October 2025
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Justice
Overcrowding
Ireland
Data on the accommodation of people on remand in prison, shows that 84 unconvicted men in Cork were sharing cells with convicted ones on one day last month.
Pre-trial detention
South America
Women
Minors
LGBTQI
Overcrowding
Argentina
The number of incarcerated people held in Argentina’s federal prisons rose 3.2 percent in September from December 2024, according to new data from the Attorney General’s Office.
Africa
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Social ties
South Sudan
When traditional herbs failed to calm the turmoil in his mind, Samat Nyuk’s family felt they had no other option: they asked local authorities to detain their 33-year-old son.
North America
Women
Justice
Violence
United States
In Idaho prisons, more than two dozen women say guards prey on them with little fear of consequences — and those who speak up are often punished.
Africa
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rwanda
National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has reported a 30 per cent reduction in correctional facilities overcrowding in Rwanda since 2023/2024.
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.
Europe
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
A quarter of people leaving Norwich prison earlier this year were released homeless, according to a watchdog’s report.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Work
Nigeria
The Federal Government has declared a decisive push to slash the number of incarcerated people languishing in custody without trial, describing the situation as a glaring injustice and a major driver of prison congestion nationwide.
Nordic prisons, human prisons?
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Nordic prison systems are often held up as models of respect for human rights and rehabilitation. Is this really the case, or do they mainly benefit from an idealised image? Answers.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Iran
A British incarcerated person in Iran has been moved from one prison to another following the deaths of fellow incarcerated people and hunger strikes.
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
An incarcerated man died from the effects of drugs the day after he was released from prison with no accommodation to go to, a report found.
Europe
Justice
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Portugal
In the report accompanying the proposed State Budget for 2026 (OE2026), submitted to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Justice (MJ) sets a target of a 5% increase in prison spaces compared to the previous year.
Crises
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Social ties
Iran
Political prisoners at Qezvin Prison have had their phone access restricted to two hours per day, reportedly without the prison director’s knowledge, according to information obtained by IranWire.
Europe
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Ireland
Data provided to the department by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) shows that there have been 269 drug seizures in Cork Prison since 2020.
Pre-trial detention
Oceania
Overcrowding
Torture
New Zealand
The UN’s warning about the country’s prison population, high proportion of people held on remand, and the potential impact on Māori and Pasifika comes on the heels of Treasury’s concerns about the associated ballooning costs
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Ireland
The number of people sleeping on prison floors has surged amid a deepening overcrowding crisis. 504 incarcerated people were sleeping on the floors of jails on mattresses because no beds were available.
Asia
Mental health
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
India
“I was once a professional and a free mind. Now I am not,” says Asif Khan who was on death row and was acquitted in the 7/11 Mumbai blasts case.
Iran: deaths of incarcerated people reignite calls for closure of "uninhabitable" women's prison
News
Women
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Iran
In a desert outside Iran’s capital, Tehran, lies one of the largest women’s prisons in the world. Several thousand women are believed to be incarcerated in Qarchak Prison, which is notorious for severe overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical care.
Europe
Drugs
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
About 25% of incarcerated men released from a jail in a county find themselves homeless, according to a report.
Pre-trial detention
Women
Asia
Foreign prisoners
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Rehabilitation
India
Karnataka’s prisons continue to face overcrowding. Of the total population, over 76% are undertrials, reflecting the prolonged pendency of criminal cases and slow judicial processes.
Europe
Drugs
Overcrowding
Social ties
United Kingdom
Incarcerated people at a troubled jail in Nottinghamshire have repeatedly been held in their cells “due to staffing levels”, new figures have shown.