Facilities
Farther and farther away
Inside Outside
Africa
North America
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Facilities
Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside to articulate, in a few words, the current challenges of prison life. Third piece: institutions.
Central America and the Caribbean
Facilities
Violence
Haiti
Haiti’s national penitentiary is on fire after a blaze broke out in the building on Thursday morning, according to Reuters. A video posted to social media reportedly showed black smoke coming out of the facility.
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.
Central America and the Caribbean
Material conditions
Facilities
El Salvador
Since the Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism) opened on 31 January 2023, the BBC had repeatedly requested access to the mega-prison. It was finally granted two days after President Nayib Bukele claimed victory in the presidential election held on 4 February.
Oceania
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
New Zealand
Prisoners seeking mental health support at a prison south of Palmerston North were waiting up to three months to see a clinician, inspectors say.
Minors
Oceania
Material conditions
Facilities
Australia
Youth detainees have no air conditioning in their cells at Casuarina Prison’s Unit 18. Temperatures have hit upwards of 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Perth this week. There are fresh calls for Unit 18 to be closed immediately, with authorities yet to answer questions about what else is being done…
Belgium: diverging pathways
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Belgium
In recent years, authorities have followed a policy of constructing new ‘mega-prisons’. At the same time, the prison estate has welcomed the creation of smaller facilities. The simultaneous development of these opposing approaches raises a number of questions.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Malta
Compared to the Corradino Correctional Facility of 15 years ago, Prisoner Welfare Commissioner Steve Libreri said that there has been a “considerable” improvement in supportive services, the prison environment, as well as a change in the culture of correctional officers, leading to a prison facilit…
North America
Material conditions
Facilities
United States
Additional inmate housing units and an outdoor recreation area along with access to Native American religious leaders must be implemented as part of a settlement with dozens of inmates.
United States: private equity is using prison phone, food and health systems to rack up profits
News
North America
Material conditions
Facilities
United States
Private equity firms are capturing systems people in prison use and making them even more brutal and unaccountable.
South Africa: resonating stories
Testimonial
Africa
Access to legal rights
Material conditions
Facilities
Activities
South Africa
Five former prisoners share their experiences in South African prisons. Incarcerated for different lengths of time, at different periods and in different facilities, these diverse perspectives highlight the challenges faced by prisoners in South Africa.
South Africa: prisons in 2023
Analysis
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Women
Minors
Foreign prisoners
LGBTQI
Long-term prisoners
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Suicide
Death penalty
Torture
Activities
Social ties
Alternatives
Work
South Africa
All there is to know about South African prisons in 2023. Key figures, life in detention, references: discover all the data gathered by Prison Insider.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
In 2022, a new type of detention facility was introduced into the Scottish prison system: Community Custody Units (CCUs). Through trauma informed principles, their aim is to empower women to manage their sentence plans and support their community integration. Interview.
Asia
Access to legal rights
Health
Mental health
Facilities
India
Poor facilities in prisons & restricted healthcare access can lead to inmates suffering from bad mental health.
France: rediscovering one’s image
Insights
Focus
Facilities
Social ties
Rehabilitation
Work
France
In 2011, photographer Béatrice Ropers visited Ferme de Moyembrie, an agricultural facility that takes in men nearing the end of their sentences. As the seasons changed, the subjects of her photographs shared their life stories, feelings and fears. She told us the story of one of her photographs.
Middle East
Facilities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Bahrain
The International Ombudsman Institute “IOI” President Chris Field has praised Bahrain’s open prison and rehabilitation center in Hamala, calling it a “model that can be used in other countries”.