Institute: Positive Steps for Human Rights in Greenland
Improvements have been made when it comes to the issue of human rights. The Institute for Human Rights acknowledges this in their annual report, which they submitted to the Greenlandic Parliament last week.
The institute functions as the national human rights organization for Greenland.
The annual report for 2025 highlights, among other things, that the women from the IUD scandal have received an apology from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on behalf of Denmark.
In connection with the apology, the Prime Minister said that the government wants to establish a reconciliation fund where women from the IUD case—and other groups of Greenlanders who have been subjected to failure by the Danish state—can apply for compensation.
This is positive, assesses Johan Busse, national director of the Institute for Human Rights.
“It is important as a support for the recognition and apology given to women and girls who have been subjected to violations in connection with IUD insertion that there is a concrete follow-up to it.
“When you have been subjected to a human rights violation, you can be entitled to compensation,” he says.
BACKGROUND
High Evidentiary Requirements
In April, the Inuit Pisinnaatitaaffii pillugit Siunnersuisoqatigiit (IPPS)—the Council for Human Rights—criticized several parts of the bill that is supposed to make it possible for the women from the IUD scandal to receive compensation.
Johan Busse also explains that there is room for improvement. These may be traumatizing events.
“Therefore, we have recommended that the evidentiary requirements be clarified so that the evidentiary requirements are not too high, and thus a lot of women will be excluded from receiving compensation,” he says.
Work on the bill was put on hold during the general election. The new Danish government constitution states that the government will present the bill “as soon as possible”.
There is no news yet about the reconciliation fund that the Danish government wants to establish. KNR is working to get an interview with the Danish Minister of Health and Church Affairs Ida Auken.
Focus on Case Processing Times
Improvements have also been made in the legal field.
According to the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the prison service and the justice sector have been strengthened with several initiatives.
Among other things, 70 prison beds have been added.
Last year, the Council of Europe Committee on Torture criticized the prison in Nuuk for being overcrowded.
In August last year, the Danish government presented a plan to strengthen the justice sector in Greenland by 850 million kroner towards 2030.
The Danish Institute for Human Rights recommends that the Courts Authority annually keep and publish statistics on case processing times, and that a comprehensive digital court database be established in Greenland.
“However, there is still a lack of access to data that can provide a clear picture of the rights situation in Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland. As part of ensuring the modernization of the IT systems at the Greenlandic courts, the Courts Authority should, among other things, ensure transparency in relation to whether court cases in Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland are decided within a reasonable time,” the report states.
Greenlandic Citizens in Denmark
The legal certainty for citizens with a Greenlandic background in Denmark is also highlighted in the report.
Forced removals of Greenlandic children in Denmark have played a significant role in this in recent years.
The institute emphasizes that a special unit has been established under VISO to review cases of forced placement.
In the new government framework, the government has the goal of reviewing all placement cases of Greenlandic children. This is positive, says Johan Busse.
“We think it is the right thing to do, now that it has been established that this test has been used, which can give incorrect decisions in what are of course very, very serious cases when we are talking about parents being deprived of their children.
“There is a risk that there are children in placement who could just as well be at home with their biological parents. It is completely unsustainable, so we welcome the fact that all cases are reviewed,” says the national head.
KNR is also working to get an interview with the Danish Minister of Social Affairs, Monika Rubin, about the government’s ambitions for the placement area.
At the same time, the institute emphasizes that they have a new report on the way that sheds light on Greenlandic women’s encounters with the Danish healthcare system before, during and after childbirth.
“The reason why we have gone into this is that there are several Greenlanders in Denmark who experience challenges in their encounters with healthcare authorities, which we may suspect are not being taken into sufficient consideration today,” says Johan Busse.
The study was therefore conducted to support Greenlandic women’s right to health and the special rights that come with being an indigenous people.
The report has not yet been published.
Source: KNR (in Danish)