Explore
Asia
Material conditions
Torture
Social ties
United Arab Emirates
It’s been more than six years since Ali Hassan Ali Bakhtiyan was released from a secret prison run by the United Arab Emirates in eastern Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate, but he cannot forget the horrors he underwent during his more than two years in detention.
United States: "recurring failures", system threaten health, safety of staff and incarcerated people
News
America
Health
Material conditions
United States
A state report cites unsafe conditions and operational failures that force correctional officers into prolonged shifts and hazardous working environments.
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Cyprus
A total of 164 foreign nationals have been deported from detention centres and the central prisons in Cyprus between December 10 and January 20, according to a report released by the justice ministry. Overall, 643 foreign nationals have left the country in a 45-day period.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Facilities
Activities
Work
Luxembourg
A report of Luxembourg’s detention facilities shows that prison conditions “have improved” since the last report was published in 2018. But standards of prison conditions for women are “lower than that of men”, Ombudsman Claudine Konsbruck has said.
Who makes the rules in prison?
Analysis
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
The public has numerous preconceived assertions surrounding prison. One in particular comes up often: that incarcerated people call the shots on the inside. Does this perception reflect the reality in Europe? Read on to find the answer in the last piece of our fact-checking series.
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
United Kingdom
An unannounced inspection to a prison found it was being targeted by organised crime gangs. It found that drones were being used to get large quantities of drugs and contraband into the prison.
America
Drugs
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Activities
Social ties
El Salvador
El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) has become a symbol of President Nayib Bukele’s government propaganda. Folha spent two hours inside the prison complex, which houses around 20,000 incarcerated people—mostly gang members—under extreme conditions.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Activities
Social ties
Ireland
An incarcerated man left without a toothbrush or toothpaste for months, a sports hall used for spin-bike classes for officers but closed to imprisoned people, and a violent incident in a shared cell leaving a man with life-changing injuries were among concerns noted by inspectors at Cork Prison.
Europe
Facilities
Violence
United Kingdom
Figures released by HM Prison and Probation Service showed that in 2025 there were 2,546 cell fires. A prison-by-prison breakdown showed that Sodexo-run Forest Bank had the most cell fires last year, with 94. It was followed by Woodhill (88), Lowdham Grange (78) and Swaleside (77).
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Overcrowding
Nigeria
Fresh questions are being raised about Nigeria’s prison pardon and decongestion process following a recent exercise by the Lagos State Judiciary, as lawyers point to missing incarcerated people files, unexplained inclusions and exclusions, and allegations of irregular influence.
United States: for those with addiction, going into and coming out of prison can be a minefield
News
America
Health
Mental health
Drugs
United States
At the Ninilchik Community Clinic, patient was there to treat her opioid use disorder – a shot she thought might be her last for a while since there was a warrant out for her arrest. The Alaska Department of Corrections does not provide comprehensive access to this life saving medication.
Africa
Justice
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
South Sudan
A presidential pardon initiative intended as a gesture of reconciliation has been manipulated into a pay-for-freedom scheme at Juba Central Prison.
Europe
Access to legal rights
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Social ties
Ireland
An unannounced inspection of Mountjoy Prison found that incarcerated people were being subjected to “degrading treatment” in conditions that did not meet minimum human rights standards.
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Ireland
The State’s human rights commission and the prisons’ inspector are to discuss legal concerns over potential breaches of European laws caused by the prison overcrowding crisis.
Oceania
Mental health
Suicide
Rehabilitation
New Zealand
A coroner is calling for urgent psychological support for incarcerated people before and after their release, following the death of a man who served almost 30 years of a life sentence for murder.
Ecuador: breaking down the prison crisis
Interview
America
Crises
Health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Ecuador
Ecuador is facing a penitentiary crisis marked by massacres and the militarisation of its prison system, a combination that has brought the institution to its breaking point. The consequences are disastrous, both within and outside of prisons. Interview.
Africa
Women
Minors
Facilities
Overcrowding
Zambia
Zambia Correctional Service Commissioner General, Fredrick Chilukutu, has disclosed that the country’s prison population has exceeded 28,000, far surpassing the facilities’ holding capacity of 12,000.
India: Telangana prisons see 12% rise in incarcerated people in 2025, cybercrime cases jump 135%
News
Women
Asia
Foreign prisoners
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Facilities
Overcrowding
India
Telangana prisons recorded 42,566 admissions in 2025, marking an 11.8% increase compared to the previous year, with sharp rises seen in cybercrime and drunk driving cases.
Asia
Access to legal rights
Social ties
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz citizens serving sentences in Russian prisons are facing lengthy delays in being transferred back home.