Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

December 14, 2020

Yémen : Le Drian interpelé sur une ex-usine de Total utilisée comme prison

News

Europe Middle East Torture Violence Yemen

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

November 25, 2020

Russia: former political prisoner takes Russia to court over torture conditions in Crimean prison

News

Asia Access to legal rights Justice Health Material conditions Torture Violence Russia

Hearings have begun in occupied Crimea into the lawsuit brought by Kazim Ametov against Russia’s penitentiary service and police over the inhuman conditions he was held prisoner in for over two years. The chances of a Russian-controlled “court” finding in favour of the former political prisoner are…

November 23, 2020

Arabia Saudí: líderes del G20, no se dejen engañar. Las verdaderas agentes del cambio están en la cárcel

News

Women Middle East Access to legal rights Justice Health Protest Torture Violence Saudi Arabia

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

November 12, 2020

Tchad : prison secrète de l’ANS, des détenus racontent les sévices subis

News

Africa Access to legal rights Justice Health Torture Violence Chad

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

September 30, 2020

Argentina: not crazy or dead

Interview

South America Access to legal rights Justice Material conditions Torture Argentina

The treatment meted out to political prisoners during the military dictatorship sought to completely destroy them. Sergio Ferrari was one of these prisoners. We spoke with him.

September 29, 2020

Argentina: "the system filters complaints"

Interview

Coronavirus South America Material conditions Protest Torture Argentina

The country has the third largest prison population on the South American continent.

September 18, 2020

Iran: detainees flogged, sexually abused and given electric shocks in gruesome post-protest crackdown

Pre-trial detention Women Minors Middle East Access to legal rights Justice Protest Torture Violence Iran

Hundreds have since been sentenced to prison terms and flogging and several to the death penalty following grossly unfair trials which were presided over by biased judges behind closed doors

September 18, 2020

Estados Unidos: informes profundamente alarmantes sobre esterilización forzosa de mujeres detenidas por el ICE

News

North America Women Foreign prisoners Access to legal rights Torture Violence United States

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

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.

September 15, 2020

Biélorussie : les protestataires libérés racontent les tortures en prison

News

Europe Torture Violence Belarus

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

July 30, 2020

European Prison Rules: “progressing the conversation”

Interview

Europe Discipline Justice Material conditions Torture

All prison conditions across Europe are not equivalent. However, the European Prison Rules formulate guidelines to ensure the protection of prisoners’ rights. Are these rules respected? What does their recent revision imply?

July 27, 2020

Kirghizistan: Azimjan Askarov, défenseur des droits humains, meurt en prison

News

Asia Torture Kyrgyzstan

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

July 22, 2020

DRC: les prisons considérées comme des mouroirs

News

Africa Health Material conditions Torture Congo - Kinshasa

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

July 15, 2020

Cuba: Humiliation non-stop

Testimonial

Central America and the Caribbean Foreign prisoners Access to legal rights Justice Health Material conditions Torture Cuba

Jacques was arrested in February 2017 by the Cuban criminal justice system and was immediately incarcerated in a state owned highly secured prison, held incommunicado for 48 days. Her daughter became fatherless overnight. He was transferred to France in September 2019. He narrates to Prison Insider…

July 2, 2020

China: Wang Quanzhang: in prison, I was tortured to extract a confession

News

Asia Torture China

The human rights lawyer gives first interview since finishing his sentence in April. He spent four years in jail for “subversion against the state”. After being beaten for hours, the prison authorities forced him to sign an affidavit declaring his guilt. Wang: “Police, investigating magistrates and…

May 14, 2020

Iran: Ahwazi detainees’ families stage protests at Shaiban Prison against inhuman treatment

News

Middle East Protest Torture Iran

Ahwazi detainees’ families protested outside the infamous Shaiban Prison in the regional capital, Ahwaz, on Saturday May 9, demanding access to their loved ones’ and information on their condition and wellbeing. During their protests, the desperately worried families angrily mocked the regime’s cla…

May 6, 2020

Hong Kong: protesters say they were tortured in prison

News

Asia Torture China

Three anti-government protesters said on Tuesday that they had been tortured and abused while detained in a Hong Kong prison, alleging they were taken to areas away from surveillance footage and beaten and slapped. Appearing via Skype and in a pre-recorded video shown at a press conference organise…

May 4, 2020

Syria: prisoner from eastern Ghouta dies under torture in Sednaya prison

News

Middle East Torture Syria

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of a civilian from Saqba city in eastern Ghouta, seven years after being arrested at a security checkpoint in Damascus. The victim died under torture in Sednaya prison (known as the Slaughterhouse). With the death of more civilians, the number…

April 30, 2020

Uruguay: 26% de reclusos tienen condiciones "crueles, inhumanas y degradantes"

News

South America Torture Violence Uruguay

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

April 24, 2020

Afghanistan: prison chief laments conditions in country's jails

News

Asia Health Protest Torture Violence Afghanistan

In unusually frank comments on April 21, Afghanistan’s new prison chief Ahmad Rashid Totakhail complained to journalists about widespread abuses in the country’s prison system. Totakhail described problems ranging from the lack of a comprehensive database on the length of detainees’ sentences to se…

March 5, 2020

USA: el confinamiento en solitario prolongado en las cárceles equivale a tortura psicológica

News

North America Discipline Health Mental health Torture United States

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

February 11, 2020

Spain: el Comité de Prevención de la Tortura denuncia las condiciones de detención en comisarías y cárceles catalanas

News

Europe Torture Violence Spain

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

February 11, 2020

Mexico: una historia de tortura e impunidad por ministeriales en Chiapas

News

Central America and the Caribbean Torture Mexico

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

January 21, 2020

“Parodies of justice” in Iraq

Interview

Middle East Foreign prisoners Justice Death penalty Torture Violence Iraq

The Iraqi justice system has some flaws – quick trials, non-existent legal assistance and judgements based on confessions rather than the evidence. Yet several countries have declined to repatriate their citizens who are accused of terrorism, putting them at risk of torture or the death penalty.