Social ties
Connecting Stories Beyond Bars
America
Pre-trial detention
Women
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Social ties
‘Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives’ is a six-episode docuseries produced with Acifad (Argentina), Amparar (Brasil), Relais Famille (Canada), OIP-SF (France), Documenta (Mexico) and POPS (UK).
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Prison Insider in 2025
Activity report
Crises
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Social ties
Staying true to its mission, Prison Insider continues to shed light on prison conditions across the globe, year after year. Take a look at the activities carried out in 2025 by leafing through our activity report.
Scotland: “A state of permanent hyperawareness”
Testimonial
Europe
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Facilities
Social ties
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
John has been incarcerated for nearly twenty years since the age of 16. Now a husband, a father, and a PhD researcher, he shares his story with us — from his time behind bars to how prison still impacts him today. Interview.
Africa
Crises
Access to legal rights
Health
Torture
Social ties
Libya
The Supreme Council of Sufism in Libya announced the discovery of the body of citizen Omar Al-Farsi (64) in the city of Benghazi, confirming that the victim had been arbitrarily detained prior to his death in prisons run by the “Madkhalis“, as it described.
Europe
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Torture
Social ties
Belarus
United Nations experts expressed concern over allegations of prolonged incommunicado detention and dire custody conditions in Belarus that may amount to torture.
America
Social ties
Work
United States
Incarcerated people and their families are exploited in an unjust system.
Africa
Material conditions
Social ties
South Sudan
Torit Prison has reported commendable agricultural yields from its farms located in Magwi, Hatire, and other parts of Eastern Equatoria State. However, National Prison Service officials have expressed significant concern over the lack of transportation.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Women
Access to legal rights
Material conditions
Social ties
Senegal
Maïmouna Diouf served several years in a women’s prison, found guilty of infanticide, a charge she denies. She says conditions were harsh — dirty mattresses on the floor, a lack of sufficient food and hygiene products.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Health
Social ties
Eritrea
A well-known Eritrean satirical cartoonist has been freed from prison after spending 15 years in detention without charge, his family and friends have told the BBC.
Asia
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Social ties
Iran
Reports indicate shortages of suitable drinking water, reductions in the quantity and quality of food, limitations on the operation of prison stores, shortages of medication, and a decline in medical services.
America
Crises
Women
Justice
Mental health
Facilities
Suicide
Social ties
Mexico
Designed as a maximum security facility, Cefereso No. 16 is Mexico’s only federal women’s prison, and concern over its living conditions is rising. Interview with Algaraza.
Asia
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Social ties
Azerbaijan
Several incarcerated journalists from the Azerbaijani independent media outlet Meydan TV have announced that they will not see their visiting relatives in protest against the installation of a glass partition in visitation rooms.
Asia
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Facilities
Social ties
Russia
Speaking at a meeting of the Russian Ministry of Justice’s collegium, she highlighted frequent appeals from women from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, who are seeking assistance in transferring their relatives to serve their sentences closer to home.
Asia
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Torture
Social ties
Pakistan
Afghans recently returned from Pakistan say they were transferred to harsh and inhumane prison conditions after being detained by Pakistani police. The joy of returning home has been overshadowed by their experience of arrest, imprisonment and torture.
Women
Mental health
Material conditions
Social ties
United States
The conditions at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility are akin to solitary confinement, local experts say — an apparent violation of state law.
Asia
Material conditions
Torture
Social ties
United Arab Emirates
It’s been more than six years since Ali Hassan Ali Bakhtiyan was released from a secret prison run by the United Arab Emirates in eastern Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate, but he cannot forget the horrors he underwent during his more than two years in detention.