January 2017
South America
Brazil
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Le Monde Diplomatique
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Africa
Cameroon
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — France 24, les Observateurs
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United Kingdom
Once upon a time, in 2013, in England and Wales, there were 76 people known to have died by suicide in prison. This was a higher rate of such deaths than in the general population. It concerned everyone who tried to make prisons safe. We have evidence of a higher than average rate of mental disorder…
Source — Huffington Post
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Long-term prisoners
United States
The number of U.S. prisoners serving life sentences has more than quadrupled over the past three decades, and those eligible for parole are waiting longer to be released, according to a report released Tuesday.
Source — The Baltimore Sun
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United Kingdom
Peter Clarke said recommendations made on the back of inspections appear to ‘fall on deaf ears’ in some instances
Source — Helensburgh Advertiser
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Southeast Asia and Pacific
Cambodia
More than 1,000 people have been arrested in the first dozen days of the government’s drug crackdown, in what critics have labelled a heavy-handed campaign that could have unintended consequences.
Source — The Phnom Penh Post
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Africa
Cameroon
The main prison in Yaoundé, Cameroon is “overpopulated, filthy and rife with corruption and abuse”, according to an inmate who contacted FRANCE 24’s The Observers from behind bars. This man secretly filmed, with the help of some of his inmates, the overcrowded cells and “revolting” conditions in which…
Source — The observers ; France 24
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Southeast Asia and Pacific
Philippines
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Courrier international
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Crackdown after failed coup and prison conditions in Romania and Hungary fuel spike in human rights court applications.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s response to the attempted coup in Turkey along with poor conditions in prisons in Hungary and Romania have driven a 23% year-on-year rise in the number of applications…
Source — The Guardian
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United States
One of the challenges of the Trump era in America is that we can’t forget about the important issues that aren’t swept up in the daily maelstrom of Trumpworld. On the national stage – and to a certain extent, on the local level as well – a number of important topics seem to have been pushed to the back…
Source — Philly.com
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Oceania
Australia
The number of assaults in overcrowded NSW prisons has soared by 37 per cent in the past two years, as the prison population reaches a record high.
Source — The Sydney Morning Herald
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Europe
France
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
Source — Libération
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Southeast Asia and Pacific
Thailand
Theerayut Charoenpakdee was terrified when police stopped her outside a mall in Pattaya, a Thai resort famous for its sordid nightlife. A urine test on the spot revealed meth coursing through her veins.
Source — The Denver Post
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Juan E. Méndez stepped down from his position as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on October 31, 2016, ending six years of investigating and reporting on the use of torture in the 193 UN member states.
Source — Solitary Watch
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