Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

December 23, 2021

Netherlands: Why the Dutch are closing prisons – and what they’re doing with empty ones

News

Culture Europe Facilities Netherlands

The Netherlands has reduced its prison population to such a degree that it’s now turning old prisons into socially useful buildings, such as schools and refugee centres. What went right?

December 22, 2021

Danemark : Pourquoi le pays veut envoyer 300 détenus dans une prison du Kosovo

News

Europe Justice Overcrowding Denmark

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

December 21, 2021

Corée du Nord : L’horreur des exécutions publiques

News

Asia Death penalty North Korea

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

December 21, 2021

Le Japon exécute des condamnés à mort, pour la première fois depuis 2019

News

Asia Justice Death penalty Japan

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

December 20, 2021

Bahrain: the death of political dissidence

Interview

Middle East Material conditions Death penalty Torture Bahrain

Use of the death penalty has increased by 600% in the last decade. Many of those sentenced to death are political prisoners. Torture and the death penalty are allegedly used as strategic tools against political opponents.

December 17, 2021

Park closed

Analysis

Facilities Alternatives France

“Quiet, we’re closed “ Marc Uhry thinks about the shrinking of freedom. Free rein on city, prison and confinement.

December 17, 2021

France: Is prison a business like any other?

Interview

Material conditions Facilities Alternatives Work France

Does having a prison in a region represent a money-making venture? Does it generate jobs? Does it increase the total amount of funds granted to a municipality? The point of view of Isabelle Leroux.

December 15, 2021

Singapore: days ahead to die

Interview

Asia Justice Drugs Death penalty Singapore

The city-state is a strong supporter of the death penalty. Death sentences are regularly handed down for drug-related offences, as witnessed in neighbouring countries. Is abolition on the horizon?

December 14, 2021

How Europe’s prisons have fared in the Covid-19 pandemic

Analysis

Coronavirus Europe Health Overcrowding

Prisons make fertile breeding grounds for viruses, yet administrations have revealed little about Covid-19 cases, deaths and vaccinations in Europe’s prisons. Data from 32 countries show the pandemic’s impact on prisons

December 10, 2021

Prison & the city

Thematic paper

Material conditions Facilities Social ties Alternatives Rehabilitation

Hidden prison, modern prison, dilapidated prison, “open” prison: wall to wall, Prison Insider investigated the links between city and prison. In partnership with Rescaled, we gave a number of different people a space to share their point of view.

December 9, 2021

El Salvador es responsable por la detención, condena y muerte de una mujer que sufrió una emergencia obstétrica

News

Central America and the Caribbean Women Health El Salvador

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

December 9, 2021

Argentina: Jornadas sobre violencia de género en las cárceles del Complejo Centro Zona Sur

News

South America Women Violence Argentina

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

December 9, 2021

España: Los trabajadores de las cárceles de Alicante, «abandonados» por el Ministerio del Interior

News

Europe Spain

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

December 9, 2021

Europa ha conseguido evitar el desastre del covid en las cárceles, pero ¿a qué precio?

News

Coronavirus Europe Overcrowding

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

December 8, 2021

United States: seen in the press / 2021

News

North America United States

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

December 8, 2021

United Kingdom: seen in the press / 2021

News

Europe United Kingdom

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

December 7, 2021

Russia: “They’re killing us!”

News Investigations

Asia Europe Discipline Torture Russia

Prison Insider was contacted by an anonymous Russian source. They asked us to expose the abuse inflicted on prisoners in the Angarsk Penal Colony No. 15 following the riot there in April 2020. We explain how the events unfolded below.

December 7, 2021

Ecuador: UN experts call for urgent action to stop prison violence

News

South America Protest Violence Ecuador

UN human rights experts today called on Ecuador to take urgent action to prevent further loss of life in the country’s jails following a series of riots which have left more than 280 inmates dead and hundreds injured this year.

December 7, 2021

El Salvador: violation of woman's rights who had abortion and died in prison, court rules

News

Central America and the Caribbean Women Justice El Salvador

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that El Salvador had violated the rights of a woman who was sent to prison for breaching the country’s tough abortion laws and died while serving her 30-year sentence.

December 7, 2021

Ireland: Prison visits by children to see parents plummets

News

Coronavirus Europe Social ties Ireland

The number of children who have visited a parent in prison this year has plummeted to just a fraction of the figure for last year.

December 7, 2021

Model Prisons, an “unmitigated disaster”?

Interview

Facilities Alternatives

Is there such a thing as an ideal prison? Reforms seem to follow one another without undermining the concept of what Grégory Salle calls the “model prison”. Is the prison a success that persists?

December 6, 2021

Suisse : Hans Wolff, “Avec la pandémie, le risque suicidaire a explosé en prison“

News

Coronavirus Europe Mental health Suicide Switzerland

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

December 6, 2021

Japon : Les prisons japonaises s’adaptent au vieillissement de leurs détenus

News

Asia Elderly prisoners Activities Japan

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

December 6, 2021

Austria: “Nobody knew how to deal with the virus”

Investigations

Coronavirus Europe Social ties Rehabilitation Work Austria

Two years of Coronavirus, two incarcerated men: Journalist Sarah Yolanda Koss dives into the everyday life of two Austrian prisons.