June 2017
United States
The largest jail system in the United States has no buildings of its own. Instead, it’s a shadowy complex of agreements that tucks detainees in wherever there’s available space. It has swelled substantially over the past two decades, and it is likely to grow further.
Source — Quartz
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Pre-trial detention
Chile
During APT’s visit to Chile on 29 and 30 May, President Bachelet signed the bill to establish an effective and independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for Chile. The long-awaited bill was sent to Congress on 29 May and is currently being examined by both the Commissions of Human Rights and…
Source — APT
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Asia
Pakistan
Taimoor Raza was convicted after allegedly posting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and companions within the site’s comments.
The public prosecutor involved said he believed it was the first time the death penalty had been awarded in a case related to social media.
Human rights campai…
Source — BBC
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United States
This week the Rt Hon David Lidington MP took up responsibility for for the tens of thousands of men and women in our prisons. The aftershocks from the General Election will leave MPs and Ministers wrestling with major political decisions facing the country, but the new Justice Secretary cannot affo…
Source — HuffPost UK
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United States
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced new guidelines that will result in a significant increase in the prison population, directing federal prosecutors to seek the toughest penalties possible for nonviolent defendants. Those prisoners will have to be incarcerated somewhere, which is per…
Source — Napa Valley Register
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Forgotten prisoners
Portfolio
Pre-trial detention
Central America and the Caribbean
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Haiti
Prisoners are waiting. Most of them will never be judged because their files are missing. Many will die.
Seyi Rhodes is a journalist. He comments some pictures he has shot.
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Jamaica
Jamaica has long been regarded as a homophobic country, and now a damning report on HIV/AIDS in the country’s prisons has unearthed some alarming problems.
According to a new report, Barriers Behind Bars, inmates who have been identified as lesbian or gay are being unfairly treated.
The report prep…
Source — Caribbean 360
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Africa
Congo - Kinshasa
Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates have escaped after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east, an official said.
“The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm by assailants whose identity is not yet known,” Julien Paluku, go…
Source — Aljazeera
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Oceania
Discipline
Facilities
Australia
In an effort to prevent the spread of radical Islamic ideology, Australia is to build a prison facility which will isolate militants from other inmates.
The unit, named ‘Supermax II’, will be a part of Goulburn’s high-security Supermax prison and would house 54 inmates, said the Premier of New Sout…
Source — Independent
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Oceania
Discipline
Facilities
Australia
The state government will spend tens of millions of dollars on a new Supermax high-security unit at Goulburn jail in a bid to prevent those convicted of terrorism from spreading extreme views, even though Corrections’ own figures show only about five inmates had been radicalised over the past decad…
Source — The Syndey Morning Herald
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Oceania
Discipline
Facilities
Australia
In an effort to prevent the spread of radical Islamic ideology, Australia is to build a prison facility which will isolate militants from other inmates.
Source — The Independent
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Oceania
Access to legal rights
Discipline
Rehabilitation
Australia
The Melbourne barrister and human rights advocate Julian Burnside has warned politicians that tightening bail and parole laws at the expense of a right to justice and freedoms “is to hand victory to terrorists”.
His comments follow an announcement from the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, on Frida…
Source — The Guardian
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Material conditions
Overcrowding
Antigua & Barbuda
High Court Justice Iain Morley has joined the many critics of prison conditions in concluding that overcrowding there has the potential to cause the easy spread of disease.
Source — The Daily Observer
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North America
Women
Canada
Another week. Another investigation into allegations that a sexual assault victim has been treated like a criminal. No doubt this one too will result in solemn mea culpas and a pledge to do better.
Source — Winnipeg Free Press
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Jamaica
Several of the island’s correctional facilities are in need of urgent infrastructural development, and the Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility in downtown Kingston is among those to receive priority focus, Senator Pearnel Charles Jr, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, has…
Source — The Jamaica Gleaner
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Oceania
Australia
The number of full-time prisoners in Australia has soared by nearly 40% over the past five years, driven by a huge increase in the number of unsentenced inmates.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data show there were an average of 40,577 people in full-time daily custody in the March quarter, up 6.8%…
Source — The Guardian
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Central America and the Caribbean
Overcrowding
Honduras
On May 11, 23 prisoners escaped from Honduras’ largest and most overcrowded correctional facility, the Tamara prison. The inmates were part of the “Scorpion” unit, which is reserved for members of the Barrio 18 gang, one of the most powerful and influential gangs in Latin America. Following the esc…
Source — Council on Hemispheric Affairs
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Guyana
Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan on Wednesday met with Mr Peter Pursglove, where he was briefed on the recently commissioned study on alternatives to pre-trial detention.
Mr Pursglove was hired through the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) to explore and present alternati…
Source — Guyana Chronicle
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Central America and the Caribbean
Mexico
A gun battle that raged for hours inside a prison inside northern Mexico has left seven dead and 13 injured, authorities reported on Wednesday.
Continuous automatic gunfire was heard late Tuesday at the prison in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the border state of Tamaulipas.
Source — The Guardian
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