Czechs urged to call halt to castration of sex offenders

Published on Thursday 5 February 2009 21:59

THE Czech Republic's image as a bastion of Bohemian liberalism has come under threat after a leading human rights watchdog condemned the country for surgically castrating sex offenders.

In a detailed report published yesterday, the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee branded the practice a "degrading treatment", and called for it to halt immediately.

"Surgical castration is a mutilating, irreversible intervention and cannot be considered as a medical necessity in the context of the treatment of sex offenders," it said. "The intervention removes a person's ability to procreate and has serious physical and mental consequences."

The number of men castrated remains vague, the Czech health ministry says that in the last 10 years 94 men have consented to the intervention.

The country also uses chemical castration but reserves surgery, in which parts of the testicles are removed, for serious cases of sexual violence.

The Council of Europe report attacked the Czech government's claim that sex offenders opted for castration of their own free will. Faced with a long prison sentence, the offender agrees to castration, the report says, "believing it is the only available option to avoid indefinite confinement."

In addition, the report found, many of those who had opted for castration had been given inadequate information about its implications.

In its defence, the Czech government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said surgical castration was "carefully carried out in accordance with national law" and that the process was monitored by sexologists, who supported the practice.

The country, which currently holds the European presidency, also pointed out that surgical castration is officially confined to serious or serial offenders, and that it has, according to two studies, cut re-offending to zero.

But these claims are disputed by the watchdog. In its report, based on visits to two psychiatric hospitals and two prisons, it said that in half of cases castration was carried out on people diagnosed as non-violent. It also queried the claim that castration stopped repeat offending.

"During the committee's visit it came across three cases in which sex offenders had committed serious sex related crimes, including serial rape and attempted murder, after they had been surgically castrated," the report claims.

The committee also said that in "at least five cases" a court- appointed guardian had signed consent forms for castration, and that on two occasions the guardians had been local mayors. Also a considerable number of the surgically castrated offenders suffered from "significant mental retardation".

In its response to the criticisms, the Czech government did say that the law on surgical castration would be reviewed this year, and more detailed regulations introduced.

The report comes at a time when several countries, including Britain, are considering introducing chemical castration.