Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/iceland.txt

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TITLE:  ICELAND HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            ICELAND


Iceland is a constitutional republic and a multiparty
parliamentary democracy.  Its people participate in high
percentages in regular, free, and fair elections which
determine the distribution of power among political parties and
leaders.

Elected officials control the police force which scrupulously
observes and enforces the laws that ensure protection of human
rights.

Iceland has a mixed, open economy, in which all of its citizens
have the right to hold private property.

There were no reports of human rights abuses during the year.
The Parliament enacted into Icelandic law the European Charter
of Human Rights.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or extrajudicial killings.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no known abductions or disappearances.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or
punishment are prohibited by law and do not occur.  Prison
conditions are good, but most prisons are full, and many are
antiquated.  The Government has begun implementing a
construction program to alleviate these difficulties.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Due process is provided by law and observed in practice.  The
Constitution states that arrested persons must be brought
before a judge without undue delay.  The judge must rule within
24 hours whether the person is to be detained.  Although the
Constitution allows for bail, it is usually not imposed as a
condition for release.  A judge's ruling may be appealed
immediately to a higher court.

There is no specific limit on the maximum length of pretrial
(investigative) detention, but it usually ranges from a few
days to a few weeks.  Pretrial detentions were generally served
in isolation prior to July 1992.  A law that took effect then
requires judges to rule specifically on whether a particular
detainee should be held in isolation, and an affirmative
decision must be justified on the grounds that it will help
prevent tampering with a continuing investigation.  All
pretrial detention sentences may be appealed to the Supreme
Court, which must return a ruling "as soon as possible"; in
practice, this generally is done in a few days.  Preventive
detention is not practiced.

There were no allegations of arbitrary detention.

There is no exile.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Defendants are presumed innocent.  They are guaranteed the
right of access to legal counsel of their own choosing, in time
to prepare their defense.  For defendants unable to pay
attorney's fees, the State assumes the cost.  Defendants have
the right to be present at their trial, to confront witnesses,
and to participate otherwise in the proceedings.  No groups are
barred from testifying, and all testimony is treated alike.
Trials are public and are conducted fairly, with no official
intimidation.  Defendants have the right to appeal.

The Ministry of Justice administers the lower court system,
while the Supreme Court guards its independence and fairness.
Juries are not used, but multijudge panels are common,
especially in the appeals process.  All judges, at all levels,
serve for life.

There are no political prisoners.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

Under the Constitution and in practice, there is deep respect
for the autonomy and rights of individuals.  A warrant from a
court is required to enter a private house, except in cases of
hot pursuit.  There have been no known arbitrary intrusions by
official entities, political organizations, or any other
organized group into the private beliefs or personal liberties
of individuals.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution forbids censorship and other restrictions on
the freedom of the press or freedom of individual expression,
and the Government fully respects these.  Iceland has both
state-owned and private television and radio, and both
broadcast a wide spectrum of views.  All newspapers are
privately owned.

Academic freedom of expression is vigorously exercised.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for the right to unarmed assembly
except when the police have cause to believe a gathering may
cause rioting.  The authorities virtually never reject or
modify plans for public meetings.  In law and practice,
citizens have the right to join together formally or informally
in associations, without governmental authorization.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

Practitioners of all faiths worship freely, without government
restriction.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Icelanders are free to travel at home and abroad, to emigrate,
and to return at will.  Iceland abides by provisions of the
1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and
its 1967 Protocol.  The Government usually requires
"spontaneous" asylum seekers to return to the country of first
asylum pending a Justice Ministry ruling on their application.
It never compels refugees to return to a country in which they
presumably would face persecution.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Iceland is an open, fully functioning, parliamentary democracy
in which voters freely choose the members of the Althing
(Parliament) who, in turn, determine the composition of the
Cabinet.  Parliamentary elections are held every 4 years, or
sooner if the Althing dissolves itself or there is a
no-confidence vote.  Voting in elections and membership in
political parties are open to all citizens 18 years of age or
older.

There are no legal or practical impediments to women's
participation in government and politics.  Two of the four top
governmental positions--the President and the Speaker of the
Althing--are occupied by women (both positions are largely
ceremonial, however).  There is an active and influential
feminist political party, the Women's List, which won five
seats in Parliament in 1991, with 8.3 percent of the vote.
Nearly one-fourth of the members of Parliament are women.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

Human rights associations operate with no government
interference.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The culture of Iceland's ethnically homogeneous population is
strongly egalitarian and opposed to discrimination based on any
of these factors.  Government legislation and practice
generally reflect this attitude, but credible reports indicate
that both the police and the court system are hostile or
indifferent to rape victims (see below).

     Women

There are no indications of a pattern of violence against
women, but reliable data are lacking.  Such violence received
increasing public attention in 1994, due largely to the efforts
of the Women's List political movement, which continued to
raise it in political debate.  A public shelter offers
protection to approximately 370 women and 180 children per
year; these 1994 figures are virtually the same as in 1993,
indicating a leveling off of an initial surge in demand for
services of the shelter.  There is also a rape trauma center
sponsored and operated by women's organizations; some 400 women
and children annually seek assistance there.  Both facilities
are funded by national and municipal governments and private
contributions.  The Reykjavik City Hospital emergency ward now
has an all-female staff to care for rape victims.

Studies indicate that only a small percentage of cases
involving domestic violence to women or sexual abuse (rape,
attempted rape, or harassment) are reported to the police.
Women's organizations assert that both the state investigative
police and the court system are hostile or indifferent to
victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse; that female
victims who lodge charges of such offenses are often subjected
to humiliating police interrogation; and that judges are unduly
lenient with sex offenders, e.g., the typical prison term for a
convicted rapist is 1 or 2 years.  Police spokesmen have indeed
asserted publicly that investigation of domestic violence is a
waste of time for the police, who should concentrate their
efforts on "more serious" crime.  On the other hand, the police
have launched a program to train officers in correct
interrogation procedures; and data published in December 1993
showed that over the period 1988-93, the number of prisoners
serving sentences for sexual offenses rose from 12 to 28, while
the average sentence for rape rose from 14 to 20 months.

Major economic and political institutions in Iceland remain
male-dominated.  Iceland's legislation requiring equal pay for
equal work is evidently not being adequately implemented.
Studies have consistently revealed an average difference of 40
percent in the earnings of men and women in comparable jobs;
when allowance is made for the longer average working hours
(and overtime) among men, there remains a 20-percent gap.

Since 1991, complaints regarding the equal rights law have been
referred to a special committee under the Equal Rights Affairs
Office of the Ministry of Social Affairs.  The committee has
only advisory powers, and its recommendations to any employer
do not have the force of law.  Only a few complaints have been
made to the committee.  Women's groups speculate that many
women are reluctant to come forward with complaints in
Iceland's small, intimate communities and traditionally stoic
culture.  Also, Iceland's largely male-led labor unions have
not actively supported individual women who wish to exercise
their right to take action on such matters.

     Children

High respect for children's rights is evident in the law and in
government policy.  In 1994 the Government created the Office
of the Children's Ombudsman in the Prime Ministry, with a
mandate to protect children's rights, interests, and welfare
by, among other things, exerting influence on legislation,
government decisions, and public attitudes.  Some international
custody cases involving Icelanders have been complicated by the
fact that, although Iceland is a signatory to the Hague
Convention on Child Abduction, it has not brought this into
force.  The Foreign Minister opined that Iceland's practices in
this area lay it open to criticism for possible violations of
human rights.  He submitted a bill in the Althing to bring the
Convention into force.

     People with Disabilities

Disabled individuals are not subject to discrimination in
employment, education, or provision of other state services.
The Government has legislated accessibility to public buildings
for the disabled.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

Workers in Iceland make extensive use of the right to establish
organizations, draw up their own constitutions and rules,
choose their own leaders and policies, and publicize their
views.  The resulting organizations are not controlled by the
Government or any single political party.  Unions take active
part in Nordic, European, and international trade union
bodies.  With the exception of limited categories of workers in
the public sector whose services are essential to public health
or safety, unions have had and used the right to strike for
many years.  According to Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development figures, 76 percent of all eligible workers
belong to unions.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

There are no impediments to union membership in law or in
practice.  Virtually all unions exercise their right to bargain
collectively.  The central labor and management organizations
periodically negotiate collective bargaining agreements that
set nationwide standards and specific terms for workers' pay,
workhours, and other conditions.  The Government often plays a
role in the negotiations, and sometimes undertakes commitments
in order to bring the two sides together.  Labor courts
effectively adjudicate disputes over contracts and over the
rights provided for in the 1938 Act on Trade Unions and
Industrial Disputes, which prohibits antiunion discrimination.

By law, employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are
required to reinstate workers fired for union activities.  In
practice, the charges are difficult to prove.  In a recent case
the union was unable to prove in court its suspicion that an
employee had been fired for union activities, rather than as
part of a series of recession-related layoffs.

In June 1993 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the
Icelandic Government had violated the 11th article of the
European Human Rights Charter, concerning the right of free
association, by obliging taxi drivers to be members of a
union.  The Althing is to consider legislation to comply with
this judgment.

There are no export processing or other special economic zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law, and does not
occur.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The law requires children to attend school until the age of 16,
and prohibits employment of children under that age in
factories, on ships, or in other places that are hazardous or
require hard labor.  This prohibition is observed in practice.
Children aged 14 or 15 may be employed part-time or during
school vacations in light, nonhazardous work; their workhours
must not exceed the ordinary workhours of adults in the same
occupation.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
enforces child labor regulations.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

Although there is no minimum wage law, union membership is so
extensive and effective as to ensure that labor contracts
afford even the lowest-paid workers a sufficient income for a
decent standard of living for themselves and their families.

Workers are protected by laws that effectively ensure their
health and safety as well as provide for unemployment
insurance, paid vacations, pensions, and reasonable working
conditions and hours.  The standard legal workweek is 40
hours.  Worktime exceeding 8 hours in a workday must be
compensated as overtime.  Workers are entitled to 10 hours of
rest within each 24-hour period, and to a day off every week.
Under defined special circumstances the 10-hour rest can be
reduced to 8, and the day off can be postponed by a week, in
which case the worker has a right to 2 additional hours off in
the following week.

Health and safety standards are set by the Althing and
administered and enforced by the Ministry of Social Affairs
through its Occupational Safety and Health Administration.