Amnesty International Report 1998 - Denmark

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)     There were further developments concerning alleged misconduct by police in previous years. In April the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment published a report on its visit to Danish police establishments and prisons in 1996. The Committee made a number of recommendations concerning policing and respect for the rights of detained and imprisoned people, including those held in solitary confinement and subject to pre-trial restrictions. In May the UN Committee against Torture examined Denmark's third periodic report on its implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee recommended that the government make torture, as defined in the Convention, a distinct crime under Danish law and consider incorporation of the Convention into domestic law. It also recommended abolition of solitary confinement in all but exceptional circumstances, and in particular during pre-trial detention. It expressed concern about police treatment of detainees and about methods of crowd control, including the use of dogs, and recommended that the state ensure that detainees' allegations of ill-treatment be handled by independent bodies. In January the Ministry of Justice informed Amnesty International that, while it regretted "the entire course of events in connection with the arrest" of Vietnamese national Chi Dung Nguyen "on grounds which subsequently proved to be mistaken" and that "the situation evolved in such a way that in the conduct of his arrest [he] was subjected to considerable use of force", it had not found grounds for action against the police officers involved. The Regional Police Complaints Board had, however, found grounds for believing that officers had hit him with batons while he lay handcuffed on the ground (see Amnesty International Report 1997) In October the Regional State Prosecutor decided not to bring charges against the officers involved in the arrest and restraint of Nigerian national Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha (see Amnesty International Report 1997). Although the Regional Prosecutor had concluded that Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha's leg must have been broken during her arrest, he found that it could not be proved with certainty whether her injuries were sustained in the course of her interaction with a police officer when they both fell, or with another officer who unsuccessfully tried to grab her leg, or with a third officer who restrained her in a manual leg-lock. The Regional Prosecutor also decided not to criticize any officers for the approximately six-hour delay in calling a doctor to attend to Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha, who was subsequently hospitalized for 10 days and underwent surgery. The Regional State Prosecutor found no grounds for criticism in relation to accusations of racist remarks, as none of the officers admitted to making or hearing such remarks during the arrest. Appeals to the Director of Public Prosecutions were pending at the end of the year. In December the government agreed to pay Gambian national Babading Fatty full and final compensation for physical and psychological injuries suffered as a consequence of his detention and ill-treatment in 1990 (see previous Amnesty International Reports). At the end of the year the latest investigation was continuing into the violent demonstration in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen in May 1993 which culminated in police firing over one hundred shots in disputed circumstances. During the demonstration police officers were injured and at least 11 people were wounded by police bullets (see Amnesty International Reports 1994 to 1997) Amnesty International expressed concern that the Regional Police Complaints Board's decision in the case of Chi Dung Nguyen had been overridden, and at the Regional State Prosecutor's decision in the case of Veronica Ngozi Ugwuoha. The organization also inquired about the measures being taken to implement the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Committee against Torture.