Human Rights Committee sets high standards for Norway
Geneva, 25 October 2011 – The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded today its review of the sixth periodic report
of Norway on questions relating to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.
Large and active NGO involvement resulted in the Committee having most of their concerns raised during the session. Issues
such as excessive use of coercion in mental health institutions, scarce medical documentation available on torture or ill-treatment
allegations for asylum seekers and the need to enhance Dublin II regulation guarantees in recipient countries were discussed
in depth by the Committee. “We are pleased that the Committee has taken most of our concerns into consideration and we hope
that the recommendations will be fully implemented by the government of Norway”, said Ole Benny Lilleas from the Norwegian
Helsinki Committee.
The Committee also expressed concern about the limited right of legal aid, the obstacles to family reunification under immigration law and the increase use of pre-trial detention. The detention of children in the same facilities as adults has been criticised, despite Norway’s reservation on this issue in the Covenant.
The Human Rights Committee will make its recommendations public at the end of its session and the State will be requested to widely disseminate them at the national level. The State is to initiate a genuine dialogue with all sectors of the society that will lead to the implementation of the recommendations.
For more information contact:
Ole Benny Lilleas, lilleas@nhc.no, Norwegian Helsinki Committee (English, Norwegian).
Liliana Trillo Diaz, ltrillo@ccprcentre.org, Centre for Civil and Political Rights (English, French, Spanish)
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