In a new report, the European Council has criticised Denmark for its treatment of minorities, including the banning of ritual slaughtering and the portrayal of Muslims and other minorities by the media and politicians.
The report found that despite the Muslims trying to do something about the negative stereotypes that persist, the media coverage of them remains mostly negative and hostile.
The report also underlines that the ban of kosher and halal-butchered animals goes against the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) act in 2000 that describes traditional slaughtering as a religious right.
”In practice, the ban doesn't mean a lot, but it sends a negative signal to Jews and Muslims because it portrays a picture of a lack of respect for their right to practice rituals as prescribed by Judaism and Islam,” the report said, according to Berlingske newspaper.
The report is also wary of several political parties wanting to remove or amend the penal code section 266b – a section also known as 'racismeparagraffen' ('racism section').
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Government rejects notion
The report also warned that a removal of racismeparagraffen would mean that offensive and violating speech would be decriminalised and would lead to a poor public debate climate that will increase polarisation in society.
In a short comment, the government said that in terms of the framework for the protection of national minorities it only considered the German minority in south Jutland a national minority.
In other words, Muslims, Roma, the Greenlanders and the Faroese are not considered minorities with special rights, but minorities who have the same rights and demands as all other Danes, and as such Denmark lives up to its duties as per the ECHR.
