Central America and the Caribbean
The root cause of prison escapes
Interview
Crises
Central America and the Caribbean
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Haiti
Thousands of incarcerated people have escaped from Haitian prisons over recent months, but what sparked this trend? Roberson Édouard from the Centre for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice gives us the answer.
Central America and the Caribbean
Foreign prisoners
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Social ties
El Salvador
Hundreds of Venezuelans who were deported to El Salvador from the United States in recent days could face long or indefinite detention in a prison system rife with human rights abuses, according to attorneys and experts on the region.
Women bearing the weight of the law
Analysis
Africa
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Women
Asia
Europe
LGBTQI
Oceania
Access to legal rights
Justice
Drugs
Death penalty
Violence
More and more women across the world are being imprisoned, mostly for minor, non-violent offences. What discriminatory and punitive logic is being applied? What is being done to fight back against it?
Dominican Republic: officials cram thousands of people facing no charges into overcrowded prisons
News
Central America and the Caribbean
Pre-trial detention
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Dominican Republic
They’re known as “frog men,” incarcerated people who are forced to sleep on prison floors, often next to overflowing toilets or holes in the ground that serve as one. Thousands of them are crammed into the country’s severely overcrowded prisons, some operating at seven times their capacity.
Central America and the Caribbean
Health
Material conditions
Trinidad & Tobago
The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) is demanding immediate government intervention, following the disappearance of a water pump from the Maximum Security Prison (MSP), Arouca, and a pigeon infestation at the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre (ECRC) in Santa Rosa.
“Walking into a classroom was like walking out of prison”
Analysis
Portfolio
Culture
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Activities
Rehabilitation
Argentina
In.Visibles has dedicated an article to education programmes in prisons, highlighting current projects and the people behind them. We are sharing it with you here.
Central America and the Caribbean
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Social ties
Jamaica
Tesha Miller, the alleged leader of the Clansman Gang, is among 16 imprisoned people suing the Government over conditions at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre, the country’s main prison.
Africa
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Activities
Social ties
How can the complexity of information on prison conditions be made accessible and used to support change? The Prison Life Index is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between academics and members of civil society.
Who benefits from prison?
Analysis
Africa
Central America and the Caribbean
Europe
Justice
Overcrowding
Prison Insider hosted a workshop at this year’s edition of Concertina on the human and social cost of prison in Haiti, Tunisia, Morocco, and France. Learn more about the key points of this discussion.
Central America and the Caribbean
Mental health
Jamaica
Applications by the Legal Aid Council for the Supreme Court to release six incarcerated people with mental disorders, who were unfit to plead, were refused because the Judge Leighton Pusey found that there were no appropriate accommodations for them.
Central America and the Caribbean
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Nicaragua
“It was an ordeal I thought would never end,” says one of the 135 political prisoners exiled on September 5th to Guatemala by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Former prisoners confirm physical and psychological torture.
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.
Central America and the Caribbean
Justice
Mental health
Facilities
Antigua & Barbuda
Following a court order mandating that Public Safety Minister Sir Steadroy Benjamin find a suitable place to detain murder-accused schizophrenic Ziggy Beazer, Cabinet yesterday announced that a refurbished facility in Crabbs would serve as this temporary space.
Central America and the Caribbean
Facilities
Violence
Haiti
Haiti’s national penitentiary is on fire after a blaze broke out in the building on Thursday morning, according to Reuters. A video posted to social media reportedly showed black smoke coming out of the facility.
Central America and the Caribbean
Protest
Violence
Haiti
Haiti has declared a three-day state of emergency and a night-time curfew after armed gangs stormed the country’s two biggest jails, allowing more than 3 000 prisoners to escape.
Central America and the Caribbean
Material conditions
Facilities
El Salvador
Since the Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism) opened on 31 January 2023, the BBC had repeatedly requested access to the mega-prison. It was finally granted two days after President Nayib Bukele claimed victory in the presidential election held on 4 February.
Antigua and Barbuda: prospects dwindle for new prison facility as retrofitting remains priority
News
Central America and the Caribbean
Material conditions
Antigua & Barbuda
National Security Minister Sir Steadroy Benjamin revealed that the government currently lacks the necessary funds to undertake the construction of a new prison facility.The ongoing retrofitting efforts aim to address concerns related to overcrowding and outdated infrastructure that have adversely i…
Central America and the Caribbean
Justice
Overcrowding
El Salvador
El Salvador has imprisoned 1.6% of its 6.3 million citizens. That gives it an incarceration rate triple that of the US and more than double that of Cuba.
Panama: fighting for my life
Testimonial
Central America and the Caribbean
Women
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Panama
Yonta J. was incarcerated in a Panamanian prison for three years, from March 2015 to January 2018. She faced hardships that still impact her life today. This is the story of her daily life in prison.
Central America and the Caribbean
Overcrowding
Torture
El Salvador
New rules passed by El Salvador’s congress Wednesday will allow courts to try accused gang members in mass trials, in an effort to expedite tens of thousands of cases for those detained under the country’s crackdown on street gangs.
Central America and the Caribbean
Torture
Honduras
Authorities in Honduras forced inmates to sit half-naked in tight rows while they searched for contraband in a sweep of prisons Monday, similar to the harsh tactics of neighbouring El Salvador.
The military police — who have taken charge of the nation’s prisons — fanned out across several prisons,…
Central America and the Caribbean
Women
Violence
Honduras
The inmates were found shot or burned to death in the latest spasm of violence in the country’s troubled prison system.
Central America and the Caribbean
Material conditions
Haiti
Human rights group, RNDDH, is concerned that police reliance on makeshift prisons amid insecurity and a crippled judicial system, makes for “inhumane, degrading conditions in overcrowded cells”.
The group reported after visiting six police stations in Haiti’s Ouest Department. They recommend urging…