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January 20, 2024

India: making Maharashtra jails more liveable

News

Asia Material conditions Work India

To control the spread of skin infections and communicable diseases in Maharashtra’s overcrowded prisons, washing machines are being inducted for prisoners to do their clothes and bedding.

January 19, 2024

Ecuador: security forces launch major prison operation

News

South America Protest Violence Ecuador

Security forces have launched an operation in a major prison complex in the port city of Guayaquil. Soldiers and police officers have entered the facility and say they have restored order following a week of rioting in jails across the country.

January 19, 2024

North Korea: prisoners still face dire conditions

News

Asia Access to legal rights Health Material conditions North Korea

“There’s not much space inside the cells for each crew, so prisoners sleep very close together, with one person’s feet brushing against another’s head,” a source told Daily NK.

January 19, 2024

United Kingdom: pregnant woman’s jail sentence quashed in ‘landmark’ ruling

News

Women Europe Justice United Kingdom

The court of appeal has quashed the prison sentence of a heavily pregnant woman so that she can give birth safely, in a case hailed as a landmark by campaigners.

January 18, 2024

South Sudan: unknown skin disease strikes Wau central prison

News

Africa Health Material conditions South Sudan

Dozens of inmates at the Wau Central Prison in Western Bahr el Ghazal State are suffering from an unknown disease outbreak. Inmates at the facility said they have been suffering from the mysterious disease, characterized by itching and body pains, since December last year.

January 17, 2024

Ireland: record prison overcrowding 'set to worsen'

News

Europe Overcrowding Ireland

There were 4,748 people in custody on Tuesday, just one off the record which was set last July — and experts fear the number could hit 5,000 by the middle of the year.

January 17, 2024

Estonia: Tartu prison cuts number of prisoners by half and 90 jobs

News

Europe Facilities Estonia

The Tartu prison will hold half its current number of inmates starting from July 1, which will cause 90 people to be laid off, head of the Estonian Prison Service Rait Kuuse said.

January 15, 2024

United States: climate change is “baking” elderly prisoners

News

North America Health Material conditions United States

Decarceration advocates are fighting to free older inmates as temperatures soar to deadlier heights.

January 12, 2024

United Kingdom: “prison staff discouraged education”

News

Europe Activities United Kingdom

Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in jail as the victim of a wrongful conviction, has said that prison staff discouraged him from studying for a university degree.

January 12, 2024

Netherlands: more attention needed for children with fathers in prison

News

Europe Social ties Netherlands

The Netherlands has at least 24,000 children whose fathers are in prison. Two-thirds of them are underage, with an average age of 9, according to Ph.D. research by Angela Verhagen of the Avans University of Applied Sciences.

January 12, 2024

Malta: government proposes rehab instead of prison term for persons already jailed over drugs

News

Europe Justice Drugs Malta

The Ministry for Justice has launched a public consultation process on a Bill which proposes that persons who were found in possession of drugs in jail, and in the meantime have already served a prison sentence and have rehabilitated themselves, can qualify to be tried by the drugs court.

January 12, 2024

Belgium: prison staff hold 24-hour strike

News

Europe Material conditions Overcrowding Belgium

Belgian prison staff walked out on strike for 24 hours as part of a joint trade union front, citing overcrowding and “deplorable conditions” for prisoners.

January 11, 2024

United States: 2 families allege bodies of prisoners were returned missing organs

News

North America Justice Health United States

Two families have claimed that when the Alabama Department of Corrections returned the bodies of their loved ones who died in prison, they were found to be missing one or more internal organs, court documents show.

January 11, 2024

Canada: sentences reduced in Toronto's “Guantanamo South” due to poor conditions

News

North America Justice Material conditions Canada

Over the past year, records indicate that at least 24 offenders had their incarceration time reduced due to frequent lockdowns, pest infestations, and other harsh treatment at the Toronto South Detention Centre in Etobicoke, near Kipling Avenue and the Gardiner Expressway.

January 11, 2024

Russia: Alexei Navalny’s impassioned speech at the Supreme Court

News

Asia Material conditions Violence Russia

The Supreme Court reviewed two lawsuits filed by Alexei Navalny against the Ministry of Justice, seeking to invalidate several sections of the Internal Regulations (IR) in penal colonies.

January 10, 2024

United States: Alabama prison fast food slave labor allegations are headed to court

News

North America Justice Work United States

A federal court has set a Feb. 8 hearing on a lawsuit accusing Alabama state prisons of using slave labor.

January 10, 2024

Australia: growing human rights concerns for NT prisoners as detainee numbers continue to soar

News

Oceania Material conditions Overcrowding Australia

The Northern Territory corrections system is “in a serious crisis” and there are growing human rights concerns for prisoners, advocates say, as detainee numbers soar to unprecedented levels with no long-term solution in sight.

January 9, 2024

Ecuador: state of emergency declared amid prison chaos

News

South America Justice Violence Ecuador

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa on Monday declared a state of emergency for 60 days a day after the country’s most-wanted prisoner disappeared from the jail where he was being held.

January 5, 2024

United States: prisoners testify of abuse

News

North America Women Violence United States

Women incarcerated at FCI Dublin described feeling powerless to stop mistreatment and sexual abuse, despite the government’s reports of reform at the prison.

January 2, 2024

United States: there is little scrutiny of "natural" deaths behind bars

News

North America Health Material conditions United States

Autopsies are not required for federal prison deaths that are classified as natural. NPR found cases where medical neglect, poor prison conditions and a lack of resources contributed to these deaths. But families were given little information.

January 2, 2024

Nigeria: group advocates creation of rehabilitation centers to aid transition

News

Africa Rehabilitation Nigeria

As part of efforts to aid social and emotional transition from life in prison, not-for-profit organisation, Pain Is A Gift Initiative (PGI), has urged the Federal Government to create rehabilitation centers to provide mental support for the integration of freed inmates into society.

January 2, 2024

Israel: palestinian dies in jail

News

Middle East Material conditions Israel

A 23-year-old Palestinian prisoner has died in an Israeli jail, the prison service said Monday, adding it was looking into the circumstances of the inmate’s death.

January 1, 2024

Senegal: the country tackles prison overcrowding-in pictures

News

Africa Material conditions Overcrowding Alternatives Senegal

Senegal’s prisons are old, overcrowded and cannot manage the thousands incarcerated for petty crimes. In response, the country has launched a pilot scheme to release hundreds of inmates under electronic supervision.

January 1, 2024

India: Telangana must announce a humane prison reform policy

News

Asia Justice Material conditions Rehabilitation India

The Telangana Congress government should review prison practices for a fair and transparent system that promotes prisoners’ reintegration.