[tense music playing]
[Rowe] Nuuk Maximum Security Prison, Greenland.
Opened just four months ago,
it houses the country's most dangerous criminals.
It escalated fast.
Right there, I decided, "Well, he shall die."
In the past, Greenland's worst offenders were sent to prison in Denmark,
its former colonial ruler.
Now, for the first time, they'll serve their sentences
in Greenland's first-ever maximum security prison.
So do you feel like you're being punished?
For me, it's just a hotel.
It's a bold, humane experiment.
I don't think it will get any better
if we just lock people up and throw away the key.
But in this tight-knit community,
can the country's most dangerous criminals ever be controlled by guards
they grew up with?
I think they are afraid of the prisoners.
Are you scared of the guards?
[laughing]
[Rowe] What's so funny?
My name is Raphael Rowe.
I'm spending a week in this maximum security prison.
It's not my first time behind bars.
I was convicted in the UK of a murder I didn't commit
and sentenced to life with no parole.
It took me 12 long years to clear my name.
Now, I'm traveling the globe to discover what life is like
inside some of the world's toughest prisons.
Greenland, the world's biggest island.
Yet it's home to just 57,000 people.
But despite its beauty, this Arctic country has a dark past.
-[truck horn honking] -Under Denmark's colonial rule,
the traditional hunting communities here
were forced into towns,
destroying their way of life and creating a legacy of social problems.
Today, Greenland has some of the highest rates of violent crime
and sex offenses in the world
with a murder rate twice that of America.
Yet there's only 148 police officers in the entire country.
I'm in Nuuk, a small community
where everyone knows everyone.
So I'm now going out on patrol with those who police this tight-knit community.
I want to find out what it's like to enforce the law
when you know most of the people you're policing.
Oh, my God.
A report of a violent assault has just come in.
You can clearly see who he is, even though he has a cap on. You would--
[female officer] We know him. We're gonna arrest him.
The police head off to find the assailant.
What do you think is unique about being a police officer here in Greenland?
Well, we know almost everyone.
Maybe you went to school with them?
-[male officer] It can happen. -[Rowe] Okay.
[female officer] Sometimes it's good to know people
because it's easier to talk to them
and calm them down when they know the person who's coming to arrest them
or talk to them.
[indistinct chatte over police radio]
-The police have to find the attacker. -[siren wailing]
But in this small community, it won't take long.
When he is caught, he may be facing a prison sentence.
Until now, Greenland didn't have its own maximum security prison.
Violent offenders would be sent to Denmark to serve their time.
Now they do.
And men like that, who commit unprovoked attacks,
could end up in their new prison here in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
I'm going to be spending a week in this state-of-the-art prison.
It's only been open four months
and is home to the country's most dangerous prisoners.
They've built a new prison here, in Greenland,
because they feel that Greenlandic prisoners
should be doing their time here, in their own country
and among their own community.
It's a big gamble.
Is this country, where guards and prisoners grew up in the same community,
ready to look after its most violent offenders?
All I can see is rock and snow.
And the sea. And it's a beautiful sight.
And it's a reminder of what they will be missing.
Especially those who are going to be serving a very, very long time.
Here's the prison now.
This is it.
My heart is pounding.
I am slightly apprehensive because I don't know what to expect.
[exhales sharply]
Inside are some serious criminals.
Most of the guards are Greenlandic locals
fresh out of training school, but not all.
-Hello -Hi.
I'm being processed by Karsten,
one of the few experienced guards setting up the prison.
[Karsten] Take the handcuffs off.
-Take all your clothes off. -[Rowe] Uh-huh.
[Karsten] Empty your pockets.
-[Rowe] Give you my watch? -Yes.
Open your mouth. Right, tongue.
-Yes. Very good. -Yeah.
[Karsten] Go.
You can dress now, yeah.
So, what are you looking for when you search a prisoner's clothing?
Cell phones, weapons, hash.
-Hash. Which is the main drug? -[Karsten] Main drug, yes.
Okay.
[Rowe] You knocked me off guard, not because of your aggression,
-but because you shook my hand. -Yes.
-And that was uncomfortable for me. -Yes.
Every prisoner who come here, we shake hands with.
-[Rowe] Hi. -[guard] Hi.
This new prison has a capacity of just 48.
So if you follow me…
Most of the prisoners have returned from Denmark and are highly dangerous.
Yet I'm being taken to my cell by a new guard
who's never worked in a prison before.
And if you follow me down here…
It's got a bloody lift.
It feels like I'm in a block of flats, not a prison.
And already…
the atmosphere of this place, the design of this place,
the look, the smell, the nothingness of this place
has disarmed me.
The funny thing about that is, it was meant to be relaxing for…
you know, the inmate who is going to be staying here.
I'm heading to the most secure wing: section A.
It houses the prisoners assessed as being the most dangerous.
[guard] This is where you're going to be staying.
-This is the cell block? -Yeah.
[mouthing] Wow.
Am I going through here?
-Yeah, you're going in here. -Okay.
[guard speaking in foreign language]
[Rowe] Oh, my God, look at this.
Okay, now, this doesn't look like a cell block. Or the kind of cell block…
that I'm familiar with.
I don't know whether I was expecting to come in here
with my chest pumped out, ready to do battle.
Okay.
So this is where I am?
[guard] Yeah.
So far, everything I've seen is brand-new.
[in Greenlandic] If you feel unsafe, call us here.
The emergency button if there is an emergency.
Press if something happens where you feel unsafe.
[Rowe] Okay.
It's got a TV, a lamp, some cupboards, a fridge, a window.
Oh.
A shower and a toilet.
I mean, as prison cells go,
you couldn't ask for much more.
You might think that this is too much to offer a prisoner
who's committed a crime.
[man] Hello.
You're the new guy.
-I am. How you doing? Raphael. -Kali.
-Raphael?
Raphael, yes. Yeah.
-Well, where you from? -I'm from London.
-London? -London, yeah.
And you? You're from Greenland?
-Yes, from Greenland. Pure. -Okay.
Okay, and you're here in this wing?
Yeah, I'm your neighbor. I live next door.
Okay. It's a bit strange since I've come in here.
It feels very, very different from other prisons…
-[Kali] Well, it is. -…where the guards are…
No, the guards, they're all new.
They really don't know what they're doing.
So, that's why we have this feeling when you come here, the, "What?"
-[Rowe] Okay. -They seem nice, but…
-Show me around, man, I don't-- -[Kali] Yes.
The thing I want to show you…
-Okay. -You know what these are? [chuckles]
Is that cigarette burns? People just--
[Kali] No, hashish.
[Rowe] Were people rolling a spliff?
The one who lived here is actually my brother.
-Your brother? -Yeah, he lived here.
-[Rowe] All these burn marks… -[speaking in foreign language]
Because they used to sit here and mix.
-[Rowe] Ah. -Then hashish fell to the floor…
-And burned. Okay. -…stepped on it. And mark.
I'm taken aback how freely my blockmates talk about the drugs in here.
You do take care of your own washing, or is this a job?
No, it is a job. Actually, it's my job to clean them. But…
So you're the washer? You do people's washing?
Yeah.
You're employed by the prison to do that, you get paid.
-Yes. -How much do you get for that?
Oh…
I only get, what…
12 krones an hour.
So…
[Rowe] But enough to buy things that you need?
-Oh, no. -No.
-You can have money sent in, as well? -Yeah.
Well, if you want to live here, and live properly nice…
you'll have to deal, uh, some stuff, you know?
You have to deal some stuff. What kind of stuff?
Anything from hashish to…
-Well, everything you can deal with. -Okay.
This is the communal area where you can sit and chat and talk and--
Yeah. Watch TV, and we sit here and eat.
It all feels very easygoing,
but these men are volatile, serious criminals.
There are no guards about.
Are you left here… Is there not a guard with you all the time?
No.
The guards, they keep to themselves.
The prison policy is to encourage inmates to cook for themselves,
as it develops self-reliance.
One of them, Marshall, has offered to make me a sandwich.
Yeah.
And how long are they keeping you in prison?
[in Greenlandic] I have no release date.
What was the crime that you were convicted of, then,
that you shouldn't have a release date?
I beat up a drug dealer.
I was buying hash, and the dealer was being a prick.
How bad did you beat up the other person?
I punched him in the back of the head, knocked him out and just left.
So have you been to prison before?
[in English] Yeah.
[in Greenlandic] Yes, I have, ahem, beaten up police officers,
guards and other people… Yes.
[in English] Yeah.
Marshall was brought here from a prison in Denmark six weeks ago.
I want to know if being back in his own community
is working out for him.
And they've sent you back here, or you asked to come back here?
[in Greenlandic] I was asked if I wanted to come back.
I am a Greenlander, so, of course, I said yes.
Do you have family here? Brothers and sisters?
I have eight siblings.
My little brother is a police officer. The rest have jobs.
You have a policeman brother?
So you're both on opposite sides of the wall. Right?
[Marshall chuckles softly]
-Has he ever arrested you? -No.
No.
Many times, all the police in Simismiut used to come out to hunt me down.
All dressed in their SWAT gear.
Why are you such a violent person?
Maybe because I was beaten a lot when I was growing up.
Whenever I stole money,
I would get beaten.
Are you scared of the guards?
[in English] No. No.
Are the guards here different from the guards in Denmark?
[laughing]
[in Greenlandic] Of course. [laughs]
[Rowe] What's so funny?
They are very different.
You mean they're naive?
[in English] Yeah.
[chuckles]
[in Greenlandic] I used to control them in Denmark,
but here I don’t want to do that anymore.
The move back to Greenland
seems to be changing Marshall's attitude towards authority.
As for me, I just don't know what to make of the setup here.
[Rowe] I don't know how to take this.
It looks nothing like a cell block. It is, um…
I keep saying "unsettling."
It's too comfortable.
And then I met Marshall.
He and all the other prisoners
have been described as dangerous men.
Greenland is taking back its most dangerous prisoners
from Denmark.
And now I'm in the thick of it.
[electronic music plays]
It's 9:00 p.m., and everyone is locked up for the night.
I can go and have a shower.
I can get a cold drink out of the fridge.
But I still can't walk out of that door after nine o'clock.
I'm in a place that can fuck you up mentally…
because of its restrictions.
My first morning, and I've got a therapy session to attend.
-[Rowe] How are you? -[staffer] Preparing for Christmas.
For Christmas?
-[Kali] Told you. -[Rowe] Okay.
And what are you gonna do with that?
Post it up.
-[Rowe] Put it up on the wall? -Yes.
So who's organized this, then?
-Is this something you've organized? -Yes.
So you're from outside, or are you staff?
I'm staff.
Okay. And you are staff, as well?
[woman] I'm a social worker.
-[Rowe] Should I make daisy chains? -[staffer] You can do that.
[Rowe] Okay, so is this just purely about decoration, or is this therapy?
We get into Christmas spirit.
[Rowe] Okay. Well, this is very humane, isn't it?
Don't know if that's good. It makes you realize what you're missing.
Ah, you're very kind. Thank you, Kali.
It's hot.
[Rowe] Yeah, okay. You're-- Are you a volunteer, then?
[staffer] No. A teacher.
Ah, teacher.
You teach in prison or outside of… prison?
-[staffer] Outside. -Okay.
[Kali] Actually, she was teacher in my school.
She was a teacher… You knew him as a young man?
-Yes. -[Kali] When I was a little shit, yes.
-[both laugh] -[Rowe] Is he still a little shit?
-[staffer] No. He's nice. -[both laughing]
That's crazy, really.
So you've known him since he was a young man.
-You know his history. -[staffer] Yes.
[Rowe] So, what do you think of this new prison?
Mostly like a hotel. [chuckles]
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Well, I think it's good.
This is clearly well intended,
but it isn't proper rehabilitation therapy.
And it's a complicated dynamic
when the prisoners have known the staff since childhood.
Then I see an inmate and guard sharing a cigarette, like old friends.
I don't think we've met. I'm Raphael. How you doing?
-Mikael. -Mikael.
-This is a smoking room. -Yes.
-You don't smoke in your rooms? -No.
He's not allowed to have tobacco in their rooms.
-Unless you sneak a bit. -It's okay for me.
-I never smoke inside. It's not good. -[Rowe] Okay.
-So how long have you been in prison? -Seven months, now.
And have one year and ten months more.
-[Rowe] Okay. -Yeah.
[Rowe] What was that for?
The smuggling of hash from Denmark to Greenland.
-Drug trafficking. -Yeah.
He denied it.
He had two weeks now where he can think about it, if he wants to appeal.
-That's right. -[Rowe] Okay. And are you going to?
I try. I will. I talk to my lawyer from Denmark first.
-But are you a drug trafficker? -No.
[chuckles]
-Sometimes, maybe a bit. -Okay, sometimes.
[both laughing]
-That's good enough. -Yeah.
"I'm not a drug dealer, but sometimes maybe I am."
-Exactly. -Okay. Have you been to prison before?
Yeah, for ten months. From, uh…
Cocaine and amphetamine.
-[Rowe] So, drugs again. -Yeah.
-Trafficking. -Yeah. [chuckles]
-A career drug trafficker. -Yeah.
What's the prison like here compared to Denmark?
This is a new prison.
-This system not so working now. -No.
So it's not so good when it's… Guards is okay,
and outside is very good. This room is good.
-[Rowe] Yeah. -It's better in Denmark.
Guards and inmates hanging out like that
is not something that happens in most prisons.
Back in the kitchen, it's lunchtime,
and I want to find out more about my neighbor, Kali.
[Rowe] How long have you been here?
Well, when I first came here,
I'd already been in prison for seven years.
-[Rowe] Okay. -So…
-[Rowe] In Denmark? -Yeah.
You're one of the prisoners they brought over from Denmark.
[Kali] Yes.
-Did you want to come back? -Yes.
This is my hometown. This is my country.
The air, that's mine.
What was the prison like in Denmark you came from?
Well, the immediate difference is they treat us a lot better
in Denmark than here.
They are actually more talkative down in Denmark. They will treat you.
If you're having a bad day, the guards come in.
They will go, "Are you feeling okay? You want to go out? Let's go out."
"You eat?"
They will take care of you if you have any problem.
They're experienced and trained,
-deal with people like you all the time. -Yes.
If I get mad, they will ask me, "Why? Why are you mad?"
"Please tell me," and then they will help.
The guards, they keep for themselves and for ourselves.
If I asked them, uh, "Come, eat with me…"
they'll be scared. They won't know what to do.
They will just stand there,
"I don't know if I'm allowed." They will walk away.
And if I tell them, uh, "I'm having a bad day. I'm real sad,"
that's dangerous.
They might lock me inside.
In Denmark, they'll treat me nice.
-[Rowe] What's this section? -At most, assault.
Mm, grand theft.
A lot of small things and, uh, murder.
Actually, I'm the only one. So…
-So you're in for murder? -Yeah.
What happened?
I grew up in an orphanage.
I was in a bad way.
And my friends, they kept dying,
one by one.
-[Rowe] Dying? -Yeah, suicide.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
It's a huge problem here in Greenland.
I don't know why. People keep dying here.
I tried to talk about it, but this damn Greenlandic way
is to keep things short.
We don't talk about things.
Every single Greenlandic people was walking around and talking,
"Oh, we have no problem here.
This is number one country, most beautiful in the world."
Yeah, fuck you.
No, it isn't.
People keep dying.
Suicide, child abuse…
Rape is a huge problem.
The killing part was the anger, hate.
The hate.
To my own people, at the time.
So, I was thinking…
"Well, they keep abandoning me, everyone,
so either I kill myself, or I kill another guy."
[Rowe] And the man you killed?
-He was someone you didn't know? -I didn't know him.
I was in a party with my friends,
and we were talking about… We were talking politics.
I belong at the Communist side.
And, uh…
it escalated fast. Then…
right there, I decided, "Well, he's an enemy of my people.
He shall die."
Then I killed him.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I was controlled by pure hate and anger.
I couldn't see. I couldn't think.
Well, the problem I have when I get angry, I get this tunnel vision.
I don't think. I don't feel…
How did you kill him?
Beat him and threw him off the roof.
-Beat him with your bare hands? -Yeah.
That's… From that day, I became insane.
I didn't care about nothing no more.
Well, it's different to talk about it now, you know?
[Rowe] I appreciate you sharing that.
You've been in prison seven years.
You've come to terms with what you've done.
The important thing is, do you regret what you did?
-Of course. Every-- -Are you remorseful?
Every single day.
Every single day, I look at myself in mirror.
There's a little guy in here who is saying, "You're a murderer."
For the rest of my life.
For the time being, prison is without end for Kali,
as he's serving an indefinite sentence.
[bittersweet electronic music]
It feels like he's a long way off coming to terms with his inner demons.
Nuuk may be a maximum security prison
with the most dangerous prisoners in Greenland,
but to help their rehabilitation,
well-behaved inmates are allowed to leave the prison to work in town.
[Rowe] So, I'm meeting a guy called Nikolai,
who I'm told is allowed to leave the prison
every day to go to work outside.
And he's invited me to come along to his workplace.
Um, it's progressive, isn't it? I mean…
-Nikolai. -Yeah.
Hey. Raphael.
-Good morning. Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
So, I'm told that I can follow you on your morning's work.
-It's early in the morning… -Of course.
Um…
-Is this something you do every day? -Every day.
Each morning, Nikolai drives through the gates of this maximum security prison
to go to work in a boat yard.
How long have you been working here?
Since, like, right after I got my sentence.
Um, how did you get the job?
My colleague is one of my friends here.
So, I was like, you know what? I'll just take that.
-[Rowe] You earn money? You get paid? -I get paid.
Actually, I get paid pretty good.
I get paid better than the guards.
-Really? -Yeah.
Do they know that?
I think they do.
[Rowe] Wow, so prison pays.
[Nikolai] Yeah. Apparently it does.
So, here we are.
The prison lets Nikolai repair boats at a commercial paint shop in the docks
to help him get a job when he's released.
It's a huge amount of trust to place in a prisoner.
Around the corner here, we have the boat.
You see…
-[Rowe] This is the one you're working on? -That's it.
The fumes in here are strong, aren't they?
Because I just opened those. I'm used to it. I can't smell it.
I was gonna say, you can't, but I'm getting a buzz going on here,
you know, just… [sniffs] Whoa.
-Yeah, it's a free trip. [laughing] -[laughing] Yeah.
Nikolai is buzzing around. This is what he does.
He comes out of prison, and he works.
Interesting. How many people know, apart from the people that he worked…
Not only does he work here, he goes into town.
He doesn't look like a criminal because criminals don't look like anything.
He's walking down the street just like anybody else.
At the end of the day, he's gotta return to prison.
Few people will know that.
How does someone like you end up in prison?
I got caught trying to smuggle in three kilos of hash.
From Denmark to here.
-What, you're a drug dealer? -Yeah.
What's the street value of that amount of hash?
[chuckles] Over a million.
So, it's the equivalent to about a million pounds worth of…
-Yeah. -…street value.
Street value. Yeah.
Wow, that's a lot of money.
What sort of sentence did you get for that amount of drugs?
Two years and two months.
Is it your first time in prison?
-No. -Oh, right.
In Denmark, I was in prison for stealing cars.
Right.
So, would you describe yourself as a career criminal?
I've been in and out of crime, but I haven't been in and out of jail.
-Because you haven't been caught, right? -Exactly.
But I'm now 35 years old,
and I got two kids that I have to take care of.
Whenever all this is over, I'm… I'm done.
-You're done. -Yeah, I'm done.
Is it the temptation? Was it just--
Fly first class, nice hotels, a lot of vacations.
-That's what the drugs brings. -Yeah.
That's something you'll have to give up now?
Yeah, exactly.
How did you get caught, then?
It was in my suitcase.
-As blatant as that? -Yeah.
But it's the way you pack it and stuff. The dogs won't smell it.
It's just…
-Don't give away too much details. -[laughing] I won't. I know.
What's it like serving your time in the new prison?
Because… Well, you're still locked in at night.
You can't walk out of that prison after six o'clock, did you say?
[Nikolai] They come and lock the front door at night.
-[Rowe] You can move around within. -I can move inside.
So, do you feel like you're being punished?
-It doesn't feel like a prison? -Not at all.
It's like a hotel.
For me, I come out there, I sleep, and I go again in the morning.
For me, it's a hotel.
-[Rowe] Thanks for sharing. -You're welcome.
-[Rowe] I'll catch you later. -Yep.
That's cool. I'll probably be back out there around five-ish.
-Okay. -But I'm going out again at 6:00.
I actually have a date tonight.
-Nice. -Yeah.
-You're a player. -It is what it is with the girls.
It is what it is. All right, I'll see you later then.
Yeah, see you later.
It seems pointless locking Nikolai up at night,
at great cost to the state,
when he can come and go as he pleases.
I've never seen anything like it.
This prison is definitely working out well for him.
He told me as I was leaving, that he's going out on a date tonight.
He's a prisoner serving a prison sentence, but he's going out on a date.
Rehabilitation in prison is key.
But his attitude is, "This is a holiday camp."
I'm back on A Wing with convicted murderer Kali.
No trips into town for him.
Instead, it's another evening in his cell.
[Kali] This is my cell.
[Rowe] Ah.
It's gets messy when I…
It's your space. It can be how it wants.
-This is your TV? -That's my TV.
We have only three channels that works.
-On the TV? -Yes, it's shitty channels.
They show shit.
This is my Blu-ray machine.
-You can watch DVDs? -We have Blu-ray.
-[Rowe] This is your PlayStation? -Yeah.
Because some people would say, "Surely he should be getting punished."
"He shouldn't be allowed those kinds of things."
Well, those people who thinks that way, they don't know shit.
Because, uh…
the punishment,
they already done it by taking my freedom.
Then as Kali shows me his PlayStation, I spot a cell phone.
[Kali] It's not a smartphone. It's a prison's phone.
[Rowe] You get it from the prison?
[Kali] It cannot take picture, or it cannot go to Internet.
It's like an ordinary telephone.
Okay, this is really blowing my mind, because the fact that the prison…
are providing you with a mobile phone
that you can use to call outside
is something I've never heard of before.
Um, I think it's a brilliant idea.
It's restricted because, like you say, you can't take photographs.
You can't use the Internet. So, who can you call on it?
Well, my family.
I… The number I want.
They are listening. They know what you say.
-Ah, they monitor your telephone calls. -Yes.
-Can you receive as well as make calls? -Yeah.
-So your family can call you? -Yep.
-Any time of day? -Any time of day, at midnight.
I'm impressed, I must say.
It's actually a lifesaver,
because the day I was down at midnight,
I had nothing to talk to except this.
So, I called my mom. I called my brother. I called my family.
I can talk to them.
And they can talk to me.
Being able to speak to your own family like this is surely a good thing.
The difference between successful rehabilitation and a future without hope.
It's day four.
Section A prisoners are allowed out for one hour a day for exercise.
So we're going for a workout.
And this close to the Arctic, that means shoveling snow.
As these guys have no idea when they'll be released,
the stunning views of Greenland offer a bit of comfort.
Well, Raph, you have to understand,
we have missed this.
We can see the boats. We can see seals.
Sometimes whales, they come.
-Really? -And we can see… Yes.
[Rowe] That is really good.
And also, sometimes when we look at that,
we think about our ancestors, how they had sailed.
At least I do.
[snowblower rumbling]
-It's nice to get outside. -Yeah.
Yeah, even if it's cold.
And you play with the machine.
[Rowe] That's the lazy man's job.
-Ah, that's the awesome man's job. -[Rowe] Okay.
[engine rumbling]
[inaudible under engine]
[Kali] Oh!
I thought this was the easy one. This is hard!
[Marshall] Pull a little bit down.
[Kali] Beginning to work.
This is not easy.
He's doing it all right.
I will also remove all of this.
For Greenlanders like Kali, who were locked up in Denmark,
this is an integral part of who they are.
[Kali] I miss this. This is my home.
-It's what you remember? -Yes. Good snow.
-Was it like this when you were a child? -Yes. I always love snow.
It sounds like you had an idyllic childhood.
-No, it wasn't. -So, there were some nice experiences?
Yes, of course, there was.
But we were fucked by the system.
And my family had a crisis
when my older brother, he died in an accident.
What happened to him?
He drowned.
-Really? -Yes.
So…
It all went down.
My parents, they couldn't take care of us anymore.
They take us to orphanage.
How old was you when you went into the orphanage?
Around seven.
And is that when you started to go off the rails a bit?
Well, of course, I mean, I missed my home. I missed my parents.
They were supposed to pick us up.
But later on…
the staff in the orphanage, they come and say,
"No, they don't want you. They don't love you."
-[Rowe] Really? -Yes.
They were lies. Of course, my mom…
My parents, they come to the orphanage to try to pick us up,
but they were just shoved away.
Who shoved them away?
[Kali] The staff.
And where were the staff from?
-Were they Greenlandics, or--? -The state.
Oh, it was the state. You were a…
Okay.
At the time that Kali was taken into care,
native Greenlanders like his parents
were often discriminated against and deemed unfit parents
by the Danish authorities.
Attitudes like this profoundly damaged Kali
and many other indigenous Greenlanders.
[Kali] I despised my family at that time.
Because I was told all the lies and I was a child, I believed it.
And it affected us the rest of our lives,
you know?
Being told that your parents don't love you.
-I can't imagine what that's like. -[Kali] Mm.
You have a relationship with your family,
-your parents, now? -Yes. All of them.
I love them.
-Do your parents come to visit you? -Yes.
You seem to be at peace with yourself.
You know, you're a violent man. You committed a horrific murder…
Well…
I can never forgive myself for what I have done.
And, uh…
I really don't know right now what to do with that guilt.
But I've seen many other inmates who had committed such crimes. They go insane.
And, uh, I don't want to go insane.
That's how I accept it.
So, would you say prison has rehabilitated you?
I have rehabilitated myself.
Despite what Kali says, I worry that being moved back to the society
he feels damaged him so badly
might make it harder for him to be rehabilitated.
[distant electronic music plays]
So far, I've been struck by how few guards there are in this prison.
But today, I'm spending time with them,
starting with Karsten, the head of security.
[Karsten] Hello.
Hi.
-[Rowe] This is the control room, is it? -Yes.
I can see that you have lots of screens.
[Karsten] Yes.
All around the prison, we have cameras.
The gate we can open from here.
And we can switch on light around the prison.
Outside, we can see every corner.
I think it's the most high-tech prison in the northern Europe.
While this CCTV system is impressive
and means they need fewer guards,
it can never do away with the valuable support
staff can bring to prisoners.
Lene is a traditional Danish guard,
used to the Danish way of doing things.
She's finding the new Greenlandic prison's approach uncomfortable.
How does this prison and the way they do things here
compare to how you do things in Denmark?
They have no system up here.
When we arrived two months ago, there was nothing at all.
-No structure? -No structure.
-No discipline? -No.
And then they have to do stupid things.
Like smoke hashish and these kinds of things.
What I find really interesting
is the lack of guards.
-It just has a feeling of emptiness. -Yeah.
I'm used to prisons that have regimes:
-up at 7:00, behind your door at-- -Yeah. Yes.
I like that.
-They don't have It here? -They don't have it. It's not good.
I suspect that being such a small population--
Yeah. It doesn't work.
Because my colleagues can be the neighbor
to one of those who are sitting here.
It can be their father, their mother.
Do you think that…
makes the guards fearful of the prisoners?
Mm, I think that.
I think they are afraid of the prisoners…
because after they're done here,
you have to live near them.
A prison can't work like that, can it?
No.
Do you think it's a mistake?
The whole building of this prison and the whole idea,
-you think it's a mistake? -Uh, no.
I think the idea about this prison is okay.
But, I think…
if you took some guards from Denmark up here,
more than four…
We are only four now.
-[Rowe] Really? -Yeah.
Then it could help a lot.
I can't believe what she just told me.
The staff are scared of prisoners.
There's no regime. There's no discipline.
I don't think it's because the prisoners are rough and tough and dangerous,
that they may harm a guard.
It's more about it's such a small community that they know each other.
So, they know how to manipulate.
They know how to be menacing without actually threatening,
because their brother could live next door to the guard that's locking them up.
And they only have to give them this slight look
or give them a coded message,
"If you don't give me what I want, let me do what I want…"
She said they smoke hashish, and no one can do anything about it.
They do that without any control.
Though it's early days,
making sure the guards have respect and authority is vital.
That's tough in a place where everyone knows each other.
The stark, icy landscape beyond the prison walls
is a constant reminder of the hunting culture
that's at the heart of a Greenlander's identity.
This prison is trying a radical approach
to keep its prisoners in contact with their heritage.
It allows even the most serious offenders
out on hunting trips.
I'm heading out with Aku, a prisoner,
two guards, and a hunting rifle to look for seals.
About to get the rifle out of the back of the car, which…
the prisoner's gonna be allowed to use, I'm gonna be allowed to use.
I hope.
Good morning. Raphael. Nice to meet you.
Jonas. Nice to meet you.
We're heading into the fjord, to an area known for seals.
Seal meat is a favorite food in Greenland.
If we shoot one, it'll be butchered on the spot
and the meat taken back to the prison for dinner.
Did you used to hunt before you was in prison?
-Yes. -You did?
-Yeah. -Seal hunting?
Yeah.
We've arrived at the prime spot for seals.
The rifle is loaded and ready.
It has a range of 2,000 yards.
Now, we just have to wait.
[Rowe] How long have you been in the prison for?
[Aku] One year, eight months.
-And how long is your sentence? -Eight years.
What was you sent to prison for?
[in Greenlandic] I killed a man.
-You killed a man? -[in English] Yeah.
[in Greenlandic] After excessive drinking.
[Rowe] Mm.
And already you're being allowed out of the prison. That's quite liberal,
and people would say that's outrageous.
What do you think?
[in Greenlandic] It's good to get out.
Was he a man you knew? Was he a friend of yours?
[Aku in English] Oh, a stranger. I don't know him.
[Rowe] How did it happen?
[Aku] I beat him and…
throw him in the water.
[Rowe] What did he do to make you so angry?
Oh, I don't know. I don't remember.
A witness said what I did.
[Rowe] How do you feel about the fact that you killed another man?
[in Greenlandic] I cry…
and spend a lot of time being depressed.
[in English] Yeah.
How do you see yourself now, as a man?
Because people in the community here will see you as a murderer.
[in Greenlandic] Maybe if I get over the fact I killed someone
and if I show good behavior,
it'll be okay.
[in English] I think so. Yeah.
[in Greenlandic] It's amazing that
I'm allowed to go sailing
and hunting again.
This unique privilege is only possible
now the prisoners are back in their own country.
We do rehabilitation
to get the inmate ready to be among the people again.
It's, uh… It's just that we're not gonna harness people.
It wasn't a very successful seal or fish hunt.
But that's not the point. The point is they take prisoners,
in this case a convicted murderer
who's only served a year of an eight-year sentence,
out of the prison, onto a boat, to hunt.
Violent prisoners are treated differently in Greenland
than they are, I suspect, anywhere else in the world.
When I get back to the prison, fellow inmate Marshall
has some special visitors:
his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew.
When he and other Greenlandic prisoners
were 2,000 miles away in Denmark,
family visits were a rarity.
[babbles]
Marshall is having a visit from his brother,
who, incidentally, is a police officer.
Two ends of the extreme:
career criminal, crime fighter.
-Enjoy your visit. You cooked. -[Marshall] I did.
[Rowe] Nice one.
Being close to his family seems to be helping this man
with a violent past.
[Rowe] It's about rehabilitation, isn't it?
A reminder of the things that you miss, the little things.
They brought Marshall from Denmark, closer to his family,
in the hope that moments like this will change his life.
It's the end of my time at this bold, new, experimental prison.
I want to ask its governor, Tina, about its prospects for the future.
[Rowe] So, what is the philosophy of this prison in Greenland?
It's two-sided. We have an obligation to protect society.
Uh, but our main focus is rehabilitation.
If we want to make people better, we…
We can't use bars and punishment
and talk down to them.
We have to treat them as human beings
so they can learn to interact with other human beings in a positive way.
What about the victims?
I think many victims know that they have been locked up.
And they know they have to work to be a better person.
It is difficult here, because you can't avoid
meeting your offender
if they're released
and they live in the same town.
You can't avoid meeting them.
-[Rowe] Mm. -And we're kind of used to that.
We have all these social problems
that, for some, have gone through two or three generations.
What does the future hold?
Um, hopefully, it holds a better rehabilitation,
uh, that will bring down crime.
Because I don't think it will get any better
if we just lock people up and throw away the key.
The governor clearly has a vision
of how to get the best out of some deeply troubled prisoners,
which, if it all works, would do much
to help rehabilitate Greenland's most dangerous criminals.
The authorities think that rehabilitation is the best way
of dealing with their prisoners.
And the key to achieving that is bringing Greenlandic prisoners
back to their own community
and not 2,000 miles away in Denmark.
But the prisoners and the guards are finding it hard to deal with,
the new prison and the new regime.
But the authorities believe it will work, and so do I.
[evocative music plays]