Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

June 20, 2017

China: Around 120,000 given over five years in prison for drug crimes since 2012

News

Asia Drugs China

Nearly 120,000 criminals charged with drug offences were handed sentences longer than five years by Chinese courts in the last five years, data released by the nation’s top court Tuesday shows.

June 20, 2017

Indonésie : quatre étrangers s'évadent d'une prison de Bali au moyen d'un tunnel

News

Asia Indonesia

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

June 20, 2017

Indonesia cracks down on terrorism with new laws and joint patrols

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Asia Justice Indonesia

Jakarta: Indonesians who join terrorist groups overseas will face a maximum 15 years’ jail under new anti-terrorism laws expected to be passed by September. The new laws will enable authorities to crack down on Indonesians who return after fighting with the Islamic State in Syria or the Philippine…

June 20, 2017

China: police-run detention centres are a 'human rights disaster': rights lawyers

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Asia Justice Torture China

Recent proposals to reform China’s police-run detention centers are unlikely to do much to address a nationwide “human rights disaster” for police suspects in detention, human rights lawyers told RFA. The country’s Ministry of Public Security issued a call for consultation this week on a replacemen…

June 20, 2017

China : Draft law on detention centers won’t help reduce police torture, critics say

News

Asia Torture China

Source - Caixin Global A draft of China’s first-ever law on criminal detention centers calls for better access to bail and medical care for detainees, but legal experts say it will have a limited impact on reducing police torture.

June 19, 2017

Nepal: women in jail

News

Women Asia Nepal

A woman from Palpa is currently serving her term at the Central Jail in Sundhara, Kathmandu for killing her own child. She is mentally disturbed. “She had beaten her child for playing with water. How could a mother kill her own child? Fate locked her up,” said a fellow inmate at the jail. “I myself…

June 17, 2017

Philippines: CoA report shows 511% increase in inmates amid drug war

News

Asia Drugs Philippines

This is a 511% increase in congestion that way exceeds the said ideal cell capacity of 20,746. According to the CoA’s annual report on the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) released on June 15, the total number of inmates was up by 30,544 as of Dec. 31, 2016 from the year before.

June 15, 2017

Pakistan : Bilawal condemns police torture on young docs

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Asia Torture Pakistan

KARACHI - The Chairman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned brutal police torture against young doctors in Peshawar.

June 15, 2017

Indonesia : behind prison walls [video]

News

Asia Indonesia

For the first time ever a film crew was granted full access to Kerobokan jail, which sits in the centre of Bali’s tourist mecca. Foreign Correspondent meets five prisoners who call the space inside these walls home.

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.

June 12, 2017

Pakistan: 'Facebook blasphemer' given death penalty

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Asia Pakistan

Taimoor Raza was convicted after allegedly posting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and companions within the site’s comments. The public prosecutor involved said he believed it was the first time the death penalty had been awarded in a case related to social media. Human rights campai…

June 5, 2017

Russia : Russian Interior Ministry ordered to pay $1,200 to man tortured by police

News

Asia Europe Torture Violence Russia

The Supreme Court of Tatarstan has ordered Russia’s Interior Ministry to pay 70,000 rubles ($1,200) to a man tortured in a police office, lawyer Andrey Suchkov told RAPSI on Monday.

June 4, 2017

Philippines: cholera being investigated as cause of prison outbreak

News

Asia Philippines

The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City is where the Philippines most dangerous criminals are incarcerated has been hit with a suspected foodborne illness outbreak that started on May 26 and where more than 1,200 inmates have become ill.

June 3, 2017

Japan: the arrested development of female prisons

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Women Asia Japan

Though the prison population in Japan is remarkably small compared to other countries, there have been increases in recent years among certain demographics. The media is particularly sensitive to elderly inmates. Less remarked upon are female prisoners.

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 31, 2017

Taiwan: 19 inmates begin to work outside prison on Thursday under a correctional scheme

News

Asia Taiwan

Nineteen inmates will begin to work outside their prisons in the morning and return to their cells after work under a program designed by Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to help inmates adapt to the society earlier.

May 24, 2017

Philippines : face à la menace terroriste, Rodrigo Duterte impose la loi martiale

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Asia Justice Philippines

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

May 24, 2017

India : law panel for cut in undertrials’ jail time

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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.

May 23, 2017

Indonésie : condamné à deux ans de prison, l’ancien gouverneur Ahok renonce à faire appel

News

Asia Indonesia

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

May 22, 2017

Thinking Allowed: Russian prison visitors - prison boundaries

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Asia Europe Social ties Russia

Relatives of Russian Prisoners: Judith Pallot , Professor of the Human Geography of Russia at the University of Oxford talks to Laurie Taylor about her research into the experiences of the wives, mothers, girlfriends, daughters who, as relatives of Russia’s three-quarters of a million prisoners, ar…

May 16, 2017

Massive break illustrates Indonesia’s prison dilemma

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Asia Protest Overcrowding Indonesia

Overcrowding, miserable sanitary conditions, corrupt guards contribute to chaos

May 15, 2017

Bangladesh: 63 jails have no doctors

News

Asia Health Bangladesh

On the midnight of April 26, Jahir Uddin complained of severe chest pain at Dhaka Central Jail. The jail authorities decided to take him to DMCH since the hospital inside the jail does not have facilities to tackle any emergency situation.

May 15, 2017

Thaïland: lifting the bar on inmate welfare

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Asia Thailand

It is easy to imagine Kobkiat Kasiwiwat as a school administrator when he talks of the specialties of his “students”.

May 5, 2017

Indonesia: two days after prison break, 200 inmates at large

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Asia Indonesia

Indonesian authorities said about 200 inmates remained at large two days after a mass escape from an overcrowded prison on Sumatra island.