Italy
Capital city — Rome
Latest updates
Number of deaths attributed to suicide
84
-
The Naples Criminal Division published a report on the deaths of 38 incarcerated persons in the city’s prisons since the beginning of the year. The report criticises the “inhumane” imprisonment conditions and the systemic shortcomings, including insufficient medical care, that contribute to these deaths. A protest was organised in front of Poggioreale Prison to call attention to the urgent need to improve how incarcerated persons are treated.
-
Twenty-eight suicides were recorded between January and April 2024.
Collective movements are recorded
yes
The number of collctive movements increases by 1,4 % between 2021 (1 137) and 2022 (1154 including 1 rebellion).
-
A riot broke out in Benevento Prison in May 2024. The incarcerated persons criticised insanitary conditions, insufficient medical care and the absence of reintegration programmes. Several prison officers were injured. The unions expressed concern over working conditions.
Suicide prevention policies are implemented
yes
The prison service has implemented national and regional suicide prevention plans. They promote the collection of data on local, regional and national scales, which should enable suicidal tendencies to be detected. At-risk prisoners receive psychological support from professionals and volunteers. They can also qualify for additional visits and telephone calls. The prison staff is required to remain vigilant to identify high-risk situations.1
Ministry of Justice, National plan to prevent suicidal behaviour (Piano nazionale per la pevenzione delle condotte suicidarie nel sistema penitenziario per adulti), 2017 (in Italian). ↩
-
Demonstrations were organised in response to two months of inaction following the appeal by the President of the Republic for urgent measures to prevent suicides in prison. Samuele Ciambriello, the guarantor of Campania, and Don Tonino Palmese, a municipal guarantor, called for immediate reform during a press conference held in front of Poggioreale Prison in Naples.
Poggioreale has a capacity of 1,358 spaces and currently holds 2,067 incarcerated people. Campania is the second most overpopulated region, with 7,573 incarcerated people in 5,645 spaces.
Vocational training is provided
yes
The main training courses offered are in art and culture, food and beverage, construction, agriculture, and gardening.
Prisoners from the Lecce casa circondariale can pursue sommelier training. Other facilities, such as the Bollate casa di reclusione in Milan, have a restaurant for training for careers in food and beverage. The Bollate restaurant is open to the public.
-
Around twenty incarcerated persons in Campania participated in a course to be granted the professional designation of pizzaiolo (pizza chef).
If so, the prison service must notify a judicial authority
-
One hundred and five prison officers, officials and doctors were accused of violence committed at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison. Four incarcerated persons instituted these civil proceedings. Some of the accused attempted to avoid appearing before the court by sending in medical certificates. The court issued a bench warrant against one of them.
Prisoners are paid for their work
yes
Around 22% of the country’s prisoners participate in the upkeep and operations of prisons without being compensated. They are also required to pay for their detention: around 120 euros per month. They are typically released “without skills, without money and in debt”.
Prisoners of several facilities make bags from scraps of fabric. These bags are sold in several supermarkets in the regions of Puglia and Calabria. The proceeds help to pay prisoners’ salaries.
-
Since 2019, Italian social security (INPS) has refused to recognise NASpI (monthly unemployment allowance) for incarcerated persons carrying out professional activities for the prison service. Two recent rulings by the Court of Milan last April, No. 1335/2024 and No. 1895/2024, strengthened legal precedent in favour of labourers. The judges once again ruled in favour of the right to unemployment benefits for these restricted workers.
The prison service offers activities to prisoners
yes
The prison service is required to organise cultural, physical, and recreational activities (Article 27 of the Prison Rules). The number and quality of the activities depends on several factors: the involvement of external participants, the goodwill of the warden, and local institutions. AS or 41-bis prisoners are not authorised to participate in communal activities with the others.
Poetry and rap workshops are now available in the juvenile prison of Catanzaro. A new library has also been opened. Theatre, cinema, poetry, and ceramics workshops are being organised in Ancona prisons.
The prison service at the Rebibbia prison organises classes on applying makeup for transgender prisoners.
The public company “Sport and Health”, presented the “Sport for all – Prisons” project. This project aims to promote the reintegration and social inclusion of prisoners through physical and sporting activities. It also aims to provide prison staff with specific training on basic exercise in prison.
-
The people incarcerated in the country’s largest prison, in Milan, use wood from destroyed migrant boats to make musical instruments. This project, named Metamorphosis, was started by the Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti foundation. The instruments were used by the “Orchestra of the Sea” during a concert at La Scala in Milan.
The prison service must notify a judicial authority for
some deaths
An internal medical report is required for every prison death. Where necessary, the prison service forwards this to the judicial authority for further investigation.
-
The Viterbo court convicted the Viterbo prison governor of negligence concerning the investigation into the death of Hassan Sharaf. The 21-year-old man hanged himself with a sheet on 23 July 2018 in one of the facility’s solitary confinement cells.
Variation in the prison density
increase
The occupancy rate increased by 9.71% between January 2023 (109.2)1 and April 2024 (119.8).
Council of Europe, SPACE I Report 2023, table 16. ↩
-
Occupancy rates continue to rise. As of 31 March 2024, 61,049 people were in prison despite an official capacity of 51,178 spaces. This is the result of several factors: longer sentences, less inclination to grant non-custodial measures or early release measures, the introduction of new offences and the intensification of drug control, especially where minors are concerned.
All allegations and suspicions of ill-treatment inflicted on prisoners are logged
During their visit in 2019, the CPT consulted the medical records of prisoners complaining of ill-treatment by staff. They found numerous complaints.
They advised the prison service to record all incidents more carefully, whether confirmed or alleged, and to extend their video surveillance network.1
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, “Report to the Italian Government on the Visit from 12–22 March 2019”, 2020, pp. 16-17. ↩
-
Following the exposure of repeated acts of torture within the Cesare Beccaria juvenile prison institution in Milan, around a dozen prison officers were placed in pre-trial imprisonment.
-
The public prosecutor charged prison officers with ill-treatment, acts of torture and attempted sexual assault against incarcerated minors at the Cesare Beccaria juvenile prison institution in Milan. The incidents date back as far as 2022.