Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

September 20, 2016

Vietnam : 20 mois de prison pour une manif pacifique

News

Asia Justice Vietnam

La justice vietnamienne a condamné aujourd’hui une militante à 20 mois de prison pour trouble à l’ordre public après une manifestation en juin visant à protester contre la confiscation de terres par l’Etat, a indiqué son avocat.

September 15, 2016

India : 1,700 died in overcrowded prisons in 2014 ; 89 % of natural causes

News

Asia Overcrowding India

As many as 1,702 prisoners died in jails nationwide in 2014, according to this reply by the ministry of home affairs to the Lok Sabha (Parliament’s lower house) in August 2016. While 1,507 (89 percent) died of natural causes, 195 (11 percent) died of unnatural causes, such as “suicide, execution, m…

September 8, 2016

India : 41 prisoners from Nashik Jail alone jumped parole in 3 yrs

News

Asia India

Mumbai: Parole rules in the state were amended last month following the uproar over convict Sajjad Mughal, sentenced to life for murdering lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha, who jumped parole in April. But data shows in the last three years, 41 people convicted for serious crimes jumped parole from Nashik…

September 6, 2016

India : 100 prisoners on hunger strike at Haridwar dist jail

News

Asia Protest India

Hundred prisoners went on a hunger strike at the district jail here today demanding release of 57 inmates who had already served 14 years of their life imprisonment sentences prompting jail administration to issue notices to them asking to end their stir. The jail superintendent informed the state…

August 16, 2016

Exclusive: Singapore wants a prison without guards

News

Asia Singapore

“We envisage a future where we can run a prison without guards,” says Soh Wai Wah, Singapore’s Commissioner of Prisons. His vision is intentionally “provocative”, he tells GovInsider: he wants to show the potential of technology, but doesn’t plan to cut staffing. Instead, prison officers will chang…

August 3, 2016

Life inside the Philippines' most overcrowded jail

News

Asia Overcrowding Philippines

In an unassuming Quezon City neighborhood, across from a municipal library and around the corner from a police station stands the local jail.

August 3, 2016

Vietnam : a proposal to allow reformed prisoners to re-unite with their families

News

Asia Vietnam

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Ngọc Bằng, director general of the Department of Criminal Verdict Implementation and Legal Aid, spoke to the newspaper Tuổi trẻ (Youth) about a proposal to allow reformed prisoners to re-unite with their families while serving their sentence.

July 31, 2016

Philippines : inhuman conditions inside Quezon City Jail, in Manila

News

Asia Overcrowding Philippines

“Many go crazy”, said Mario Dimaculangan, the jail’s longest serving inmate. Harrowing photos have emerged showing the inhuman conditions inside prison in the Philippines. The facility, Quezon City Jail, in Manila, is home to 3,800 inmates – nearly five times more people than it was designed for. P…

July 30, 2016

Inside the Philippines most notorious prison where 3,600 inmates live in a space built for 800

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Asia Overcrowding Philippines

Eye-opening images reveal the daily life of 3,800 inmates serving time behind the crowded walls of a notorious Philippines prison built for just 800.

July 24, 2016

Turkey : independent monitors must be allowed to access detainees amid torture allegations

News

Asia Europe Middle East Torture Violence Turkey

Amnesty International has gathered credible evidence that detainees in Turkey are being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape, in official and unofficial detention centres in the country.

July 12, 2016

Vietnam : Amnesty International dénonce les conditions de détention inhumaines

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Asia Material conditions Torture Vietnam

Le Vietnam serait l’un des pays les plus fermés d’Asie, notamment sur ce qui se passe dans ses prisons. Un rapport d’Amnesty International dénonce des conditions de détention inhumaines : disparitions forcées, tortures, privations de soins médicaux. Les principales victimes sont des prisonniers d’o…

May 30, 2016

Philippines: inside Davao City's women-friendly jail

News

Women Asia Philippines

It’s been said that Rodrigo Duterte is a man of many contradictions. For one, amid his reported womanizing ways, his city has gone the extra mile to protect women’s rights.

May 16, 2016

Singapore: Boo Junfeng's Singapore death penalty film stirs emotions in Cannes

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Asia Violence Singapore

Before he made his new film about the death penalty, Boo Junfeng sat down to tea with some of Singapore’s retired hangmen.

May 6, 2016

Philippines : un taux d’occupation des prisons de 316 %

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Asia Overcrowding Philippines

*Source - Le Temps Jamais les pénitenciers de l’archipel n’ont été aussi remplis, avec un taux d’occupation de 316%. Visite de deux établissements proches de la capitale, dont l’un est le plus peuplé du pays avec 23 000 captifs.

May 5, 2016

Cambodia : prisons granted more funds to develop libraries

News

Asia Cambodia

Cambodian’s prison libraries are set to receive an extra $600,000 in funding from the French Agency for Development and literacy NGO Sipar, according to a statement released yesterday. Sipar director Hok Sothik said the extra funding will be spread out over three years and enhance 26 prison librari…

March 30, 2016

Cambodia : experts wary as Kingdom mulls private prison plan

News

Asia Cambodia

As Cambodia moves towards opening its first privately run prison, international experts have warned the government may have misunderstood the concept and cautioned that privatisation likely isn’t the best way to tackle chronic overcrowding in prisons

March 26, 2016

Japan : two prisoners executed amid protests

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Asia Death penalty Japan

Hangings took place weeks before Japan is due to host the G7 leaders summit. Human rights campaigners have condemned Japan’s use of the death penalty after two inmates were hanged, bringing the number of executions to 16 since the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, took office in late 2012.

March 18, 2016

Singapore: majority of S’poreans do not have an irrational fear of the ISA. Is that okay?

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Asia Singapore

The number of ISA arrests have decreased over the years, but we must regularly examine if it is still relevant.

March 14, 2016

Cambodia : Interior Ministry admits to prison drug problem

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Asia Health Drugs Cambodia

In what one commentator described as “a bold step”, the Interior Ministry’s prisons department has seemingly admitted it has a drug problem, and last week sent a letter requesting the Health Ministry’s assistance in tackling it.

November 4, 2015

On death row in Singapore

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Asia Singapore

Each week, Roads & Kingdoms and Slate publish a new dispatch from around the globe. For more foreign correspondence mixed with food, war, travel, and photography, visit their online magazine or follow @roadskingdoms on Twitter. Update, Nov. 5, 2015: Kho Jabing’s execution, scheduled for Friday,…

November 1, 2015

On death row in Singapore

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Asia Singapore

I was sitting in a hotel room in Kuala Lumpur when I received the message on Monday afternoon. It was from Jumai, a short but heart-breaking note, sent over WhatsApp: “My brother this Friday die.”

October 7, 2015

Life inside the Philippines' prison without walls

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Asia Philippines

Twice the size of Paris, the open-air Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm offers a unique approach to reforming criminals.

June 26, 2015

Three Philippine firms in race for $1.1 bln prison project

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Asia Philippines

Three Philippine companies have submitted pre-qualification documents for a 50.2 billion pesos ($1.1 billion) prison project north of the capital, a government official said on Friday.

December 12, 2014

Philippines: inside one of the world's largest prisons

News

Asia Philippines

New Bilibid Prison (NBP), on the outskirts of Manila, was built decades ago for a maximum 5,500 inmates. Now more than 14,200 prisoners live there, crammed together in cells and outnumbering prison guards by a staggering 80:1.