Overcrowding
Africa
Overcrowding
South Sudan
South Sudan’s main juvenile detention facility is holding more than three times its intended capacity, with many children waiting years for trial, officials said on Tuesday as activists marked the Day of the African Child by calling for support and rehabilitation for young offenders.
Ethiopia : sleeping in turns
Interview
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.
America
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Trinidad & Tobago
As the Government intensifies its fight against crime through State of Emergency measures, policing strategies and legislative reform, one of the country’s most critical crime-generating environments—the prison system—continues to operate under severe strain.
Asia
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
Overcrowding
Armenia
On March 20, an incarcerated person at the Armavir penitentiary institution attempted suicide by hanging, drawing renewed attention to deteriorating conditions and safety standards in Armenia’s prison system.
Africa
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Mozambique
Mozambique’s Attorney-General, Americo Letela, has revealed that the country’s prisons now hold more than twice the number of incarcerated people they were designed for.
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Belgium
A record number of incarcerated people in Belgium are sleeping on the floor as prison overcrowding worsens, with 750 people currently without a bed, according to the ACOD Prisons trade union.
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Belgium
Public sector union ACOD and the Federal Prison Service are once again sounding the alarm as the number of incarcerated people in Brussels prisons continues to rise significantly.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Finland
Finnish prisons suffer from overcrowding, which has spurred more violence behind bars. This year, new cell blocks are being built at prisons in Helsinki and Kylmäkoski to accommodate 180 incarcerated people.
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Ireland
Cork Prison has hit yet another overcrowding record, with 423 people in custody today, 120 of them without beds.
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.
Asia
Minors
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Iran
According to information obtained by IranWire, individuals detained during the January protests in Mashhad are currently being kept in harsh and deteriorating conditions inside Vakilabad Prison.
Europe
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Overcrowding
Activities
United Kingdom
A Glasgow prison is “breaching core human rights” and its incarcerated people are “unable to shower daily”, according to a new report on Scottish prisons.
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
France
As of February 1, French prisons were housing more than 86,000 incarcerated people, despite having a capacity of around 63,000. This brought the occupancy rate to 136.9%. Overcrowding forced 6,596 imprisoned people to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Asia
Elderly prisoners
Europe
Minors
Health
Overcrowding
Turkey
As of February, 407,266 people are incarcerated in 403 prisons, which have a combined official capacity of 304,956, according to CİSST.