January 2026
Asia
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Facilities
Social ties
Russia
Speaking at a meeting of the Russian Ministry of Justice’s collegium, she highlighted frequent appeals from women from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, who are seeking assistance in transferring their relatives to serve their sentences closer to home.
Gabon: existing and surviving in prison
Interview
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Gabon has a particularly high rate of incarceration: 226 people are imprisoned per 100,000 inhabitants. Overcrowding is a flagrant issue, and the living conditions are considered extremely concerning. SOS Prisonniers Gabon provides an overview.
America
Pre-trial detention
Women
Mental health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Argentina
Prison population grew 7.1% in 2024, with property crimes and short sentences driving overcrowding; five provinces exceed the national incarceration average, authorities warn that tougher laws and short sentences are fuelling sustained rise in numbers.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
Fraser Maclean, policy manager at Commonweal Housing, writes about why women face challenges to the greatest extent after leaving prison.
Asia
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Social ties
Pakistan
Afghans recently returned from Pakistan say they were transferred to harsh and inhumane prison conditions after being detained by Pakistani police. The joy of returning home has been overshadowed by their experience of arrest, imprisonment and torture.
Women
Mental health
Material conditions
Social ties
United States
The conditions at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility are akin to solitary confinement, local experts say — an apparent violation of state law.
Europe
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Greece
Health authorities in Magnesia have been placed on alert following the confirmation of tuberculosis cases among incarcerated people at Kassaveteia prison.
Asia
Material conditions
Torture
Social ties
United Arab Emirates
It’s been more than six years since Ali Hassan Ali Bakhtiyan was released from a secret prison run by the United Arab Emirates in eastern Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate, but he cannot forget the horrors he underwent during his more than two years in detention.
United States: "recurring failures", system threaten health, safety of staff and incarcerated people
News
America
Health
Material conditions
United States
A state report cites unsafe conditions and operational failures that force correctional officers into prolonged shifts and hazardous working environments.
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Cyprus
A total of 164 foreign nationals have been deported from detention centres and the central prisons in Cyprus between December 10 and January 20, according to a report released by the justice ministry. Overall, 643 foreign nationals have left the country in a 45-day period.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Facilities
Activities
Work
Luxembourg
A report of Luxembourg’s detention facilities shows that prison conditions “have improved” since the last report was published in 2018. But standards of prison conditions for women are “lower than that of men”, Ombudsman Claudine Konsbruck has said.
Who makes the rules in prison?
Analysis
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
The public has numerous preconceived assertions surrounding prison. One in particular comes up often: that incarcerated people call the shots on the inside. Does this perception reflect the reality in Europe? Read on to find the answer in the last piece of our fact-checking series.
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
United Kingdom
An unannounced inspection to a prison found it was being targeted by organised crime gangs. It found that drones were being used to get large quantities of drugs and contraband into the prison.
America
Drugs
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Activities
Social ties
El Salvador
El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) has become a symbol of President Nayib Bukele’s government propaganda. Folha spent two hours inside the prison complex, which houses around 20,000 incarcerated people—mostly gang members—under extreme conditions.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Activities
Social ties
Ireland
An incarcerated man left without a toothbrush or toothpaste for months, a sports hall used for spin-bike classes for officers but closed to imprisoned people, and a violent incident in a shared cell leaving a man with life-changing injuries were among concerns noted by inspectors at Cork Prison.
Europe
Facilities
Violence
United Kingdom
Figures released by HM Prison and Probation Service showed that in 2025 there were 2,546 cell fires. A prison-by-prison breakdown showed that Sodexo-run Forest Bank had the most cell fires last year, with 94. It was followed by Woodhill (88), Lowdham Grange (78) and Swaleside (77).
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Overcrowding
Nigeria
Fresh questions are being raised about Nigeria’s prison pardon and decongestion process following a recent exercise by the Lagos State Judiciary, as lawyers point to missing incarcerated people files, unexplained inclusions and exclusions, and allegations of irregular influence.