MPs want to improve conditions for inmates

MPs appear to agree that inmates should be treated better, not only while serving their sentence but also after release.

The Parliamentary Rules Committee has expanded on a proposal for parliamentary resolution seeking to bring the conditions in the Mjørkadalur detention centre up to the standards of the Danish prison system.

The two MPs who initiated the proposal, Rósa Samuelsen and Djóni Nolsøe Joensen, have now been given the task of inspecting conditions for detention inmates.

Phasing-out system

The Rules Committee wants to expand the original proposal to also include a new prison in the Faroe Islands as well as a so-called phasing-out system regarding discharge of inmates and.

A key critical point is a lack of space in the Mjørkadalur facilities. The committee has been told by Amnesty International Faroe Islands that detention inmates in the Faroes end up in isolation cells far more frequently than their counterparts in Denmark.

In 2017, for example, Faroese inmates were put into isolation cells 13 times, compared to 17 times throughout the entire Danish prison system.

Dual function

The committee also points a critical finger at the dual function of the Mjørkadalur detention centre, which also functions as a prison.

People serving prison sentences of more than one year are sent to a Danish prison, which can feel like an additional punishment, according to the Rules Committee.

Translated by prosa.fo