Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

March 7, 2023

Madagascar: "everything is heavy and dark here"

Testimonial

Africa Discipline Material conditions Overcrowding Madagascar

Paul Rafanoharana Maillot writes to us from Tsiafahy prison, a facility notorious for its overcrowding and inhumane conditions. He has been incarcerated since 4 August 2021 and is being kept in solitary confinement. He tells us about the “prison within the prison”. Read more

February 22, 2023

Egypt: The country's model prison rife with abuses

News

Africa Access to legal rights Torture Violence Egypt

A new prison which Egypt touted as a model for reform and which holds some of its most prominent prisoners denies inmates healthcare and subjects them to punitive treatment including isolation, relatives of those inside and rights groups say. Four prisoners died at the Badr facility because of medi…

Source — Reuters

January 17, 2023

Chad: protesters' hellish ordeal in remote desert prison

News

Africa Material conditions Violence Chad

After being rounded up by police over mass protests against Chad’s military junta in October last year, hundreds of mostly young men faced this nightmarish two-day journey to the high-security Koro Toro prison, deep in the hostile Djurab desert. After they arrived at the remote jail, many were sent…

Source — RFI

January 12, 2023

Ethiopia: OLA fighters set hundreds of detainees free

News

Africa Protest Ethiopia

Both the government official and residents recounted that the rebel forces broke into a zonal facility which is found in Goro Gudina village, and carried out offensives against the security guards of the center on Saturday night at around midnight. Deputy mayor of Bule Hora town Girja Urago told Ad…

Source — Addis Standard

December 9, 2022

Sénégal : le bracelet électronique pourra-t-il désengorger les prisons ?

News

Africa Overcrowding Senegal

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

December 8, 2022

Botswana: Over 2000 Batswana imprisoned for debt since 2018

News

Africa Access to legal rights Botswana

Responding to a question from the MP for Selibe-Phikwe West, Dithapelo Keorapetse, the Minister of Justice Machana Shamukuni attributed the judgement debtors to a rise in unemployment, lack of financial literacy and increased cost of living. Despite calls for a revision of the policy in the face of…

Source — The Botswana Gazette

November 23, 2022

Togo: harsh detention conditions for children

Interview

Africa Coronavirus Pre-trial detention Minors Access to legal rights Health Material conditions Social ties Togo

What is the response to offences committed by minors? In many cases, it is detention. Civil society actors express concern over the situation of minors in conflict with the law. Three key questions shed light on this issue. Read more

November 8, 2022

Égypte : Amnesty dénonce les conditions de détention dans les nouvelles prisons du pays

News

Africa Material conditions Egypt

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

November 8, 2022

Congo : les conditions de détention déplorables dans les prisons du pays

News

Africa Material conditions Congo - Brazzaville

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

November 7, 2022

Narratives of mass incarceration around the globe

Interview

Africa Culture Asia Europe Middle East Access to legal rights Justice Health Drugs Overcrowding Rehabilitation

Dr. Dreisinger is the founder of the Incarceration Nations Network (INN), an international community that works to support, instigate and popularize prison reform efforts around the world. Prison Insider met her in Lyon during a joint screening of the docuseries. We asked her three questions in a v… Read more

October 19, 2022

DRC: psychologically, I am no longer human’ – life after 20 years on death row

News

Africa Death penalty Congo - Kinshasa

I was locked up in a cell with no windows, so I didn’t see the light of day for 20 years. If I wanted to use the toilet, I had to ask, but the guards would sometimes refuse. I didn’t receive any food—I only ate thanks to my friends and family who came to drop off meals for me. Prison here is not li…

Source — OMCT

October 14, 2022

DRC: "psychologically, I am no longer human’ – life after 20 years on death row"

News

Africa Death penalty Torture Congo - Kinshasa

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

October 14, 2022

DRC: a moratorium on the death penalty is just a stepping stone

Opinion

Africa Death penalty Torture Congo - Kinshasa

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has written an opinion piece on the limits of moratoriums and the suffering inflicted on people sentenced to death. We reproduce it here.

Source — OMCT

September 30, 2022

Congo : conditions de vie terribles dans la prison de Mbujimayl

News

Africa Material conditions Overcrowding Congo - Kinshasa

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

September 22, 2022

Côte d'Ivoire: the price of freedom

Testimonial

Africa Justice Material conditions Social ties Côte d’Ivoire

David D. was imprisoned in the Abidjan prison (MACA) for 29 months, and he is still awaiting trial. This is a testimony of an arbitrary detention, amidst uncertainty and corruption. Read more

September 21, 2022

Kenya: why has the country not abolished the death penalty?

News

Africa Death penalty Kenya

In all, 22 member countries of the African Union (AU) have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and one for ordinary crimes. In 2021, only four countries in the AU carried out executions: Botswana, Egypt, Somalia and South Sudan. Seventeen African countries are considered “de facto abolition…

Source — The Conversation

September 21, 2022

Guinée équatoriale : la peine de mort abolie

News

Africa Death penalty Equatorial Guinea

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

September 5, 2022

Nigeria: prison inmates may vote in 2023

News

Africa Justice Nigeria

The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Tuesday, expressed optimism that inmates in Nigeria Correctional Centres might vote during the 2023 general election.

Source — Punch

September 5, 2022

Maroc : l'OMP alerte sur la situation alarmante au sein des prisons

News

Africa Material conditions Morocco

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

September 5, 2022

Congo : des activistes s'insurgent contre le traitement des prisonniers au Nord-Kivu

News

Africa Material conditions Congo - Kinshasa

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

July 19, 2022

Liberia: Senate votes to abolish death penalty

News

Africa Death penalty Liberia

The plenary of the Liberian Senate with a unanimous vote of 17, yesterday passed a portion of the penal code to abolish the death penalty and other capital offenses. The committee on Judiciary recommended passage of the bill for the Legislature to remove the provisions of the death penalty. In 2005…

Source — Daily Observer

July 19, 2022

Sénégal : le décès en détention de François Mancabou génère une vague d’indignation.

News

Africa Violence Senegal

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

July 13, 2022

Guinea: child victims of “punitive justice”

Interview

Africa Minors Access to legal rights Justice Guinea

Nordine Drici is a historian and legal expert on prisoners’ rights. He wrote an overview of the penitentiary situation in Guinea, examining access to justice in the country. This expert evaluation formed part of a training programme (under the RESPECT project) that he provided for Lawyers Without B… Read more

July 12, 2022

Nigeria: cientos de yihadistas liberan a más de 800 presos en el asalto a una cárcel

News

Africa Violence Nigeria

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