A delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out a visit to Greenland (Denmark) from 14 to 16 January 2025. The aim of this second visit to Greenland was to assess progress made since the CPT's previous visit in 2012.
The CPT examined the conditions of detention, regime and treatment of persons in the closed unit of the new prison in Nuuk (Ny Anstalt). Brought into service in 2019, it is the only prison establishment in Greenland which has a closed unit. Previously, persons from Greenland serving a sentence in closed conditions had to do so in Denmark. The opening of the new Nuuk Prison enables Greenlandic prisoners to be held closer to their communities in a familiar linguistic and cultural environment. Most of the prisoners concerned are serving indeterminate prison sentences (forvarignsdom) for serious offences.
In addition, the CPT delegation held consultations with officials from the Prison and Probation Administration in Greenland and presented its preliminary observations to senior officials from the Danish Prisons and Probation Administration in Copenhagen on 17 January 2025.
