Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

May 6, 2020

USA: while jails drastically cut populations, state prisons have released almost no one

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

Our analysis finds that jails are responding to the unprecedented public health crisis by rapidly dropping their populations. In contrast, state prisons have barely budged.

May 6, 2020

New Zealand: Auckland prisoners confined to cells for up to 29 hours at a time

News

Coronavirus Oceania Health New Zealand

Women at an Auckland prison have been routinely confined to their cells for periods of up to 29 hours at a stretch - well outside the law, which says they should get at least one hour out of their cells a day. RNZ took evidence of the lockdown hours including a recently released prisoner’s diary, t…

May 6, 2020

Sierra Leone: riot breaks out in coronavirus-struck prison

News

Africa Coronavirus Health Protest Sierra Leone

Reports of casualties after riot at Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, where a COVID-19 case was earlier confirmed.

May 6, 2020

France: par delà les murs de la prison, la parole déconfinée

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Social ties France

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

May 6, 2020

Brazil: Covid-19 massacre imminent

News

Coronavirus South America Health Material conditions Brazil

Open and poorly treated wounds, food waste on the cell floor, rat faeces, little ventilation, water rationing, insects everywhere. While some inmates do not even get up from their beds, such is their weak state of health, others are stuck in wheelchairs. To wash one’s body or one’s hands or clean a…

May 5, 2020

Türkiye: a life in isolation

Interview

Europe LGBTQI Access to legal rights Material conditions Facilities Turkey

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) prisoners represent a minority. Their protection is not ensured at all levels and their specific needs are neglected. Hilal Basak Demirbas works at the Society in the Penal System association. She regularly exchanges letters with LGBTI prison…

May 5, 2020

Estonia: Coronavirus crisis exit strategy launched in prisons

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Estonia

TALLINN – Estonian prisons on Wednesday launched the strategy for exiting the emergency situation resulting from the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Justice said. The five-day shifts of prison officials were concluded as of Wednesday and the scheduled treatment of prisoners will continue bot…

May 5, 2020

Hungary: Tight measures in a closed system

Report

Coronavirus Europe Health Material conditions Social ties Hungary

The Hungarian penitentiary institutions have become even more closed and less transparent since the COVID-19 outbreak. On 5 April 2020, a Government Decree introduced tighter measures for prisons. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee updates us on the situation.

May 4, 2020

France: Nicole Belloubet, "le taux d’occupation moyen des prisons est inférieur à 100 %"

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Overcrowding France

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

May 4, 2020

Peru: mutinerie dans une prison, trois morts

News

Coronavirus South America Health Protest Peru

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

May 4, 2020

France: "le confinement en détention, c’est la prison dans la prison"

News

Coronavirus Europe Health France

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

May 4, 2020

France: Maïtena Biraben, "ce qui nous horrifie dans les Ehpad devrait nous horrifier dans les prisons"

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Social ties France

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

May 4, 2020

France: vers un monde (presque) sans prison ?

News

Coronavirus Europe Health France

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

May 4, 2020

Peru: prison riot over coronavirus fears leaves nine dead

News

Coronavirus South America Protest Peru

Nine inmates died during a riot at a Lima jail amid fears that Peru’s prisons are becoming a breeding ground for coronavirus after two inmates died of COVID-19 and more than 600 inmates were tested positive. The disturbance broke out at the Miguel Castro Castro jail in the east of the Peruvian capi…

May 4, 2020

USA: the violent history of Angola prison

News

North America Violence United States

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is named after the slave plantation that existed on that land where the prison now stands. Columbia University explains that the plantation took its name from the nation its slaves were taken from: Angola. In 1880, former Confederate Major Samuel James purchased the…

May 4, 2020

UK: prison officers punching compliant inmates, report says

News

Europe Violence United Kingdom

Human rights delegation finds ‘reprehensible practice’ in three male prisons

May 4, 2020

Syria: prisoner from eastern Ghouta dies under torture in Sednaya prison

News

Middle East Torture Syria

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of a civilian from Saqba city in eastern Ghouta, seven years after being arrested at a security checkpoint in Damascus. The victim died under torture in Sednaya prison (known as the Slaughterhouse). With the death of more civilians, the number…

May 4, 2020

UK: observing Ramadan in a UK prison

News

Europe Religion United Kingdom

Ex-prisoners remember difficulties when fasting as study highlights dangers of system that views Muslims with suspicion.

May 4, 2020

El Salvador : imposes maximum security prison lockdowns after homicide spree organised from behind bars

News

Coronavirus Central America and the Caribbean Health El Salvador

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele ordered a 24-hour lockdown of prisons containing gang members, and said their leaders would be sent into solitary confinement after a sudden spike in homicides. The remarkable announcement was made last Friday, after a series of grisly incidents were reported to h…