News
Asia
Discipline
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Myanmar (Burma)
A recently released political incarcerated person from Hpa-An (Taung Kalay) prison revealed that 12 political imprisoned people who had asked for more nutritious food were placed in solitary confinement and tortured by prison officials. This brutal treatment resulted in the death of one of them.
North America
Elderly prisoners
Health
United States
Minnesotans in prison are growing old — fast. Nearly 1 in 5 people incarcerated in the state is over 50, a figure that’s more than tripled since 1999. The oldest is 93. Thirteen others are in their 80s.
Asia
Europe
Health
Mental health
Suicide
Torture
Social ties
Azerbaijan
There have been “suicide attempts” among incarcerated Armenian held in Azerbaijan. The suicide attempts were reported following recent phone calls between the Armenian and their relatives.
Europe
Drugs
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Ireland
The Prison Officers Association (POA) has said the overcrowding crisis within Irish prisons has deepened even further this year. The service has published its annual report for 2024, in which it highlights the urgent need for expanded capacity amid mounting challenges that it faces.
Crises
Women
Elderly prisoners
Minors
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Social ties
Israel
Only one in four incarcerated person from Gaza are identified as fighters by Israel’s military intelligence, classified data indicates, with civilians making up the vast majority of Palestinians held without charge or trial in abusive prisons.
Africa
Access to legal rights
Social ties
Eswatini
Five men deported by the United States to Eswatini in July have been held in a maximum-security prison for seven weeks without charge or explanation and with no access to legal counsel.
Asia
Europe
Health
Mental health
Azerbaijan
Vicken Euljekjian, who was taken captive during the 44-day war in 2020, has been on a hunger strike in Baku prison for 20 days.
Africa
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Sudan
A statement from the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) laments that that the prison is currently overcrowded with poor sanitation and limited access to food, clean water, and healthcare – conditions under which diseases, particularly cholera, can run rampant.
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Work
Cyprus
Alexandros Clerides, said that the government must be held accountable for the chronic overcrowding in Cyprus’ prisons, which currently operate at 200 per cent capacity.
Women
Minors
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Social ties
Iran
The incident on August 18 marked the latest decline in conditions at a prison activists have long described as a “cemetery,” a place where Iran sends its most marginalized women to vanish from public life.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
Legislation that will include Texas-style scheme to shorten jail time expected to be rolled out this year.
North America
Justice
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
United States
Facing growing pressure from advocacy groups, lawsuits and climate projections that show hotter days ahead, some state prison systems are moving to install air conditioning and expand cooling measures — though many facilities remain years away from significant upgrades.
Central America and the Caribbean
Pre-trial detention
Overcrowding
Trinidad & Tobago
General Secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), Lester Logie, is raising an alarm over the country’s prison system, noting that nearly two-thirds of the incarcerated population is made up of remand—individuals awaiting trial who have not been convicted of any crime.
North America
Mental health
Suicide
Death penalty
United States
A man convicted of murder in Bay County who was sitting on death row has committed suicide in prison.
North America
Discipline
Mental health
United States
Menard has been on lockdown nearly every day since September 2023, according to data from the Illinois Department of Corrections. Lockdowns, according to officials, are largely the result of short staffing. On average, Menard has only been able to staff 44% of the prison so far this year.
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Drugs
Death penalty
Iran
The death sentences of six incarcerated people previously convicted on drug-related charges were carried out in Bandar Abbas Prison.