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March 18, 2020

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Coronavirus: Prison Fever

Africa Coronavirus North America Central America and the Caribbean Pre-trial detention South America Asia Europe Middle East Health Material conditions Protest Activities

What measures are taken to guarantee the safety of all prisoners and prison staff? What are the consequences of the pandemic on the living conditions in prisons? Here is an overview. — Update 04/06/20 Read more

June 4, 2020

Afghanistan: life inside Kabul's women's prison during Covid-19

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Coronavirus Women Asia Afghanistan

Thousands of prisoners in Afghanistan have been released and pardoned as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic. But in Kabul’s only prison facility for women, more than a hundred women, often with young children, remain behind bars. FRANCE 24 reports from Kabul. In Afghanistan’s overcrowded prisons,…

Source — France 24

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June 4, 2020

USA: solitary confinement is fueling New York's prison suicide crisis

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North America Mental health Suicide United States

On average, someone attempts suicide in one of New York State’s prisons every other day. And 43 percent of those suicide attempts occur in the state’s notorious solitary confinement units — the Special Housing Unit, or SHUs. Solitary confinement is also linked to higher rates of death by suicide, and…

Source — Solitary Watch

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June 4, 2020

USA: what women dying in prison from COVID-19 tell us about female incarceration

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Coronavirus North America Women United States

This article was originally published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Melissa Ann Horn’s name appeared over and over in court records and jail blotters in the rural Virginia county where she was born, and where she was arrested for crimes…

Source — Argus Leader

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June 4, 2020

Australia: aboriginal people in prison and out-of-home care suffering under 'punitive' Covid-19 restrictions

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Coronavirus Minors Oceania Material conditions Social ties Australia

Aboriginal people in prisons are going without soap, and children in out-of-home care are being refused contact with their families under “punitive” restrictions enforced due to Covid-19, a report released on Wednesday has said. Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 policy responses…

Source — The Guardian

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June 4, 2020

Argentina: #NiUnaMenos, desde las cárceles también

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South America Women Justice Argentina

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

June 4, 2020

Argentina: la Provincia firmará un convenio con Naciones Unidas para mejorar las cárceles bonaerenses

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South America Violence Rehabilitation Work Argentina

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

June 4, 2020

South America: las mujeres tienen mayor riesgo de suicidio en las cárceles

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South America Women Mental health

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

June 4, 2020

Argentina: el 40% de los presos en cárceles de Misiones no tiene condena

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Pre-trial detention South America Argentina

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

June 4, 2020

Mexico: “salí de una cárcel para ir a otra”, testimonio de un preso liberado por la pandemia

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Coronavirus Central America and the Caribbean Health Mexico

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

June 4, 2020

Latin America: como evitar brotes de coronavirus en las cárceles

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Coronavirus Central America and the Caribbean South America Health

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

June 4, 2020

Argentina: plan de continuidad pedagógica en las cárceles

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South America Minors Activities Argentina

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

June 4, 2020

Latin America: la desesperación en las cárceles frente al Covid-19

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Coronavirus Central America and the Caribbean South America Health

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

June 4, 2020

Chile: la pandemia en las cárceles, riesgo de contagio de la población penal es 6 veces más alto

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Coronavirus South America Health Chile

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

June 3, 2020

Russia: le mystère de la faible propagation du coronavirus dans les prisons

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Coronavirus Europe Health Russia

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

June 3, 2020

France: surpopulation, personnel débordé, locaux "immondes", le triste bilan des prisons françaises en 2019

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Europe Material conditions Overcrowding Work France

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

June 3, 2020

France: près de 1 000 personnalités et organisations appellent Emmanuel Macron à "une véritable politique de déflation carcérale"

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Europe Justice Overcrowding France

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

May 29, 2020

France: la Chancellerie demande aux juges de ne pas faire exécuter les peines d'incarcération de moins de six mois

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Coronavirus Europe Justice Overcrowding France

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

May 29, 2020

France: crise du Covid-19, une occasion historique pour les prisons

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Coronavirus Europe Health Overcrowding France

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

May 28, 2020

USA: how to hide a covid-19 hotspot? Pretend prisoners don’t exist

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Coronavirus North America Health United States

Officials in Santa Barbara County, California, wanted to start reopening the local economy as the state’s coronavirus epidemic began to ease. But they had a problem. This coastal county, known for its vineyards and stunning ocean views, is also home to the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex, which has…

Source — The Marshall Project

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May 28, 2020

USA: will the Coronavirus make us rethink mass incarceration?

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Coronavirus North America Overcrowding United States

On March 14th, Roslyn Crouch, a mother of twelve, left her house in New Orleans to stock up on toilet paper and canned goods, and didn’t return. Crouch, who is forty-two, with slender braids down to her knees, had been feeling anxious about the spread of the coronavirus. At home, she cared for her elderly…

Source — New Yorker

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May 28, 2020

USA: when parole doesn’t mean release, the senseless “program requirements” keeping people behind bars during a pandemic

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Coronavirus North America Justice Health United States

With public health officials and criminal justice reform advocates urging prisons to reduce their populations, people who have already been approved for release should be the first to return to their communities and families. Instead, thousands of them are waiting behind bars — where social distancing…

Source — Prison Policy

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May 28, 2020

Honduras: prison brawl leaves six dead, two injured

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Central America and the Caribbean Protest Violence Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Six inmates died and two more were injured between Saturday night and Sunday morning in a violent brawl in a Honduran women’s prison home to 835, part of which was set on fire, a prison official said on Sunday. The brawl started on Saturday night in the National Women’s Penitentiary…

Source — Reuters

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May 28, 2020

Mexico: eight inmates killed in prison fight

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Central America and the Caribbean Violence Mexico

PUENTE GRANDE, Mexico (Reuters) - A violent clash at a prison in Mexico’s central state of Jalisco on Friday left eight inmates dead and another eight prisoners hospitalized with injuries, state security officials said. During the incident at a jail in the Puente Grande complex, three people were killed…

Source — Reuters

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