Material conditions
North America
Pre-trial detention
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
United States
Twenty-eight people have died in county jails so far this year. The county’s death toll is running alongside the deadliest years on record.
Concrete to counter overcrowding?
Analysis
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Could building prisons help address overcrowding? Prison Insider takes apart, brick by brick, the fragile foundations of this proposition in the second article of our fact-checking series.
Africa
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
South Sudan
Yambio Central Prison, a colonial-era facility built in Western Equatoria State in the 1940s, requires urgent renovation due to deteriorating infrastructure and poor living conditions for incarcerated people, a senior prison official said.
Asia
Elderly prisoners
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
India
In the advisory, the MHA reiterated its commitment to the welfare of elderly citizens and emphasised the need for “special accessible accommodations in prisons” to meet the physical needs of old incarcerated people.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Ireland
There are 376 people in Cork prison today, a new overcrowding record and representing 127% capacity, making it the most overcrowded men’s prison in the country.
Africa
Material conditions
Work
South Africa
Prison bakeries in South Africa are helping the correctional services department (DCS) cut costs, promote self-sufficiency and sustainability and help incarcerated people gain practical experience while they receive a daily gratuity ranging from R2 to R9.
Women
Europe
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Cyprus
The prisons department sought to rubbish allegations of unhygienic conditions for incarcerated people – including tainted food and unclean showers – attributing such claims to “ulterior motives”.
Crises
North America
Material conditions
Facilities
United States
Incarcerated people at the Lancaster County Prison endured extreme heat as temperatures this week soared to the high 90s and felt like over 100 degrees in some spots.
North America
Pre-trial detention
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Overcrowding
Alternatives
United States
Another person has died in Los Angeles County Jails, bringing the county’s number of deaths this year to a staggering 22. LA jails have totaled 99 deaths since the start of 2023.
South America
Foreign prisoners
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Peru
Peru is weighing sending what it considers highly dangerous foreign incarcerated people to prisons in El Salvador, the prime minister said, potentially following in the footsteps of the U.S.’ deportations of migrants to the Central American nation.
Culture
Europe
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Activities
Portugal
In a statement, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) said that “all inmates are participating in regular meal schedules,” after a group of 30 incarcerated people began a protest to demand better conditions in the prison.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Alternatives
Maria Teresa Manuela is the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa. She shares insights into the African Commission’s efforts to uphold the rights of people deprived of their liberty.
Zimbabwe: prison cells meant for 35 imprisoned people now holding over 80, Zimbabwe rights body says
News
Africa
Culture
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Social ties
Zimbabwe
Prison cells meant to hold 35 imprisoned people are now crammed with more than 80 people at Harare Remand Prison, where broken phone lines have cut off imprisoned people from families and two university students were barred from writing exams while in custody.
Culture
Oceania
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
New Zealand
The Government has opened a new 596-bed facility at Waikeria Prison. It comprises 28 buildings across 21 hectares, 14 kilometres south of Te Awamutu.
Pre-trial detention
Asia
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Social ties
Azerbaijan
Media reports regarding the harsh conditions in pretrial detention centres have intensified following the publication of letters from journalists and activists in prison.
Prison: a five-star hotel?
Analysis
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Activities
Social ties
Work
Are prisons actually luxury hotels? In the first episode of our fact-checking series, Prison Insider responds by drawing on the daily reality of life in prisons.
Central America and the Caribbean
Foreign prisoners
Access to legal rights
Material conditions
Facilities
Religion
El Salvador
The country’s Catholic bishops have published a pastoral letterwarning of the risk of turning the Central American nation into a “large international prison” and demanding an end to the state of emergency.
Women
Oceania
Discipline
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Social ties
Australia
A former incarcerated person says she documented seven suicide attempts in just four weeks inside Victoria’s maximum security women’s prison, amid a wave of lockdowns triggered by staff shortages.
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Justice
Material conditions
Social ties
Iran
Iran slammed France for filing a case against it at the International Court of Justice over the detention of two French nationals in conditions Paris denounced as inhumane. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been able to receive only four consular visits during their three-year detention.
Europe
Discipline
Health
Material conditions
Violence
Belarus
A Belarusian political prisoner, jailed for criticizing President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has died under unclear circumstances, independent media and human rights groups say.
Crises
Asia
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Myanmar (Burma)
The Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) reported on 19 May that budget reductions in military-controlled prisons are worsening conditions for incarcerated people, with severe food shortages leading to rising malnutrition and health complications, particularly in Myingyan Prison.
Crises
Europe
Discipline
Material conditions
Violence
Greece
A fire broke out at the Corfu prison, after incarcerated people reportedly set fire to mattresses and plastic in protest against intensive cell checks, according to kerkyrasimera.gr. The protest is concentrated in the E and G wings of the facility.