L.K. v. Netherlands

L.K. v.Netherlands

Forum:

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Rights:

To equality and non-discrimination, to adequate housing

Marginalized Group:

Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities and the Disabled

Action:

L.K. (name withheld at his request), a partially disabled, ethnic minority, petitioned the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for relief following remarks and threats of racial violence issued against him by local residents in a community in which he was interested in renting a house. Arguing that the street had enough foreigners, the residents vowed to, and were successful at, blocking the applicant’s access to the rental property. The Committee found that the remarks and threats constituted incitement to racial discrimination and to acts of violence against persons of another color or ethnic origin, contrary to article 4(a) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It found further that the Dutch police and prosecution authorities failed in their essential duties to conduct thorough and complete investigations into the incidents, and recommended that the State provide the applicant with relief commensurate with the moral damage that he suffered.