformed.1

In May tenants of one of these neighbourhoods, the housing project Mjølnerparken in the capital, Copenhagen, filed a lawsuit for discrimination against the Ministry of Transport and Housing in the Eastern High Court. In October, UN experts called on the government to suspend the sale of apartment houses in the area until courts determined whether laws permitting the sale violated residents’ human rights, including the high risk of forced eviction in violation of their right to adequate housing.