Amnesty International Report 1997 - Denmark

There were allegations of ill-treatment by police officers. The UN Human Rights Committee examined Denmark's third periodic report in October. It expressed concern at the methods of crowd control employed by the police and made a number of recommendations, including further training of the police in methods of crowd control and the handling of offenders, reconsideration of the use of dogs in crowd control, revision of regulations concerning the length of pre-trial detention and solitary confinement, and measures to ensure the direct application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in domestic law. Some people alleged that they were ill-treated by police officers, including being lifted and dragged by handcuffs. There were also reports of police dogs used in crowd control biting people. Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha, a Nigerian national, alleged that she was ill-treated and subjected to racist abuse in July by police officers after they arrested her. While being restrained by police she sustained a fractured leg and a split kneecap. She also alleged that she had been denied medical attention for several hours while in detention. At the end of the year, her allegations were being investigated by the Regional State Prosecutor for Copenhagen. Information came to light that Dung Chi Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, had reportedly been ill-treated in April 1995 during the course of his arrest. Eye-witnesses stated that, although handcuffed, he had been repeatedly beaten with batons by plainclothes police officers both before and after he lay on the ground. The prosecution authorities did not bring criminal or disciplinary charges against the police officers involved. In May, however, the new regional police complaints board found that the police officers had acted improperly by hitting Dung Chi Nguyen with batons while he lay handcuffed on the ground. A new investigation into the events surrounding the shooting and wounding of at least 11 people during demonstrations in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, in May 1993, had not been completed by the end of the year (see Amnesty International Reports 1994, 1995 and 1996). This latest investigation, initiated by the Ministry of Justice in May and consisting of an independent panel of three people by the Minister of Justice after consultation, was also examining previous investigations into the incident. Amnesty International expressed concern to the government about the allegations of ill-treatment made by Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha and Dung Chi Nguyen. The organization also requested to be kept informed about the government's implementation of the recommendations made by the UN Human Rights Committee.