Oceania
Coronavirus: Prison Fever / 2021
Africa
Coronavirus
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Asia
Elderly prisoners
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Activities
Social ties
The virus has not stopped at prison gates. 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 29/03/2021
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Life imprisonment: a sentence in dire need of reform
Analysis
Opinion
Africa
Coronavirus
Asia
Elderly prisoners
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Oceania
Justice
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Overcrowding
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’. In this piece, Olivia Rope, Executive Director of Penal Reform International (PRI), discusses life sentences, a key priority…
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Oceania
Protest
Violence
New Zealand
There are now three investigations under way, as well as a High Court civil rights case by the prisoners against the Attorney General and Corrections, and other claims against the Crown in the Waitangi Tribunal.
Public debate about how prisons are run and their place in society has also heated up.In…
Source — Stuff
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Oceania
Mental health
Violence
New Zealand
Documents obtained by RNZ shows Auckland Women’s Prison planned to keep Mihi Bassett in a segregation unit known as the pound “indefinitely” - breaking laws governing how, and how long, prisoners can be held there.
Guards also threatened to pepper-spray her minutes after she attempted suicide. In order…
Source — RNZ News
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New Zealand: managing uncertainty
Analysis
Coronavirus
Oceania
Material conditions
Activities
Social ties
Work
New Zealand
As the COVID-19 outbreaks around the world suprised most governments, how did the New Zealand authorities respond to the crisis behind the bars? Were prison authorities prepared to avoid the spread of the virus? Which measures were taken and how did them impact prisoners’ lives?
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Women
Access to legal rights
Oceania
Justice
Material conditions
Violence
New Zealand
Corrections broke its own rules and regulations multiple times in its treatment of Mihi Bassett and Karma Cripps, who were gassed in their cells and forced to perform a humiliating ritual to be fed, Manukau District Court Judge David McNaughton says.
His ruling also confirms the women had to remove…
Source — Rnz
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Coronavirus
Oceania
Health
Material conditions
Protest
New Zealand
The recent six-day Waikeria protest highlighted problems at that prison, but it is not unique.
The December Ombudsman’s report on Auckland Prison at Paremoremo similarly identified poor cell ventilation, evening meals served as early as 2.30pm and 3.30pm, prisoners locked up in cells 22–23 hours a day,…
Source — Newsroom
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Coronavirus
Oceania
Health
Material conditions
Protest
The Covid-19 does not stop at prison gates. Prisoners often live in overcrowded cells and unsanitary contexts, sharing cells.
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? — Update 29/03/2020
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Nouvelle-Zélande: une prison entièrement détruite après six jours d’émeutes
News
Access to legal rights
Oceania
Material conditions
Protest
Violence
New Zealand
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Access to legal rights
Oceania
Justice
Material conditions
Philippines
In a rebuke of the Supreme Court’s decision on prisoners’ plea for release during the pandemic, experts said the High Court must “get real” and see prison conditions in the Philippines for what it is – dire, and in need of judicial intervention.
“We should persevere in challenging our Supreme Court…
Source — Rappler
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Coronavirus
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Oceania
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Australia
Prior to the legislative changes that came into effect in January, Queensland had the most restrictive prisoner voting laws in the country, with inmates barred from participating in state or local government elections.
Now, prisoners serving sentences of less than three years will be given the power…
Source — ABC
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Global Prison Trends 2020
Report
Africa
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Over 11 million people are held in prisons worldwide. Many face substandard detention conditions. Sentences keep getting longer, in underfunded justice systems. PRI has published its annual report on the state of prisons and the use of imprisonment: Global Prison Trends 2020.
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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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Oceania
Australia
The prison death of proud Indigenous man Jonathon Hogan is a bleak reminder of an ongoing and shameful Australian inequality, his heartbroken family says.
Mr Hogan died by suicide in February 2018 while incarcerated at the Junee prison in southern NSW.
He was 23 and had a history of drug abuse and mental…
Source — SBS News
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Unclear fates behind bars
Interview
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
“Since 2000, the overall number of pre-trial detainees has increased by 30%”. They are now up to three million people to be held awaiting trial around the world. What is the purpose of pre-trial detention? How it is used around the world?
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Oceania
Violence
Fiji
Four former prison officers from Fiji are seeking asylum in Australia claiming the prime minister’s brother-in-law, who is the commissioner of the corrections service, routinely ordered the beating and mistreatment of prisoners and at one point ordered them to assault a fellow staff member.
Detailed…
Source — The Guardian
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Coronavirus: distintos países del mundo descongestionan las cárceles
News
Africa
Coronavirus
North America
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Justice
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish
Coronavirus
Oceania
Health
New Zealand
Women at an Auckland prison have been routinely confined to their cells for periods of up to 29 hours at a stretch - well outside the law, which says they should get at least one hour out of their cells a day.
RNZ took evidence of the lockdown hours including a recently released prisoner’s diary, to…
Source — Newshub
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Africa
Coronavirus
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Health
Prison Insider is partnering with Justice Project Pakistan on its collaborative map to report the number of confirmed cases and deaths among prisoners worldwide.
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Death penalty 2019: les chiffres les plus bas de la décennie
News
Africa
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Death penalty
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Oceania
Australia
A number of people who have committed acts of terrorism were radicalised in prison. Examples include Richard Reid (the 2001 ‘shoe-bomber’), some individuals involved in the 2004 Madrid bombing, and the attackers who committed the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris in 2015. Studies of European and US jihadists…
Source — The Australian Strategic Policy Institute
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