News
North America
Justice
Facilities
Overcrowding
United States
All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
North America
Material conditions
Social ties
United States
Connecticut families brought an end to expensive prison communication, providing a lifeline for the voices behind bars. But consistent contact still isn’t guaranteed.
Crises
Middle East
Facilities
Iran
The Iranian Bureau of Prisons is set to construct 70 new prisons and penitentiaries across the country, according to a new report by data analysis group Iran Open Data. More than 1.128 trillion Tomans (approximately $19.1 million) have been allocated for these projects.
Asia
Justice
Material conditions
Protest
Violence
Myanmar (Burma)
The 13 prisoners have been held in solitary confinement since they were targeted in a crackdown on unrest more than a month ago.
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.
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Justice
Suicide
Torture
United Kingdom
Nearly 3,000 prisoners in England and Wales remain in jail under Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences today, and many others who have been released face the ongoing prospect of immediate recall to prison. They are experiencing a punishment that is inhumane and often amounts to psychol…
Europe
Mental health
Activities
United Kingdom
Inmates at HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale, Lancs, were given safety goggles and allowed to demolish the wooden structures with various implements.
The ‘pallet-smashing workshop’ was praised by Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, for allowing prisoners to release their pent-up anger – and…
Asia
Foreign prisoners
Material conditions
Japan
“We don’t really give them special treatment just because they are foreign nationals,” said Atsushi Takada, an official at the prison. “But since the environment and culture in which they were brought up is too different from that of Japan’s, we need to treat them differently.”
North America
Women
Mental health
Activities
Rehabilitation
United States
Members of the public can send their dog at the Washington Corrections Center for Women for boarding, grooming and training through a program founded with the belief that human-animal bonds could be beneficial to people in prison.
United States: youth detention facilities face increased scrutiny amid a wave of abuse lawsuits
News
North America
Minors
Justice
Violence
United States
As a teenager almost 20 years ago, Jeffery Christian was sent to a juvenile detention center in southern Illinois. He says he expected to use his time there to grow and change, with the support of the staff around him.
“Instead I was sexually abused and neglected,” Christian said at a recent press…
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Iran
Taleghani Hospital in Tehran declared it can no longer accept dialysis patients from Evin Prison, citing contamination of its facilities with bedbugs.
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Israel
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers… At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.
Africa
Justice
Drugs
Death penalty
Nigeria
Nigeria’s Senate proposed significantly toughening penalties for drug trafficking, making the death penalty the new maximum sentence through a law amendment.The amendment, which is not yet law, replaces life imprisonment, which was previously the harshest punishment.
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.
North America
Activities
Rehabilitation
United States
When the U.S. Department of Education announced last summer that federal Pell Grants would become available to incarcerated college students, lawmakers and state corrections agencies scrambled to adjust statutes and step up potential partnerships with universities. But nearly a year later, colleges…
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.
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Iran
Detention, interrogation, and incarceration, even under the best and most standardized conditions, foster an environment conducive to contracting various diseases.