Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

January 16, 2017

Inmates beheaded in new Brazil prison riot

News

South America Protest Violence Brazil

Twenty-seven inmates were killed in a Brazilian prison riot that broke out on Saturday, adding to chaos in a penitentiary system in which some 140 inmates have died in gang warfare since the start of the year. Members of a drug gang started the clash by invading a pavilion in the Alcaçuz prison tha…

January 15, 2017

Japon : pour les vieux détenus, la prison est un refuge

News

Asia Japan

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

January 14, 2017

Cyprus: new bill to allow small debtors to pay with community service

News

Cyprus

The justice ministry said on Friday that two bills have been prepared to amend existing legislation so as to provide discretion to the court to sentence persons who owe small amounts of money to community work instead of jail.

January 14, 2017

Espagne : ETA, des milliers de manifestants en soutien aux prisonniers à Bilbao

News

Europe Spain

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

January 13, 2017

USA: private prisons are poised for a comeback under Trump

News

United States

Just a few months ago, things were looking very bleak for the private prison industry. In mid-August, the Justice Department’s inspector general issued a report finding that privately operated federal prisons are more dangerous than those managed by the federal Bureau of Prisons and need more overs…

January 13, 2017

Nepal: 11 prisoners die within 5 months this year due to lack of treatment

News

Asia Nepal

At least 11 prisoners have died within 5 months of this fiscal year due to lack of proper medical treatment and government hospitals failing to provide free treatments of the inmates.

January 13, 2017

France : menaces et radicalisme à la nursery de la prison de Fleury-Mérogis

News

Women Europe Justice Violence Religion France

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

January 13, 2017

Conditions in detention: EU supports Prison Watch Sierra Leone with €284,000 towards monitoring and legal aid

News

Material conditions Sierra Leone

On 13 January 2017 the project “Monitoring Access to Justice and Protecting Human Rights through Legal Aid Representation in Places of Detention”, implemented by Prison Watch Sierra Leone and with a budget of €284,000 over 24 months funded by the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone through th…

January 12, 2017

Norvège : Breivik impute sa radicalisation à son isolement en prison

News

Europe Discipline Norway

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

January 12, 2017

USA : solitary confinement is even worse for disabled people

News

Discipline United States

An always-brutal experience can be even worse for people with disabilities. When Dean Westwood was sentenced to prison in 2014, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Convicted of theft and tax evasion related to Medicaid fraud in Oregon, Westwood tells VICE he had no prior contact with the criminal justic…

January 11, 2017

USA : Attica Prison on lockdown after bloody inmate brawls break out

News

United States

Notorious Attica Prison was been on lockdown since Sunday – after several bloody brawls erupted between inmates with weapons on the yards, correction sources told The Post.

January 11, 2017

France : Longuenesse, incendie et mutinerie à la prison

News

Europe Protest Violence France

This article is not available in English. You can consult the French version.

January 11, 2017

Turquie : "ils m’ont fait mettre complètement nu, ils m’ont allongé par terre"

News

Europe Turkey

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January 11, 2017

France : vers la mise à disposition de seringues pour les détenus toxicomanes ?

News

Europe Drugs France

This article is not available in English. Consult the French version.

January 11, 2017

France : le populisme pénal

News

Europe France

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January 11, 2017

Brazil prison head removed as country grapples with inmate violence

News

Violence Brazil

The head of the Brazilian jail where 56 inmates were killed during a riot on New Year’s Day has been removed from office, state-run media agency Agencia Brasil reported. Jose Carvalho da Silva, the interim director of the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex, was removed Tuesday after corruption alleg…

January 10, 2017

Belgium: number of people subject to electronic tagging down in 2016

News

Belgium

Figures communicated by the boards of management of the Flemish and French-speaking remand prisons yesterday (Monday) indicated that in 2016, a total of 5,600 individuals had an electronic tagging bracelet.

January 10, 2017

Belgique : contre-attaque des opposants à la prison de Haren, recours et résistance les pieds dans l'herbe

News

Europe Belgium

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.

January 10, 2017

USA : president Obama’s parting reminders on criminal justice reform

News

Asia United States

Last week, President Obama surprised criminal justice reformers with an article in the Harvard Law Review on The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform. While the President spends more of the article summarizing his efforts to reform the criminal justice system than sharing an analys…

January 10, 2017

USA : prisons run by C.E.O.s? Privatization under Trump could carry a heavy price

News

United States

Last summer, the Justice Department decided to start winding down its use of private prisons. Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates noted in a memo that while private prisons were useful when public prisons were overflowing, they made little sense now that the prison population was falling. They d…

January 10, 2017

USA : America's private prisons are back in business

News

United States

In the hardscrabble desert hamlet of Milan, New Mexico, incarceration is the biggest game in town.

January 10, 2017

¿Qué pasará con la prisión de Guantánamo cuando Barack Obama deje el poder y Donald Trump asuma la presidencia de EE.UU.?

News

United States

This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the Spanish version.

January 10, 2017

Liberia: congested Monrovia Central Prison rejects new inmates

News

Africa Overcrowding Liberia

Lack of rooms to hold incoming inmates at the Monrovia Central Prison is now giving absolute freedom to suspected criminals and offenders of the law to gallivant in communities despite the security threats they may pose to citizens.

January 10, 2017

United Kingdom: almost 80 Northern Ireland prison officers assaulted in a year, figures reveal

News

United Kingdom

Nearly 80 prison officers were attacked in Northern Ireland during the past year, new figures have revealed.