Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

May 30, 2023

Fresh claims of violence, abuse in youth detention

News

Minors Oceania Material conditions Torture Violence Australia

The troubled Banksia Hill youth detention centre is facing fresh scrutiny amid allegations a girl was sexually harassed by custodial officers. Detainees at Banksia Hill and Casuarina Prison’s Unit 18 youth facility claim they have been subjected to excessive use of force, ongoing lockdowns, forced…

Source — The Advocate

May 26, 2023

India: Tihar Jail violence, no quick-fix solutions, judicial reforms necessary

News

Asia Violence India

Tihar Jail, located in New Delhi, is one of South Asia’s largest and most notorious prison complexes. The prison was intended as a correctional facility, but the growing spate of violence and gang wars within the jail has cast a shadow over its reputation yet again. Why have the authorities been un…

Source — The Probe

May 15, 2023

Is dynamic security a realistic utopia?

Interview

Europe Discipline Violence

Dynamic security represents a new way of thinking about safety in which interpersonal relationships are fundamental. How does it contribute to easing tensions and preventing violence? Guillaume Brie answers our questions. Read more

May 12, 2023

Egypt: tales of oppression, abuse and human rights violations in women's prison

News

Africa Women Torture Violence Egypt

High walls, mobile prison, overcrowded rooms, and no regard for one’s bodily autonomy: this is what many women and girls deal with in Egypt’s prisons, only for being human rights activists, journalists, or political opponents to the regime. Over the past seven years, Egypt’s prisons, especially the…

Source — Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

April 3, 2023

North Korea: torture, forced abortions and insects for food inside North Korean jails

News

Asia Material conditions Torture Violence North Korea

Extrajudicial executions, rape, forced abortions, jail without trial, torture, starvation rations that leave prisoners so hungry some turn to eating insects.

Source — CNN

March 29, 2023

Filming the obscurity

Interview

Africa Asia Europe Facilities Overcrowding Violence Rehabilitation

The Netflix documentary series “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons” gives viewers a visual representation of what daily life is like for prisoners around the world. Prison Insider met its host, Raphael Rowe. Interview. 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

February 15, 2023

Russia: prisoners of the battlefield

Interview

Europe Violence Russia

The conflict in Ukraine also impacts the individuals incarcerated in Russia. Many of them have been recruited by the Wagner Group over the past few months to participate in the fighting. Dmitry Gurin from EPLN shared with us what they know about this recruitment campaign. Read more

February 8, 2023

Poland: Prisoners beaten, suffocated and waterboarded

News

Europe Torture Violence Poland

The report, published on Tuesday by the office of Poland’s commission for human rights, a state body, was written by the National Torture Prevention Mechanism (KMPT), which operates within the commissioner’s office. KMPT alleges that inmates were dragged out of their cells and brought to unmonitore…

Source — Notes from Poland

January 24, 2023

USA: the Holmesburg prison experiments

Interview

North America Health Violence United States

Allen M. Hornblum, author of “Acres of Skin”, tells us about the Holmesburg Prison Experiments (1951-1974). What makes prisoners particularly vulnerable to these forms of abuse? What impact have they had on prison practices today? Interview. Read more

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 11, 2023

Belarus: Former detainee speaks of torture

News

Europe Violence Belarus

Unbearable conditions are created for dissidents in the Minsk temporary detention center (TDC), where they can be kept for months without hygiene items or a change of clothes. A Minsk resident told Viasna about the two-hour torture and beatings by the officers of the Main Directorate for Combating…

Source — Viasna

December 8, 2022

Russia: Brittney Griner facing ‘terrible’ life at remote penal colony

News

Asia Violence Russia

Long days are spent in forced labor, working at sewing machines, with only a short break for lunch. By nightfall, prisoners are fed dinner and allowed an hour or less of free time before going to sleep in dormitories crowded with scores of bunk beds. The routine reportedly can stretch for weeks on…

Source — Los Angeles Times

December 2, 2022

Egipto: continúan las muertes de detenidos en la prisión de Badr

News

Middle East Violence Egypt

El número de muertes de presos políticos en el Complejo Penitenciario de Badr, en El Cairo, se ha elevado a cuatro, apenas unos meses después de la apertura del enorme complejo. Esto se debe a la muerte del detenido Hassan Diab Hassan dentro de su celda en la prisión Badr 3 debido a una negligencia…

Source — Monitor De Oriente

November 28, 2022

Italia: 45 probed for 'torturing' Ivrea prison inmates

News

Europe Torture Violence Italy

Guards, doctors,functionaries and ex-wardens are under investigation

Source — Ansa

November 28, 2022

Russia: a prison hospital became a torture dungeon

News

Asia Health Violence Russia

“Strapped down, had genitals shoved in their faces”. How a prison hospital in Krasnoyarsk became a torture dungeon

Source — The Insider

November 18, 2022

Russie : Des prisonniers russes envoyés par dizaines de milliers sur le front ukrainien

News

Asia Violence Russia

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

November 8, 2022

Venezuela : quand les caïds font des prisons de luxueuses dictatures du crime

News

Central America and the Caribbean Material conditions Violence Venezuela

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

October 28, 2022

Iran: prisoners deprived of all rights

Opinion

Torture Violence Iran

The recent events in Iran are leading to a considerable increase in the number of arrests and people detained. What are the rights of Iranian prisoners? Prison Insider is looking for information on the conditions of detention in Iranian prisons. Ehsan Hosseinzadeh, an Iranian lawyer and political r… Read more

October 19, 2022

Iran: Evin prison death toll jump, state says

News

Middle East Material conditions Violence Iran

The death toll from a fire at Iran’s notorious Evin prison has risen from four to eight, Iran’s judiciary has said in a statement.

Source — BBC

October 17, 2022

Iran : quatre morts dans des affrontements et un incendie au cœur de la prison d’Evin

News

Middle East Material conditions Violence Iran

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

October 17, 2022

Iran: four dead in Evin prison fire as relatives gather outside

News

Middle East Violence Iran

Family members and protesters demand answers over blaze that state media reports left 61 injured

Source — The Guardian

October 14, 2022

Russia: las autoridades penitenciarias imponen duras condiciones a Alexei Navalny

News

Europe Material conditions Torture Violence Russia

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

October 14, 2022

Ecuador: seis presos heridos deja un motín en cárcel

News

Central America and the Caribbean Violence Ecuador

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