Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

June 20, 2019

South Africa: watchdog investigating Goedemoed prison 'abuse'

News

South Africa

Violent retribution allegedly perpetrated by warders on inmates at Goedemoed Prison in the Free State is being investigated by the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS).

June 20, 2019

Australia: Sydney PC assembler using prison labour

News

Oceania Australia

An unidentified PC assembly company is using inmates at a Sydney prison to build some of its products.

June 20, 2019

USA: après la prison

News

North America United States

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 20, 2019

Australia: "I just need it to end"

Testimonial

Oceania Australia

Ralph is a British citizen detained in a prison farm, in Kernet. He has been incarcerated for more than six years and is about to be released. He tells Prison Insider how a regular day goes by in prison.

June 18, 2019

Zimbabwe: prisons under siege as Zimbabwe’s economic woes persist

News

Africa Zimbabwe

The Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare is crumbling at the seams, assailed by overcrowding and a critical shortage of medicines, food and other basics as the economically-crippled country battles to care for its inmates.

June 18, 2019

USA: Texas prison guards to get a small raise, but some doubt it will help with chronic understaffing

News

United States

The state’s two-year budget provided $84 million to increase salaries for correctional officers and other prison employees as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice faces nearly 4,000 empty guard positions.

June 18, 2019

United States: prisons ban dozens of technology and programming books over security concerns

News

North America United States

Oregon’s Department of Corrections has banned dozens of introductory technology and coding books from state prisons over security concerns.

June 18, 2019

UK: prison review says family contact reduces reoffending by women

News

Women Social ties United Kingdom

Report finds that inmates who receive family visits are 39% less likely to break law again

June 18, 2019

USA: a prison death, a mysterious autopsy and official silence

News

United States

A former paratrooper died after being restrained by guards in Pennsylvania. His body showed signs of violence, and his organs have not been returned after an autopsy.

June 17, 2019

Australia: Aboriginal man dies in custody days after jail was told he was suicidal

News

Oceania Suicide Australia

An Aboriginal man has died in a Western Australian prison just days after his mother reportedly called the jail to warn that he was suicidal.

June 17, 2019

10 dead in Paraguay prison riot

News

South America Drugs Violence Paraguay

At least 10 people died during a riot in the San Pedro prison here on Sunday, with five of them having been beheaded, state media has reported. Paraguayan newspaper reported that four people died due to sustaining burns since a long time, while one more died later in a hospital, after quoting prose…

June 16, 2019

Côte d'Ivoire: le taux de surpopulation carcérale atteint les 266%

News

Africa Overcrowding Côte d’Ivoire

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 16, 2019

Bangladesh: prison breakfast changes after 200 years

News

Asia Bangladesh

Bangladesh authorities have upgraded a 200-year-old colonial-era breakfast menu in all its prisons, an official said Sunday, as part of a reform of the country’s penal system.

June 15, 2019

France: Une prison d'un nouveau genre verra le jour à Orléans en 2022 dans le quartier des Groues

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 14, 2019

Mauritanie: un rapport sur la peine de mort apporte un éclairage sur les limites de la justice dans ce pays

News

Africa Death penalty Violence Mauritania

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 13, 2019

United States: 300 inmates in Texas' Harris County jail are quarantined over a mumps outbreak

News

North America United States

A mumps outbreak at the Harris County jail in Houston has forced staff to isolate 14 symptomatic people and quarantine a few hundred other inmates, officials said Thursday.

June 13, 2019

Australia: Canberra's prison applied dress standards to visitors which could breach the Discrimination Act

News

Oceania Social ties Australia

The ACT Human Rights Commission is seeking clarification about the dress standards imposed on visitors at Canberra’s jail which included a ban on swimsuits, tight-fitting clothing and skirts shorter than mid-thigh.

June 13, 2019

Belarus: un prisonnier condamné à mort exécuté

News

Europe Death penalty Violence Belarus

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 12, 2019

India: Amnesty International highlights human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir

News

Asia India

The Amnesty International said on Wednesday that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) circumvents the criminal justice system in the Indian-occupied Kashmir to undermine accountability, transparency and respect for human rights. The briefing, “Tyranny of A ‘Lawless Law’: Detention without…

June 12, 2019

France: Condé-sur-Sarthe, une prison sous haute tension

News

Europe France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

June 12, 2019

Uruguay: una cárcel simula un pueblo para recuperar presos

News

South America Uruguay

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

June 12, 2019

United States: San Francisco announces plan to stop charging jail inmates for phone calls

News

North America Social ties United States

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Sheriff Vicki Hennessy on Wednesday announced plans to stop charging inmates to make phone calls from jail and to eliminate the county’s markups on items sold at the jail commissary.

June 12, 2019

Spain: el rugby entrará en las cárceles catalanas como herramienta socializadora

News

Europe Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

June 12, 2019

Argentina: la sobrepoblación pone en riesgo a las cárceles

News

South America Overcrowding Argentina

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish