Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

July 27, 2020

Australia : "Prison is no place for a child"

News

Minors Oceania Australia

Despite repeated campaigns against it, Australia still puts children as young as 10 behind bars. But pressure is growing to raise the age of criminal responsibility with a key meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.

July 6, 2020

Dura crítica del Defensor del Pueblo a la crueldad en las cárceles españolas

News

Europe Minors Mental health Spain

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

July 1, 2020

France: Inequality of life during an epidemic

Analysis Opinion

Coronavirus Women Europe Minors Foreign prisoners Health Overcrowding France

Those imprisoned or detained are in forced confinement, states Didier Fassin. He has published a forum on the Liberation website. He questions whether the “sense of responsibility and solidarity” advocated by Emmanuel Macron stops at the doors of prisons and overcrowded detention centres.

July 1, 2020

Cameroon : à Douala, déboires et espoirs des mineurs de la prison

News

Africa Coronavirus Minors Health Cameroon

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

June 4, 2020

Australia: aboriginal people in prison and out-of-home care suffering under 'punitive' Covid-19 restrictions

News

Coronavirus Minors Oceania Material conditions Social ties Australia

Report reveals inmates going without soap and children in out-of-home care system being refused contact with families

June 4, 2020

Argentina: plan de continuidad pedagógica en las cárceles

News

South America Minors Activities Argentina

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

May 14, 2020

Israel: Middle East Monitor UN officials call on Israel to release Palestinian children from prison

News

Coronavirus Minors Middle East Israel

In a joint press statement sent to MEMO on Sunday, senior UN officials have called on Israel to release Palestinian children from prison in the light of the spread of Covid-19. “We are seriously concerned over the continued detention of Palestinian children by the Israeli authorities,” said Jamie M…

April 24, 2020

South Africa: plans under way to remove babies of offenders from East London prison after Covid-19 outbreak

News

Africa Coronavirus Women Minors South Africa

The correctional services department is making plans for babies of two offenders at an East London female prison to be taken to their mothers’ families after cases of Covid-19 at the correctional facility. There are 26 confirmed coronavirus cases at the East London Correctional Centre. Three are in…

March 26, 2020

USA: as pandemic threatens to devastate prison population, new report provides updated “big picture” view of incarceration

News

Coronavirus North America Minors Foreign prisoners Health United States

The Prison Policy Initiative’s new “Whole Pie” report reveals what’s at stake if prisons and jails do not take immediate steps to decarcerate.

March 11, 2020

UK: MoJ challenged to release details of child restraint in prisons

News

Europe Minors United Kingdom

A children’s rights charity is challenging the refusal of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to release information showing the reasons why children in prison have suffered pain-inducing restraint, the Guardian has learned.

March 11, 2020

Chile: our children are going to prison'

News

South America Minors Chile

More than 180 children in Chile have been held in preventive detention – some for up to four months – for their participation in the wave of social unrest which have rocked the country since October.

February 26, 2020

Bolivia: resolución prohíbe el ingreso de niños a cárceles que no tengan espacios seguros

News

South America Minors Bolivia

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

February 25, 2020

France: prison pour mineurs de Meyzieu: un établissement "en surchauffe"?

News

Europe Minors Overcrowding France

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

February 12, 2020

Changing the prison system: the role of information

Interview

Africa Minors Health Overcrowding

It can be difficult to collect data on prisons. Few people have direct access to it. Carole Berrih explains the necessity of access to quality information.

February 10, 2020

France: femmes détenues et inégalités dans la population carcérale

News

North America Women Europe Minors Health France

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

February 7, 2020

UK: Oakhill STC sees 27 staff investigated over abuse and neglect in last three years

News

Europe Minors Violence United Kingdom

Police have investigated 27 members of staff at a single secure training centre (STC) in relation to allegations of abuse or neglect of young people held there in the past three years, it has emerged.

January 6, 2020

France: un ado dans la spirale de l’enfermement

News

Europe Minors France

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

January 2, 2020

USA: youth confinement

News

North America Minors Discipline United States

On any given day, over 48,000 youth in the United States are confined in facilities away from home as a result of juvenile justice or criminal justice involvement. Most are held in restrictive, correctional-style facilities, and thousands are held without even having had a trial.

January 2, 2020

Jamaica: judges still tossing children "behind bars" for uncontrollable behaviour, years after efforts started to end practice

News

Central America and the Caribbean Minors Jamaica

Human rights advocacy group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) has raised concerns that the practice has re-emerged and provided The Sunday Gleaner with statistics which suggest that in 2018, some 413 children (211 males and 203 girls) appeared before court, not for committing an offence but for exhibitin…

December 20, 2019

Pāri mūriem

Portfolio

Europe Minors Activities Religion Latvia

Behind the walls of the juvenile detention centre of Cēsis, the prisoners are getting bored. Jérémie Jung leads photography workshops with 10 of them but is confronted with censorship by the prison administration.

December 18, 2019

France: mineurs non accompagnés en prison, les victimes d’un système

News

Europe Minors France

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

December 18, 2019

Turkey: prison population increases by 14 percent in one year

News

Europe Minors Justice Turkey

According to the “Prison Statistics 2018” of the TurkStat, prison population of Turkey has increased by 14 percent in one year. As of December 31, 2018, there were 264 thousand 842 people behind bars, the Institute has informed.

July 22, 2019

Philippines: 'Worse than prison': Abuses in Philippine youth homes

News

Asia Minors Drugs Violence Philippines

Officially called “Houses of Hope”, proponents in the Philippines say such facilities are places for reformation and education, but critics slam many of them as “hellholes” where children are treated like caged animals.

July 10, 2017

The Dungeon

Portfolio

Africa Pre-trial detention Minors Material conditions Burundi

Children languishing in dark cells. They are victims of alleged arbitrary justice, and they spend years without seeing the inside of a courtroom.