Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

July 8, 2020

UK: lockdown report reveals HMP Maidstone inmates confined to cell for 23 hours a day with higher number of self-harm incidents

News

Coronavirus Europe Mental health United Kingdom

An inspection of a Kent prison during lockdown has revealed inmates have been confined to their cells for 23 hours a day and had no face-to-face contact with the outside world for at least 12 weeks. The report has also highlighted a “self-inflicted death” at HMP Maidstone since the restrictions cam…

July 8, 2020

USA: many deaths at New York state prisons are preventable, review finds

News

North America Health United States

A state prisoner who’d been losing a dramatic amount of weight began to vomit uncontrollably, and was repeatedly given Ibuprofen that made her internal bleeding worse before she died. Another person behind bars waited nearly an hour for a nurse to call an ambulance after he collapsed and had a seiz…

July 8, 2020

Canada: class action alleges prison staff conducting illegal strip searches

News

North America Canada

Plaintiffs say they were both traumatized after undergoing invasive searches

July 8, 2020

Morocco: le champion mondial de la détention préventive

News

Africa Pre-trial detention Morocco

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

July 8, 2020

USA: No one should have to die in prison

News

North America Long-term prisoners Health Material conditions Overcrowding United States

The words “help we matter 2” are seen written in a window at the Cook County Department of Corrections, housing one of the nation’s largest jails, in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 2020.

July 6, 2020

Dura crítica del Defensor del Pueblo a la crueldad en las cárceles españolas

News

Europe Minors Mental health Spain

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

July 6, 2020

Colombia: 285 casos de discriminación a población LGBTI en prisión en 2019

News

South America LGBTQI Violence Colombia

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

July 2, 2020

Colombia: se disparan casos de coronavirus en cárceles de Cali, Cartagena y El Espinal

News

Coronavirus South America Health Colombia

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

July 2, 2020

Chile: la realidad de las cárceles en pandemia y la falta de información pública

News

Coronavirus South America Health Chile

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

July 2, 2020

South Africa: Pietermaritzburg prisoners fear Covid-19

News

Africa Coronavirus Long-term prisoners Health Material conditions Overcrowding South Africa

Inmates serving lengthy sentences for serious and violent crimes say basic regulations to combat the spread of the coronavirus are being flouted, putting their lives at risk.

July 2, 2020

Egypt: ‘It would spread quickly in those cells’

News

Africa Coronavirus Health Egypt

Families of prisoners at notorious Tora complex concerned publicised efforts to contain virus are purely cosmetic

July 2, 2020

China: Wang Quanzhang: in prison, I was tortured to extract a confession

News

Asia Torture China

The human rights lawyer gives first interview since finishing his sentence in April. He spent four years in jail for “subversion against the state”. After being beaten for hours, the prison authorities forced him to sign an affidavit declaring his guilt. Wang: “Police, investigating magistrates and…

July 2, 2020

USA: the coronavirus crisis inside prisons won’t stay behind bars

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

Federal officials recognized the danger of the spread of coronavirus in prisons early, but have dragged their feet releasing at-risk inmates.

July 2, 2020

USA: massive COVID-19 outbreak at a southern NM prison hits just one type of inmates — sex offenders. That’s by design.

News

Coronavirus North America Health United States

As the coronavirus established a foothold in southern New Mexico’s Otero County Prison Facility in mid-May, state officials quietly moved 39 inmates out of the massive complex near the Texas border to another prison near Santa Fe. The inmates shared something in common: None was a sex offender. In…

July 1, 2020

Canada: Inuit overrepresented in federal prisons’ COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus North America Health Canada

“They were afraid, they were stressed, they were kept in isolation”

July 1, 2020

USA: Coronavirus cases skyrocket at Bay Area prison after inmate transfers

News

Coronavirus Health United States

Some men hadn’t been tested for weeks prior to being moved to San Quentin, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

July 1, 2020

France: Inequality of life during an epidemic

Analysis Opinion

Coronavirus Women Europe Minors Foreign prisoners Health Overcrowding France

Those imprisoned or detained are in forced confinement, states Didier Fassin. He has published a forum on the Liberation website. He questions whether the “sense of responsibility and solidarity” advocated by Emmanuel Macron stops at the doors of prisons and overcrowded detention centres.

July 1, 2020

France: “They make me panic”

Testimonial

Coronavirus Europe Health France

Samy has chronic bronchitis. Due to a lack of care units, he has recently been transferred from a semi-custodial facility to the “new arrivals” unit of Mans detention centre. He recounts his detention conditions.

July 1, 2020

USA: Covid-19 cases at San Quentin prison surge to 1,000

News

Coronavirus North America Health Material conditions United States

The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has crossed a thousand, with more than 900 cases being diagnosed in the last two weeks alone.

July 1, 2020

À Hong Kong, la nouvelle loi sécuritaire prévoit la prison à vie

News

Asia Justice China

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

July 1, 2020

Cameroon : à Douala, déboires et espoirs des mineurs de la prison

News

Africa Coronavirus Minors Health Cameroon

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