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Belgium

Capital city — Brussels

  • Country population

    11,303,528
    i
    2017
    / Statistics Belgium
  • Incarceration rate (per 100,000 inhabit…

    89.5
    i
    2017
    / Federal Public Service Justice
  • Type of government

    parliamentary monarchy
  • Human Development Index

    0.896

    (22/188)

    i
    2015
    / UNDP
  • Homicide rate (per 100,000 inhabitants)

    2

    per 100,000 inhab…

    i
    2015
    / World Bank
  • Name of authority in charge of the pris…

    Ministry of Justice

    The official name…

  • Total number of prisoners

    10,123

    As of January 1st…

    i
    2017
    / Federal Public Service Justice
  • Prison density

    112 %

    The annual averag…

    i
    2017
    / Federal Public Service Justice
  • Total number of prison facilities

    38

    In October 2016,…

    i
    2017
  • An NPM has been established

    no

    The Civil Society…

  • Number and percentage of female prisone…

    4.3 %
    i
    2017
    / Federal Public Service Justice
  • Incarcerated minors

    -

  • Untried prisoners

    35.7 %

    The high number o…

    i
    2017
    / Federal Public Service Justice
  • Death penalty is abolished

    yes, since 1996

    It had not been a…

+
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For more information

Key websites¶

  • The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
  • The Belgian section of the International Prison Observatory
  • The Belgian Human Rights League (Prisons Commission)
  • The Liga voor Mensenrechten

Reports¶

  • The prisoner guide in Belgium, éd Luc Pire, the OIP (International Prison Observatory) and the LDH (Belgian Human Rights League), 2016, under the direction of Marie-Aude Beernaert, Philippe Mary and Marc Neve.
  • “Mega-prison of Brussels: Genesis of a Crime”
  • Notice 2016 of the International Prison Observatory on the state of the prison system in Belgium
  • Notice 2013 Notice of the International Prison Observatory on the state of the prison system in Belgium
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