Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

February 28, 2019

Canadian prison ombudsman says end-of-life needs of older prisoners not being met

News

Canada

Older, long-serving inmates are being “warehoused” in Canadian prisons not equipped to handle end-of-life care, Canada’s prison watchdog says.

February 28, 2019

Hunger strike: a last resort for Kurdish prisoners

Investigations

/ edited on 6 March 2019.* More than 300 political prisoners are currently on hunger strike in Turkey, some for more than a hundred days now. They are denouncing the prison conditions of the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Öcalan, in addition to the extensive political repression in Turkey. According to…

February 27, 2019

USA: California prison staff accused of setting up 'gladiator fights' by sending rivals to yard together

News

United States

Prison guards in California have been accused of orchestrating ‘gladiator fights’ between inmates by knowingly releasing rival prisoners into the yard at the same time.

February 27, 2019

La peine de mort continue à reculer dans le monde

News

Death penalty Violence

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 27, 2019

USA: Terminal Island prison inmates went without heat during the coldest February in decades

News

United States

Hundreds of inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison on the harbor front spent one of the coldest periods in decades in frigid cells with no heat and only blankets for warmth before they were transferred temporarily to another facility.

February 26, 2019

Japon : ces seniors qui préfèrent la prison

News

Asia Japan

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French, Spanish

February 26, 2019

France : surpopulation, violence, contrebande et troubles psychiatriques dans les prisons de La Réunion

News

Europe Mental health Overcrowding Violence France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 26, 2019

Équateur : 26 bandas criminales operan en las cárceles

News

Central America and the Caribbean Ecuador

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 26, 2019

Argentina: las cárceles y el ideal de reinserción

News

South America Argentina

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 26, 2019

Bolivia: un informe advierte de que las cárceles acogen 225 % más de reos

News

South America Bolivia

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 26, 2019

Spain: la lucha antiterrorista se reforzará con el control a retornados y en las cárceles

News

Europe Justice Religion Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 25, 2019

Singapore: how Changi Prison is taking to video analytics and facial recognition in a big way

News

Asia Singapore

Prison surveillance is going high-tech with smart systems that could help officers be more aware of inmates’ behaviours as part of moves to transform operations.

February 24, 2019

France : nouvelle hausse du nombre des détenus au 1er février

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 23, 2019

Belgium: 447 décès en prison en 8 ans: des prisonniers à la santé précaire

News

Europe Health Violence Belgium

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 21, 2019

France : Liberté conditionnelle pour bâtir au plus vite des places de prison

News

Europe Justice France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 20, 2019

France : "c'est une prison sans barreaux"

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 19, 2019

USA: One of America's harshest isolation units was exposed by a desperate, handwritten account from the inside

News

Discipline United States

A Georgia solitary confinement unit was filled with the “cacophony of prisoner screams and cries for help,” a prisons expert said after visiting.

February 19, 2019

USA: Gangs, lack of guards spark teen riot at understaffed Texas juvenile prison

News

United States

Spurred by boredom, gang conflicts and anger over a lack of guards, teens at a North Texas juvenile prison rioted for six days, assaulting officers and each other during a mass disturbance that boiled over during a football game.

February 19, 2019

Turkey: les peines de prison de journalistes du quotidien d’opposition Cumhuriyet confirmées en appel

News

Europe Turkey

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 19, 2019

France : les “mardis noirs” des gardiens de prison

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 19, 2019

France : le défi du suivi des "radicalisés" et des "revenants" hors des prisons

News

Europe Facilities Religion France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 19, 2019

France: from the pen to the polls

Interview

Europe Access to legal rights Discipline France

As of 1994, convicted people are no longer stripped of their civil rights. In principle, the majority of prisoners retain their right to vote. However, only 2% of them were able to vote during the last presidential elections. Incarceration prevents many prisoners from exercising this right. The Ro…

February 18, 2019

‘Mexico’s Alcatraz’ prison to be turned into a cultural centre

News

Central America and the Caribbean Mexico

Hundreds of inmates will be transferred to make way for Walls of Water arts venue. Mexico is to close one of the world’s last remaining prison islands and turn it into a cultural centre named for a communist writer once held there.

February 18, 2019

UK: ‘Prison isn’t working’

News

Europe United Kingdom

Justice secretary says ‘robust community order regime’ would be better alternative.