Global prison trends 2018

Detention conditions are degrading, the number of prisoners is increasing while the overall level of crime is declining in a majority of societies. The main findings of PRI’s annual report do sound familiar.

—Published on the 2nd of June 2018

Penal Reform International and the Thailand Institute of Justice co-published their 2018 annual report aiming to provide a global account on the state of prisons and the use of imprisonment throughout the world.
The first acknowledgment is, unsurprisingly, that detention conditions are degrading, that the number of prisoners is increasing despite a decreasing level of crime in the majority of societies.

“Where is the proportionality in sentencing when we punish non-violent offences with lengthy prison sentences? Is this the only response we can offer?”

Foreword to the report, written by Rt Hon Helen Clark, member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme

The previous annual report stated that there were about 10.35 million prisoners worldwide. The actual figure may be around 11 million, given that data is missing for various countries such as Eritrea, Somalia and North Korea. Moreover, people detained in police departments are not included in the data.

Harsh criminal policies targeting drug use are a major contributor to prison overcrowding.

Main findings

The report is divided into six parts, raising several key aspects.

Crime and imprisonment

• Oceania saw its prison population increase by 60% between 2000 and 2015.
• In the Americas, the global increase of 40% covers diverging patterns: US (+14%), Central Americas countries (+80%), South-American countries (+145%).
• Europe recorded, durind the same period, a decline of 21% of its prison population, but the explanations behind that are unclear : it may be a consequence of hundreds of European Court’s statements about degrading prison conditions, as well as a “game of statistics” pointed out by the journalist Zoia Svetova in an interview given at Prison Insider.

Trends in the use of imprisonment

• Pre-trial detention is over-used and remains the automatic response to criminal offences. International standards advocate for using it as a last resort. This recommandation is not implemented.
• Prison sentences are getting longer, especially for serious offences.
• The NGO Fair Trials conducted a study in 2017. The results showed a 300% increase in plea bargains worldwide since 1990.
• Almost half a million people are serving life sentences around the world. The number of “lifers” espacially grew in the last decades. “Tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies play a key-role in this trend.
• Harsh criminal policies targeting drug use are a major contributor to prison overcrowding.

Prison populations

• People from minority groups and Indigenous communities are over-represented in detention.
• The number of women and girls in prison worldwide increased by 53% between 2000 and 2017. They remain a minority in prison, accounting for 6.9% of the global prison population (from 3.4% in Africa to 8.4% in the Americas)
• Elderly prisoners are more and more numerous, especially in Singapore (x 2 between 2012 and 2016), Australia, England and Wales (x3 in 15 years). In Japan, it is estimated that 14% of the country’s over-60 prison population has dementia.
• Incarcerated children are still subjected to solitary confinement, despite a prohibition in international standards.
• LGBTI people continue to be arrested and imprisoned because of their identity in many countries. They keep facing discriminatory special treatments while detained. A new set of principles focusing on LGBTI people in detention were adopted in November 2017 by the United Nations to supplement the original 2006 Yogyakarta Principles.

Prison management

• Acts of torture are rising, mainly due to the security policies implemented nationally.
• Violence, deaths and riots are widely spread in detention. Gangs continue to control many prisons in Latin America. Prison staff work under very poor conditions.
• Cholera epidemics stroke prisons in Kenya, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

As of February 2018, 66 countries had designated independent monitoring bodies to visit places where people are deprived of liberty.

Role and use of technologies

Technology is increasingly used in prison management. It facilitates online education and visits. A few concerns arise, including the security breaches, the enforced surveillance within detention or the replacement of face-to-face contact visits by video visits.

Alternatives to imprisonment

The report underlines the expansion of the use of non-custodial measures in recent years, particularly for low-level offending.

A special focus is dedicated to rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, and how these processes take into account the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. This special section deals with several regional case studies in Thailand, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Kenya.