Access to legal rights
Crises
Minors
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Israel
Thousands of Palestinians are currently deprived of their liberty by the Israeli authorities, a figure that has risen sharply in the last year. What is the current situation? Answers from the Palestinian association Addameer.
Africa
Crises
Asia
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Mary Lawlor is the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders since 2020. She tells us how her work, despite its limits, can help them, and reflects on the criminalisation they face around the world.
Africa
Crises
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Congo - Kinshasa
Families of those killed in what authorities called an attempted jailbreak in Congo’s biggest prison are demanding answers from the government as activists denounce what they say are inhumane conditions in the nation’s overcrowded penitentiaries.
United Arab Emirates: dozens of people sentenced to life in prison in mass trial criticized abroad
News
Middle East
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Justice
United Arab Emirates
A mass trial in the United Arab Emirates of dissidents that was widely criticized abroad has sentenced 43 people to life in prison, while others received other prison terms.
North America
Access to legal rights
Justice
United States
The Colorado Department of Corrections refuses to provide sex offender treatment to people serving indeterminate prison sentences despite assuring them that once they go through the program they will be eligible for parole, a new federal lawsuit alleges.
Prisons on the margins of European elections
Analysis
Investigations
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Overcrowding
Alternatives
The citizens of the 27 member States of the European Union will go to the polls from 6 to 9 June. What role do prison issues play in the electoral campaigns?
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.
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.
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.
Türkiye: lawyers in danger
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Turkey
The Anti-Terror Law is used by the State to imprison lawyers who defend opponents. The Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) has been specifically targeted on several occasions. One of its members, Güçlü Sevimli, explains why and under what conditions they are being held.
North America
Minors
Access to legal rights
Activities
United States
New court filings say that the city is violating an eight-year-old court order mandating access to education for people under 22.
Badinter, "a beacon of light in the mist"
Insights
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Death penalty
France
Robert Badinter, a leading figure in the abolition of the death penalty in France, passed away on 9 February. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, director of Together Against the Death Penalty, became close with the former minister over time through their mutual cause. Here’s the story.
North America
Access to legal rights
Social ties
United States
A pair of lawsuits filed this month claim that two county jails in Michigan banned in-person family visits for inmates several years ago as a way to boost county revenues from the increased number of phone calls and electronic messaging that resulted.
Africa
Crises
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Torture
Alice Jill Edwards was the first woman to be appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Prison Insider met with her to find out more about what she has to say to justice systems and prison administrations around the world.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Kenya
Prisoners held in custody have been granted the right to attend the funerals of their close family members, unless compelling reasons dictate otherwise. The ruling was made in a case by former journalist Moses Dola, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence since 2018.
North America
Access to legal rights
Health
United States
Mississippi prison health care contractors withheld cancer diagnosis and treatment for years, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.
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.
South Africa: resonating stories
Testimonial
Africa
Access to legal rights
Material conditions
Facilities
Activities
South Africa
Five former prisoners share their experiences in South African prisons. Incarcerated for different lengths of time, at different periods and in different facilities, these diverse perspectives highlight the challenges faced by prisoners in South Africa.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Discipline
Material conditions
Zimbabwe
Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged prison officers to be disciplined and uphold human rights principles when handling inmates in the course of their duties.
Asia
Access to legal rights
Health
Mental health
Facilities
India
Poor facilities in prisons & restricted healthcare access can lead to inmates suffering from bad mental health.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
Death penalty
Nigeria
Bodies canvassing for the abolishment of death penalty for capital offenders in the country have commenced comprehensive training for Nigerian lawyers to increase their commitment to pro bono legal services.