Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

September 30, 2020

France: dealing with helplessness

Interview

Europe Health Mental health Work France

The incarceration of mentally ill people leaves prison staff helpless in situations that they find difficult to cope with. Training aims to remedy this.

September 29, 2020

Afghanistan: life in prison, looking to the future from behind bars

News

Middle East Activities Rehabilitation Work Afghanistan

For many people, prison is only a place where criminals serve their sentence. But there are also prisoners who are transformed during their imprisonment, deciding to abandon their past and change their future. Recently the directorate of prisons initiated a new program called “Prisoners’ Literacy a…

September 18, 2020

Kenya: the dehumanisation and exploitation of inmates in state prisons

News

Africa Health Material conditions Torture Violence Work Kenya

Kenyan prisons today carry the DNA of their forebears – the colonial prisons and Mau Mau detention camps. They are about brutalising prisoners into submission and scaring the rest of society into compliance with the state. And like their colonial predecessors, they are also sites of forced labour.

July 24, 2020

Uruguay: Salud sexual y reproductiva en cárceles: papanicolau, colposcopía, mamografía, anticoncepción y asesoramiento de IVE

News

South America Women Mental health Rehabilitation Work Uruguay

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

June 17, 2020

France: "J’étais directrice pénitentiaire d’insertion et de probation, j’ai démissionné. Voilà pourquoi"

News

Europe Justice Rehabilitation Work France

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

June 12, 2020

Argentina: doscientos internos de cárceles bonaerenses reciclan tecnología en desuso

News

South America Work Argentina

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

June 11, 2020

Taiwan: team helps Nauruan prison to make own food

News

Asia Material conditions Work Taiwan

A Taiwanese technical mission to the Pacific island nation of Nauru is helping a penal facility improve food self-reliance and is teaching inmates skills they can use after their release, the team said yesterday. “The project, with the goal of minimizing waste, officially started in January, with a…

June 4, 2020

Argentina: la Provincia firmará un convenio con Naciones Unidas para mejorar las cárceles bonaerenses

News

South America Violence Rehabilitation Work Argentina

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

June 3, 2020

France: surpopulation, personnel débordé, locaux "immondes", le triste bilan des prisons françaises en 2019

News

Europe Material conditions Overcrowding Work France

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

May 19, 2020

Guinea: plongée dans l'enfer du camp militaire de Soronkoni

News

Africa Material conditions Violence Work Guinea

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

May 13, 2020

France: "on a enfin le temps de faire du bon boulot"

News

Europe Overcrowding Activities Work France

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

April 30, 2020

Mexico: buscan erradicar estigmas penitenciarios a través del empleo

News

Central America and the Caribbean Work Mexico

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

April 30, 2020

Spain: interior inicia la desescalada en el aislamiento de las cárceles

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Work Spain

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

April 30, 2020

France: "They’ve put us back in prison"

Testimonial

Coronavirus Europe Health Rehabilitation Work France

Samy is detained on partial release in the west of France, in Le Mans. It is normally possible for these prisoners to go out during the week, notably to seek employment. Faced with the coronavirus pandemic and to limit social contact, those who are on partial release have been placed in detention.…

April 30, 2020

Cyprus: released inmates ask to go back to prison

News

Coronavirus Europe Rehabilitation Work Cyprus

Four prisoners who were released from prison earlier this month have asked to be brought back because they have no place to go. Nicosia central prisons director Anna Aristotelous said on Wednesday that two of the four prisoners were part of the early release of 130 inmates in early April as part of…

April 28, 2020

Belgium: près de 42.000 masques de protection fabriqués par les détenus

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Work Belgium

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

April 10, 2020

Malta: Corradino prison staff start week-long shifts to reduce Covid-19 risks

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Work Malta

Corradino Correctional Facility staff have begun working in week-long shifts as increasingly tight anti-coronavirus measures are adopted to avoid an outbreak of the disease in the prison.

April 9, 2020

France: de la prison au confinement, une sortie "surréaliste"

News

Coronavirus Europe Health Rehabilitation Work France

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

March 26, 2020

USA: how Louisiana’s oil and gas industry uses prison labor

News

North America Work United States

This story was published in partnership with Southerly for our Powerlines series, which looks at climate change, justice, and infrastructure in the American South. The series is supported by the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, and is part of…

capture_d_e_cran_2019_12_19_a_15.27.40.png

March 25, 2020

France: a prison without bars?

Interview

Europe Long-term prisoners Facilities Work France

Casabianda is currently the only prison without bars on French soil. Guillaume Massart filmed a documentary La liberté (In the Open).

March 11, 2020

India: Coimbatore prison inmates to grow sugarcane

News

Asia Work India

COIMBATORE: As part of a series of efforts aimed to encourage agriculture activity among prison inmates, Coimbatore central prison authorities have planned to begin sugarcane cultivation at Open Air Jail (OAJ) campus in Ondipudur.

February 27, 2020

USA: public universities, prison-made furniture

News

North America Work United States

Office furniture at the University of Virginia is made in prisons. So is some of the furniture at George Mason University and the University of Mary Washington.

February 26, 2020

France: Arras: une nouvelle prison basée sur la réinsertion par le travail

News

Europe Rehabilitation Work France

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

February 10, 2020

France: interview de Christelle Rotach, directrice de prison

News

Europe Activities Alternatives Work France

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