In advance of the review of Iceland’s 6th periodic on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the UN Human Rights Committee in October 2024; Amnesty International has submitted a report on the contrary’s harmful and unjustified use of pre-trial solitary confinement, failure to ensure fair trial guarantees in applications for solitary confinement in pre-trial detention, possible disproportionality in the application of solitary confinement in pre-trial detention to foreign nationals and increased use of force and surveillance by law enforcement officials.
The main point of the report follows:
Iceland has been criticized by the UN Committee against Torture for its failure to criminalize torture as a specific crime in domestic legislation or to adopt a definition that is consistent with the Convention against Torture.1
In April 2022, the UN Committee against Torture raised a series of concerns about the legal framework for pre-trial solitary confinement in Iceland and how it is applied. It flagged particular concerns about its use for prolonged periods and for people with psychosocial disabilities and children. It also cast doubt on the government’s account of the safeguards in place to ensure it is only used when necessary.2
Amnesty International’s report shows how Iceland is vastly overusing solitary confinement in pre-trial detention, violating the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, with grave consequences for people in detention and for their right to a fair trial. The report further identifies serious concerns about the application of solitary confinement to children and people with health concerns, disabilities and neurodiverse conditions and its possible disproportionate application to foreign nationals.3
In 2023, 58% of remand detainees were placed in solitary confinement for an average of 8.2 days. In the previous twelve years, 1091 individual got a court order for solitary confinement in pre-trial detention and 120 individuals were subjected to ‘prolonged solitary confinement’ for longer than 15 days, violating the international prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (‘other ill-treatment’).4
International human rights law sets out exacting safeguards to guide what must only be exceptional use of solitary confinement in the pre-trial context. Further to this, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has called for an end to the use of solitary confinement in the pre-trial context. Other human rights bodies call for its use to be reduced to an absolute minimum7 and for alternative measures to be adopted.8 Where it is used, solitary confinement must be justified in each individual case, based on sufficient evidence.9 Solitary confinement creates a de facto situation of psychological pressure and, if used intentionally as a technique for the purpose of obtaining information or a confession, it amounts to torture or other ill treatment.
Contrary to international human rights law, the Icelandic legal framework does not prevent the imposition of solitary confinement on children and Amnesty International learned that there are applicat\ions and decisions to place children in solitary confinement.
Data obtained from the Prison and Probation Administration (PPA) shows that between 2012 and 2023, courts ordered solitary confinement in pre-trial detention for 17 children aged 15–17.
The fact that the legal framework permits solitary confinement for four weeks and for an indefinite period in some instances, means that there is no legal safeguard against prolonged solitary confinement. Judges are frequently called on to extend the period of solitary confinement with a follow-up ruling, leading to continuous periods of solitary confinement that meet the international threshold for prolonged solitary confinement (that is, over 15 days) in a number of cases.
As per data from the Prison and Probation Administration, over a 10-year period (2012–2023) 120 people were subjected to prolonged solitary confinement in Iceland and there is no reduction evident in recent years with nine individuals subjected to it in 2023.
Source: Amnesty International