March 2023
Filming the obscurity
Interview
Africa
Asia
Europe
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Rehabilitation
The Netflix documentary series “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons” gives viewers a visual representation of what daily life is like for prisoners around the world. Prison Insider met its host, Raphael Rowe. Interview.
Read more
Middle East
Material conditions
Facilities
Turkey
The Parmakören T-type prison, a newly built prison complex, provides running water for only two hours a day. Families have expressed outrage, saying inmates are unable to shower, clean their cells, use the toilet or even wash their dishes. “Prison authorities need to find an immediate solution to t…
Source — Stockholm Center for Freedom
Read more
Europe
Overcrowding
Hungary
“One day, the guards came in and told me to pack my bags because they were taking me to another prison – on the other side of the country. I couldn’t understand why. I heard back later that it was because of the overcrowding in the prisons. But where I went, it was even worse, there were more of us…
Source — Atlatszo.hu
Read more
Europe
Health
Ireland
Senator Mary Seery Kearney spoke with prison officials in recent days after receiving a number of queries from members of the public. She said a scheme, which will be part of the Assisted Reproduction Bill, will allow prisoners to take part in fertility treatment and the service will be available t…
Source — The Irish Examiner
Read more
Europe
Justice
Bosnia & Herzegovina
The draft amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska (RS), which stipulates that a prison sentence of up to one year can be paid off by anyone, if they wish, instead of it being decided by a court, should be presented to the members of the National Assembly of RS (NARS) at the next ses…
Source — Sarajevo Times
Read more
Australia: Queensland judge to receive apology after department refused to detail confinement of boy
News
Minors
Oceania
Justice
Australia
The public servant in charge of Queensland’s youth detention system has apologised for a government department’s refusal to provide the children’s court with information related to the prolonged solitary confinement of a boy, 13, with developmental disorders.
The judgment, reported by Guardian Aust…
Source — The Guardian
Read more
Oceania
Mental health
Australia
Prisons are ungodly beasts – hard to understand for the average incarcerated soul, impossible to comprehend for neurodiverse people, who don’t process the world as the majority do.
In my experience, people come out of prisons in worse condition than they went in.
This is most certainly true of 40-y…
Source — The Age
Read more
Germany: neither incarcerated nor free
Interview
Problems of substance
Analysis
Thematic paper
North America
Europe
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Material conditions
Many people are living with addiction in prison. They face great difficulties. Drugs are an integral part of the overcrowded and unsanitary prison systems, which increases the risks inherent in drug use. How is drug addiction experienced behind bars?
Read more
Belgium: a tough journey
Interview
Europe
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Belgium
Prisons often act as a conduit for worsening drug use, yet prisoners are confronted with numerous barriers when trying to access help.Ambulatoire Forest discussed its psychosocial support programme specifically designed for offenders struggling with substance use.
Read more
Switzerland: detect, treat and support
Interview
France: beyond the stigma
Interview
Europe
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Drugs
France
They are banned, but present nonetheless; denying the presence of illicit substances inside prison walls is dangerous from a medical and health point of view. Doctors of the World explained its approach.
Read more
France: drugs in prison, an open secret
Interview
Madagascar: "everything is heavy and dark here"
Testimonial
Africa
Discipline
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Madagascar
Paul Rafanoharana Maillot writes to us from Tsiafahy prison, a facility notorious for its overcrowding and inhumane conditions. He has been incarcerated since 4 August 2021 and is being kept in solitary confinement. He tells us about the “prison within the prison”.
Read more
France: "It's a topsy-turvy world"
Testimonial
France: on camera
Interview
Central America and the Caribbean
Activities
Rehabilitation
France
Basse-Terre prison in Guadeloupe provides prisoner rehabilitation programmes. Film director Mark Alexandre Montout visited the prison to film a cookery competition. Interview.
Read more