Report to Inatsisartut, the Parliament of Greenland 2014-16

As from May 2014, the Danish Institute for Human Rights also became the National Human Rights Institution for Greenland and, as such, is obligated to submit a report on its activities to Inatsisartut, the Parliament of Greenland. This report covers 2014-16.

We cooperate primarily with the Human Rights Council of Greenland and MIO – National Advocacy for Children’s Rights – in furthering human rights in Greenland. In 2014-16, we have, inter alia, conducted the following activities in relation to Greenland:

Public consultation memos and advice to authorities, etc.:

• Considered 42 items of draft legislation sent for public consultation and containing human rights issues.
• Published status reports on human rights issues in Greenland in 2014 and 2016 in cooperation with the Human Rights Council of Greenland.
• Trained civil servants from the Government of Greenland in human rights legal method.
• Cooperated with the Court of Greenland on the development of the new District Court Judge Training Programme as well as the continuing education of lay defence counsel (2014-15).
• Hosted workshops for the Human Rights Council of Greenland on a range of human rights topics and reporting methods.
• Participated in a working group on fair trial and rule of law in Greenland hosted by the Danish Bar and Law Society.
• Published a report on equal treatment of Greenlanders in Denmark as part of our work in Denmark on equal treatment.

Reporting to the UN:

• Submitted parallel reports to the UN on conditions in Greenland related to the UN conventions on the rights of persons with disabilities, on elimination of racial discrimination and discrimination of women as well as on the prevention of torture, and on civil and political rights, and children’s rights. The reports are part of the ongoing examination by the UN of the implementation of the conventions in Denmark and Greenland.
• Hosted a public meeting in Nuuk on fair trial and access to justice with the Human Rights Council of Greenland and the Government of Greenland. The meeting provided information for the council’s parallel report to the UN under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as well as for the official national report.

Activities to promote the rights of children:

• Published a teaching manual on children’s rights together with MIO – National Advocacy for Children’s Rights. The manual addresses teaching in the youngest and middle classes of primary school.
• Trained student teachers and their lecturers in Ilinniarfissuaq, Greenland’s teacher training institution, a department under the University of Greenland, in cooperation with MIO in order to boost the knowledge of children’s rights in teacher training.
• Developed two short films on the rights of children and human rights, generally, and assisted MIO in adapting the films into Greenlandic, thus targeting the films at children, youth, and child professionals in Greenland.

Please note that the report is only available in Danish and Greenlandic - but contains an English summary on page 6 in both language versions, which is also reproduced here above.