Denmark: Solitary confinement - the dark underbelly of the legalsystem
01 September 1998
The extensive use of isolation of prisoners in custody in Denmark has been strongly criticized over the last 15-20 years by Danish human rights groups and by international organisations: Amnesty International in 1983, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in 1990 and 1996 and the United Nations Human Rights Committee Against Torture (CAT) in 1997. All appeal to the Danish authorities and parliament to stop such inhumane and degrading treatment and prevent the obvious health risks associated with solitary confinement.
Of the 6,821 people placed in custody in 1997, 16.1% were held in isolation. Statistics from the same year showed that of 1,096 completed periods of solitary confinement, 186 people were isolated for more than eight weeks and 19 prisoners had been in isolation for longer than six months. The years of criticism seem to have had little influence on the use of this punishment. Although the last 15 years have seen a 50% decline in the total numbers isolated, this reflects a decline only in the shortest isolation periods (from 1-29 days). The number of long and most damaging isolations has increased. The average length of all solitary confinements has risen from 26.9 to 34.5 days, and the length of longer isolations (more than 29 days) has also increased, averaging 71 days for 1996.
Over the years the Ministry of Justice and related officials have greeted criticism with arrogance and mistrust. Nevertheless a 1990 research programme initiated by the Ministry, and published in 1994 and 1997, demonstrated that isolated persons "showed a greater probability of developing mental disturbances and a greater likelihood of transferral to prison hospital due to mental health reasons than the non-isolated... [and that] prison custody in isolation compared to non-isolation caused stress and risk of disturbance of the mental health". Of those isolated for more than two months 43% had psychiatric symptoms and 28% severe mental illness. Legislation states that persons can not be held continuously in isolation for more than eight weeks unless they are charged with a crime that can lead to imprisonment for 6 years or more; there is no maximum length for the use of solitary confinement in these cases.
A parliamentary legal committee has recently proposed some changes, although they stop well short of recommending the abolition of the use of solitary confinement. However, the proposal is broadly intended to reduce the numbers and length in isolation. It demands that the court states concrete reasons for the need for isolation and takes into account the age, the mental and physical state of the person, the significan-ce of the crime and the expected sentence. The proposal also includes steps toward time limits. If the person is charged for an offence that carries a sentence of less than 4 years in prison, solitary confinement can not exceed more than 4 weeks, and in the case of a sentence between 4-6 years, a maximum of not more than 8 continuous weeks is suggested. A charge that can lead to a sentence of 6 years or more carries a maximum of 4 months in isolation. However, the committee members have failed to agree whether this should be an absolute maximum, with the majority sadly proposing dispensation where circumstances relating to the police investigation demand ongoing isolation. In these cases there will be no maximum. Another provision is the bias given to days spent in solitary confinement - 1 extra day will be deducted from a sentence for every three days spent in isolation.
All in all the proposal is very disappointing. In autumn 1998 it comes before the Danish Parliament. If the members there endorse the proposals of the majority in the committee only future legal practice will show if any change has taken place at all.