June 15, 2017 Iran: parliamentary committee blocks security agencies' attempts to significantly delay death penalty amendment News Middle East Iran A Parliamentary committee in Iran has blocked an attempt by security agencies to delay for a year a parliamentary vote on an amendment that could drastically reduce death penalty sentences for drug-related crimes. “Unfortunately, some security and government agencies wrote a letter requesting that…
June 15, 2017 Colombia: prison crisis: prosecution suspends all Medellin arrest warrants News Colombia Colombia’s public prosecutor suspended all pending arrest warrants of its office in the country’s second largest city, Medellin, accusing the national prison authority of failing to curb overcrowding. According to Medellin’s prosecutor’s office, it was forced to take the decision due to the “impote…
June 15, 2017 Sweden: Kaj Linna released from prison after podcast sparks retrial News Europe Sweden A man who has spent 13 years in prison in Sweden charged with murder has been released after new evidence came to light in a true crime podcast. Spar, hosted by journalists Anton Berg and Martin Johnson and released via podcast platform Acast, has been examining the imprisonment of Kaj Linna for th…
June 15, 2017 Pakistan : Bilawal condemns police torture on young docs News Asia Torture Pakistan KARACHI - The Chairman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned brutal police torture against young doctors in Peshawar.
June 15, 2017 Holland: one dead after fire breaks out in a cell at Scheveningen prison News Netherlands One person has been killed after fire broke out in a cell at the high security prison in Scheveningen, news agency ANP said on Thursday.
June 15, 2017 Turkey: jail sentence to UN judge Aydin Sefa Akay News Europe Middle East Turkey A Turkish court has sentenced top UN judge Aydin Sefa Akay to more than seven years in jail over alleged ties to a group blamed for a failed coup attempt. The UN war crimes court in The Hague says the move is illegal.
June 15, 2017 Indonesia : behind prison walls [video] News Asia Indonesia For the first time ever a film crew was granted full access to Kerobokan jail, which sits in the centre of Bali’s tourist mecca. Foreign Correspondent meets five prisoners who call the space inside these walls home.
June 14, 2017 India: prison riot: 350 inmates fight inside Dum Dum jail News Asia India KOLKATA: Around 350 inmates of Dum Dum Central Jail divided themselves into two groups of undertrials and convicts and fought a pitched battle on the jail premises since Tuesday morning. The violence -unprecedented in the recent history of the jail -left at least 13 people injured.
June 14, 2017 Israel: see inside Israel's only female prison News Women Middle East Israel In Israel, there are around 25,000 men in prison. Some 14,000 of these are convicted on criminal charges. The rest are incarcerated on security-related charges – and are mostly Palestinian. In comparison, there are just 200 women in prison in the Holy Land. And they’re all in one place – Neve Tirza…
June 14, 2017 United Kingdom: youth prison deemed 'unsafe' less than two years after staff accused of physical abusing children News United Kingdom A youth prison that came under fire last year after allegations that staff had physically abused young offenders has been rated inadequate by inspectors. Medway Secure Training Centre, which was previously run by G4S but was taken over by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) last July, h…
June 14, 2017 Bénin : une nouvelle prison moderne mise en service à Abomey News Africa Benin *This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
June 14, 2017 RDC : évasion à la prison de Beni, une quarantaine d’évadés récupérés News Africa Protest Congo - Kinshasa This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
June 14, 2017 South Africa: no solution for 'scary' staff shortages at prisons News South Africa Port Elizabeth – St Albans Prison in the Eastern Cape will not see a solution any time soon as far as staff shortages are concerned, an issue which aids the wheeling and dealings of gangsterism within prison walls.
June 14, 2017 Malaysia: some 33,500 convicts in prison because of drug abuse News Drugs Malaysia Some 33,500 of the 59,600 convicts in prisons in this country are because of drug offences and they represent 56 per cent of the total number of prison inmates nationwide. Director of Inmate Management of the Prison Department, SAC Nordin Muhamad said of the total, 71.3 percent of those in prison a…
June 14, 2017 South Africa: no solution for 'scary' staff shortages at prisons News South Africa St Albans Prison in the Eastern Cape will not see a solution any time soon as far as staff shortages are concerned, an issue which aids the wheeling and dealings of gangsterism within prison walls.
June 13, 2017 New Zealand: alcohol and drug court pilot gains an extension after early results News Drugs New Zealand A pilot of a special court that diverts offenders with alcohol and drug dependency from prison into treatment has been extended. Justice Minister Amy Adams said initial analysis showed the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court reduced the likelihood of reoffending by about 15 per cent in the short…
June 13, 2017 USA: the private-prison industry has one big client that no one talks about News United States The largest jail system in the United States has no buildings of its own. Instead, it’s a shadowy complex of agreements that tucks detainees in wherever there’s available space. It has swelled substantially over the past two decades, and it is likely to grow further.
June 13, 2017 Three charts on: Australia’s booming prison population News Oceania Australia The prison population in Australia is at its highest-ever recorded level. Over the past decade, the number and rate of people imprisoned across all Australian states and territories has risen rapidly.
June 12, 2017 Chile takes historic step on National Preventive Mechanism News Pre-trial detention Chile During APT’s visit to Chile on 29 and 30 May, President Bachelet signed the bill to establish an effective and independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for Chile. The long-awaited bill was sent to Congress on 29 May and is currently being examined by both the Commissions of Human Rights and…
June 12, 2017 Pakistan: 'Facebook blasphemer' given death penalty News Asia Pakistan Taimoor Raza was convicted after allegedly posting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and companions within the site’s comments. The public prosecutor involved said he believed it was the first time the death penalty had been awarded in a case related to social media. Human rights campai…
June 12, 2017 Why the new Justice Secretary needs to care about prison education News United States This week the Rt Hon David Lidington MP took up responsibility for for the tens of thousands of men and women in our prisons. The aftershocks from the General Election will leave MPs and Ministers wrestling with major political decisions facing the country, but the new Justice Secretary cannot affo…
June 12, 2017 USA: with Sessions’ sentencing change, it’s time to end secrecy around private prisons News United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced new guidelines that will result in a significant increase in the prison population, directing federal prosecutors to seek the toughest penalties possible for nonviolent defendants. Those prisoners will have to be incarcerated somewhere, which is per…
June 12, 2017 Terror behind bars: damning report on treatment of homosexuals in Jamaica prisons News Jamaica Jamaica has long been regarded as a homophobic country, and now a damning report on HIV/AIDS in the country’s prisons has unearthed some alarming problems. According to a new report, Barriers Behind Bars, inmates who have been identified as lesbian or gay are being unfairly treated. The report prep…
June 11, 2017 Peru: out of prison, but stuck in Peru News South America Peru Foreigners released from prison in Peru aren’t always free to leave the country; it takes them more than six months to get their exit-papers and leaves them prone to more problems. Jurriaan van Eerten reports from Lima.