Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

March 11, 2019

Spain: brain zap prison experiment suspended

News

Europe Spain

Government officials in Spain have suspended tests to see if zapping the brains of prisoners can make them less aggressive, following an exclusive report by New Scientist on the experiment. The research, involving inmates at Huelva prison, was scheduled to begin this month. The day after New Scient…

March 9, 2019

UK: des prisons testent la reconnaissance faciale et oculaire

News

Europe Drugs United Kingdom

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

March 8, 2019

France: la grève dure, les détenus endurent

News

Europe France

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

March 6, 2019

France: Inmate Michaël Chiolo wounds guards at France's Condé-sur-Sarthe prison

News

Europe Violence France

A prison inmate in northern France has seriously wounded two guards in a knife attack, in what French ministers have described as a “terrorist incident”.

March 5, 2019

Americas: más presos o más justicia

News

Argentina

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

March 5, 2019

Kenya: Kodiaga prison sewage flows into River Saka

News

Africa Kenya

Kenya Prisons Commissioner-General Isaiah Osugo has admitted that the main correctional facility in Kisumu has been emitting raw sewage into a river from which residents fetch drinking water. Mr Osugo toured Kodiaga Maximum Security Prison on Tuesday alongside prisons bosses in Nyanza region. He ad…

March 5, 2019

China trabaja en crear cárceles inteligentes

News

Asia China

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

March 5, 2019

France: le grand débat dans une prison de femmes à Versailles

News

Women Europe France

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

March 5, 2019

USA: JPMorgan to stop financing private prisons and detention centers after protests

News

United States

“We will no longer bank the private prison industry,” a company spokesperson said.

March 4, 2019

Costa Rica: el subcomité prevención de tortura inspeccionará cárceles

News

Central America and the Caribbean Torture Costa Rica

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

March 4, 2019

USA: Inmate who delivered baby in prison cell sues state for denying medical care

News

United States

Baby delivered in toilet after calls for help were ignored , suit alleges

March 4, 2019

Ecuador: los controles en las cárceles son frágiles

News

Central America and the Caribbean Ecuador

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

March 3, 2019

Scotland: prisons ‘bursting at seams’ as inmate numbers pass 8,000

News

United Kingdom

Scotland’s rising prison population has topped the 8,000 mark, prompting fears it is heading towards the highest levels since the Scottish Parliament was established. The unwanted benchmark has been reached despite high-profile efforts to drive down prison numbers.Scotland has one of the highest in…

March 3, 2019

UK: first transgender prison unit to open

News

Europe LGBTQI Facilities United Kingdom

The UK’s first prison unit for transgender inmates will open this week, the Ministry of Justice has said.

March 1, 2019

Turquie : les enfants sont emprisonnés avec leur mère

News

Europe Social ties Turkey

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

March 1, 2019

UK: Haverigg prison inmates in 'mass intoxication', says report

News

Europe United Kingdom

Seventeen inmates at Cumbria’s only prison were caught high on drugs in a single day of “mass intoxication”, a watchdog has found.

March 1, 2019

New Zealand: prison drugs, contraband vary in South

News

Oceania Drugs New Zealand

The latest figures for prison contraband and drug testing have revealed a mixed picture in the South.

March 1, 2019

USA: sentenced to prison without a crime

News

United States

After 30 years, a New Hampshire man’s case could change practice of transferring non-criminal psychiatric patients to prison.

February 28, 2019

Canadian prison ombudsman says end-of-life needs of older prisoners not being met

News

Canada

Older, long-serving inmates are being “warehoused” in Canadian prisons not equipped to handle end-of-life care, Canada’s prison watchdog says.

February 28, 2019

Hunger strike: a last resort for Kurdish prisoners

Investigations

/ edited on 6 March 2019.* More than 300 political prisoners are currently on hunger strike in Turkey, some for more than a hundred days now. They are denouncing the prison conditions of the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Öcalan, in addition to the extensive political repression in Turkey. According to…

February 27, 2019

USA: California prison staff accused of setting up 'gladiator fights' by sending rivals to yard together

News

United States

Prison guards in California have been accused of orchestrating ‘gladiator fights’ between inmates by knowingly releasing rival prisoners into the yard at the same time.

February 27, 2019

La peine de mort continue à reculer dans le monde

News

Death penalty Violence

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

February 27, 2019

USA: Terminal Island prison inmates went without heat during the coldest February in decades

News

United States

Hundreds of inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison on the harbor front spent one of the coldest periods in decades in frigid cells with no heat and only blankets for warmth before they were transferred temporarily to another facility.

February 26, 2019

Japon : ces seniors qui préfèrent la prison

News

Asia Japan

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