July 2023
Central America and the Caribbean
Overcrowding
Torture
El Salvador
New rules passed by El Salvador’s congress Wednesday will allow courts to try accused gang members in mass trials, in an effort to expedite tens of thousands of cases for those detained under the country’s crackdown on street gangs.
Norway: bridging the gap
Interview
Europe
Facilities
Social ties
Rehabilitation
Norway
WayBack is a non-profit organisation, whose objective is to help prisoners reintegrate into society. Prison Insider met with Johan Lothe, the director of WayBack Oslo, to discuss his unique perspective on supporting prisoners in their transition to freedom. Interview.
North America
Justice
Facilities
United States
The state cut incarceration in half, while crime plummeted.
Central African Republic: witchcraft
Interview
Africa
Women
Justice
Torture
Central African Republic
Representations of witchcraft are very prevalent in Central African society. The penal code nevertheless criminalises certain practices of witchcraft and charlatanism. The same people are targeted over and over again: women, especially those who are older and isolated. Interview.
Asia
Access to legal rights
Justice
India
In 1972, the Wildlife Protection Act was established to protect wildlife in India. It has led, however, to the criminalisation of an already marginalised part of the population: the forest-dwelling communities. The CPA project told us what this means in practice.
South America
Violence
Ecuador
Kenya: left behind
Interview
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
Mental health
Kenya
Misunderstood and excluded by their peers, people with mental health conditions are more likely to end up in prison. Once incarcerated, their ostracization is striking. The NGO Tunawiri addresses this issue by providing training to incarcerated people and prison staff. Interview.
Europe
Mental health
Torture
United Kingdom
Inspectorate calls for urgent improvements, particularly in treatment of prisoners with mental health problems.
Asia
Justice
Torture
Myanmar (Burma)
Africa
Material conditions
Torture
South Africa
The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) are at loggerheads over findings of an investigation into allegations of abuse of inmates of Indian descent jailed in Phoenix during the July 2021 unrest.
North America
Activities
Rehabilitation
Work
United States
Art helped soften Dwayne Burns’ rage while he was inside, as it did for many others. Now outside, he runs a program that helps inmates earn income from their talent.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Bosnia & Herzegovina
The construction of the prison complex on Igman is a project that has been announced for decades.
Africa
Overcrowding
Torture
Congo - Brazzaville
Overcrowded prisons, over-use of remand, cases of torture and mistreatment, horrific detention conditions: in the Congo, prisoners’ rights are barely respected. Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT), an NGO in the Congo protecting human rights, is pushing for change. Interview…
Middle East
Mental health
Suicide
Turkey
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a Green Left deputy from Kocaeli, stated today that at least 26 prisoners died in prisons in the first six months of 2023. Gergerlioglu stressed that 15 of the 26 prisoners died in suspicious circumstances. Another 11 people were not released from prison despite being termi…
Central America and the Caribbean
Torture
Honduras
Authorities in Honduras forced inmates to sit half-naked in tight rows while they searched for contraband in a sweep of prisons Monday, similar to the harsh tactics of neighbouring El Salvador.
The military police — who have taken charge of the nation’s prisons — fanned out across several prisons,…
Africa
Justice
Health
Material conditions
Ethiopia
Nigerian inmates in Kaliti prison, a maximum-security prison in Addis Abba, Ethiopia, have again called on the government to facilitate their transfer to prisons in Nigeria.
The inmates are pleading to be allowed to serve the rest of their jail terms in Nigeria. The detainees said they suffer grave…
