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Europe
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United Kingdom
Shared cells in an overcrowded South Yorkshire prison are “often too small to maintain decency and privacy”, inspectors have reported.
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Canada
Ontario jails are heading toward a record year for overcrowding, remand populations and lockdowns just as politicians debate bail reforms that could lead to a further influx of accused behind bars, data analyzed by CBC News reveals.
Crises
Middle East
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Iran
Taher Naghavi, an imprisoned lawyer who once represented political prisoners and families seeking justice, began his hunger strike on October 27 after prison authorities rejected his request for medical furlough.
Crises
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Syria
Syria’s missing persons body is reviewing the Damascus Dossier as families say they have blindsided with details of relatives’ fates leaked without permission.
Crises
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Israel
Aspects of daily life behind bars include cells so crowded that incarcerated people cannot move without climbing over one another, and others sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor for weeks or months.
Africa
Minors
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South Sudan
The revelations emerged after an inspection by the South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State Assembly’s Committee on Gender, Child, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, exposing what legislators describe as an unfolding humanitarian crisis inside the facility.
Africa
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Zimbabwe
Twenty-four babies are currently living at Chikurubi Female Prison, the highest number recorded since the institution was built in 1970.
Women
Europe
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United Kingdom
Women’s prisons are so dangerous they are actually “incapable” of adequate reform according to new research which examines recent deaths in the women’s estate.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
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South Sudan
Incarcerated people at the Torit Central Prison in Eastern Equatoria State have voiced concerns about exorbitant legal fees, which have left many of them locked up for over five years without trial.
Europe
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Ireland
The Irish Prison Service is fighting a “losing battle” against overcrowding, with the current system at “breaking point”, penal reformers have said.
Belarus: "worms instead of meat", female ex-political prisoners describe "nightmare' penal system"
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Crises
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Europe
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Belarus
Long considered one of Europe’s most repressive states, conditions in Belarus have become even harsher since a brutal security crackdown that followed a disputed presidential election in 2020.
United States: Los Angeles County criticized for unsafe staffing levels at reopened juvenile hall
News
North America
Minors
Material conditions
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United States
Court testimony reveals that youth are again urinating in bags and gloves due to inadequate overnight staffing at Barry J. Nidorf.
Pre-trial detention
Asia
Europe
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Overcrowding
Armenia
Human rights activists blamed the Armenian law-enforcement and health authorities for a near doubling of incarcerated people deaths at the country’s prisons recorded this year.
Central America and the Caribbean
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El Salvador
Former incarcerated people recount arbitrary arrests and months of torture, while families of current ones demand answers.
Crises
Women
Europe
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Belarus
A former political prisoner, who was recently released, spoke about the detention conditions. She also discussed the pressure faced by political prisoners, healthcare in the penal colony, and the reason behind the disappearance of historical books from the library.
North America
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
United States
A lawsuit challenging extreme heat in a Florida prison collected temperature readings during the summer. It found brutal heat persisted day and night.
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Iran
Extended water cuts at Fashafoyeh Prison in Tehran have created several health problems for incarcerated people as the capital implements water rationing, a human rights organization reported.