Alternatives
Belgium: diverging pathways
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Belgium
In recent years, authorities have followed a policy of constructing new ‘mega-prisons’. At the same time, the prison estate has welcomed the creation of smaller facilities. The simultaneous development of these opposing approaches raises a number of questions.
Africa
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Senegal
Senegal’s prisons are old, overcrowded and cannot manage the thousands incarcerated for petty crimes. In response, the country has launched a pilot scheme to release hundreds of inmates under electronic supervision.
South Africa: prisons in 2023
Analysis
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Women
Minors
Foreign prisoners
LGBTQI
Long-term prisoners
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Suicide
Death penalty
Torture
Activities
Social ties
Alternatives
Work
South Africa
All there is to know about South African prisons in 2023. Key figures, life in detention, references: discover all the data gathered by Prison Insider.
Middle East
Facilities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Bahrain
The International Ombudsman Institute “IOI” President Chris Field has praised Bahrain’s open prison and rehabilitation center in Hamala, calling it a “model that can be used in other countries”.
A prison called home
Investigations
Social ties
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Electronic monitoring allows individuals to serve their sentence at home with their family. In practice, however, the experience of electronic monitoring is a difficult undertaking. Can one’s home become a prison? What impact does surveillance have on their loved ones? Investigation.
Caught in the spiral
Thematic paper
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Asia
Access to legal rights
Justice
Drugs
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
What are the human and social costs of the recourse to imprisonment? This series explores the experiences of various civil society organisations, formerly incarcerated people, researchers and policy makers challenging the criminalisation of poverty, status or activism.
Building bridges through education
Interview
South America
Europe
Activities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Many initiatives are emerging as alternatives to the traditional prison, focusing on education rather than security. What is meant by education? How does it lead to change? Sergio Grossi answers our questions.
Changing the scale
Thematic paper
South America
Europe
Facilities
Social ties
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
New insights are arising concerning alternative forms of detention that are integrated into the community, small-scale and focused on the needs of individuals. This series explores experience from the field, ideas that remain on paper and the potential limits of “small-scale” detention.
France: "a change of tactics"
Interview
Crises
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
France
In 2020, the French government was found to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights, due to demeaning detention conditions in French prisons. What is the state of affairs today? The National Human Rights Advisory Commission speaks on the issue.
Africa: the threat of punishment
Interview
Austria: through the lens of the incarcerated
Investigations
Coronavirus
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Work
Austria
Prisons might be one of the most severely underreported spheres in our otherwise heavily investigated world. Journalist Sarah Yolanda Koss dives into Austrian prison issues.
“Hearing the sounds of the city”
Interview
Facilities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Work
France
Detention villages, open prisons, small prisons: what is there to say? We asked geographer Olivier Milhaud three questions. For him, large prisons built outside of cities are “a disaster”.
Park closed
Analysis
Facilities
Alternatives
France
“Quiet, we’re closed “ Marc Uhry thinks about the shrinking of freedom. Free rein on city, prison and confinement.
Material conditions
Facilities
Alternatives
Work
France
Does having a prison in a region represent a money-making venture? Does it generate jobs? Does it increase the total amount of funds granted to a municipality? The point of view of Isabelle Leroux.
Prison & the City
Thematic paper
Material conditions
Facilities
Social ties
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Hidden prison, modern prison, dilapidated prison, “open” prison: wall to wall, Prison Insider investigated the links between city and prison. In partnership with Rescaled, we gave a number of different people a space to share their point of view.
Ecuador: beneficios de prelibertad a favor de los presos tardan en otorgarse
News
South America
Access to legal rights
Justice
Alternatives
Ecuador
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish
Australia: Ageing prisoners
Analysis
Opinion
Coronavirus
Elderly prisoners
Oceania
Health
Alternatives
Australia
ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project ‘Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries’. Natasha Ginnivan discusses the ageing prison population in Australia.
Considering penal abolitionism
Interview
North America
Europe
Discipline
Justice
Alternatives
The abolitionist movement is not well-known in France. Three texts, recently translated into French, have been assembled into one book on the subject.
Coronavirus
Asia
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Malaysia
With Malaysia already facing an impending prison overcrowding issue where close to 70,000 are currently serving jail terms for various offences across the country, lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo urged the government to stop sending movement control order (MCO) offenders to prison as it will only worsen th…
Singapore: recidivism rate at all-time low, more inmates serving part of jail term in community
News
Asia
Activities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Work
Singapore
The recidivism rate in Singapore has dipped to an all-time low and more inmates are serving part of their jail term in the community, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) said on Wednesday (Feb 3).
Luxembourg : "la prison reste le reflet de la société"
News
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Social ties
Alternatives
Luxembourg
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada : bannir les courtes peines de prison pour éviter des suicides
News
North America
Pre-trial detention
Justice
Mental health
Suicide
Alternatives
Canada
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French