Greenland’s prime minister has hinted that incarcerated sex offenders could be given hormone-changing drugs to help suppress the urge to commit crime. According to Siku News, Kuupik Kleist said that the construction of a new detention centre for sex offenders is a high priority for the government, despite complaints about a similar institution in Denmark.

The PM said he plans to look closely at the handling of sexual deviants, who are given a hormone treatment known as ‘chemical castration’, at the Herstedvester prison in Denmark. The drugs are designed to lower the sex drives of inmates and therefore reduce offending. Prisoners, however, say they received little information about the side effects of the medicine and are pressured into taking the pills.

Allegations against Herstedvester were first published in a report by the Council of Europe Committee against Torture, after a 2008 visit to the country. Kleist, however, admitted interest in the measures in an interview with KNR.

“Construction of a new prison in Greenland, which can accommodate this special group of offenders, has a high priority for the government. In this context, we’re in constant dialogue with the Danish authorities in charge of the judiciary to ensure that Greenlandic offenders receive the same treatment as the Danish prisoners,” said Kleist.

Lars Barfod, the Danish Justice Minister, is planning a trip to visit Kleist in August, when he will discuss the building of a new prison in Greenland.

Be Sociable, Share!

•