The unkindest cut: a Czech solution for sex offenders
A doctor makes an incision in a man's scrotal sac and, deftly wielding his scalpel, quickly removes both testicles. In the Czech Republic, that simple operation is the punishment for male sex offenders. But to the Council of Europe, the region's leading human-rights body, the procedure is "invasive, irreversible and mutilating." In a report issued last week, the council called the punishment "degrading" and demanded it be scrapped immediately. Over the past decade, at least 94 prisoners have undergone the treatment in the Czech Republic, the only country in Europe that continues to surgically castrate sex offenders. [...]
Despite many studies of the effectiveness of castration - both surgical and chemical - the results are inconclusive. Some surveys suggest castration can dramatically reduce recidivism. One 1989 survey in Germany of 104 voluntary castrates showed a 75% drop in sexual interest, libido, erection and ejaculation. But measuring such changes is notoriously difficult and often depends on the subjective self-reports of sex offenders. A 1989 Psychological Bulletin study concluded that "the recidivism rate for treated offenders is not lower than that for untreated offenders; if anything, it tends to be higher." [...]
In its report, the Council of Europe also criticized the fact that the Czechs often use the punishment on first-time, nonviolent offenders, like exhibitionists. Another issue: the Czech penal system effectively forces many prisoners into accepting the procedure out of fear they will be jailed for life if they do not, according to the council. [...]
Civil rights groups say any kind of castration, even if reversible, could take society down the road to eugenics. A 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that involuntary surgical castration constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
source: Article 'The Unkindest Cut: A Czech Solution for Sex Offenders' by Leo Cendrowicz; www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1878462,00.html; TIME; 11 February 2009