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Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Alternatives
Maria Teresa Manuela is the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa. She shares insights into the African Commission’s efforts to uphold the rights of people deprived of their liberty.
Prison: a five-star hotel?
Analysis
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Activities
Social ties
Work
Are prisons actually luxury hotels? In the first episode of our fact-checking series, Prison Insider responds by drawing on the daily reality of life in prisons.
What prison is not
Thematic paper
Access to legal rights
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Activities
Alternatives
Work
Overcrowded facilities or incarcerated people “treated too well”, systemic violence or “five-star prisons”: what do the facts actually say? Find out via four fact-checking articles to combat disinformation on detention conditions.
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Justice
Material conditions
Social ties
Iran
Iran slammed France for filing a case against it at the International Court of Justice over the detention of two French nationals in conditions Paris denounced as inhumane. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been able to receive only four consular visits during their three-year detention.
Europe
Discipline
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Belarus
A Belarusian political prisoner, jailed for criticizing President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has died under unclear circumstances, independent media and human rights groups say.
Crises
Asia
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Myanmar (Burma)
The Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) reported on 19 May that budget reductions in military-controlled prisons are worsening conditions for incarcerated people, with severe food shortages leading to rising malnutrition and health complications, particularly in Myingyan Prison.
Crises
Europe
Discipline
Material conditions
Violence
Greece
A fire broke out at the Corfu prison, after incarcerated people reportedly set fire to mattresses and plastic in protest against intensive cell checks, according to kerkyrasimera.gr. The protest is concentrated in the E and G wings of the facility.
Africa
Crises
Access to legal rights
Death penalty
Violence
Social ties
Congo - Kinshasa
La RDC traverse, depuis des décennies, une crise politique et économique majeure, couplée à une guerre civile. Quelles sont les conséquences en détention ? Réponses de la Ligue des Sacrifices Volontaires pour les Droits Humains et l’Environnement.
Crises
North America
LGBTQI
Justice
Material conditions
Death penalty
Alternatives
United States
Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken actions to eviscerate due process and the rule of law, make prison and jail conditions worse, expand the use of extreme sentences and harsh law enforcement tactics, eliminate oversight, undermine solutions that reduce incarceration.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Israel
Israeli occupation authorities are reportedly holding two Palestinian women, both five months pregnant, under harsh conditions at Damon Prison, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported.
Crises
North America
Discipline
Justice
Health
Material conditions
United States
The MacArthur Justice Center filed a class-action case on behalf of six incarcerated people at Algoa Correctional Center. All of them are especially sensitive to heat due to their age or underlying medical conditions, or have spent time in solitary confinement.
Pre-trial detention
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Libya
Libyan Crimes Watch has revealed the death of Faisal Awad Abshish, detained at the Garnada military prison, at the hospital in the city of Al-Bayda after his health deteriorated due to medical negligence during his detention.
Australia: violent assaults, self-harm incidents, use of 'chemical agents' occuring at Darwin prison
News
Crises
Oceania
Discipline
Health
Overcrowding
Violence
Australia
Violent assaults and incidents of self-harm are occurring regularly inside Darwin’s overcrowded prison, with government documents also revealing the use of “chemical agents” by officers.
Middle East
Health
Overcrowding
Violence
Iraq
Justice Ministry dismissed viral footage showing incarcerated person abuse inside Baghdad’s al-Taji prison as “outdated.” “Disciplinary and legal measures were taken against both the inmates and staff involved,” ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi Abdul Hussein stated.
El Salvador: anguished families are losing hope as they can’t reach loved ones sent to mega-prison
News
Crises
Central America and the Caribbean
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Social ties
El Salvador
Carmen Bonilla has barely slept for nearly two months, her mind filled with terrifying thoughts about what might be happening to her son, whose dream to go to the United States for a better life has turned into a waking nightmare.
Europe
LGBTQI
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Turkey
Gökalp, a member of the LGBTI+ commission of the Socialist Party (SOLDEP), was arrested on May 2 in İzmir and sent to prison. Gökalp’s lawyer, Deniz Can Aydın, called for her immediate release, citing serious health concerns and claims of harassment in prison due to her gender identity.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Religion
Iran
Blood runs down prison corridors. Sewage seeps beneath cell doors. Drugged women drift in and out of consciousness. The women’s ward of Sepidar prison, in southern Ahvaz, houses around 400 women, mostly Arab, denied even the most basic human dignities afforded elsewhere in Iran’s penal system.