Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

February 5, 2020

India: prison system needs urgent reform

News

Women Asia Foreign prisoners Health Overcrowding India

The 2018 statistics on prison must spur the criminal justice system to assess, evaluate and take affirmative steps.

February 5, 2020

India: prison rule stands in way of quick hanging

News

Asia Justice Death penalty India

NEW DELHI: A proviso in the revised 2018 Delhi Prison Manual now stands between the timely execution of the four Nirbhaya convicts on February 1 and the possibility of a further delay.

January 3, 2020

India: Kerala capital gets first beauty parlour run by inmates of Poojapura Central Prison

News

Asia Work India

The initiative is part of the various rehabilitation programmes taken up by the Prison Department for the prisoners.

January 2, 2020

India: Shivamogga central prison to soon get digital library

News

Culture Asia India

The Central Prison in Shivamogga will soon have a digital library on its campus. The jail is already home to a library which has a collection of over 10,000 books.

October 22, 2019

India: death in prison increased by 5.49 % in 2017 against 2015

News

Asia India

The number of unnatural deaths in prisons has increased by 15.7 per cent from 115 in 2015 to 133 in 2017.

October 15, 2019

India : central prison to get its own radio station soon

News

Asia India

The foundation has installed the equipment and connected them with 24 speakers in every nook and corner of the prison.

October 5, 2019

India: an oasis of knowledge within Tihar prison walls

News

Asia India

From computer applications to English, inmates are learning and imparting new skills to each other at an institute opened recently on jail premises

September 12, 2019

India: human rights panel finds 91 prisoners with broken bones in Chennai prison

News

Asia Torture India

National human rights commission has ordered Rs 3 lakh compensation to one such victim and initiate criminal action on responsible officers.

August 20, 2019

India: overcrowding, inadequate staff and lack of menstrual products in Haryana prisons: study

News

Asia Overcrowding India

Undignified body searches, absence of proper health and hygiene facilities for female prisoners, inadequate staff, overcrowding and racism are some of the issues afflicting prisons in Haryana, a study by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Haryana State Legal Services Authority has…

June 28, 2019

India: inmates, police clash in Ludhiana Central Jail

News

Asia India

A violent clash broke out between inmates and police officers at Punjab’s Ludhiana Central Jail on Thursday, leaving one inmate dead and five injured. Around half a dozen police personnel also sustained injuries.

June 12, 2019

India: Amnesty International highlights human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir

News

Asia India

The Amnesty International said on Wednesday that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) circumvents the criminal justice system in the Indian-occupied Kashmir to undermine accountability, transparency and respect for human rights. The briefing, “Tyranny of A ‘Lawless Law’: Detention without…

April 24, 2019

India: Inmates climb atop Madurai Central Prison building to stage stir

News

Asia India

According to prison officials, the prisoners climbed atop block-3 building using the windows after strict checking to curb ganja smuggling was enforced.

March 14, 2019

India: should 400,000 prisoners get to vote in the 2019 election?

News

Asia India

India’s preparing to vote again. Some 900 million of its 1.3 billion people are expected to exercise their franchise over April and May. Amidst this massive celebration of democracy, a small but significant section of the population is still waiting to know whether it will be part of the process. T…

May 13, 2018

India: overcrowding prisons a violation of human rights, says Supreme Court

News

Asia Overcrowding India

There are several prisons where the overcrowding is well beyond 100% and in some cases it exceeds 150%.

October 5, 2017

India: women denied jail benefits HC asks why

News

Women Asia India

Why are women prisoners in Tihar Jail being denied the benefit of semi-open and open prisons, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the jail authorities.

September 23, 2017

India: bail must not just be for rich

News

Asia India

No one should be jailed simply because they are poor. That was the rationale brought up by a recent online campaign calling for changes to the existing bail process.

August 21, 2017

India: parliamentary panel finds inhuman condition inside Mumbai’s Byculla jail

News

Asia Material conditions India

A 20-member team of women MPs which visited Byculla jail last month to study the conditions inside the prison, found inhuman treatment of women prisoners.

July 8, 2017

India: does anyone care what happens to women prisoners in jails?

News

Women Asia India

Locked up behind iron bars, stuffed into the darkest corners of prison complexes, women prisoners in India face discrimination every day. From something as simple as recreation to something as complex as harassment and assault, many women prisoners live a life that is oppressive in most Indian jail…

June 27, 2017

India : Police torture reportedly leads to couple attempting self-immolation

News

Asia Torture India

Tension prevailed at the district collectorate here today when a couple attempted to self-immolate accusing an police inspector and a retired Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) of giving torture over a financial transaction with a private lender.

June 25, 2017

India: inmate’s death sparks riot in Byculla women’s prison

News

Women Asia India

The death of an inmate, allegedly after being assaulted by prison guards, at the women’s prison in Byculla on Friday evening led to a riot by inmates that continued through the night and subsided only on Saturday morning. Enraged inmates set newspapers and furniture on fire and shouted slogans from…

June 14, 2017

India: prison riot: 350 inmates fight inside Dum Dum jail

News

Asia India

KOLKATA: Around 350 inmates of Dum Dum Central Jail divided themselves into two groups of undertrials and convicts and fought a pitched battle on the jail premises since Tuesday morning. The violence -unprecedented in the recent history of the jail -left at least 13 people injured.

May 31, 2017

India: why death penalty is not the answer to sexual violence in India

News

Asia Violence India

The death penalty is a distraction from the real measures that India needs to take to protect women’s rights to safety, writes Gopika Bashi of Amnesty International. Earlier this month in the Rohtak district of India’s northern state of Haryana, two men were arrested after the body of a young Dalit…

May 24, 2017

India : law panel for cut in undertrials’ jail time

News

Asia India

The Law Commission is ready to submit to the Centre a set of recommendations intended to bring in revolutionary changes in bail jurisprudence which, if implemented, would help the release of the poor among the over 2.38 lakh undertrial prisoners languishing in jails for years.

April 25, 2017

India: 404 prisoners in Odisha pass the test

News

Asia India

194 cleared NIOS exams, 187 completed IGNOU courses, says jail official