December 2016
Mental health
United States
One inmate, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, became so distraught after months in the prison’s isolation unit that he began talking to himself and counting compulsively.
Another, who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, declined so much in isolation that he smeared himself with feces.
Source — The Boston Globe
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South America
Discipline
Drugs
Facilities
Colombia
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Courrier
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Europe
Middle East
Turkey
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Figaro
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Africa
Violence
Congo - Brazzaville
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — RFI
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United States
Efforts to cut number of nonviolent offenders contributed to roughly 2% drop in 2015.
The U.S. prison population in 2015 fell to the lowest level since 2005, fueled in part by the federal push to reduce the number of nonviolent drug offenders behind bars and state policies aimed at shorter sentence…
Source — Wall Street Journal
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Women
Colombia
Visitors are flocking to a new gourmet restaurant in Cartagena with a difference; it’s located inside the San Diego women’s prison and the inmates in pink turbans cook and serve the food.
Restaurante Interno opened in December and has already attracted a strong turnout in the tourist town. Visitors…
Source — Lonely Planet
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United States
Prisons across the U.S. routinely flout the Americans With Disabilities Act, subjecting thousands of inmates with physical and mental health problems to painful and sometimes humiliating conditions, according to watchdog groups, inmates, corrections officials, and a former Justice Department offici…
Source — VICE
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Africa
Middle East
Egypt
“She has read a lot of books,” says Basel Hijazi about his sister Aya. “Novels do help her escape the reality she is living.”
The “reality” he’s referring to, others might call a nightmare. Aya Hijazi, who turns 30 in January, has been in an Egyptian prison since May 2014.
Source — Global Post
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United States
Six inmates escaped from a Tennessee jail through a broken toilet early Christmas morning, the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office told KOMO News.
The police are still searching for one of the inmates. The other five were captured shortly after they escaped.
Source — Business Insider UK
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Culture
Women
Middle East
Israel
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Supermax.be
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Protest
Violence
South Africa
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Slate Afrique
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Central America and the Caribbean
Guatemala
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the Spanish version.
Source — El periódico
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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 Inter
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Material conditions
Antigua & Barbuda
There is no running water, educational classes are suspended because infectious diseases have scared off the teachers and almost 400 inmates are squeezed into a site intended for 150 - minus one who escaped over the weekend.
It is a Monday morning at 1735, Antigua and Barbuda’s national prison, whi…
Source — BBC
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Violence
United Kingdom
Ministers were told urgent action was needed to protect staff and prisoners amid growing violence in prisons.
The government was warned two months before a riot at HMP Birmingham involving hundreds of prisoners that the prevalence of psychoactive drugs meant urgent action was needed to prevent atta…
Source — The Guardian
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Europe
Material conditions
France
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Figaro
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Women
Oceania
Facilities
Australia
The first inmates have moved into WA’s new women’s jail, where the private operators are being offered cash incentives by the Government to ensure prisoners are rehabilitated.
In an Australian first, the company Sodexo will get bonus payments for ensuring inmates at Melaleuca prison do not reoffend…
Source — ABC
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United Kingdom
Decision follows rioting by inmates – UK’s worst since 1990 – which is believed to be linked to use of synthetic cannabis.
Hundreds of inmates were moved from Birmingham prison on Saturday as the government announced an urgent investigation into conditions and safety inside the privately run jail f…
Source — The Guardian
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Religion
United States
In many ways, the class that met here Tuesday night could be in any university in the United States. There were desks arranged in a circle to facilitate discussion. There were student presentations based on dense readings. And there was the faint buzzing from the fluorescent lights overhead.
Source — New York Times
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Protest
Violence
United Kingdom
Sorry, this article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Figaro
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