This month
The root cause of prison escapes
Interview
Crises
Central America and the Caribbean
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Haiti
Thousands of incarcerated people have escaped from Haitian prisons over recent months, but what sparked this trend? Roberson Édouard from the Centre for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice gives us the answer.
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Italy
There have been 24 suicides in Italy’s prisons so far this year after three imprisoned people took their own lives in jails in Avellino, Genoa and Trieste, penitentiary police union SPP said. The union said that, at this rate, last year’s record of 91 prison suicides will be broken in 2025.
Europe
Access to legal rights
Drugs
United Kingdom
A former imprisoned person who died of drug poisining a day after being released should have been given a drug overdose kit, an investigation has found.
Central America and the Caribbean
Foreign prisoners
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Social ties
El Salvador
Hundreds of Venezuelans who were deported to El Salvador from the United States in recent days could face long or indefinite detention in a prison system rife with human rights abuses, according to attorneys and experts on the region.
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Access to legal rights
Justice
Death penalty
United Arab Emirates
Twenty-five Indian nationals have been awarded the death sentence in the United Arab Emirates, the Union government told Parliament. However, the judgements were yet to be implemented. In all, 49 Indians have been sentenced to death in eight different countries, the government said.
Europe
Suicide
Overcrowding
Violence
Activities
United Kingdom
Overcrowding is a trigger for poor performances in prisons, says a research document produced by the Institute for Government. It calls for increased education and training for imprisoned people, and the introduction of a minimum standard of provision.
Asia
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Protest
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Indonesia
President Prabowo Subianto’s pledge to construct a remote island prison for corrupt officials has been met with scepticism from experts, who argued that deeper structural reforms of the prison system were needed to address chronic overcrowding and underfunding.
Crises
South America
Foreign prisoners
Torture
Violence
Venezuela
Foro Penal, a Caracas-based legal assistance group suggests that nearly 1,000 people remain behind bars for political reasons in the South American country. That number includes foreign or dual nationals from about 13 different countries.
Women
Europe
Justice
Mental health
Suicide
United Kingdom
A new HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Styal found that 39 women had been sent to the prison due to their “acute vulnerabilities and the absence of specialised support in the community.”
North America
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Social ties
Work
United States
Censorship, threats, and stints in solitary are among the acts of retaliation prison reporters face. Busby was sentenced to seventy-five years in 1999. Since then, he’s worked as a writer and journalist, including a stint as a staff reporter for the Texas prison newspaper The Echo.
A chain of imprisonment
Testimonial
Middle East
Long-term prisoners
Material conditions
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
Work
Iran
Soheil Arabi is an Iranian blogger and photojournalist. He has been imprisoned for several years for his activism. Some time ago, Soheil contacted us to tell his story. We share it with you here.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Work
Syria
Syrian journalist Hanin Gebran details the horrific conditions she endured in Assad’s prisons, shedding light on the gendered violence and torture faced by women journalists under the regime.
Asia
Access to legal rights
Drugs
Material conditions
Death penalty
Torture
Activities
Social ties
Indonesia
Banished from the mainland, imprisoned people in Indonesia’s notorious Nusakambangan Island await news of their fate. The prison complex is home to a number of prisons of varying levels of security. The least volatile can expect to spend their days working in the fields and carving gems.
Africa
Material conditions
South Africa
The Department of Correctional Services has roped in nutrition experts to ensure that imprisoned people are fed a well-balanced meal.“These changes were carefully designed to align with dietary guidelines and ensure that the diverse dietary needs of the detained population are adequately met.”.
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Ireland
The deprivation of a person’s liberty alone is a core punitive sanction that has a long-lasting and often traumatic impact on an individual – the conditions and treatment experienced by individuals in prison should not be used as an additional punishment.
United Kingdom: report critical of prison's 'limited' support for neurodiverse incarcerated people
News
Europe
Mental health
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
An inspection of Jersey’s only prison has led to concerns being raised about a lack of support for neurodiverse incarcerated people. The report found that while 23 people had been identified as neurodivergent, few had care plans in place, and staff awareness of how to support them was “weak”.
Women
Europe
Health
United Kingdom
The Ministry of Justice is investigating claims by two incarcerated female that they were handcuffed to male officers during labour, antenatal appointments, and intimate vaginal examinations. The alleged incidents occurred between 2021 and 2023 at HMP Bronzefield in west London.