Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

November 24, 2022

A prison in the city

Insights

Europe Facilities Social ties France

The prison in Cherbourg is in the city centre.Prisoners and locals give their impressions of incarceration and of living behind and beside prison walls.

November 23, 2022

Togo: harsh detention conditions for children

Interview

Africa Coronavirus Pre-trial detention Minors Access to legal rights Health Material conditions Social ties Togo

What is the response to offences committed by minors? In many cases, it is detention. Civil society actors express concern over the situation of minors in conflict with the law. Three key questions shed light on this issue.

November 20, 2022

The Move

Insights

Europe Material conditions Facilities France

Moving from the stone walls of the 19th century to the concrete of the 21st: this is the story told in Catherine Rechard’s documentary Le déménagement (The Move). The story of a prison that left central Rennes in favour of the outskirts.

November 18, 2022

Russie : Des prisonniers russes envoyés par dizaines de milliers sur le front ukrainien

News

Asia Violence Russia

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

November 17, 2022

Belarus: Ikea subcontractors resort to forced labour in Belarus prisons

News

Belarus

The Baggebo bookcase, the Kullen chest of drawers and the Brimness bed: all these flagship items manufactured by Ikea, the furniture giant, have something in common. Until the beginning of the war in Ukraine, they were made in one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships, Belarus.

November 9, 2022

From city to city

Opinion

America Facilities Overcrowding Social ties Canada

Walls that move: with every transfer, prisoners in Quebec travel hundreds of kilometres crammed into vans.

November 8, 2022

Cambodia: dissident begins hunger strike over prison conditions

News

Asia Material conditions Cambodia

Theary Seng’s stand comes ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Cambodia for this week’s ASEAN summits.

November 8, 2022

Vietnam: prisoner of conscience denied family visits after hunger strike

News

Asia Material conditions Social ties Vietnam

Trinh Ba Tu’s father was turned back this week after two unsuccessful trips to the prison last month.

November 8, 2022

India: Supreme Court reprieve for mentally ill man on death row

News

Asia Mental health India

Taking into account the plight of a condemned prisoner who became mentally-ill after being kept in the solitary confinement for more than 10 years, the Supreme Court on Friday commuted his sentence to 30 years’ jail term without remission.

November 8, 2022

Venezuela : quand les caïds font des prisons de luxueuses dictatures du crime

News

Central America and the Caribbean Material conditions Violence Venezuela

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

November 8, 2022

Égypte : Amnesty dénonce les conditions de détention dans les nouvelles prisons du pays

News

Africa Material conditions Egypt

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

November 8, 2022

Congo : les conditions de détention déplorables dans les prisons du pays

News

Africa Material conditions Congo - Brazzaville

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

November 8, 2022

Afghanistan : des manifestants décrivent les abus des talibans

News

Women Middle East Torture Afghanistan

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

November 7, 2022

France: in search of freedom

Insights Focus

Europe Justice Rehabilitation France

Kevin Dubost is a photographer and social worker who led the project “À traversé” between 2019 and 2021: a series of photographs capturing the moments when people being released from prison experienced freedom. He describes one of his photographs.

November 7, 2022

Narratives of mass incarceration around the globe

Interview

Africa America Culture Asia Europe Middle East Access to legal rights Justice Health Drugs Overcrowding Rehabilitation

Dr. Dreisinger is the founder of the Incarceration Nations Network (INN), an international community that works to support, instigate and popularize prison reform efforts around the world. Prison Insider met her in Lyon during a joint screening of the docuseries. We asked her three questions in a v…

October 28, 2022

Iran: prisoners deprived of all rights

Opinion

Torture Violence Iran

The recent events in Iran are leading to a considerable increase in the number of arrests and people detained. What are the rights of Iranian prisoners? Prison Insider is looking for information on the conditions of detention in Iranian prisons. Ehsan Hosseinzadeh, an Iranian lawyer and political r…

October 25, 2022

Rise in female incarceration: “a cause of great concern”

Interview

Crises Women

The new edition of the World Female Imprisonment List, published by ICPR, shows a worrying increase in the number of women and girls behind bars. What does this trend mean in terms of penal policies and prison conditions? Interview.

October 19, 2022

Iran: Evin prison death toll jump, state says

News

Middle East Material conditions Violence Iran

The death toll from a fire at Iran’s notorious Evin prison has risen from four to eight, Iran’s judiciary has said in a statement.

October 19, 2022

DRC: psychologically, I am no longer human’ – life after 20 years on death row

News

Africa Death penalty Congo - Kinshasa

On January 16, 2001, the Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was murdered. Under pressure to find the culprits, the police arrested members of his personal guard. Lieutenant Richard Yav was among them. Richard was tortured and sentenced to death for a crime he never committ…

October 18, 2022

Argentina: debaten habeas corpus en audiencia tras denuncia de irregularidades en la cárcel de Mujeres

News

Central America and the Caribbean Women Overcrowding Argentina

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

October 18, 2022

Argentina: agravamiento de las condiciones de detención en la Unidad 32 de Florencio Varela

News

South America Material conditions Overcrowding Argentina

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

October 18, 2022

Pakistan: submerged and forgotten

Interview

Crises Asia Access to legal rights Health Material conditions Pakistan

Pakistan experienced torrential rains between June and September 2022. The floods submerged a third of the country. What about prisons? Zainab Mahboob and Fakhra Irshad from Justice Project Pakistan shared with us what they know about the current situation. Interview.

October 17, 2022

Iran : quatre morts dans des affrontements et un incendie au cœur de la prison d’Evin

News

Middle East Material conditions Violence Iran

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

October 17, 2022

Iran: four dead in Evin prison fire as relatives gather outside

News

Middle East Violence Iran

Family members and protesters demand answers over blaze that state media reports left 61 injured