Concerning Mr. M.J. vs Denmark for violation of articles 4 and 6 of CERD.

In the year 2014, a complaint was filed by the Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DACoRD) on behalf of the author against Dan Park and others. The complaint was regarding an exhibition of the controversial Swedish artist held on October 23, 2014, at Christiansborg Palace under the auspices of the Danish People’s Party. In addition, the pictures were also exhibited at the Press Society Company.

In the works presented at the exhibition, Dan Park, who has already been convicted several times for racism in Sweden, depicts black people, and specially Mr. M.J. in a degrading, indignifying, inferiorizing manner.

In the complaint, DACoRD recalled that the right to freedom of expression is not unlimited, but may be subject to certain restriction, such as with respect to racist hate speech in whatever form that rejects the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality and seeks to degrade the standing of individuals and groups in the estimation of society.

Despite the Committee’s concern, on January 25, 2017, the investigation against Dan Park and others was stopped by the Danish prosecutor. An appeal was filed against the prosecutor’s decision but was denied on March 26, 2017, hence preluding M.J. from obtaining justice for racial discrimination before the Danish Courts. Having exhausted all national remedies, a complaint was sent to CERD.