October 2016
Middle East
Yemen
Security chief says most of those killed were inmates, but Saudi-led coalition says building was command centre for rebel Houthis.
The number dead from a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a prison complex in western Yemen has risen to 58, security officials have said.
Abdel-Rahman al-Mansab, a security…
Source — The Guardian
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North America
Canada
Donald Best is an access to justice advocate and a former Toronto Police Service sergeant who spent 63 days in solitary confinement in 2013-2014.
Source — The Globe and Mail
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Turkey
Thousands of people were arrested after failed coup in July. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the government will soon submit a bill to Parliament to reinstate the death penalty amid calls for the execution of the plotters of a failed coup in July.
Addressing crowds in Ankara on Saturday,…
Source — CBC News
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Violence
United Kingdom
Self-inflicted deaths at a record high and assaults rise 34% as observers condemn “toxic mix of violence, death and misery”.
The Ministry of Justice has explicitly acknowledged that staff cuts are a factor in the rising tide of violence in prisons in England and Wales.
Source — The Guardian
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Madagascar
Investigations
Africa
The association Grandir Dignement has, since 2009, been intervening in the cases of some of the 692 children detained in Malagasy prisons, providing professional training, legal counselling and educational monitoring, as well as bringing about improvements in their living conditions and fighting against…
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North America
Canada
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Radio Canada
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Central America and the Caribbean
Haiti
A guard at a Haiti prison is suspected of helping 173 inmates escape from a prison over the weekend.
Source — Carribean 360
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Europe
France
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — France Culture
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United Kingdom
‘The Ministry of Justice has not clearly articulated to us why it has not acted decisively to develop a systematic new approach to young adults, given the weight of evidence’.
Young offenders are still developing neurologically up to age of 25 and should be kept out of adult prisons, a group of MPs have…
Source — The Independent
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Europe
France
France’s Minister of Justice, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, announced on Tuesday the end of French prison wings for radicalized inmates, promising a new “regime” instead.
France has five prisons with experimental de-radicalisation wings for dangerous Islamist extremists, and all these units will be shut down.
Source — The Local
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New Zealand
Up to 80 inmates at Wiri prison have been on lock-down since Saturday, 1 NEWS can reveal.
The high security jail is run by Serco, a private British company.
Inmates have told families they are frustrated at being locked in their cells since Saturday, without being given an explanation why. They had meals…
Source — TVNZ
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United States
Every year, countless reports on how to make prisons more rehabilitative are published by think tanks, scholars, and advocates. Some of them rely on interviews with prisoners, while others focus on data and documents. But a new report on how Texas prisons can improve is unique: It was written solely…
Source — VICE
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South America
Justice
Argentina
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the Spanish version.
Source — La Nacion
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Africa
Justice
Kenya
President Uhuru Kenyatta commuted all death sentences in Kenya to life jail terms on Monday, removing 2,747 convicts from death row in a nation that has not executed anyone for about three decades.
In addition to commuting the sentences of 2,655 men and 92 women, Kenyatta also signed pardon warrants…
Source — Reuters
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Europe
France
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Point & AFP
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