Prison Insider, the information platform on prisons in the world

Interview

April 22, 2025

Cameroon: still falling short

Access to justice is hindered. There is no mechanism to monitor prisons, and the death penalty remains part of the penal code. Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture in Cameroon is campaigning on all these fronts.

Analysis Inside Outside

April 22, 2025

Mutineers, rebels and objectors

Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside to articulate, in a few words, the current challenges of prison life. Eighth piece: rebellion.

Testimonial

April 15, 2025

Tunisia: relentless harassment

Sonia Dahmani is a lawyer who has made the defence of women’s rights her personal crusade. She was violently arrested over a comment made during a media appearance, and immediately imprisoned. Her sister, Ramla, has become her voice. This is her account.

Thematic paper

April 15, 2025

Caught in the spiral

What are the human and social costs of the recourse to imprisonment? This series explores the experiences of various civil society organisations, formerly incarcerated people, researchers and policy makers challenging the criminalisation of poverty, status or activism.

Interview

March 25, 2025

The root cause of prison escapes

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.

Testimonial

March 17, 2025

A chain of imprisonment

Soheil Arabi is an Iranian blogger and photojournalist. He has been imprisoned for several years for his activism. Some time ago, Soheil contacted us to tell his story. We share it with you here.

March 1, 2025

Women bearing the weight of the law

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?

Testimonials

Prison narratives

April 15, 2025

Tunisia: relentless harassment

Sonia Dahmani is a lawyer who has made the defence of women’s rights her personal crusade. She was violently arrested over a comment made during a media appearance, and immediately imprisoned. Her sister, Ramla, has become her voice. This is her account.

March 17, 2025

A chain of imprisonment

Soheil Arabi is an Iranian blogger and photojournalist. He has been imprisoned for several years for his activism. Some time ago, Soheil contacted us to tell his story. We share it with you here.

February 26, 2025

Türkiye: broken spirits

Berfin A. spent two years in prison, accused of showing propaganda videos to a number of students. She was subjected to various forms of torture while incarcerated. She shares with us her traumatic experience. Testimonial.

February 25, 2025

Language in the French reintegration programme

Thibaut Caudal authored a thesis on the meaning of custodial sentences and reintegration. This research led him to design a method for teaching French to people in prison at La Santé in Paris. Testimony.

multimedia

Perspectives

October 15, 2021

Europe: questioning the use of pre-trial detention

Laure Baudrihaye-Gérard, European legal director of Fair Trials, and Diana Riba i Giner MEP (Greens/EFA), discuss the potential normalisation of digital hearings in the wake of the pandemic, and the over-use of pre-trial detention.

October 15, 2021

Latin America: pre-trial detention and access to justice

October 15, 2021

South Africa: criminalizing poverty and homelessness

October 15, 2021

Solitary confinement, COVID-19 and mental health impacts

October 15, 2021

Brazil: the impact of COVID-19 on family links and prison monitoring

Prison news

Press Review

April 21, 2025

Myanmar: a total 8,873 political prisoners released since 2021 coup; two killed in "confrontation" at Magway Prison

At least two political prisoners were killed and five were injured by prison staff when they opened fire during a “confrontation” inside Magway Prison in Magway Region on April 13, the Political Prisoners Network of Myanmar (PPNM) told DVB.

April 21, 2025

South Sudan: Rumbek prison reports chickenpox, measles suspected

April 16, 2025

Türkiye: "Republic of prison campuses". The country has so many incarcerated people, 100,000 sleep on floor

April 16, 2025

Canada: Senator tries to improve prison voting as incarcerated people cast their ballots

April 13, 2025

Belgium: the country must change its prison policy, says new report

April 9, 2025

United States: drug tests in California prisons yielded false positives, affecting thousands of people

April 7, 2025

Azerbaijan: multiple imprisoned people go on hunger strike

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Interview

November 18, 2024

Palestinians in Israeli prisons: oppression as a system

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.

Testimonial

January 30, 2025

United States: building bonds, one letter at a time

Since 1992, ACAT-France has been facilitating letter exchanges between volunteers or supporters and people on death row. These letters are rooted in solidarity, faith and connection. A five-part interview.

Interview

October 10, 2024

Indonesia: the collateral damage of security rhetoric

In 2015, the President of Indonesia declared a war on drugs. The death penalty became one of the major tools of this campaign. Albert Wirya works for LBH Masyarakat. We asked him about the use of the death penalty and the efforts being made to abolish it. Interview.

Interview

September 18, 2024

"A bridge between civil society and states"

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.

February 13, 2025

Flight

A group of incarcerated people at the Meaux-Chauconin prison is collaborating with photographer Louis Bontemps on a photographic series, putting into images their impressions and feelings since the moment of their incarceration.

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