Access to legal rights
Asia
Access to legal rights
Protest
Torture
Violence
Armenia
A 29-year-old Iranian man was sentenced to three years and one month in prison in Armenia. According to IranWire sources, Mohammad Havashemzadeh, who had been detained during the 2022 protests in Iran, had only appeared in court once in the past five months to hear the charges against him.
Without a roof or a choice
Analysis
Thematic paper
North America
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
People leaving prison, who are often in precarious situations and stigmatised, are hit hard by the housing crisis. But without a stable habitation, what hope do they have for building a future in society? Four articles explore the problems they face and offer ideas for reflection and solutions.
From a cell to the street
Analysis
North America
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Rehabilitation
(1) Many people become stuck in the revolving door between the streets and prison. Countless incarcerated people agonise over their impending release when they have no habitation solution. All are put in a difficult situation and severely affected by the housing crisis.
Preparing for release
Analysis
North America
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
(2) Release from prison does not occur the day the person walks out the prison door. It requires months of prior preparation. The transition to freedom and accessing habitation are part of a complex journey that includes tasks ranging from obtaining documents to restoring social rights.
The door opens
Analysis
North America
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
(3) The day of release often arrives unexpectedly. For many prison leavers, it marks the beginning of a period of homelessness with occasional temporary solutions. Although systems exist to provide assistance in finding a place to stay, the spots come at a cost.
Prison under the skin
Analysis
North America
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Mental health
Rehabilitation
(4) Time spent in detention has a lasting impact on bodies and minds. It leaves persistent wounds and scars that make it harder to re-enter society and affect how people occupy their space.
Africa
Women
Minors
Access to legal rights
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Nigeria
Prison Fellowship Nigeria has officially launched its Restorative Justice, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration Project in Jos, the Plateau state capital. The initiative, designed to improve the criminal justice system through restorative practices, will span eight states.
Crises
Minors
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Israel
Thousands of Palestinians are currently deprived of their liberty by the Israeli authorities, a figure that has risen sharply in the last year. What is the current situation? Answers from the Palestinian association Addameer.
Africa
Crises
Asia
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Mary Lawlor is the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders since 2020. She tells us how her work, despite its limits, can help them, and reflects on the criminalisation they face around the world.
Africa
Crises
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Congo - Kinshasa
Families of those killed in what authorities called an attempted jailbreak in Congo’s biggest prison are demanding answers from the government as activists denounce what they say are inhumane conditions in the nation’s overcrowded penitentiaries.
United Arab Emirates: dozens of people sentenced to life in prison in mass trial criticized abroad
News
Middle East
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Justice
United Arab Emirates
A mass trial in the United Arab Emirates of dissidents that was widely criticized abroad has sentenced 43 people to life in prison, while others received other prison terms.
North America
Access to legal rights
Justice
United States
The Colorado Department of Corrections refuses to provide sex offender treatment to people serving indeterminate prison sentences despite assuring them that once they go through the program they will be eligible for parole, a new federal lawsuit alleges.
Prisons on the margins of European elections
Analysis
Investigations
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Overcrowding
Alternatives
The citizens of the 27 member States of the European Union will go to the polls from 6 to 9 June. What role do prison issues play in the electoral campaigns?
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.
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.
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Health
Protest
Overcrowding
Social ties
Turkey
The “2022-2023 Prison Rights Violations Report” highlights systemic human rights abuses in Turkish prisons, revealing a disturbing trend of political repression and isolation practices, particularly concerning the treatment of political prisoners, including Abdullah Öcalan.
Türkiye: lawyers in danger
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Turkey
The Anti-Terror Law is used by the State to imprison lawyers who defend opponents. The Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) has been specifically targeted on several occasions. One of its members, Güçlü Sevimli, explains why and under what conditions they are being held.
North America
Minors
Access to legal rights
Activities
United States
New court filings say that the city is violating an eight-year-old court order mandating access to education for people under 22.
Badinter, "a beacon of light in the mist"
Insights
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Death penalty
France
Robert Badinter, a leading figure in the abolition of the death penalty in France, passed away on 9 February. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, director of Together Against the Death Penalty, became close with the former minister over time through their mutual cause. Here’s the story.
North America
Access to legal rights
Social ties
United States
A pair of lawsuits filed this month claim that two county jails in Michigan banned in-person family visits for inmates several years ago as a way to boost county revenues from the increased number of phone calls and electronic messaging that resulted.
Africa
Crises
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Torture
Alice Jill Edwards was the first woman to be appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Prison Insider met with her to find out more about what she has to say to justice systems and prison administrations around the world.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Kenya
Prisoners held in custody have been granted the right to attend the funerals of their close family members, unless compelling reasons dictate otherwise. The ruling was made in a case by former journalist Moses Dola, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence since 2018.
North America
Access to legal rights
Health
United States
Mississippi prison health care contractors withheld cancer diagnosis and treatment for years, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.