News
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Iran
As Iran grapples with widespread gas and electricity shortages, behind prison walls, incarcerated people face a desperate struggle against the winter cold. In northern Rasht’s Lakan Prison, 163 women huddle together, their collective breath the only source of warmth in cells left dark and freezing…
Asia
Access to legal rights
Protest
Torture
Violence
Armenia
A 29-year-old Iranian man was sentenced to three years and one month in prison in Armenia. According to IranWire sources, Mohammad Havashemzadeh, who had been detained during the 2022 protests in Iran, had only appeared in court once in the past five months to hear the charges against him.
Oceania
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Australia
Prison guards switched off the water to the cell of a mentally ill and dying man as punishment for his strange behaviour, joked that his repeated pleas for help were “entertaining”, and then left him unobserved to die at Silverwater jail from a treatable illness that was inexplicably missed.
North America
Social ties
United States
This fall students in one of UW-La Crosse Professor Nicholas Bakken’s sociology classes visited New Lisbon Correctional Institution (NLCI) twice to help incarcerated people record themselves reading storybooks that were then gifted to their child or children at home.
North America
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
United States
Moldy mattresses, 24/7 lights and constant noise contribute to a persistent health and safety crisis in prisons and jails. The Marshall Project and Los Angeles Times have identified more than 30 lawsuits regarding sleep deprivation behind bars over the last three decades.
North America
Women
LGBTQI
Health
Mental health
United States
With new restrictions on gender-affirming care, prisons confiscate underwear from trans people and compel them to cut their hair.
Crises
Women
Minors
Middle East
Facilities
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Syria
The Syrian civil defence group known as the White Helmets says it is investigating reports from survivors of the country’s notorious Saydnaya prison that people are being detained in hidden underground cells.
Oceania
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
New Zealand
Bed capacity across the country is projected to run out in 2027 on a best-case scenario, or worst-case, in June next year.
Crises
Middle East
Justice
Death penalty
Iran
On Tuesday, incarcerated people in at least 25 prisons participated in the hunger strike, which has been ongoing for 45 weeks. The campaign has gained momentum, with 68 Iranian and international human rights organizations endorsing it over the past few weeks.
Africa
Women
Minors
Access to legal rights
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Nigeria
Prison Fellowship Nigeria has officially launched its Restorative Justice, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration Project in Jos, the Plateau state capital. The initiative, designed to improve the criminal justice system through restorative practices, will span eight states.
United States: juvenile detention centers in North Carolina under scrutiny for use of isolation
News
North America
Minors
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Social ties
United States
Teenagers in North Carolina’s juvenile justice system are routinely being locked alone in their rooms for as much as 23 to 24 hours a day, according to an ongoing federal lawsuit and advocates for young people in custody.
Women
Europe
Facilities
Rehabilitation
Malta
A house is to be set up in Marsaxlokk to prepare incarcerated women for reintegration into society as they approach the end of their custodial term. The facility is being prepared by the Home Affairs Ministry, the Prisons Agency and the RISe Foundation, which will manage it.
Culture
Asia
Overcrowding
Social ties
Rehabilitation
Work
India
While India has made strides in prison reforms, education for prisoners remains an area with significant potential. The National Policy on Prison Reforms 2017 emphasizes the importance of education and skill development within prisons.
Oceania
Long-term prisoners
Health
Mental health
New Zealand
Contracts for the Improving Mental Health Service is due to end from June 2025. Mental health workers fear some imprisoned people who are suicidal, psychotic or suffering other serious psychological problems will be left without support when their contracts end.
Culture
North America
Material conditions
Facilities
Social ties
United States
Danish architecture studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen and American studio DLR Group have been selected to redesign California’s San Quentin State Prison into a rehabilitation centre that will utilise influences from the Scandinavian incarceration system.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Facilities
Alternatives
Ireland
More investment is needed to better support people struggling with addiction, poverty, and trauma to reduce Ireland’s prison population, a general election hustings by the Irish Prison Reform Trust (IPRT) has heard.
Africa
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
South Africa
The department of correctional services (DCS) says 66 million euros is required to refurbish the Johannesburg Sun City Prison.
The renovation project will address critical issues, including plumbing, electrical systems, and overcrowding, and will be phased across various sections of the prison.
Crises
Elderly prisoners
Europe
Mental health
United Kingdom
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that 38 of the prison’s 138, or 27.5% of incarcerated people, as of July 2024 are on medication associated with managing a diagnosed mental-health condition or addressing symptoms.
Europe
Activities
Social ties
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
At HMP Prescoed, an open prison in south-east Wales, imprisoned people are working at Cilgwri Farm, a fully functioning dairy operation. Here, they help manage a large herd of dairy cows and their calves.