Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

October 29, 2016

Turkey : Erdogan says death penalty will be soon brought back

News

Europe Death penalty Violence Turkey

Thousands of people were arrested after failed coup in July. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the government will soon submit a bill to Parliament to reinstate the death penalty amid calls for the execution of the plotters of a failed coup in July. Addressing crowds in Ankara on Saturday…

October 27, 2016

UK : prison violence epidemic partly due to staff cuts, MoJ admits

News

Violence United Kingdom

Self-inflicted deaths at a record high and assaults rise 34% as observers condemn “toxic mix of violence, death and misery”. The Ministry of Justice has explicitly acknowledged that staff cuts are a factor in the rising tide of violence in prisons in England and Wales.

October 27, 2016

États-Unis : Ndume Olatushani, "tant que je vivrai, je me battrai contre la peine de mort"

News

Death penalty Violence United States

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

October 21, 2016

USA, Alabama : 'It's a bloodbath', as staff describe life inside America's most violent prison

News

Violence United States

A former guard and a pastor at Holman prison speak of stabbings, riots and abuse, aggravated by overcrowding and slim staff that live in fear. People inside call it the Slaughter Pen. The horrors of Holman penitentiary in southern Alabama – the stabbings, riots, fires, abuse – have earned it a repu…

October 20, 2016

Belgique : 300 morts en six ans dans les prisons

News

Europe Violence Belgium

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

October 18, 2016

Brazil : mass breakout from Sao Paulo psychiatric prison

News

South America Violence Brazil

A third prison riot since Sunday night in Brazil has led to a mass escape of inmates. Fifty-five prisoners in Sao Paulo’s Franco da Rocha psychiatric ward escaped after starting a fire which burned down a wing of the prison. Despite a huge manhunt in the city’s suburb involving helicopters police w…

October 17, 2016

Brésil : affrontements dans une prison, au moins 25 morts

News

South America Violence Brazil

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

October 17, 2016

France : retour au calme après une tentative de mutinerie à la prison d'Aiton (Savoie)

News

Europe Protest Violence France

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October 17, 2016

Brazil prison clashes 'kill 25 inmates'

News

South America Violence Brazil

At least 25 inmates have been killed in clashes between two rival factions in an overcrowded prison in northern Brazil, local media report. Seven of the dead were beheaded and six others burned to death, a police official reportedly said. The incident in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, hap…

October 17, 2016

Venezuela : Man 'dismembered and eaten by inmates' during Venezuela prison riot, father claims

News

South America Violence Venezuela

The prison riots reportedly began when eight visitors and two guards were taken hostage over extreme overcrowding in the jail. A father has claimed his 25-year-old son was brutally murdered and eaten by inmates during a month-long riot at a Venezuelan prison.

October 15, 2016

Indignación en Brasil : menor fue enviada a una prisión masculina y violada por 26 días

News

Violence Brazil

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

October 1, 2016

France : témoignage d'un ex-émeutier en prison

News

Europe Violence France

Franck, ex-émeutier en prison : “J’avais tellement la haine, j’aurais pu tuer” Franck a été enfermé dans huit établissements différents, notamment pour avoir organisé une émeute. Alors que les incidents se multiplient dans les centres de détention, il explique ce qui l’a conduit à cette spirale de…

September 28, 2016

Venezuela : vinculan hurto de granadas con pranes de la PGV y toma militar en Guárico

News

South America Violence Venezuela

“En los medios de comunicación social dicen que nosotros somos los que nos llevamos los fusiles y granadas del cuartel, pero si se rompió la seguridad de ellos, eso no es nuestra responsabilidad. A nosotros no nos interesan esas armas”, indicó uno de los líderes de los privados de libertad en la Pe…

September 26, 2016

France : Les violences se multiplient, sur fond de surpopulation carcérale

News

Europe Overcrowding Violence France

Une mutinerie de quelques heures s’est déroulée à la prison de Valence, dans la Drôme, en fin d’après-midi dimanche 25 septembre. Le scénario est très voisin de ce qui s’est passé deux semaines plus tôt à Vivonne, près de Poitiers (Vienne). Les faits ont débuté un peu avant 19 heures au sein du qua…

September 24, 2016

España : las agresiones a funcionarios crecen pese a que cae el número de presos

News

Violence Spain

Las agresiones a funcionarios se han disparado en las cárceles catalanas. Hasta julio de este año, y según datos oficiales, se han registrado 60 incidentes de este tipo entre leves y graves. La cifra supera ya la de todo 2015. Y eso a pesar de que las prisiones se están “despoblando”: hoy hay un 20…

September 21, 2016

Sénégal : un mort et plus de 40 blessés dans une mutinerie à la prison de Rebeuss

News

Africa Protest Violence Senegal

À la prison de Rebeuss située au cœur de Dakar, un détenu est décédé mardi 20 septembre suite à un mouvement de foule et des affrontements avec les gardiens. Depuis une semaine, les prisonniers revendiquent de meilleures conditions de détention. La grogne des prisonniers n’est pas nouvelle. La sema…

September 21, 2016

UK : prison violence at 'wholly unacceptable' level, ombudsman finds

News

Violence United Kingdom

An official inquiry has criticised the “wholly unacceptable level of violence” in English and Welsh jails after a record six inmates were killed in 2015-16. A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the six homicides also uncovered a 38% rise in the number of assaults involving a blade o…

September 21, 2016

Sénégal : mutinerie à la prison de Rebeuss

News

Africa Protest Violence Senegal

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

September 20, 2016

France : le grand blues des surveillants de prison face aux détenus radicalisés

News

Europe Discipline Violence France

Il est un peu plus de 20h30, mercredi 14 septembre, dans le bâtiment D3 de la prison de Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne). Une équipe du personnel pénitentiaire débarque à l’improviste dans plusieurs cellules de l’une des deux unités dédiées de la maison d’arrêt, qui accueille une quinzaine de détenus radic…

September 20, 2016

Prisons

Portfolio

Europe Justice Health Violence Belgium

Being deprived of freedom causes extreme distress. The images by Sebastien van Malleghem denounce the archaic and opaque walls which enclose these men and women and their broken lives.

September 16, 2016

UK : prisoner died after jail staff "failed to treat his severe asthma"

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Health Violence United Kingdom

A prison inmate who suffered from severe asthma died due to “serious failings” in the way jail staff managed his medical condition, a coroner has ruled. Senior Coroner Andre Rebello has warned that unless lessons are learned from the death of Ashley Gil, the prison service may experience future fat…

September 14, 2016

Italy : the "torture room" in Poggioreale prison

News

Torture Violence Italy

“Room Zero” is known as one of the worst places to be sent if you are an inmate of the jail in Poggioreale, Naples. Officially this room is an isolation room; unofficially, “Room Zero” is a torture chamber. An investigation has been launched into the crimes allegedly committed by 23 people (22 pris…

September 12, 2016

France : mutinerie à la prison de Vivonne dans la Vienne, un bâtiment incendié

News

Europe Protest Violence France

La mutinerie en cours depuis lundi 17h à la prison de Vivonne, près de Poitiers (Vienne), a pris fin vers 22h15 après une intervention des forces spécialisées. La situation est sous “contrôle” au deuxième étage du bâtiment, foyer de l’incident, a indiqué le ministère de la Justice. “Aucun personnel…

September 9, 2016

Uruguay : en ocho meses se alcanzó récord de presos muertos

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South America Violence Uruguay

Treinta y un presos fueron asesinados en lo que va de 2016 en las cárceles uruguayas, y más de 70 resultaron con heridas de entidad por armas blancas y quemaduras de colchones de polifón. En los últimos cuatro días, fueron ultimadas tres personas, dos resultaron con heridas y quemaduras graves y ot…