Opening address by The Ambassador of Denmark,
H.E. Thomas Fouad Lund-Sørensen
High Level Seminars
Incorporating Human Rights into the Criminal Justice Sector - Experiences and Challenges of Jordan and Denmark
16 November 2008
Amman, Jordan
Major General Al-Qadi
Prosecutor General Al-Hmoud
Former Minister of Justice Dr. Ole Espersen
Brigadier Saidat
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a great honour for the Danish embassy to take part in the official opening of the High Level Seminars on “Incorporating Human Rights into the Criminal Justice Sector – Experiences and Challenges of Jordan and Denmark”. It is a long and difficult title for a seminar but so is the topic in focus.
First and foremost, I would like to express the gratitude of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Public Security Directorate for hosting this key event.
Our gratitude also goes to our many other partners, The Ministry of Justice of Jordan, The National Center for Human Rights in Jordan, The Mizan Law Group in Jordan, The Rehabilitation and Research Center for Torture Victims, The Danish Prison Probation Service, The Danish Public Prosecution Service and the Danish National Police College.
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Incorporating human rights into the criminal justice sector is one of the important challenges of any society that is built on the Rule of Law.
This Seminar will provide a unique opportunity of exchange and discussion between the most distinguishes representatives of the kingdom of Jordan and their colleagues from Denmark.
It will focus on joint reflections on how to tackle the many challenges that we face in our efforts to fully integrate human rights standards into our criminal justice sectors.
I wish to congratulate you with this significant initiative, which will undoubtedly yield a lot of “food for thought” and that will help us strengthen our respective criminal justice sectors.
One of the key priorities in the Danish foreign and development policy is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights.
As we all know, human rights are the very pillars that any independent, impartial and effective criminal justice system is built upon.
Bearing this in mind, Denmark seeks to develop the respect for human rights in close cooperation with our partners. We work in partnership with Jordan in many other areas, but we are particularly proud to have Jordan as a partner in the human rights field.
Allow me to mention another Danish-Jordanian cooperation touching on Human Rights and with the PSD as partner. A couple of weeks ago the PSD hosted a Danish sponsored regional seminar on family protection and violence against women and children. Jordan is on a regional level a pioneer and leading force in fighting family violence. This effort is backed by his Majesty King Abdullah II, who stressed this priority as a red line in an interview shortly after the conclusion of our last seminar. This is very encouraging to us on the Danish side as it must be for our Jordanian partner the PSD.
While Denmark seeks to promote all human rights, there are a few focus areas that rank particularly high on Denmark’s human rights agenda. One of them is the eradication of torture.
We have a long history of spearheading the efforts within the United Nations to strengthen the international legal basis for fighting torture.
In order to ensure that the noble principles of international law are put into practice, Denmark also has a long tradition of providing assistance around the world, aimed at putting an end to the evil practice of torture and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment.
As I said before we are proud of our partnership with the Kingdom of Jordan.
Jordan has taken important steps to uphold human rights. To name but a few Jordan is a Party to most major international human rights conventions, Jordan was among the first nations to have a seat on the UN Human Rights Council and Jordan has opened its doors to external scrutiny by UN bodies, NGO’s and to internal assessment as well.
At the national level, Jordan is also undertaking criminal justice sector reform. The ongoing reform has so far led to changes in the laws and increased institutional capacity, particularly within the PSD and the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centres. His Majesty king Abdullah II has also made this a national priority.
The reform efforts are important and necessary initiatives that we very warmly welcome. And we are encouraged by the broad support these initiatives are receiving from the highest authority in Jordan and in civil society.
There is no doubt that the road towards the full incorporation of human rights into the criminal justice sector is a long and winding one. However, the journey will definitely be easier with a companion. The final outcome of our reform efforts will certainly be greater if we make use of our respective professional experience and expertise.
It is my firm belief that our partnership within the criminal justice sector can be of mutual benefit to both our countries. The key to our success is two-fold:
One the one hand, success requires an open and constructive dialogue and cooperation, and on the other hand it requires progress, visible progress on the ground.
This week’s High Level seminars mark the beginning of the KARAMA-project. KARAMA is the new cooperation between Denmark and Jordan that is aimed at strengthening the capacity of core institutions within the criminal justice sector with the ultimate goal of improving the treatment and conditions of persons who are deprived of their liberty.
In conclusion, it is my sincere hope that we will achieve the objectives of the current seminars and, in time, of the wider KARAMA project, hereby ensuring respect for AL KARAMA – the dignity – of all men, women and children.
Thank you for your attention and good luck with your efforts.
