May 2024
North America
Justice
Facilities
Overcrowding
United States
All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
North America
Material conditions
Social ties
United States
Connecticut families brought an end to expensive prison communication, providing a lifeline for the voices behind bars. But consistent contact still isn’t guaranteed.
Crises
Middle East
Facilities
Iran
The Iranian Bureau of Prisons is set to construct 70 new prisons and penitentiaries across the country, according to a new report by data analysis group Iran Open Data. More than 1.128 trillion Tomans (approximately $19.1 million) have been allocated for these projects.
Asia
Justice
Material conditions
Protest
Violence
Myanmar (Burma)
The 13 prisoners have been held in solitary confinement since they were targeted in a crackdown on unrest more than a month ago.
In prison, under bombardment
Portfolio
Crises
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Torture
Activities
Work
Ukraine
Photographer Cory Wright travelled to Ukraine in September 2023. While there, he captured glimpses of life during wartime in the penitentiary centres of Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv and Iziaslav.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
South Africa
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said it is prepared and ready for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections to be conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Wednesday as a total of 14 753 inmates have registered to vote.
The Flowers of the Penal Colony
Interview
Europe
Minors
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Prison left an indelible mark on the work of Jean Genet, who experienced prison first hand . His life journey and artistic output, deeply intertwined, serve as a source of inspiration for Patti Smith. An interview with Glória Alhinho and Samuel Tracol.
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Justice
Suicide
Torture
United Kingdom
Nearly 3,000 prisoners in England and Wales remain in jail under Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences today, and many others who have been released face the ongoing prospect of immediate recall to prison. They are experiencing a punishment that is inhumane and often amounts to psychol…
Europe
Mental health
Activities
United Kingdom
Inmates at HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale, Lancs, were given safety goggles and allowed to demolish the wooden structures with various implements.
The ‘pallet-smashing workshop’ was praised by Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, for allowing prisoners to release their pent-up anger – and…
Asia
Foreign prisoners
Material conditions
Japan
“We don’t really give them special treatment just because they are foreign nationals,” said Atsushi Takada, an official at the prison. “But since the environment and culture in which they were brought up is too different from that of Japan’s, we need to treat them differently.”
North America
Women
Mental health
Activities
Rehabilitation
United States
Members of the public can send their dog at the Washington Corrections Center for Women for boarding, grooming and training through a program founded with the belief that human-animal bonds could be beneficial to people in prison.
United States: youth detention facilities face increased scrutiny amid a wave of abuse lawsuits
News
North America
Minors
Justice
Violence
United States
As a teenager almost 20 years ago, Jeffery Christian was sent to a juvenile detention center in southern Illinois. He says he expected to use his time there to grow and change, with the support of the staff around him.
“Instead I was sexually abused and neglected,” Christian said at a recent press…
Iran: spreading fear
Interview
Middle East
Justice
Death penalty
Violence
Iran
More than 800 people sentenced to death in Iran were executed in 2023. The authorities have resumed carrying out death sentences in public, using it to instil fear in the population. Interview with Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Iran
Taleghani Hospital in Tehran declared it can no longer accept dialysis patients from Evin Prison, citing contamination of its facilities with bedbugs.
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Israel
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers… At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.
Africa
Justice
Drugs
Death penalty
Nigeria
Nigeria’s Senate proposed significantly toughening penalties for drug trafficking, making the death penalty the new maximum sentence through a law amendment.The amendment, which is not yet law, replaces life imprisonment, which was previously the harshest punishment.
Central America and the Caribbean
Access to legal rights
Mexico
Prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing began voting Monday in Mexico’s presidential election from inside jails - a first for the Latin American nation.
Surviving
Analysis
Inside Outside
Africa
North America
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Material conditions
Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside to articulate, in a few words, the current challenges of prison life. Sixth piece: food